richardderus's seventeenth 2025 thread

A reminder that all of history, law, and culture is precedent. You can choose the precedents you follow.

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.
115 to 137 back there.
138 to 160 back here.
161 to 196 back there.
197 to 223 back there.
224 to 252 back there.
253 to 278 back there.

THIS THREAD'S REVIEWS
279 Weather woman : a novel in post #70.
280 Sinking Islands in post #72.
281 The bells : a novel in post #92.
282 6:40 to Montreal : a novel in post #94.
283 White trash warlock in post #118
284 Trailer park trickster in post #119.
285 Deadbeat druid in post #120.
286 Redneck Revenant in post #121.
287 THE MARTINS in post #13.
288 SECOND BEST in post #136.
289 Treachery in Bordeaux (The Winemaker Detective Series Book 1) in post #151.
290 Deadly Tasting (The Winemaker Detective Series Book 4) in post #152.
291 Cognac Conspiracies (The Winemaker Detective Series Book 5) in post #153.
292 Mayhem in Margaux (The Winemaker Detective Series Book 6) in post #154.
293 Montmartre Mysteries (The Winemaker Detective Series Book 8) in post #155.
294 Backstabbing in Beaujolais (The Winemaker Detective Series Book 9) in post #156.
295 Late Harvest Havoc (The Winemaker Detective Series Book 10) in post #157.
296 Tainted Tokay (The Winemaker Detective Series Book 11) in post #158.
297 The worlds of Jane Austen : the influences and inspiration behind the novels in post #174.
298 Minor black figures in post #179.
299 Xolo in post #208.
300 The tortoise's tale in post #212.
301 You lied to me about God : a memoir in post #215.
302 The year of the wind : a novel in post #271.
303 A Complete Fiction in post #223.
304 Hate: The Uses of a Powerful Emotion in post #228.
305 Winning the Earthquake: How Jeannette Rankin Defied All Odds to Become the First Woman in Congress in post #240.
306 A ruin, great and free : a novel in post #256.
307 Fateful Hours : The Collapse of the Weimar Republic in post #277.
308 Pantomime (Micah Grey #1) in post #278.
309 Shadowplay (Micah Grey #2) in post #279.

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:
#028 Cackle (68%) in post #57.

All previous Burgoine reviews linked here.

THIS THREAD:
#076 And There He Kept Her in post #30.
#077 Where the Dead Sleep (Ben Packard #2) in post #34.
#078 Café Unfiltered in post #52.
#079 The 6:41 to Paris in post #54.

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.
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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 was *astoundingly* productive...one thing positive, the ONLY thing positive, I'll say for the felonious yam and the kakistocracy he trails like wet farts is I get a turbocharge of energy to burn off writing because I hate them all so very, very much,that I wrote ONE HUNDRED EIGHTY-TWO REVIEWS. In 90 (ninety) days.
Holy carp.
That's more than I wrote for my blog in eight (8) of the past thirteen years I've been blogging. If that's not a win, I don't know what is. I'm really lemonadeing them lemons!
The best book of the quarter was, unquestionably, The Remembered Soldier...it's very likely to be the 6*-of-five read for 2025 though this quarter had several very, very good reads that might unseat it if they keep growing in my memory, eg We Were the Universe, Soft Burial, maybe The Gods of New York: Egotists, Idealists, Opportunists, and the Birth of the Modern City, 1986-1990...but none are more likely to unseat my dote than The Rain Heron. Arnott's talent impressed as always. I'm still prepared to be wowed and overwhelmed in Q4, but it'll be tough....
4Q25

GBBO and other special hashtaggie projects will be linked here.

2025 #ShortStoryMonth #1 through #5 linked here.
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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.
PRIDE MONTH 32 through 36 linked here.
#PrideMonth wrap-up is here.
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#WITMonth explainer is here.
#WITMonth wrap-up is here.
***
#1 over here.
***
#2 through #23 over there.
#24 to #32 is #over there.

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GBBO THOUGHTS
Season 15's comments linked here.
*
Season 1 thoughts are here.
*
GBBO Season 16!
Episode 1: cake week through Episode 4: Back To School here.
Episode 5 through Episode 7: here.
Episode 8: Desserts (quarterfinal): here.
Episode 9: Pâtisserie (semifinal): here.
THE FINAL!: here.

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.
JULY 2025 here.
AUGUST 2025 here.
SEPTEMBER 2025 here.
OCTOBER 2025 here.

Your turn has, at last, arrived. Don't waste it.

Happy new one, Richard. Am I really first?!

Happy new one dear fellow. >1 richardderus: I too am a republican in the truest sense of the word and would - had I been born in the first half of the 17th century have finished up being dug up with Cromwell and Ireton and Bradshaw in 1660.

>9 jessibud2: Shelley is our new Thread Queen, everybody!

Sarmatian elegance for my Northern neighbor.

>10 PaulCranswick: We're in the same existential space...paradigms are shifting so the PTB (no longer kings) are just as desperate to cling to power.

Time to listen to 1969 music! "Crystal Blue Persuasion" anyone?

Happy new thread Richard!

Happy new one, RD!

>13 humouress: TYVM Nina!

>14 katiekrug: Thanks, Katie!

Happy new thread! *smooch*

>1 richardderus: Excellent meme, Richard. I agree.

Happy new thread!

Happy New Thread, Richard! I hope you see it through in better health!!!!! *smooch*

>12 richardderus: I just did listen to it, RD. Tommy James and the Shondells

Maybe tomorrow
When he looks down
On every green field
And every town
All of his children
In every nation
There'll be peace and good
Brotherhood
Crystal blue persuasion.

Happy new thread, Richard.

>17 karenmarie: *smooch*

>18 Storeetllr: Thank you, Mary!

>19 LizzieD: Thanks, Peggy! I really hope so, too.

>20 PaulCranswick: I'm glad you appreciated it, PC...the sentiments are welcome.

>21 ArlieS: Thank you, Arlie!

Happy new one!! "no tyrants" is a much better slogan imo than "no kings"

>27 RebaRelishesReading: Thanks, Reba! I like it better, too, as "tyrant" is a kind of person not a job title (in this century anyway).

*smooches*

BURGOINE #076

And There He Kept Her (Ben Packard #1) by Joshua Moehling

Rating: 3.5* of five

The Publisher Says: They thought he was a helpless old man. They were wrong.

When two teenagers break into a house on a remote lake in search of prescription drugs, what starts as a simple burglary turns into a nightmare for all involved. Emmett Burr has secrets he's been keeping in his basement for more than two decades, and he'll do anything to keep his past from being revealed. As he gets the upper hand on his tormentors, the lines blur between victim, abuser, and protector.

Personal tragedy has sent former police officer Ben Packard back to the small Minnesota town of Sandy Lake in search of a fresh start. Now a sheriff's deputy, Packard is leading the investigation into the missing teens, motivated by a family connection. As clues dry up and time runs out to save them, Packard is forced to reveal his own secrets and dig deep to uncover the dark past of the place he now calls home.

Unrelentingly suspenseful and written with a piercing gaze into the dark depths of the human soul, And There He Kept Her is a thrilling page-turner that introduces readers to a complicated new hero and forces us to consider the true nature of evil.

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

My Review: Unsettling, prurient teen-girl grooming story investigated by a gay cop returning home to small-town Minnesota to work. Absolutely not one hint of salaciousness, nothing played for titillation, all my bugaboos avoided there.

Except the one about psychosexual harm to girls. I finished it, which tells you something important. YMMV depending on your squeamishness levels.

Poisoned Pen Press needs $17.99 to let you read it.

>29 ronincats: *smooch*

>30 richardderus: SO glad to read that you’re feeling better, and seeing the clear evidence of a posted review!

Joyous new thread!

Karen O

>11 richardderus: - Thank you, kind sir. I hope you won't mind if I don't wear it right away. My head belongs to my Blue Jays cap tonight... ;-)

BURGOINE #077

Where the Dead Sleep (Ben Packard #2) by Joshua Moehling

Rating: 3.5* of five

The Publisher Says: A small town's dark secrets turn deadly...

When an early morning call brings Deputy Ben Packard to the scene of a home invasion, he finds Bill Sandersen shot in his bed. Bill was a well-liked local who chased easy money his whole life, leaving bad debts and broken hearts in his wake. Everyone Packard talks to has a story about Bill, but no one has a clear motive for wanting him dead. The business partner. The ex-wife. The current wife. The high-stakes poker buddies. Any of them—or none of them—could be guilty.

As the investigation begins, tragedy strikes the Sheriff's department, forcing Packard to make a difficult choice about his future: step down as acting Sheriff and pursue the quiet life he came to Sandy Lake in search of, or subject himself to the scrutiny of an election for the full-time role of Sheriff, a job he's not sure he wants.

There's a hidden history to Sandy Lake that Packard, ever the outsider, can't see. Bad blood and old secrets run deep. But an attempt on Packard's life means he's getting uncomfortably close to the dangerous legacy of the quiet Minnesota town. And someone will do anything to keep it hidden.

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

My Review: Caddish bro-dawggery getting a gladhanding con-man murdered in his bed? A boy can dream...and solved by sweet, seriously misplaced queer cinnamon bun acting sheriff (mulling a run for the real job, since the sheriff's got {terminal?} cancer) of a small Minnesota town? If it gets better I ain't found it yet.

Well...start work on your brother's thirty-year-old cold case or quit obsessing. Also not one soul has walked up and said, "we don't like your kind here f**got," so why keep worrying about them voting for a crime-solvin' hometown boy? Pull 'em up and grab the life you want!

Poisoned Pen Press requires $16.99 from you this time.

>32 klobrien2: Thanks, Karen O.! I'm really grateful not to still feel ill and miserable. More reviews tomorrow as I get my various second winds.

>33 jessibud2: I hope your guys prevail.

Happy new thread, Richard! Hope you're continuing to feel better over the weekend.

>37 bell7: Thanks, Mary, I'll do my best.

Someone started a new thread while I wasn’t looking! Happy new one 😊

>39 figsfromthistle: Thanks, Anita!

Tom Gauld on the cover of the New Yorker:

What a dream!

>36 richardderus: - They did, big time! 11-4

>41 richardderus: - He gets us.

Hope you are feeling better today, Richard.

Happy New Thread, Richard. LOVE that topper and of course, Gauld ROCKS!

Glad you are feeling better. May that continue...

>42 jessibud2: YAY JAYS!

Doesn't he just. I'm morally certain you will find him here sliding unnoticed pseudonymously. I hope so for his sake.

I'm HUGELY better, thanks, the new abx have continued the plague on bacteria that's been unleashed to control their population. I can breathe better, I can walk without dizziness...a few yards, but better than Thursday so I'm callin' it a win...and I've got sharper focus than even yesterday. Everything is trending the right way, so barring some unexpected side effect rearing its horrifying head, I'm recovering.

>43 msf59: May it indeed, Birddude, and it looks like it is. That topper inspires me daily.

Good morning, RD! Happy Saturday to you.

>30 richardderus: Oooh. Got me. I was going to see if I was willing to spend any money on it, but Amazon has it on Kindle Unlimited.

>34 richardderus: Also on Kindle Unlimited. The 3rd in the series requires spending money.

>41 richardderus: I just made a jpg out of this and sent it to friend Karen in Montana. This is her and her house exactly.

>45 richardderus: I am glad that the antibiotics are continuing to anti the pneumonia bugs.

*smooch*

>44 richardderus: You're not him are you? If so, please - no feet on books.

Glad your feeling better.

>41 richardderus: >44 richardderus: YAY! YAY! YAY! YAY! YAY! etc,

Happy to see you posting reviews and confirming the fact that you are better!!! Looking forward to your being coughless, rested, and steady!!!!! *smooch*

>46 karenmarie: Morning, Horrible, I'm so pleased you could get 'em on KU. I hope you'll like the series enough to keep going...if you do, I might as well.

I know MTKaren will like that Gauld. I don't remember seeing it 2014, but I wouldn't, would I.

I had my x-ray earlier today so will see if pneumonia is still present, how long I'm going to need abx, and thus how soon I can stop masking when I leave the room.

*smooch*

>47 humouress: They're copies of The DaVinci Code, not real books, so chill in peaceful acceptance.

>48 LizzieD: I'm glad I can make the reports but more pleased at how very good it feels to be able to read more than 50 words at a stretch.

I've got apple-spice tisane to help with the cough, so it's only annoying not upsetting. *baaa*

BURGOINE #078

Café Unfiltered by Jean-Philippe Blondel (tr. Alison Anderson)

Rating: 3.5* of five

The Publisher Says: An ode to the French café as a magical place, portrayed by a beloved author with humanity, insight, and tenderness.

At a classic café in the French provinces, anonymity, chance encounters, and traumatic pasts collide against the muted background of global instability. Jean-Philippe Blondel, author of the bestselling The 6:41 to Paris, presents a moving fresco of intertwined destinies. In the span of twenty-four hours, a medley of characters retrace the fading patterns of their lives after a long disruption from Covid.

A mother and son realize their vast differences, a man takes tea with a childhood friend he had once covertly fallen for, and a woman crosses paths with the ex who abandoned her in Australia. Amidst it all, the café swirls like a kaleidoscope, bringing together customers, waiters, and owners past and present. Within its walls and on its terrace, they examine the threads of their existence, laying bare their inner selves, their failed dreams, and their hopes for the uncertain future that awaits us all.

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

My Review: What I loved about this read was its episodic, character-sketch nature; its acceptance of the complexity of human love; and its just-post-COVID sense of reopening, opening up, becoming open to life.

What I was less excited by was the scattershot feeling of wanting more than I got about the people I was ready to love; the not-its-fault datedness of the planet-wide post-COVID intake of breath; and its more ornamental prose bits (not the whole book, I hasten to say).

New Vessel Press requests $17.95 for any edition you care to read. It's a lovely, peaceful, easy-to-love cafe I'd be a regular at.

Happy new thread, RD.

>41 richardderus: That's not too far off of how my own house looks.

>44 richardderus: I'm SO glad to hear that you are feeling much better. Go abx, do your thing!

BURGOINE #079

The 6:41 to Paris by Jean-Philippe Blondel (tr. Alison Anderson)

Rating: 3.5* of five

The Publisher Says: Cécile, a stylish forty-seven-year-old, has spent the weekend visiting her parents in a provincial town southeast of Paris. By early Monday morning, she's exhausted. These trips back home are always stressful and she settles into a train compartment with an empty seat beside her. But it's soon occupied by a man she instantly recognizes: Philippe Leduc, with whom she had a passionate affair that ended in her brutal humiliation thirty years ago.

In the fraught hour and a half that ensues, their express train hurtles towards the French capital. Cécile and Philippe undertake their own face to face journey—In silence? What could they possibly say to one another?—with the reader gaining entrée to the most private of thoughts. This is a psychological thriller about past romance, with all its pain and promise.

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

My Review: Great loves that end badly don't, in my own experience, end. "The one that got away" and "the slime who broke my heart" and other such angry, wistful, and vaporous utterances are mainstays of entire genres of literature, romantic or suspenseful or violent as they need to be. Love needs an ending, not merely an end.

These two former lovers get a shocking amount of thinking (but nothing else) done on their trip to Paris; home, or not. Voyages are excellent mulling-over time. "Was it worth it?" A question that never offers one answer or even one foundation for an answer.

New Vessel Press requests $9.99 transfer itself to them before you may legally access the nebulous, intellectual jeu d'esprit of a story.

>53 atozgrl: Hi Irene! I'm jealous of your Gauldian residence. I'm really happy not to be treading water or sliding backwards, so I feel happy announcing I had my first 12hrs without a discernable fever! w00t

Glad to hear the antibiotics are doing their job and you're feeling more like you.

Sending "get all the way better" smooches and sneaking some good reads into the nightstand stack.

PEARL RULE #028

Cackle by Rachel Harrison (68%)

Rating: 2.5* of five

The Publisher Says: A darkly funny, frightening novel about a young woman learning how to take what she wants from a witch who may be too good to be true, from the author of The Return.

All her life, Annie has played it nice and safe. After being unceremoniously dumped by her longtime boyfriend, Annie seeks a fresh start. She accepts a teaching position that moves her from Manhattan to a small village upstate. She’s stunned by how perfect and picturesque the town is. The people are all friendly and warm. Her new apartment is dreamy too, minus the oddly persistent spider infestation.

Then Annie meets Sophie. Beautiful, charming, magnetic Sophie, who takes a special interest in Annie, who wants to be her friend. More importantly, she wants Annie to stop apologizing and start living for herself. That’s how Sophie lives. Annie can’t help but gravitate toward the self-possessed Sophie, wanting to spend more and more time with her, despite the fact that the rest of the townsfolk seem…a little afraid of her. And like, okay. There are some things. Sophie’s appearance is uncanny and ageless, her mansion in the middle of the woods feels a little unearthly, and she does seem to wield a certain power…but she couldn’t be…could she?

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

My Review: I craved a funny, fantastical story for #Deathtober. Maybe some suspense, maybe some spice, I was primed and ready for a scary, dark read.

Not remotely. Ralph is the scariest character (an absurd idea that will only make sense if you've read the story) in what I found to be a solidly YA tale about two misfit women becoming besties. I hit, "Some men are so foul you wouldn't even save their blood," {Sophie} says. "Sorry?" {this from Annie the PoV}...and realized I could barely distinguish them, didn't care to, and was imagining beige walls in this scary place they are.

Berkley thinks it's worth $9.99 for an ebook. I don't, but I'm a long way from fifteen.

>56 MickyFine: I can use 'em both, Micky...read >57 richardderus:. *smooch*

Happy New Thread!

Happy New 🧵, Richard . Glad to hear you are feeling better.

‘Morning, RDear, and happy Sunday to you.

>52 richardderus: Nice Burgoine but I’ll pass.

>54 richardderus: I find this one more intriguing. I like your review, but I’ll pass because I’m not spending money on books right now. (We’ll see how long that lasts.)

>55 richardderus: Yay for the absence of fever.

>57 richardderus: No thanks. I can’t think of the last YA book I read. That’s fine with me.

*smooch*

>59 SilverWolf28: Thanks, Silver!

>60 vancouverdeb: Thank you most kindly, Deborah!

>61 karenmarie: Hi Horrible! I'm at 85% normal, I'm ecstatic to report. Still feverish, but only very occasionally so still fighting the bacteria, but not dullwitted sleepy and useless.

Officially.

The gang review went up. I didn't think it would as recently as Thursday...I'm right pleased. Now working on Monday's two posts of three books total.

Enjoy the Sundayness of it all!

Considering how close I came not to getting old, I'm pretty pleased with it.

Most days.

Happy Sunday *smooches* and glad to hear you're feeling so much better.

>65 richardderus: Speak for yourself.

I'm not in denial.

>66 bell7: Thanks, Mary! *smooch*

>67 humouress: No, of course you aren't in denial. Barging down Denial like Cleopatra is entirely a separate thing.

279 Weather woman : a novel by Cai Emmons

Red Hen Press brought out the Bronwyn Artair duology in 2018 and 2021.

I wheezed and gasped and had to take a few minutes of rest before I posted this here.

280 Sinking Islands by Cai Emmons

Red Hen Press brought out the Bronwyn Artair duology in 2018 and 2021.

Two intriguing choices here for my mental wish list! Thank you, kind sir!

I'm also glad to hear that you're improving physically. Keep it up!!!!! *smooch*

>65 richardderus: Didn't we all ....

>73 LizzieD: I'm doing my dead-level best, Peggy, as there's damn near constant inflows of hot tea despite how much I hate it. Coughing stays down that way....but oh the price! the terrible price!

>74 RebaRelishesReading: I wonder if we're just treading in the footsteps of our parents more than we'd like admitting.

Sunday orisons, Reba!

>75 richardderus: Wait...WHAT?!?!? You hate hot tea?!?

>76 richardderus: Deeply.

Passionately.

With a white-hot hatred I usually reserve for religious nuts and repulsivcans.

We must have hit the button at exactly the same moment!! Anyway, hope you're having a good Sunday and healing up well (in spite of your unexplainable feelings about God's gift to humankind)

>79 RebaRelishesReading: Oh, I absolutely *adore* carrot cake with cream-cheese icing! It's the one piece of evidence there is a kind, benevolent goddess who opposes her evil twin!

>80 richardderus: Agree with you there :). Although almond poppyseed cake with cream cheese frosting is pretty darned good too

>81 RebaRelishesReading: I wouldn't spit it out....

Happy new thread, Richard. Good to see that you are doing better and back enticing us with your reviews again.

>69 richardderus: If you're gonna do it, do it in style.

>75 richardderus: Maybe we'll civilise you yet.
Have you tried variations; honey, ginger, lemon, brandy toddy?

>83 Familyhistorian: Hi Meg! Thanks.

>71 richardderus: Love this!! He is definitely a drama queen!

Happy Monday, Richard. I hope you have a great start to your week.

>70 richardderus: Weather Woman sounds like a good one

>84 humouress: All the variolations are...not enough. I've never liked tea because it's got tea flavor in it. ugh

>86 msf59: And nothing will convince me he isn't as incompetent as Marie Antoinette. I'm mending apace!

>87 magicians_nephew: I think it is indeed, Jim, one that can say a whole lot in a very little space.

>65 richardderus: *snerk* Yep, me too.

281 The bells : a novel by Cai Emmons

Another, and final, Cai Emmons novel offered by Red Hen Press.

>86 msf59: (Oh; I thought you meant Richrard.)

Maybe the reason he doesn't like China is because Xi has managed to push through a lifetime presidency and he hasn't.

282 6:40 to Montreal : a novel by Eva Jurczyk

Poisoned Pen Press brings us this hommage to Dame Agatha's deathless murder mystery, Murder on the Orient Express. It worked beautifully for me.

>91 drneutron: Before we got our breath from middle age *WHAM* have an asteroid to your midsection.

‘Morning, RD! Happy Monday to you. I’m so glad you’re feeling better.

>70 richardderus: Interesting book, great review. Onto the wish list it goes.

>71 richardderus: He doesn’t care, of course…

>80 richardderus: I just printed out my recipe for Carrot Cake. I have all the ingredients. What’s your opinion on raisins and/or nuts?

*smooch*

edited to add: >94 richardderus: I'm a serious Agatha Christie fan, have read The Murder on the Orient Express several times, and just put 6:40 to Montreal on my wish list.

>93 humouress: ...if the shoe fits...

He *does* like China. He needs them as a foil to increase cost of living thus profits for his trillionaire pals.

>96 karenmarie: Morning, Horrible! Yum on raisins and nuts (though not walnuts but that's an across-the-board no). I've become fonder of whole-orange cake as the basis for carrot cake...halving the carrots, using orange pulp in the cake, same spices (I used to use cardamom and cinnamon 50/50), then the rest of the orange pulp in the frosting. (I also made orange syrup from the cooking liquid but I'm obnoxiously frugal.)

I hope >70 richardderus: ends up on your nightstand soon...it's worth a read! *smooch*

>41 richardderus: I have a copy of Scientific American from May 1911 that features a cross section of the stacks from the New York Public Library. Talk about a dream! (If I knew how to post pictures, I would post it so that you could see it)

>65 richardderus: Old age sneaks up on the best of us, doesn't it?

>70 richardderus: Adding that one to the BlackHole. Thanks for the review and recommendation, Richard!

>94 richardderus: Adding that one to the BlackHole too!

((Hugs)) and **smooches**

>70 richardderus:
This was a BB. Your review reminded me that I need to find and get read The Power by Naomi Alderman. I had it on my bedside table to read before I moved and now, I have no idea what box it is in. But it is a book that I want to get read.

>94 richardderus:
This would have been a BB for me, but I already had it in the gargantuan TBR list. Thanks for the interview.

>99 alcottacre: Hi Stasia! What a cool item to possess. I hope you're trying to preserve it....

You'll find out how fast it sneaks and what an arsenal of aches and unpleasantness it unleashes when you get old. Ugh.

Enjoy >70 richardderus: and >94 richardderus: when they get to the top of the pile! *smooch*

>100 benitastrnad: The Power has power indeed, Benita. I think you'll enjoy >70 richardderus: because it's so baldly honest about what's happening, and not sensationalized with it. >94 richardderus: being on your list already makes sense...it got quite a push. Its publicist has been offering me lots of ancillary materials over the months, none of which I need, but it's a clear sign they want serious attention paid to it. I hope they succeed.

>94 richardderus: You got me with a solid BB for 6:40 to Montreal. Looks like my cup of tea (oops, you’re probably not wanting to hear about tea…)

Karen O

>104 klobrien2: Morning, Karen O.! Hearing about tea isn't like hearing about c-a-ts as long as it's not in the context of "here you go dear here's you a lovely cup of boiled camellia-hedge trash!" I'd as soon not have to drink it...and I'm heartily sick of drinking it for the cough...but it doesn't upset me the way they do.

Enjoy >94 richardderus:! I think you'll find the atmospherics fun.
***

I do love Grickle!

‘Morning, RDear, and happy Tuesday to you.

>98 richardderus: Thanks for the vote of approval for raisins. I still might use walnuts, even with your across-the-board no. Interesting take on Carrot Cake.

>105 richardderus: I did not know that that particular ghost had a name, love the cartoon.

*smooch*

>106 karenmarie: You do you on the *shudder* walnut issue....

I love the whole-orange cake from Mary Berry! It's honestly better with a bitter Valencia/juice orange than a navel; but I like tart/bitter more than sweet, and it's mitigated by the pounds and pounds of sugar in the cake and frosting. Adding carrots with it was an improvement to me to each of the cake flavors. Even just making coconut/cream-cheese frosting with the orange pulp to frost a regular carrot cake is scrummy too.

I think Grickle's adorable!

>105 richardderus: See, this is what happens when you don't have tea.

>107 richardderus: How do you bake?

>107 richardderus: OMG...you're killing me. I. WANT. CAKE. NOW!

>108 humouress: ...you *have* heard of the "tea-stained" chintz background color, being English....

I use a crockpot to bake simple stuff...cornbread, f/ex...but cakes are but a memory in fresh form.

>109 laytonwoman3rd: I know *sob*

Not make you jealous - but I baked an apple bundt cake this weekend. It was a new recipe and used 2 jars of apple butter in it as well as 2 grated apples. It had plenty of apple flavor, but it was heavy and dense and I didn't care for it as much as some of the older apple bundt cake recipes I have used. But it doesn't hurt to experiment with something new from time-to-time. I never know - the new recipe might have been better.

I read about food the way I read about travel: I'd like to have done it earlier, but I'm not going to do much now. I have made my grandmother's apple cake, which is very dense and which I serve with lemon sauce from my DH's grandmother. Grandmother swore by Stayman's Winesap apples, but I haven't found authentic ones in almost 20 years. Oh well.

Happy day to you, WBL. It remains 50ish, rainy, and blustery here. It's a fine day to stay in and add Melissa to the growing list of the world's ills. I.Hate.Hurricanes.

>113 LizzieD: That is a nice combination of family traditions.

>112 benitastrnad: I think "dense" and "apple cake" are close as dammit to synonyms. but that one does sound really really heavy. Might be what the English call a "pudding" in texture from your description...in which case crumbling it up and slammin' it into vanilla ice cream sounds yum. Experiments with new ways to make a dish are truly fun to me. What've you got in mind for next experiment?

>113 LizzieD: It's warmish here, too, Peggy, and may Melissa churn up the Gulf Stream instead of hurting people.

I've got Wednesday's bleats of annoyance done. I haven't even thought about Thursday yet, weird to say; I guess I'm still getting back to normal. *baa*

>114 humouress: Lemon sauce on apple cake perks me right on up!

283 White trash warlock by David R. Slayton

The Adam Binder Novels #1

284 Trailer park trickster by David R. Slayton

The Adam Binder novels #2.

285 Deadbeat druid by David R. Slayton

The Adam Binder Novels #3.

286 Redneck Revenant by David R. Slayton

The Adam Binder Novels #4.

I have the hungries for some good porcupine meatballs - but I can't find the recipe, so will have to do some looking and probably will make a mashup of several recipes. But plain ole' biscuits and gravy sounds good too.

The weather here is perfect nesting weather. It was cold wet and gloomy for 4 days and then late yesterday afternoon it turned bright and sunny and (no surprise) the cold front started through. Now it is sunny windy (as high as 44 MPH out in North Platte, NE) and cold. Air temperature is about 45 but it is very blustery.

Happy mid week, Richard!

I quite enjoy carrot cake with cream cheese icing. Even better if there is a cream cheese icing in the middle. I love walnuts but not in salads or in my cakes, or banana loaves. Go figure.

‘Morning, RDear! Happy Wednesday to you. I hope the pneumonia bugs are defeated.

>115 richardderus: I have my sister’s awful mother-in-law’s Apple Cake recipe. I’ve never made it so don’t know how dense it is, but Laura swears by it.

>118 richardderus: Intriguing and I’ve added it to my wish list. I would have started it in a heartbeat when I was reading Charlaine Harris and Laurell K. Hamilton.

I’ve just finished a MM romance with a sociopath as one of the romantic leads, Loren by Crea Reitan. It doesn’t have paranormal elements, and Loren doesn’t hear voices. In every other way, though, he is a sociopath.

>122 benitastrnad: My mother made porcupine casserole. Dad wasn’t fond of casseroles, so she only made it the one time, but the memory is vivid. Little sticky-out bits…

*smooch*

>122 benitastrnad: I don't know that term, Benita, but I'm always down for meatballs. Biscuits and gravy are also never rejected chez moi...I'm happiest with a pepper-forward gravy but will happily accept any ol' meat sauce-y bechamel on a biscuit.

It sounds like perfect fall weather! After All, those leaves fall best that fall in a brisk wind, so the season's name came to be.

>123 figsfromthistle: Morning, Anita! I'm always eager for MORE when it comes to frosting. Things like the UK Victoria sandwich cake always leave me feeling cheated, "where's the frosting for the top?"

Dry baked goods of every sort are not fun to eat.

>124 karenmarie: I wonder about >118 richardderus: for you at this point...their relationship's pretty tenuous until book 4 which has led me to abandon the series, and had I paid for any of them would've made me hoppin' mad.

A sociopathic lead? Bold choice...schizophrenia's the one mostly associated with auditory hallucinations. Psychotic breaks are often accompanied by auditory hallucinations. Neither of those would make for a fun romance.

Porcupine casserole? What's that when it's at home?

Is this it? Looks like meatballs to me....

Lovely Wednesday wishes! *smooch*

I commend you for your persistence through the Slaytons and am happy for you that the last one was better than the one before. Time to read is such a precious commodity!

Oh Richard! Don't you remember? Down here temps in the 50s are coolish, not warmish. We will be back into the normal 60s for the season tomorrow with sun, but overnights we'll be in the 40s - cool again!

Never mind. *smooch* for the day.

How-de-do, Richard. I've scanned/read all 127 posts in this thread. Interesting. I accepted a few bbs from the many you offered. Speaking particularly of:

The 6:41 to Paris by Jean-Philippe Blondel (tr. Alison Anderson). I've read both Orient Express and Roger Ackroyd. So...

Weather Woman by Cai Emmons. By coincidence, I was at MIT on Saturday and had a chance to admire the tall building that houses Atmospheric Sciences program. That's the building Bronwyn Artair would have frequented. Building designed by MIT grad I. M. Pei. the the weather studies and research.

Sinking Islands by Cai Emmons

The Power by Naomi Alderman. This would go on The WANT List™ if it weren't already on a shelf. A library-sale buy back in 2019. Put on a shelf, probably moved repeatedly, so now I'm not sure where to find it. (Probably I'll find it right where it IS.) Sounds good, says the grump with six granddaughters.)

>128 LizzieD: Hiya Peggy, it was a saddening journey with Slayton. It lasted several years, but as I was pulling it together for the fourth book's debut, I really realized how disappointing it ended up being. Oh well, others love the whole bunch so good for them all.

Oh yeah...50s cool not warm is slightly weird to think nowadays. I'm no longer Southern, and that really feels weird when I articulate it. *baa*

I can't remember if I've ever told you about Words Unravelled, one of my YouTube podcast obsessions. Today I learned the origin of the word "pet" is tied to the practice of raising rejected and abandoned lambs as companions. https://youtu.be/_r2HMeiDhKA?si=-s0_mzSOqZsPa-f1

>129 weird_O: How do, Bill! I think you're probably the only one apart from me who's read All the posts here, and I'll say you chose some of the most interesting book-bullets to fail to dodge. I've only ever seen pictures of the Pei building but it's a beaut.

I hope you'll run across the Emmons books...they're very good reading indeed for those like thee and me with female descendants we're especially proud of.

Stay well! No pneumonia for you!

>129 weird_O:
I looked up the "Green Building," AKA as the home of the Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences Building at MIT and it was a very interesting Wikipedia article. The Calder "Snail" was not erected to stop the wind. That was disappointing, but the article was not.

The Power by Naomi Alderman was one of President Obama's summer read books back in the day. That is probably why it caught your attention and screamed at you to purchase it when you saw it. For some strange reason, I have not found it among my many unpacked boxes of books. Yet. When I do, it will be one of the ones that get read. I had it on the bedside table a year ago, so it was in the queue back then and it will be again.

Sweet Thursday, Richard. Having a good week? Jack and Co. have been out of town for a getaway. Plans to see the little fellow on Saturday.

>133 msf59: Plans like that keep ya going, no? He's such a dynamo! I'm happy to be without the nasty symptoms, but still a little less energetic than before. Review-writing is a bit longer a process. Hardly a terrible result!

287 THE MARTINS by DAVID FOENKINOS (tr. Sam Taylor)

Pushkin Press is reissuing All the translations of Foenkinos' work after their acquisition of Gallic Books, most recently these on 28 October.

288 SECOND BEST by DAVID FOENKINOS (tr. Megan Jones)

Pushkin Press is reissuing All the translations of Foenkinos' work after their acquisition of Gallic Books, most recently these on 28 October.

‘Morning, RDear! Happy Thursday to you. I’m glad the pneumonia bugs are pretty much gone.

>127 richardderus: I might even take it off my wish list.

Loren does not have auditory hallucinations. He simply has no empathy, no understanding of social and body language cues. There’s another series I’ve read, which I can’t find right now, where all the adopted sons of a powerful man are damaged in some way – either sociopath or psychopath. In the same way that Loren is part of a family where his being a sociopath is acknowledged, managed, controlled, and even embraced, the sons are aware of their various mental illnesses and the family manages and controls their tendencies. In both series the families go outside the law to eliminate people the law can’t touch.

I guess my mother smushed all the hamburger and rice and etc. into a casserole instead of making meatballs. So, meatloaf with rice? She never made meatballs that I can remember.

>135 richardderus: Hmmm. How about someone who’s been medicalized and had her daughter move across country this year? Am I excused from reading what sounds like … gasp! … literature? Notwithstanding your 4.5 stars, I’ll pass.

>136 richardderus: Oooh. Intriguing. Onto the wish list it goes.

*smooch*

Of course, it's the first time I've ever heard of Foenkinos. Thank you, Richard, I'll be exploring!

I'm glad that you're so much better. Keep the good stuff going! It's walk time, and I'm not ready, so I'm off and away! *smooch*

>137 karenmarie: I think you might do well to remove >118 richardderus:....

Ah! I don't think that's sociopathy, but autism pretty far into the spectrum. Still, the premise makes it clear he's masking for a good reason; the idea resembles The Umbrella Academy enough for me to know I'm not the best reader for the series.

I'll guess that rice featured in the casseroles as it was and is a great way to extend the food satisfaction of meals. Casseroles are genius ways to feed more with less. I'm glad >136 richardderus: appeals, it struck me as a really trenchant idea and is executed by a very invested writer. It ought to be more popular than it is. Yet. *smooch*

>138 LizzieD: I live to serve, Peggy, the discoveries don't have to end for the open of heart. *baaa*

289 The Graceview Patient by Caitlin Starling

St. Martin's Press brought out Caitlin Starling's latest spooky story. A great #Deathtober scarefest, because it's horror for rational reasons...the only kind that scares me.

DAMN you, Richard Derus. Yesterday I visited your thread—THIS thread, in fact—and suffered effusions of my precious and personal blood because of book bullets ricocheting around. I took 3 direct and deeply penetrating hits. I'm grateful I had a first aid kit at hand, so I could stanch the gush and medicate the wounds. Thank goodness I'm still alive.

So today, I revisit your thread, thinking I was forewarned and thus wary of a repeat. Bah! My defenses proved make-believe: three more deeply penetrating strikes. My comfy chair is a bio-hazard, so deeply has the blood flow gone. I am need a transfusion. "Pump the fluid in me, Louie."

Oh oh. Ow ow.

>71 richardderus: Yes. Indeed!
>125 richardderus: Last night I had a hankering for some meatballs, so gourmeted up some fancy ones, shaped like koftas, and drizzled in mayo/youhurt/parsely sauce. They were so good and I declare I will make them again!
(Recipe- mince, diced onion, garlic, a skerrick of curry paste, egg, breadcrumbs, salt and pepper- formed into flat ovals and fried, served over rice with youghurt sauce.)

>142 weird_O: *eville chortle*

My work here is done. I have flattened the wallet and drained the resistance to blandishment of another one.

You're safe tomorrow...eight reviews of translated French mysteries featuring much discussion of wines and food and literature. Nothing you'd enjoy.

*eville cackles commence*

>143 LovingLit: mmmmmmm that sounds really scrummy! I love the yogurt sauce idea, lighter and tangier than anything tomatoey.

*smooch*

>139 richardderus:
Casseroles ARE a great way to stretch food stuffs. Porcupine meatballs were a popular potluck item in these parts about 50 years ago, but nowadays few people make them. The biggest problem was that the rice didn't fully cook before the meat did. That tended to make the meatballs fall apart. I had run across a nifty recipe a few years ago that parboiled the rice until it was al dente. They finished cooking inside the meatball and ended up perfect. I spent two days hunting for that cooking magazine and can't find it, so the porcupine meatballs will have to wait a bit. I have opted to make a chicken salsa verde soup instead. I have some really potent salsa verde that I got at Guerrerro's Grocery in Lincoln, NE and plan to use that in the soup.

>135 richardderus: Wow! "The Martins" sounds really interesting. I could not locate the right touchstone. I was not familiar with this author and you sold it.

Happy Friday, my friend.

>146 benitastrnad: The reason my eldest sister enthusiastically adopted the PC in the early 1980s was to create a database of recipes she could sort by several variables at once. It's laborious to do the task but it keeps one from that "now where did that backissue go?" irritation.

Love me some salsa verde!

>147 msf59: It's the way the data got entered by whoever did it that is so annoying, Mark, but the ISBN on that record is to the correct edition. It's 9781805333654

I hope more and more will start discovering Foenkinos, he has a really approachable story imagination.

I'm starting my last #Deathtober review blast for the long-running Winemaker Detective Mysteries, set in France and written originally for French TV by JEAN-PIERRE ALAUX & Noël Balen. I read, over the course of a decade, eight of the more than a dozen short novels translated by either Anne Trager or Sally Pane.

They're novellas or very short novels, depending on the story; none take more than three or so hours' reading time. They're all novelizations of scripts from a French show that was on the MHz Network in the teens. That's now a streaming service, but I don't pay for it, so I don't know if they still have the show on their service.

The only place to get the reads is on Amazon, though they have paperbacks of at least some of the stories. I would've been contented if I'd paid $4.99 for the ebooks on almost every one of them.

289 Treachery in Bordeaux (The Winemaker Detective Series Book 1)

See >150 richardderus:

290 Deadly Tasting (The Winemaker Detective Series Book 4)

see >150 richardderus:

291 Cognac Conspiracies (The Winemaker Detective Series Book 5)

see >150 richardderus:

292 Mayhem in Margaux (The Winemaker Detective Series Book 6)

see >150 richardderus:

293 Montmartre Mysteries (The Winemaker Detective Series #8)

see >150 richardderus:

294 Backstabbing in Beaujolais (The Winemaker Detective Series Book 9)

see >150 richardderus:

295 Late Harvest Havoc (The Winemaker Detective Series Book 10)

see >150 richardderus:

296 Tainted Tokay (The Winemaker Detective Series Book 11)

see >150 richardderus:

‘Morning, Richard. Happy Friday to you.

>139 richardderus: Okay – three clicks and it’s gone. 😊

>141 richardderus: Medical, horror, and deeply disturbing make this book SOOOO not for me. However, your review is excellent.

>143 LovingLit: And the meatball problem is solved. Nevermore will I try to get ball-like meatballs. Kafka-shaped it is.

*smooch*

>148 richardderus: I think I'm going to have to do that. I thought I had found a good app but they've stopped supporting it and I need to find an alternative or transfer to spreadsheets before it collapses.

>151 richardderus: Would that make a good Christmas present, do you think? ETA if I can find hard copies.

>159 karenmarie: Morning, Horrible...ball-shaped meatballs are close to impossible to create for the home cook. Oblate spheroids are closest anyone without an extremely high-temperature sous-vide cooker could do. I love "kafka-shaped" very much, it brings the most hilarious images to my mind, but Asian meatballs are "kofta". I don't think you'll ever regret any of those three clicks.

Yeah, I think >141 richardderus: would not be a pleasurable reading experience for your non-horror-lovin' self...*I* was unnerved, unusually enough.

*smooch*

>160 humouress: I'm so sorry, Nina, that is a GIANT pain. I hope you'll at least get to export your data.

There are hard copies, but they're all only available on Amazon...that's the sole provider of "Le French Book" stories since the imprint was started in the teens.

OCTOBER 2025

It ended up being a fifty-review month. The eight in >150 richardderus: were among the oldest read-but-unreviewed books in my inventory. It feels *so*good* to have them finally accounted for!

I enjoyed my Jess Zafarris reads the most of any this month, Words from Hell: Unearthing the Darkest Secrets of English Etymology and Useless Etymology: Offbeat Word Origins for Curious Minds. I love learning about the whys and hows of word formation and how it applies to the whats, or usage. I'm utterly enamored of "rantallion" which I will not define for you. Go look it up. *giggle*

I didn't like the Adam Binder series much, getting tired of the "couple" being kept apart without ever allowing for any mutual relationship to form for most of four books. By the time they came together, I didn't care anymore. But the read I hated and resent having spent eyeblinks on was A Rage to Conquer: Twelve Battles That Changed the Course of Western History by Michael Walsh...just utterly antithetical to my preferred worldview.

Still, out of fifty reviews there were way more I enjoyed recalling and thinking about than not. On to November!

>163 richardderus: Congratulations on completing 50(!) reviews in one month, Richard! And hurray to clearing off the old and unreviewed reads. I guess I will just have to go ahead and add Useless Etymology to my TBR. Hard to believe another month is almost over.

>164 atozgrl: It's really, effectively, over now, and I'm more and more convinced this must be a terrible simulation run on the computer of some neckbeard incel lardball for his twisted amusement.

@richardderus Hey Richard! How are you? Busy with reading as ever, I see. For me, yes, sir, LT The Poetry Collective is more active than I expected. That, and my annual super busy time at work (last quarter), I haven't been good keeping up with GRers recently, but I'm guessing interest there in moving to LT has waned greatly since they fixed (it appears) the notification issue.

Good evening, WBL! I hear your call and sort of obey. The first 3 Winemakers are available in a Kindle omnibus for less than $10, and so are 4-6. Since I have been unbelievably self-indulgent this birthday month, I'm rounding it out by getting the first set now - quite a good deal, I think. Thank you!
Oh! Did you omit posting about #7, or did I just miss it? Oh - I see. You address that in your comments on #8.

Good on you and Good for us that you worked your way through 50 posted results of your reading! I look forward to November. (I'm pretty sure that acquiring books doesn't earn any merit, but they are so available that I can't help myself. I can read some of them!!!) *smooch*

>166 DebiCates: Hi Debi! I'm glad you're getting good fun from your poetry group. I suspect the main reason the GR folks are in the group is the same one my kid has monthly "stitch and bitch" meetings...blow off steam. It's a valid need, as anyone knows...stay busy because bored means there's time to look at how awful humanity is.

Happy Friday and end of October, Richard. Congrats on a 50-review month! *smooch*

I'm conflicted about 6:40 to Montreal. You've given it a good review, but I've seen others who didn't care for it. After reading Five Found Dead , which is also based on The Orient Express, I'm a little hesitant. But I will put a hold on it at the library because you can't go wrong that way.My mom used to make porcupine meatballs , but they were not nearly as colourful as what you have pictured.

>167 LizzieD: Perfect, Peggy, they're lovely little escapes from *gestures* everything...right into food, wine, and pretty scenery with some added venery, which *yawn*

Spend your Yule celebrating starting a new self-indulgence...the full-year birthday celebration!

>169 bell7: November orisons, dear Mary!

>170 vancouverdeb: Porcupine meatballs sound like some kind of cultural touchstone I've just missed out on somehow.

The library is the perfect solution! I doubt you'll want a shelf copy. I hope you like the read!

297 The worlds of Jane Austen : the influences and inspiration behind the novels by Helena Kelly

Rating: 4.5* of five

The Publisher Says: Explore the extraordinary life of Jane Austen in this fresh and engaging guide that reveals the real woman behind the beloved novels. Featuring expert insight, new research and over 150 photographs and illustrations, this is an essential companion for long-time admirers and first-time readers alike.

Despite the tranquil, even cosy, image of Austen and her work that still lingers in the popular imagination, her life in fact coincided with a period of intense, immense change, what is still sometimes called the Age of Revolutions. The American Revolutionary War began the year of her birth. By her eighth birthday, Britain had been forced to formally recognise the existence of the United States. The French Revolution broke out in 1789, when she was thirteen, and came close to her family: Austen’s cousin Eliza’s French husband died under the guillotine. When she was 22, there was an uprising in Ireland. All through Austen’s teenage years and her early adulthood, the old certainties were being subjected to challenge, new ideas were springing up—about democracy and freedom, about slavery, about poetry, about the position of women.

The Worlds of Jane Austen invites readers to see one of Britain’s most beloved authors in a completely new light. Far from the quiet world of country houses and tea parties, Austen lived through revolution, war and major social change, and her sharp, observant fiction reveals just how engaged she was with the issues of her time.

This lively and accessible guide features expert insight from bestselling author Helena Kelly alongside its over 150 photographs, artworks and illustrations that bring her world vividly to life.

Whether you are discovering Austen for the first time or returning to her novels with fresh eyes, The Worlds of Jane Austen is the perfect companion for curious readers, literature lovers and admirers of classic storytelling.

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

My Review: Jane Austen's 250th birthday is 16 December 2025. If you're among her legions of fans, celebrate joyously; if you're like me (mildly interested, not much bothered to be pro or con), remember how many of your friends love her and her stories...and take this as your cue to add this book to their Yule gifts.

the table of contents...we're going a lot of places!

I'm pretty sure any Janeite would like this as a coffee-table book, as a conversation piece, an ornament...but it's definitely got more than slick prettiness at its heart.

chapter one's opening spread...you see where the book's headed

It's going to be a read, not just a look-and-lust, book, with information abour Austen, about the world around her, about the way she and her English people lived.

the French Revolution happened when Austen was thirteen

In bringing the times of Austen's life into focus, the text is maybe a bit less thrilling than the images, but that's an old guy with tons of history reading behind him. No matter your level of knowledge about the times, you'll find interesting nuggets and fun details to commit to memory. The images of Austen's more local sights are so deeply evocative as to be cultural icons in their own right.


the eternal, fixed image of "English countryside"...thanks in part to Austen

The author doesn't dwell on or avoid controversies rampant in Austen's time. It's astounding to me that we can criticize the decisions about what to write about made by a two-hundred-eight-years-dead woman without even slightly critiquing modern political figures' elisions and silences.

when many in Austen's circle profited from slavery, is it any wonder she kept quiet about it?

I don't think Austen was to be reasonably held to our standards not because she was Above Criticism as a Genius, but because we are not capable of understanding how it felt, what pressures there were on her to need to write for a wide audience as a woman in a terribly repressive patriarchal system. (And NO this not remotely similar to today's repressive patriarchal system any more than it is similar to Classical Athenian or Roman patriarchal systems. Every era has its own iteration of the same horrors.)

That she never addressed the widespread abolition movement even tangentially is not, to my mind at least, to be accounted a failure on her part. It was a choice made for her own reasons that you and I don't and can't know or feel. Your or my response to those things not discussed are our impositions onto a past we cannot reasonably judge.

We can, and should, judge the art; we can, and should, judge the artistry inspired in the centuries since her death. This overview-with-illustrations is a very good way to experience the roots of the culture's enduring love for All Things Austen.



a few images from films or shows inspired by the storyverse of Jane Austen

Morning, Richard! Happy November! We are planning an over-nighter with Jack and Co. Of course, we will bring Juno too. Cool enough tonight for a fire out on the deck too. Hopefully the newlyweds can join us too. It should be very nice.

‘Morning, RDear! Happy Saturday.

>163 richardderus: Fifty reviews! Congratulations. Especially as you had pneumonia.

Of course I looked I looked up rantallion. I like this ‘defnition’ best: rantallion (n). 18th c. One whose shot pouch is longer than the barrel of his fouling piece. *giggle* indeed

>174 richardderus: Too rich for my blood, with even the Kindle edition weighing in, so to speak, at a whopping $27. However, if I ever see it as a donation to the Friends, I’ll snap it up in a heartbeat. Or, perhaps a Christmas present? From my sister? Oooh.

*smooch*

>175 msf59: Morning, Birddude! Enjoy y'all's overnighter, and the beautiful end-of-fall weather. The whole clan together sounds really fun. I hope it happens.

>176 karenmarie: Thanks, Horrible, I was surprised it was a productive month. A big dose of antibiotics did its magic.

I think you're wise to mention it to your sister, because it really is pricey. But I can say honestly it's one I'd be content with value-for-money had I purchased it.

298 Minor black figures by Brandon Taylor

via Random House

Oooh, that Austen book looks fabulous. Definitely putting it on my Christmas list :)

>180 katiekrug: Yay! I'm so glad I could book-bullet you (and The Wayne)!

Hey, ho! Happy First of November! And how the heck did it get to be November already? I'm still back in May. Of 1999. (As you said earlier. :)

So far I've managed to escape being hit by your fifty (50!!!) BBs, though it's not through any fault of yours. I just seem to be in a weird place reading-wise.

Hope your weekend is off to a good start!

>182 Storeetllr: Happy May 1999, Mary (you enable my denial, I'll enable yours)! Lots more writing than I suspected I'd get done after pneumonia struck. I'm rather pleased with that...though there was a serious deficit in my reading, as I only finished two books. January will be a scramble...

I hope reading returns to a better place for you very soon. Enjoy the lovely fall!

>174 richardderus: OK, that one's going on my wishlist. Happy November, RD!

>184 atozgrl: Excellent, Irene! I hope you'll really enjoy the object.

>174 richardderus: Oh my goodness!!!!!!!!! I am just about totally charmed by the book. HOWEVER ---- I have a raft of Austen-alia unread, so it won't be hard to wait until cheaper, used copies show up. I think this is one that I'd want in real book form.

Thank you, Richard! *smooch*

>174 richardderus: Oh my goodness!!!!!!!!! I am just about totally charmed by the book. HOWEVER ---- I have a raft of Austenalia unread, so it won't be hard to wait until cheaper, used copies show up. I think this is one that I'd want in real book form.

Thank you, Richard! *smooch*

>174 richardderus: wow that book looks like quite the gift that would keep on giving! A cornucopia of lush imagery and pithy points, by the looks.

Dropping off weekend smooches and glad to hear you're feeling more up to snuff.

RD, you may be interested to know that your threads have now passed 5,000 posts this year. This one is post 5,008.

>187 LizzieD: I won't urge it on you, this one's pricey...but a used copy, or a donation to Horrible's book sale, will show up. I found the electronic form serviceable. Tree book version would be lovely I'm sure because that is clearly how it's meant to be used.

*smooch*

>188 LovingLit: A great way to describe it, Megan! Hope one casts up in Aotearoa soon.

>189 MickyFine: Thank you, Micky, it feels wonderful to be able to breathe again. *smooch*

>190 PaulCranswick: Wow! That's busy thread time indeed. It felt busy to me but I can easily be fooled by outside factors. Thanks for the heads up, PC!

‘Morning, RDear! Happy Sunday to you.

>186 LizzieD: I also have a raft of Austen-alia on my shelves, unread. I’m going to ask my sister for this for Christmas unless, as you mention in >191 richardderus:, it shows up as a donation.

>191 richardderus: You’re not wrong about it possibly showing up as a donation. If so, I’ll definitely pull it, possibly for Peggy, possibly for me.

*smooch*

>195 karenmarie: I'm guessing the destinee of that future donation will depend on Laura's Yule performance....

Fallen-back Sunday orisons! *smooch*

>174 richardderus: Oh dear -- sounds like another one for my bookshelf!!

>197 RebaRelishesReading: *happy dance*

I'm delighted to know its appeal is so broad, Reba.

>198 richardderus: I just ordered it.

>199 RebaRelishesReading: *happier happy dance*

>190 PaulCranswick: How did you manage that Richard? I mean, it's echoingly empty in here.

>201 humouress: It's true...no one bothers to come visit...it's all sock puppets and illusions...*mournful sigh of abandonment*

Morning, Richard. A fine time with Jack & Co over the weekend. We didn't get back until late yesterday afternoon. Bree and Jack may spend the night here tonight, so I can take him to school tomorrow .A double dose. Yah!

I didn't read a lick yesterday but I am really enjoying Barry Hannah. This guy sure could write!!

Glad you are on the mend RD, hope the energy levels return soon.

From your previous thread: I love ‘Who Do You Think You Are’. Always something fascinating. I’ve watched a few of the US versions (which are half the length but still have some interesting stories).

>203 msf59: Excellent, a double header of kid-fun! I don't recall ever reading anything by Barry Hannah, so I'll look forward to hearing more about him.

>204 Caroline_McElwee: Oh gosh, Caro, I am so thrilled to be as well as I am...I'm steadily improving the energy supply my making relatively few demands on it but keeping up my steps. I can do those here in my room and stop when I need to.

Ancestry does Our DNA Journey on YouTube as well as the BBC's older show. It's fun too!

‘Morning, RDear! Happy EST Monday to you. Grrrr.

All the usual things here at the house. No Trevor today. He’ll be here on Wednesday.

*smooch* from your favorite sock puppet

299 Xolo by Donna Barba Higuera (illus. Mariana Ruiz Johnson)

Rating: 5* of five

The Publisher Says: It is said the mighty feathered serpent god, Quetzalcoatl, helped create the earth. He is the hero who stole back the bones of humanity from the evil god of the Underworld. In his quest to bring humans to the earth, Quetzalcoatl's dog-headed twin brother, Xolotl, was present. Not much is known of Xolotl, the god of lightning, death, and misfortune. A monster.

This is what really happened.

From Newbery Medalist Donna Barba Higuera comes a singular twist on the Aztec myth of the origin of man—and man's best friend—illustrated throughout with stunning full-color art from Mariana Ruiz Johnson.

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

My Review: A wonderful read (literally...full of wonders), a corrective to the more triumphal tellings of Quetzalcoatl's origin story, and a gorgeous object to possess.

It's a long one, by page count; it isn't a text-forward read, though. It occupies a middle ground I didn't realize existed, long page count made up of a narrative told in sequential graphic art but with some text. It's a step between a picture book and a graphic novel, aimed squarely at the reluctant reader with its very interesting untold mythological tale of gods and lightning.

Here is the story's genesis explained by author and illustrator:


I was enchanted from the get-go.

I want to schmoozle his doggie-god ears!



Gods need mom-hugs, too!

The story goes on from here, obviously, but it is a real book-length affair. I had a gracious plenty of art to choose from...Levine Querido is very generous...so I've looked through it a couple times and selected a few to demonstrate the feel of the project.

I strongly recommend all grands and parents think about this as a #Booksgiving gift for their story-loving descendants; their boys who seem more reluctant to engage with text; their mythology soakers; and not least themselves. I hope and expect it will teach any of us more about the Indigenous myths our Anglophone schools ignored, as well as pop your eyes out with its beauty.





a particularly effective, emotionally resonant design job; one turns the page to get to the second illustration


text-heavy narrative; sequential-art narrative

I'd go on; I'd love all y'all to see and enjoy the entire book. It's published on 4 November 2025, and this is posted on 3 November 2025 in hopes some will find the joy of the art, the unfamiliar story, and the sheer pleasure of such a work existing will magically spring open their wallets. Order now and you can (carefully) read it yourself before gifting to the kid(s) you love enough to present it to.

Pinkie-promise not to tell.

>207 karenmarie: Morning, sockie-in-chief! How lovely to have a day of nothing-much. Trevor's really earning his sobriquet of "treasure."

I'm content to revert to standard time...I don't get discombobulated like so many probably because I sleep better than most of y'all, and I got nothin' outside me demanding I follow a schedule. *smooch*

>208 richardderus: Oh, you got me good with Xolo! Looks excellent, on all fronts.

Karen O

>210 klobrien2: Oh YAY!! I was on my way over to wart and annoy you to come look at that one, and here you are!

It's a beauty all the way around, Karen O. I'm deeply interested in the Aztec mythos. It's screamingly violent, deeply weird, and so strictly moralistic it feels like the Puritans ought to've been their besties. What a combination! What a worldview/paradigm shift from my own!

300 The tortoise's tale by Kendra Coulter

A promising debut novel with a perceptive tortoise narrator...not cutesy-poo!

Miss one morning, and I'm 25 behind. *sigh*

>195 karenmarie: (I think. It was so long ago that I've forgotten.) Absolutely the first Austen that shows up as a donation is yours, Karen!!!

Xolo looks amazing, but it is not one that calls me. Maybe by the time Maverick, our great-great nephew is old enough to appreciate it, good copies will be reasonable.

I hope you continue to build strength and feel better. I am happy - or I will be - to greet EST. I wish we could just keep it permanently and don't quite understand why this is never mentioned seriously as a choice among decision makers. Oh well. *smooch*

>213 LizzieD: Morning, Peggy! I would be surprised if Xolo was a must-buy for you...it's not exactly in the area, is it? I grew up among the people who spoke the language, at least ancestrally, so got interested early. Maverick might be very glad of one in eight or nine years.

I'm navigating the time changes with ease not apparently that common. Unbothered best describes my feelings about it. The thing itself, defining time a different way, makes me snort derisively...the sun comes up the sun goes down the planet whips hither thither and yon, and we think what we do with the time we have matters?

It is to laugh.

301 You lied to me about God : a memoir by Jamie Marich

Terrific, if muddled, memoir of religious abuse's consequences.

‘Morning, RDear. Happy Wednesday to you. I forgot to come back yesterday after the excitement of book sort, Virlie's, and Arsenal.

>208 richardderus: Gorgeous illustrations, but pass.

>211 richardderus: I’ve always been fascinated by the Aztecs. Violence, weirdness, and being strictly moral – sound anything like most other religions of the world? There are a few exceptions, of course.

>212 richardderus: It actually makes me sad to read about a snatched tortoise. Remarkably Bright Creatures has a snatched Giant Pacific Octopus which I was able to read with pleasure, but I need to pass on the tortoise.

>215 richardderus: …jars me into a different reading style, one where I'm attending less to what is said and more to what might be coming next in terms of narrative voice. Nicely put. The subject matter of the memoir isn’t one I want to read, but, as always, an excellent review.

I just subscribed to Genetically Modified Sceptic and will check it out when I doomscroll tonight.

*smooch*

302 The year of the wind : a novel by Karina Pacheco (tr. Mara Lethem)

Via Graywolf Press, a meditation on responsibility, grief, reconciliation set in strife-riven 80s Peru.

>216 karenmarie: Oh excellent, Horrible, I hope you'll enjoy getting to know Genetically Modified Skeptic. I admire him.

*sigh* No book-bullets...I'm failing yet again...*heavier sigh*

Good Morning, my WBL. Honestly, I'd take a bullet or two, but I just can't. *smooch* though.......

>219 LizzieD: I'd wail piteously, Peggy, but neither of these strike me as stories you need to read. Now, tomorrow...well, you might want to skip visiting let's say.

*smooch*

>215 richardderus: That one sounds like it hits a bit to close to home for me, so I am going to give it a pass.

>217 richardderus: Adding that one to the BlackHole though. Thanks for the review and recommendation, RD!

((Hugs)) and **smooches** for today, dearest.

Sweet Thursday, Richard. Still doing battle with this nasty bug. I do not like being confined. I will try a library run later but that is it. At least I am getting some reading in. You lied to me about God : a memoir sounds quite disturbing and quite relevant.

303 A Complete Fiction by R.L. Maizes

>202 richardderus: Yes. I know the feeling. *cough*

>221 alcottacre: Morning, Stasia! I don't know that you'd gain much from reading >215 richardderus: but certainly think >217 richardderus: would get you interested and involved. *smooch*

>222 msf59: Ugh and boo-hiss All over being ill! After my recent pneumonia troubles, this is all too immediate for me. I hope it gets better instead of worse. Sadly >215 richardderus: is as relevant as ever, maybe moreso, as more idiot laws telling people who they can be and how they can love get passed. I despair of human decency's disappearance from politics.

>224 humouress: In a social whirl such as you inhabit, I can imagine it gets wearing to keep it all moving. I'm glad you come here for some rest and peace amid the silence.

304 Hate: The Uses of a Powerful Emotion by Seyda Kurt

>223 richardderus: Good morning, Richard! A Complete Fiction looks pretty good—I put it on my TBR.

Karen O

'Morning, RDear! Happy Thursday.

Drive by visit... hope you're doing well today.

*smooch*

>229 klobrien2: Good morning indeed, Karen O.! I hope you'll ask your library for it, since I'm eager for lots more people to find it.

>230 karenmarie: Morning, Horrible, it's been a lovely productive day with Old Stuff mostly gone (for what reason I neither know nor care). I've written 1.5/2 reviews this morning with no stress! No blaring babblebox, no whining drunkard...heaven!

*smooch*

Thursday greetings, oh, Generous Dispenser of BBs! I hope you are doing well and enjoying the cold clear weather.

>223 richardderus: Sounds good! I was able to put a tag on it at the library to notify me when they get a copy.

>228 richardderus: I'd like to stand up and say that Love is a more powerful emotion than hate - but these days, you never know.

Going to have a look at the book. Richard. Thanks for the tip

>233 Storeetllr: Mary! It's been lovely, hasn't it...we're in a really agreeably ordinary fall weather pattern, and I ain't mad at it. I hope they get >223 richardderus: soon so you can enjoy Maizes' hmm-worthy tale.

>234 magicians_nephew: It's a very interesting book, Jim, with a trenchant point. I'd love to believe Love has a tiny fraction the motivating power of hate, but nothing in the sweep of history tells me that story.

GBBO THOUGHTS
Episode 8 (quarterfinal) was made up of a Signature Basque Style Cheesecake, with caramelized patches on top of a still-jiggly custardy filling that's not as dense as real cheesecake (invented in the early 1990s by some numskull or other who resented real cheesecake's perfection, explaining why I'd never heard of it until recently) in two and a half hours; the Technical was set by Prue, where the bakers were asked to bake six orange and cardamom steamed upside-down puddings...GLUTEN FREE...drizzled with golden syrup and served with crême anglaise; and for the Showstopper the bakers were given four and a half hours to make a Celebratory Free-Standing Trifle.
Puir wee Iain has left the chat. His 'Christmas Box' Basque Cheesecake had ORANGE!! extract, zest, curd, candied slices, coloring...wow. Accenting the orange overload were some cardamom tuiles, which combo is scrummy. He told Noel that he didn't like the combo, which makes me wonder why he chose it. Sadly his very fiddly-to-unmold cheesecake decided to doom him by splitting. The texture came in for Prue's approval, Paul found it so overoranged as to turn bitter. Even a Technical finish of polished-looking puds for 2nd wasn’t helping. His 'Triflemina' Trifle just wasn't cooperating; the pistachio joconde (drool, per me and Prue, Paul didn't like it) was not like the gorgeous tiles in Sicily as he'd hoped. The layers were separated by cannoli-pastry discs (that they loved), there was a strawberry/marsala jelly, all surmounted by a lemon-flavored jelly-art dome. It looked pretty; tasted like water, per the judges, and nothing else had enough flavor, either. So, Eliminated be our Belfastman.
Then comes this season’s version of Rahul from s8: Jasmine, Star Baker #4 under her belt. The Signature Lime Basque Cheesecake was topped by Fresh Mango on a Passion Fruit mascarpone. It looked very pretty, the colors worked well with the caramelization; but as is inevitable with these fiddly things, she had unmolding ugly spots. A Technical finish of 4th was surprising at first because they looked neater than Aaron's, but they were understeamed and her syrup looked invisible from being undercooked. Showstopping us with a Strawberry and Lemon Trifle made with limoncello-soaked sponges, extra-clear strawberry jelly with no seeds or bits, layers of vanilla bavarois, and topped by lemon-curd crême. Paul and Prue praised the looks effusively, rightly in my eyes, because it was a fancied-up Victoria sandwich. That meant it was truly capable of standing on its own, as required.
***
Aaron is our sole “High”-rated baker…his 'Basque in Sake' Cheesecake was vanilla and nutmeg flavored (yum) and topped by a plum syrup made with the sake he poached plum slices in, and decorated with the slices and dark chocolate curly doodads. The presentation was stellar! Very elegant, the color of the plums stop the really really red syrup, the chocolate curly dinguses...all very handsome. They loved the bake, complimenting both textures and flavors very highly. The dead-last 5th Technical finish looked weirdly shaggy probably from being understeamed. The Showstopper he made was a ‘Trifle Haters' Trifle’ that featured a champagne-flavored jelly (polluted by elderflower, ugh, surrounding beautiful peach slices) to sort of take the curse off a dessert that he hates, calling it diabolical and the pariah of the dessert world. He wrapped a raspberry curd, structural cake rounds with chamomile custard, and peach compote in a decorated white-chocolate collar and topped with his peach-slice jelly. His textures were off, especially the raspberry curd which was sloppy goo. Nothing was the texture it should've been, poor guy, but All the flavors were delightful.
***
Toby being “Safe” really isn’t…it’s the semis next week. His Signature was a White Chocolate and Passion Fruit marbled Basque Cheesecake decorated with tempered white chocolate hemispheres and, interestingly, crispy sugared sage leaves. He got compliments on texture and Prue liked his rich flavor choices but Paul wanted more tang to cut the richness. A worrying 3rd in Technical came down to being unevenly filled in the molds. His presentation and streaming were okay. A Showstopper called 'Nanny Mo's' Sherry Trifle with (ick) elderflower syrup jelly ornamental blobs with a poinsettia design shoved into it (can you tell I'm not impressed?)...layers of sherry-soaked sponge cake, strawberry jam, and a set vanilla custard inside a very pretty decorated-for-Yule joconde collar. It got a bit out of round from sitting before judging, not a great sign for a *free-standing* trifle. Sadly his jelly art barely survived unmolding. Paul felt less cake and more crême might've helped since the cake was overbaked.
***
Tom is “LOW?!” What mad universe is this? A Signature ‘Black Sesame & Lemon Curd Basque Cheesecake’ was really very black indeed. It had black colored cheesecake flavored with black sesame, black-colored tuile shards, and a black modeling chocolate lemon sculpture filled with vibrant lemon curd and surrounded by blackberries. I thought it looked awful, dismal; it was meant to be sophisticated and elegant. They concurred that it was more exciting to look at than to eat...ow. Technical in 1st is…well…expected because everything was spot-on. His Showstopper, 'Greek' Trifle, had layers of almond genoise, soaked in fig liqueur, layered with a fresh-fig Greek yogurt crême mousseline and a honey-based jelly, topped with an olive branch jelly art dome. It sounded fairly revolting to me. Looked a*maz*ing* for sure. Prue cooked and oohed over the look. Paul noted it was pretty huge, hard to serve, which...fair; the thing stood proud after slicing, though. No flavor came through except the almond sponges...there's too little *oomph* in figs to dominate honey and almonds.
And so, on to the pâtisserie semifinal!

Yet another Youtube program of genealogical interest you've steered me to, Richard. Thanks for that. You also got me with a BB for A Complete Fiction.

>238 Familyhistorian: I do my best to ensnare your attention on fun, new-to-you stuff, Meg.

305 Winning the Earthquake: How Jeannette Rankin Defied All Odds to Become the First Woman in Congress by Lorissa Rinehart

St. Martin's Press is recovering the life of a great American in this first-ever in-depth biography of Congresswoman Rankin.

Morning, Richard. Still plodding along here- day 5. At least I am getting plenty of reading in so that is good. I sure miss PB. Hoping for a complete rebound by early next week. Have a good weekend, my friend.

>241 msf59: Hey Birddude! You know you're in sympathetic company here re: recovery. Keep that train chuggin' along no matter what, the stay-well wishes and mojo slam into you for the balance of the year.

>237 richardderus: Yay! Richard’s GBBS review!

Karen O

>243 klobrien2: Today's the Final on Netflix, so I'll be doing my Pâtisserie episode review later, then the Final review tomorrow.

It's been an interesting season once the dull ones got bounced...Aaron's interesting, Tom's got ideas, Toby's been underdogging for weeks, and Jasmine's the execution maven...my bet is she wins. xo

‘Morning, RDear! Happy Friday to you.

>232 richardderus: Yay for a quiet day with no blaring babblebox, no whining drunkard.

>240 richardderus: Excellent review, and I’ll pass for me, but might get friend Karen for Christmas since she's Montana born and bred.

*smooch*

>245 karenmarie: Morning, Horrible, yes indeedy MTKaren might really enjoy it with her interest in ethics and honor. Rankin had those in abundance, and was a real firebrand.

It really frosts my telephone that this monadnock of probity has never been forefronted in any civil-rights struggle I know about. She's been that forgotten. It's shameful. We need her example now more than ever.

Happy Friday, sweetiedarling.

>240 richardderus: You got me with this one, Richard. I was able to borrow the audio from the library and look forward to reading it. I was particularly struck by this from your review:

...there is no better way to stop people from making change than to stop them from knowing about the changes that have already happened.

As the saying goes, the more things change...

>247 Storeetllr: I'm very happy you got interested, Mary, she's an amazing person. I'd like to order up a few thousand more on her design, please, all y'all goddesses.

>225 richardderus: Thanks for the advice, Richard!

>237 richardderus: I watched the final on Netflix this morning, RD. Have you seen it yet?

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

Glad you're having a nice quiet day! Hope it lasts a long time.

GBBO THOUGHTS
The ninth episode was Pâtisserie Week. For the signature challenge, the bakers were given two hours and forty-five minutes to bake twelve cream horns, using rough puff pastry made on a really hot day, filled in two different complementary flavors. For the technical challenge, set by Paul, the bakers were asked to bake a framboisier (fraisier made with raspberries) with a fondant rose and a sugar glass dome. For the showstopper challenge, the bakers were asked to make a macaron centerpiece depicting something meaningful to them, with an edible structure at least forty-five centimetres high and displaying a minimum of thirty filled macarons.
I'm sad that this year's equivalent of S11 Dave Friday, straight boy with modest skills and ordinary ideas who toughed it through by always listening to the judges' feedback, is not in the final. *sigh* Toby's Signature Chocolate/Coffee ganache in a coffee liqueur cream & a Lemon curd inside thyme crême mousseline topped with Meringue Cream Horns were laminated...but slightly underbaked (and Alison ratted him out for using Gordon Ramsay's recipe for rough puff, not Paul's so he was double-doomed). His flavors, classics one and all, got praise for being well executed and he even said, like annoying s12 Maggie did, classics are classic for a reason and he's not one to muck about like Aaron. His dead-last Technical placement in 4th was, realistically, the fatal blow to his hopes AND absolutely fair. It was a slimy unset puddle of crême mousseline, the cakes...well, no need, it was horrific by every measure. Can't come last and last in the semifinal competition. The Showstopper, 'Crate of Lemons' Macaron Centerpiece, was crates of gingerbread covered in chocolate macarons filled with dark-chocolate/hazelnut ganache; displaying lemon-shaped lemon/poppyseed macarons filled with lemon curd/white-chocolate ganache. They all sounded gorgeous; the look was highly praised by the judges; but that Technical apocalypse, and the lemon macarons' flavor didn't stand up to the powerful, good chocolate flavor. Say farewell, it was an amazing run but he's been Eliminated.
Of course, The Anointed aka Jasmine made Star Baker a fifth time...but it was because none of the bakers could be considered for Star Baker due to missteps in the showstopper round and all the boys got considered for elimination. If she does not win the whole thing I will eat one (1) ear of corn. I'm that confident. The Signature Mocha crême diplomat around a core of dark chocolate ganache & Raspberry crême diplomat around a white chocolate/pistachio ganache in her Cream Horns got a muttered "pistachio again" from grumpus von Hollywood. The judges praised her neat-looking presentation (which I thought was Leslie-level boring) and excellent pastry filled with good flavors well judged and balanced. The Technical finish in 1st came because her framboisier held up...proper crême mousseline in that heat!, her execution was very neat, and her decorative flower was flawless...despite the complete absence of a sugar dome over the flower. Her Showstopper, 'Christmas Tree' Macaron Centerpiece was made from gingerbread, and decorated with raspberry/dark-chocolate ganache...nary a pistachio for once. The judges had nothing bad to say.
***
Aaron ranked HIGH this time, and really is Jasmine's sole remaining competitor. His Signature of 'Puddings Reimagined' Cream Horns, were really interesting: he made a very simple vanilla mascarpone cream to go around a cherry/nectarine compôte, and a chocolate/caramel ganache surrounding a lemon/bay leaf jam. Both judges noted how well he presented them, though Prue commented she was more interested in looking at them than eating them because the fillings were melting out...it was 85° I'm amazed they didn't all need soup bowls! Still, they praised the pastry's bake and his out-there flavors, take THAT Toby! In Technical, he was 3rd because his crême mousseline was sloppy, though he was the only one who managed a (thick, opaque) sugar dome. The Showstopper was a 'Sloth' Macaron Centerpiece that used a sugar-cookie sloth-shaped structure inspired by his boyfriend's slothlike slouching (doomed relationship red flag hoisted), covered in macarons filled with grapefruit/mint ganache, yuzu/pear ganache, and salted popcorn ganache. The judges were complimentary on flavors but his macarons weren't domed, were chewy, and many were unfilled.
***
Tom, with one Star Baker, four appearances on HIGH, has only been SAFE until this week's LOW performance. His Signature was Dark Chocolate mousse around clementine curd & Lemon/cream cheese crême diplomat around Raspberry jelly Cream Horns, and they were slightly underbaked therefore under-laminated; his flavors were pronounced good, and Paul praised the way he presented the cream horns. A Technical finish in 2nd was deserved as his crême mousseline held up, but his cakes were slightly drier than Jasmine's. He made 'The Beehive' Macaron Centerpiece for Showstopping, and he started with a huge challenge: a twelve-kilo chocolate structure of a beehive! supporting bee-shaped macarons filled with mango ganache and mango/lemon sauce, and half with salted-chocolate ganache with a sour-cherry gel...waaaaaaaaay ambitious. Prue was complimentary about the drama of the presentation...Paul said, and I agree, this was macaroni week and most of Tom's effort went into the chocolate structure leaving the cute li'l bees pretty much childishly painted and the macarons themselves not well-executed. It was a chocolate week presentation in Pâtisserie week. He worked so hard. He thought it through. And he got a real kicking because he misaimed. I was so hurt for him.
Final episode report tomorrow!

>249 alcottacre: Nope on the Final. I needed to write up Pâtisserie week first. I guarantee I know who won, though: Jasmine.

*smooch*

>250 RebaRelishesReading: It won't last much past 3pm, but that'll do me fine. My ear-drops are really working well to clear up the last lingering deafness, so I'm very very happy indeed!

Congratulations on good ears again, Richard! YAY!!!

I can't read Patisserie Week without drooling, so I stopped.

I'm such an American. I knew Jeannette Rankin's name and had no idea why. I'll have to see how much my big women's suffrage book has on her. *smooch*

>254 LizzieD: I'm pleased with the improvement of my hearing. Patisserie this week was pretty durned drool worthy...I do enjoy macarons, and the bakers were creative with their nummy fillings.

Rankin was a really interesting person, worth knowing more about. Maybe your library could get it for you? *smooch*

306 A ruin, great and free : a novel by Cadwell Turnbull

I was very very pleased when Author Turnbull sent me a lovely thank-you note for my blogged review, calling it "wonderful."

>252 richardderus: I'm not telling. . .

>256 richardderus: I still have yet to read book 1 in the Convergence Saga! My local library is letting me down there.

>257 alcottacre: I'll know for certain in about 12hrs, so no need. (I'm really sure I'm correct.) The Kindle version's cheap...might be time to overcome your disdain....

I wish you a fabulous weekend. Smooches from over the pond.

>259 Ameise1: Thanks, Barbara! I send smooches back. I'm pretty sure you'll have a fabulous weekend because, hey, Switzerland is always happy right?

Happy Saturday, Richard. Do you get Netflix? If so, check out Death by Lightning. Great cast. Great story. Only 4 eps, so perfect. Enjoy your day.

‘Morning, RDear! Happy Saturday to you.

>256 richardderus: Pass, am glad Turnbull sent you a thank you for your review.

I didn’t get much sleep last night, and am going to go back upstairs to nap ‘til Arsenal plays at 12:30.

*smooch*

>261 msf59: Morning, Mark! I've got it queued up for when I finish Dept. Q later this weekend. I'm glad someone finally saw how good Millard is at setting scenes. Feel better.

>262 karenmarie: Oh dear, that's not good. I hope the nap helps, or Arsenal will be playing behind a veil for you.

I was really chuffed that he read and enjoyed my review! *smooch*

GBBO THOUGHTS
It's the final!!
The last Signature was 12 Filled and Iced Finger Buns, six each of different flavors and decoration styles in two hours forty-five minutes.
The Technical, set by Prue, was making a tower of very decorative pink-to-white ombre effect White Chocolate-frosted and Lemon curd-filled madeleines made with beurre noisette *drool* and filled with lemon curd in their characteristic humps, in two hours and fifteen minutes.
The Showstopper was a Table Cake, a thing I was sure they totally made up in production meeting one boring Wednesday, that was actually a really highly decorated any-flavor centerpiece cake at least four feet long (!!!) in four and a half hours. What a way to find out what kind of lessons the bakers have learned! Also, and more than anything else a stressor, is this is the very first time in sixteen seasons that the final has rested on ONE AND ONLY ONE bake.
Jasmine won, naturally, though I must admit she earned it. Her Signature Iced Finger Buns were pretty boring…but as we were reminded in voiceover, her bread-week win was An Omen. The buns were Apricot jam-filled and topped with a white-chocolate crême diplomat & Strawberry jam-filled and topped with lemon cream. Total yawner flavors (not to mention her colored water/lemon juice icing, unspeakably dull), very well executed. A dead-last Technical finish of 3rd was perfectly reasonable, the whole thing looked *awful* and there weren’t the required number on display.
Came the Showstopper, hers a 'Summer Celebration' Table Cake and was it celebratory! Cardamom sponges top and bottom around a raspberry/almond sponge, sandwiching lemon/mascarpone cream, all iced to look like a long flower planter decorated in vanilla swiss-meringue buttercream, and did it look special. The sponges were versions of previously successful ones and they did her proud, perfectly baked and delicious to eat; presented with very lovely decorations.
Aaron’s Signature Iced Finger Buns had Pear and yuzu compôte filling with hazelnut crême mousseline & strawberry/rhubarb jam-filled ones topped with vanilla crême mousseline, that accompanied his enriched-dough fingers (“basically a really light brioche” in his words) that were absolutely *gorgeous* looking, but slightly underproved so a bit too hard. *I* liked his water-icing racing stripes beside the crême mousseline. His Technical finish was doom…2nd when you’re up against two handshakes (one in a Showstopper!) and five Star Baker awards (!!) isn’t good enough, plus his chocolate decoration was slapdash, and he rammed way too much curd into his flat madeleines.
His Showstopper of a 'Final Tea Party' Table Cake used darjeeling tea as a flavoring *shudder* in both the sponge and in the apricot compôte he filled his layers with; frosted in a green-ombre toasted-milk flavored american buttercream (aka regular ol’ buttercream) and decorated florally…but then Honorius the Baking God lowered the boom and he broke a mixing bowl full of batter and had to remake an entire half of his bake. As a result his presentation was absolutely awful…awkward, clumsy, not at all like Aaron. The cakes were dry, shocker when he had to remake half the batter, and Paul didn’t think the flavor was powerful enough. They could, unlike usual complaints when tea-flavored sponges get judged, taste the darjeeling.
Tom, whose start was so strong, faded and faded. The Signature Iced Finger Buns were Piña Colada icing atop a pineapple gel-filled bun slathered in coconut crême pat with a rum-spiked Piña Colada, & a lemon iced one with a peaches-and-cream-cheese Hot Dog as filling that had crispy candied nuts in place of the onions. His dough was not terribly cooperative, sadly, and that’s the heart of an iced bun innit. My heart broke for him as he clocked the irrecoverable mistake he’d made, carried on, and prevailed over his terrible anxiety issues and impostor syndrome. His partner, George, was so heartfelt in his admiration for Tom that I teared up like an old softie. I thought his Technical finish in 1st might’ve buoyed him up, since his madeleines themselves were excellent…but that chocolate ganache was not ombre at all….And then his Showstopper, 'All Roads Lead To The Tent' Table Cake, revisited his Pastry Week showstopper flavors…raspberry chiffon sponge soaked in raspberry/basil syrup around raspberry-studded mango/passion-fruit ganache…to redeem that failure. He decorated the cake with a frosting in a mossy look, a white-chocolate path (for his journey to the tent) ending at a raspberry/basil jelly molded to look like the iconic opening-titles cake! They both loved the cake and liked the presentation, but you can’t come back from the first error he made on putting citric acid into the buns’ dough.
Season seventeen is next, and I can't wait.

Dropping off weekend smooches and hoping you're not feeling too bereft without more GBBO to watch.

>266 MickyFine: *smooch*

My next GBBO fix will be the Holiday specials after Turkey Day at the end of the month. Not too long a drought, though after that it feels like for-bloody-ever! Last season was so dismally dull I wanted to give up several times. This season was ever so much more interesting, refreshed challenges, that sorta stuff. I feel really relieved the last season was just a slump, not a tocsin.

>265 richardderus: I cannot wait either now that I have gotten hooked on it. I have now watched all of the holiday specials too.

'Morning, RD! Happy Sunday to you.

i got more sleep last night. I need to go to the grocery store some time today, but other than that will read, putter, and nap.

*smooch*

Monday *smooch* Richard.

Happy Monday Richard! It’s a snow filled one here. Hope yours is a little warmer

Morning, Richard. Waking up to more snow on the ground. It couldn't hold off another month? I finished Death by Lightning. That was one series, that could have used 2 more episodes but it was still very good. A great slice of unknown American history. I still think it was doubtful they threw around the "F" word like there was no tomorrow. Even Garfield's wife spews it out.

>269 karenmarie: Monday *smooch*, sweetiedarling. Your Sunday plans sound happier than mine were...see first review below.

>270 vancouverdeb: Monday orisons, Deborah! It's a doctor day for me...a trip to East Rockaway for the dermatologist.

*smooch*

>271 figsfromthistle: Monday orisons, Anita! It's cold and damp here but I haven't seen snow. I'm going out in it, too, so YUCK. Happier days ahead....

>272 msf59: Cussin' like sailors, were they? That's kinda weird, nothing in Millard's book suggests that was a thing. Gotta make it Hollywood, I guess. (I really wish they wouldn't.)

307 Fateful Hours : The Collapse of the Weimar Republic by Volker Ullrich (tr. Jefferson Chase)

WW Norton brings out this timely political analysis of a difficult transition.

308 Pantomime (Micah Grey #1) by Laura Lam

Reissuing an indie-fantasy series from DAW Books.

309 Shadowplay (Micah Grey #2) by L. R. Lam

Reissuing an indie-fantasy series from DAW Books.

>277 richardderus: Thank you for the recommendation of that one, Richard. It sounds right up my alley. I will have to see if I can locate a copy.

((Hugs)) and **smooches** for today and hopes that you have a marvelous Monday!

‘Morning, RD! Happy Monday to you.

>274 richardderus: I hope the dermatologist appointment goes well.

>277 richardderus: Your review is amazing, thank you. I just checked the book out. It’s due for release tomorrow, at full price for both the hard cover AND Kindle editions. Onto the wish list it goes.

>278 richardderus: I’ll pass on this and the next book in the series, because … circuses… clowns… Irrational, I know.

*smooch*

>280 alcottacre: I hope you get a copy of the new edition soon, Stasia. It's been revised from the original. *smooch*

>281 karenmarie: My goodness, Horrible! No need to explain about coulrophobia! The one thing I'll say is there are no clowns just freaks and people doing physical comedy.

Hmmm. I see you haven't gone out for your appointment yet, my WBL. I hope it's quick and easy and that you get back inside and settle down quickly and easily too. We've had such a wonderful two months that I hate to see them end. I don't love cold weather, and I can no longer tolerate heat ...... leaves me in an unenviable position.
I'll keep my eyes peeled for the Weimar book. Looks like hard reading, but I appreciate your review. *smooch*

>284 LizzieD: Yes, I went at 10a...I'm back now, and returning there on the 17th. Weimar Germany is never gonna be a fluffy little bagatelle to read. I'm confident most would rather eat toenail clippings than push into the horrors of rising fascism but it's really very interesting to see how much is self-inflicted damage.

It's mizzling and chilly, which is just unpleasant. I'd rather have Birddude's snow!

Hey RD, stopping by to say Hey.

Also, when I started reading Cartoons, you had expressed some interest. Do you want my copy, it was good and weird? I know you're carpally challenged some times and stick to digital, but if you want paper, I'm happy to send it to you.

>286 mahsdad: Thank you, Jeff, I'm not up to having tree books at the moment. I really appreciate the offer!

New thread is up here:

https://www.librarything.com/topic/375240