richardderus's second 2026 thread

I'm ready.

𝗠𝗔𝗥𝗞 𝗥𝗢𝗧𝗛𝗞𝗢, Untitled, 1968
Oil on paper mounted on canvas
Pace Gallery, London
Photo by Chris Weekes

I'll keep up this image of a Rothko that evokes my sense of peaceful hope, optimism, and faith in humanity. I wish all of those things to every living one of us. No matter who; no matter where; no matter what.

THIS THREAD'S REVIEWS
011 There's no point in dying in post #11.
012 Hyper in post #54.
013 This is where the serpent lives in post #61.
014 Winter : the story of a season in post #109.
015 George Falls Through Time: A Novel in post #132.
016 The runaways in post #144.
017 The Readers' Room in post #149.
018 An Astronomer in Love in post #152.
019 The shutouts : a novel in post #157.
020 Your name here in post #184.
021 Of Monsters and Mainframes in post #186.
022 Red Is My Heart in post #285.

All previous Burgoine reviews linked here.

THIS THREAD:
#001 Evenings and Weekends in post #155.
#002 Grown Ups in post #156.
#003 Amphibian in post #160.
#004 The Cartographer of Absences: A Novel in post #189.
#005 Ghosted: A History of Ghost Hunting, and Why We Keep Looking in post #227.
#006 Mega Milk: Essays on Family, Fluidity, Whiteness, and Cows in post #229.
#007 No Rest for the Wicked in post #230.

All previous Pearl Rule reviews linked here.

THIS THREAD:
#001 Joyride: A Memoir (51%) in post #165.
#002 The Last American President: A Broken Man, a Corrupt Party, and a World on the Brink (40%) in post #188.

Seriously...not a great venue for normies here.
My 2025 in review.

2026 GOALS
I won't be focusing attention on the number of books I've read, or any of the rest of the numbers game, because it feels like bragging. I have none of the pressures on me that normal people have. I've got my datastick of notes from reads as much as thirteen years old, never written into reviews for any number of reasons. I have a huge hoard of rage at the kakistocracy fueling a desire to do something, a disability that doesn't allow that something to be kinetic, and so I write.

It's what I can do, so it's what I will keep doing until ICEstapo starts coming for domestic enemies of the kakistocracy. Emptying that data stick of the backlog of more-or-less coherent notes taken might last me the year, if I get even close to 2025's levels of success in writing away my emotional pain. My reviewing schedule for 2026 will begin on the second...there will be hashtag events during the year that I'll announce the weekend before they begin...I still won't post reviews on Tuesdays (traditional book-release day in the US) until publishing slows down the new-books firehose in December as #Booksgiving hots up. The most exciting books of 2025's reading were translations so I'm definitely continuing my focus on reading translated literature in 2026.

Since the entirety of 2026 is looking politically unstable, I'm making a point to review books that treat that instability as a chance to reflect on how we got here, so we can get out...and stay out. I'm not a bit sure anyone will enjoy it. It is urgent not to lose sight of the reality that our right to read and think and behave like, about, and what we think is best is very much under attack. 6870 times in the 2024-2025 school year alone. Guess whose identities were targeted most often. "Books by authors of color, by LGBTQ+ authors, by women. Books about racism, sexuality, gender, history. PEN America pushes back against censorship and the intolerance and exclusion that undergird it." I recommend joining PEN America to support a key player in the fight to oppose and reverse the school bans.

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1Q26 coming 31 March 2026.

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.
My Last Thread of 2025 Is Here:
Reviews are back-linked there.

See >5 richardderus: for 2025 achievements & 2026 goals, and quarterly wrap-ups. Special hashtag events in >8 richardderus: .
Monthly wrap-up posts to be linked below. 2025's wrap-ups are back-linked here.

GBBO and other special hashtaggie projects will be linked here.

2026 #ShortStoryMonth
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2026 #PrideMonth
#PrideMonth wrap-up
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#WITMonth explainer is here.
#WITMonth wrap-up
***
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GBBO THOUGHTS
Season 16 back-links here.

I'll go with it being okay to post now. Welcome, and happy 2026. I forgot to mention: I'm out of juice on the crowns, so it's being retired to avoid retreads.
***
All my six-stars-of-five reads since I first said I wanted to give a book six stars of five for being a perfect read in 1994. I've started the list with 2013 to coincide with the launch of my blog.

1994. MONTANA 1948...the original; the perfect read!

1. THE SONG OF ACHILLES


2. MATTERHORN


3. EUROPE IN AUTUMN


4. MARGARET THE FIRST


5. MISSIONARY


6. CIRCE


7. BLACK LIGHT


8. YOU EXIST TOO MUCH


9. COVE


10. KIBOGO


11. THE WORDS THAT REMAIN


12. GLORIOUS EXPLOITS


13. THE REMEMBERED SOLDIER

Your go!

011 There's no point in dying by Francisco Maciel (tr. Bruna Dantas Lobato)

>1 richardderus: Happy new one, Rdear. Great quote 😃. Smooch

Happy New Thread, Richard dear. *smooch*

>12 Ameise1: Thanks, Barbara! 'Tis, 'tisn't it?

>13 ronincats: Morning, Roni, happy to see you here!

‘Morning, RDear! Happy new thread and happy Monday to you.

>1 richardderus: Me, too.

>8 richardderus: That still cracks me up.

>9 richardderus: I loved seeing the crowns, but completely understand I'm out of juice on the crowns, so it's being retired to avoid retreads.

I have two on my shelves, and have read another.

*smooch*

Happy new one!

You could always give us more weird Jell-o molded salads instead of crowns.

>18 benitastrnad: Curses! If you do that, my WBL, THAT will be the time I luck into a first. (If you do that, I will be careful NOT to luck into a first.) In fact, you don't necessarily have to do anything. We feel welcome!

Happy New Thread, Richard. I love that Rothko. I have some GC $ left, and I'm thinking hard about getting a used copy of the 50 reproductions. If that's one of them, it may just tip me over.

O.K. Now I'm on pins and needles again. Hope can be an uncomfortable place. *smooch*

Salutations on your new thread, dear fellow.

Happy new-fangled thread, Richard!

Karen O

Happy new thread! Love the dolphins...

Happy New Thread, Richard! 🧵

>16 karenmarie: Hi Horrible! Happy to see you here. As soon as >8 richardderus: stops making me smile, I'll replace it. No sign of that happening today.

Sunny Monday orisons! *smooch*

>17 katiekrug: Thanks, Katie!

>18 benitastrnad: *ew* I'd put out retread crowns before that!

>19 LizzieD: o worries, Peggy, I'm far too squicked out by jello in general to perpetrate that kind of crime against good taste.

Good! You'll enjoy the book, promise. Hoping isn't lethal, it feels like it ought to be. *sigh*

>20 PaulCranswick: Thanks, PC!

>21 klobrien2: Thank you, Karen O.!

>22 drneutron: They're really funny aren't they? Thank you.

>23 vancouverdeb: Many thanks, Deborah!

Happy new thread, Richard!

Happy new thread Richard!

Happy Monday, Richard. Happy New Thread. May good news be right around the corner. 🙏

>32 atozgrl: Thanks, Irene!

>33 swynn: Most appreciative, Steve!

>34 msf59: Your keyboard ↠ ↠ ↠ ↠ ↠ ↠the goddesses' inbox!

Finally made it over. Happy new thread!

>38 figsfromthistle: Hi Anita! Welcome and thanks.

Hi Richard. Look at me, chiming in before the 50th post in your new thread. :-)

I have no news since my post yesterday. xo

Just checking in to say happy new thread!

Adding my Happy New Thread wishes + happy Tuesday! Love the topper and the Rothko. I‘ve been looking for a print last year for my living room, but couldn’t decide. So many great ones, for different moods, different days..

Happy new thread, Richard!

Driving by honking the horn and waving with a "HAPPY NEW THREAD" banner flapping from the car antenna

>42 Deern: Merry Tuesday, Nathalie!

>43 Familyhistorian: Thank you, Meg, good to see you here.

>44 magicians_nephew: I *wondered* where that '54 Packard came from....

'Morning, RDear. Happy hoping-for-good-news Tuesday to you.

All digits crossed.

*smooch*

>48 karenmarie: Thanks, Horrible. I'm trying to convince myself they're not being amused by my situation and plotting how to ruin it by rejecting me.

No news is simply no news, neither good nor bad, and there are others meeting with them to get places too....

*smooch*

Saluting this, your second thread of the year. I've actually read four books this year. The first was The 6:41 to Paris, a book you rated pretty highly, so thanx for the bb. Contemplating some sort of description/review of the First Four.

May your wishes come true.

Just checking in. We can wait for YES, and I won't even say the other word. *smooch*

>50 weird_O: Keep it up, Bill, and seventy-five will whoosh past in March! I'm very glad you enjoyed 6:41 as well as I did. It's always fun to carve another notch in my bibliorifle!

Thanks!

>51 LizzieD: I spoke to my therapist today, and you'll never guess what we talked about.

Yes, of course you're correct...the illegal and unconscionable politically motivated investigation into Jerome Powell that felonious yam has ordered! I mean, is there anything else on the US citizen's radar?! (She did reassure me that forty-eight hours was not a long time for them to make a big decision.)

*impatient sigh*

012 Hyper by Agri Ismaïl

I got distracted and didn't have a chance to circle back to people replying to my comments in the first thread. Oh well, sorry about that. I hope you are well.

>55 richardderus: That is an evocative and on point political cartoon. I have not reached out to my friends in the Twin Cities yet. I imagine they are quite busy this week.

You Exist too Much and Montana 1948 (already read) could make my reading list this year! (Not that I have one, but you catch my drift.)

Happy new thread - ommigosh, so fast.

>56 justchris: It's really easy to do in the busy-ness of the new year, Chris. No worries, and thanks!

I'm afraid this will become our new norm.

>57 LovingLit: Oh yay! You Exist Too Much really packed a wallop for me, hearing my own life told by a young Palestinian lesbian was a bit...odd. I hope they work for you when you (re)read them. Glad to see you here!

‘Morning, RDear! Happy Wednesday to you.

>54 richardderus: I’m not a fan of Zadie Smith and etc., so will pass.

>55 richardderus: *sob*

*smooch*

013 This is where the serpent lives by Daniyal Mueenuddin

>60 karenmarie: Morning, Horrible! Wednesday...no word...*sigh*

I wish >55 richardderus: would become a rallying image for resisters to organize the hoi polloi around.

"I can't breathe" should've done that, too. Well it didn't. So there we are. Anyway. *smooch*

>61 richardderus: Must look out for that one, RD. I really liked his short story collection.

>63 PaulCranswick: Bloomsbury's likely to be shipping it to y'all since they're the UK publisher, PC. Is Kino most likely to carry their list?

>61 richardderus:
This book is getting lots of publicity and attention. I think that is because so many people don't know anything about Pakistan, other than it is where Ben Ladin was found. If a reader has been reading some of the literature coming from Pakistan and India nothing in this book would be a surprise. In fact, it wasn't until I saw it listed on the NPR and the Washington Post Most Anticipated Books lists, that I finally, and reluctantly, put it on my TBR list. I am not sure I will ever read it, because I think there are other titles coming from that area that interest me more, but, in case, I have it in the long list of TBR's.

I do appreciate your comments on it. You confirmed what I suspected without me having to read the book.

FINALLY a bestseller list I can care about! From Publishers Weekly the announcement of the Independent Press Top 40:

The Independent Publishers Caucus, a collective of 117 small and independent publishers, has announced the launch of a new weekly bestseller list in partnership with the American Booksellers Association, creating what organizers say is the first national ranking focused exclusively on independent press titles sold at independent bookstores.

Dubbed the Independent Press Top 40, the new list debuts this Wednesday and offers separate fiction and nonfiction lists of 40 titles each. The intent is to surface popular titles that are typically denied appearances on traditional bestseller lists due to the dominance of Big Five blockbusters.

The new list draws from sales rankings reported by independent bookstores to the ABA—the same methodology the ABA uses for its Indie Bestseller and regional lists—but filtered to include only independent publishers. Updated lists will be published every Thursday and will be available as PDFs and Excel spreadsheets at the IPC website, with direct links to titles on Bookshop.org.

The rest of the press release is here.

Here are links to the lists themselves.
Fiction list
Nonfiction list

>65 benitastrnad: Best possible result, then. I don't think you'd dislike the read, Benita, he's a good sentence-by-sentence writer, but it's not something I'll shove into your cart with an admonition to buy it already.

Happy new(ish) thread, Richard! Strange, I thought I'd posted new thread well-wishes a couple days ago, but no. I must have dreamed it.

>55 richardderus: 💔

>66 richardderus: I've read only one of all the books on those two lists (I See You've Called in Dead, which I really enjoyed), though I do have a couple others on my TBR list (The Gales of November and Culpability. Guess I've got a lot of catching up to do.

{{{BIG HUG}}}

>68 Storeetllr: It's All from indies, so most people won't even have heard of them so you're ahead of the game.
***
I got an email bidding me back to meet the director of the facility next week. I've proposed Monday at 11am. I'm waiting for their response to see if that's a good fit.

Crossed crossables remain crossed, please!

Oh, Monday is SO FAR AWAY! Everything is crossed.

>69 richardderus: Good luck with the waiting and the meeting to come!

>69 richardderus: Oh! A second interview! That sounds like good news! But Monday seems like such a looooong ways away.

All crossables continue to be crossed, Richard. All of the best vibes!

>70 ronincats: It feels like felonious yam ought to be dead by then it's so far away.

>71 msf59: Just the second interview...see >69 richardderus:

>72 justchris: The meeting makes sense, the waiting will cause me A GO NY but, really, whatever it takes.

>73 Storeetllr: I'm always hopeful when someone wants another meeting.

>74 vancouverdeb: Thank you, Deborah!

>66 richardderus: Read 7 on the fiction list and 5 on the non-fiction list.

I also haven't uncrossed anything yet, dear fellow.

>80 PaulCranswick: I'm sorry you'll need to be crossed up a bit longer, then, I forgot the holiday here for MLK Day...I'll be going to see them on Wednesday the 21st at 11.

>76 richardderus: Sorry I missed that one. I take that as good news. 😀

>82 msf59: I'm sure treating it as such! They're obviously not looking for reasons to say "no' or they already would have!

I'm still crossed and if it goes past Monday, I might end up staying that way, as my mother used to warn me... but seriously, if they were going to outright say no, they wouldn't be requesting a second in-person interview to do that, would they?

I'm really happy that I checked here now and found some good news. I think it has to be good. They wouldn't burden the director with somebody they didn't want, would they? *smooch**smooch**smooch*

>69 richardderus: Well that sounds like good news! Crossables are all crossed.

Happy (belated) New Thread! 🧵

I too think a second meeting sounds like good news. I hope so anyway. Still keeping everything crossed for you, RD.

Keeping crossables crossed and wishing the very best for the second interview! Have a lovely Thursday :)

Do you need any references? I am ready to gush about how wonderful you are -- just give them my name!!!

‘Morning, RDear! Happy Wednesday to you.

>61 richardderus: Pass, but this sentence can be applied to the US: … the extraordinary proximity of extreme wealth to extreme poverty in a land where fate is determined by class and social station.

For someone who doesn’t particularly like poetry, I am amused by the first sentence of your review.

>69 richardderus: Oooh, meeting the director next week!!! Definitely good that they want you to meet her/him. I do hope they like Monday at 11. The sooner the better. This waiting makes me cross, so to speak. All crossed crossables are remaining crossed.

*smooch*

Happy new thread, Richard!

>66 richardderus: I found out about this yesterday and printed out some copies to have up by the new fiction in our library. I especially love that it gives a top 40 and includes a lot of backlist titles.

Sending best wishes for Wednesday!

>84 jessibud2: "You'll get stuck that way!" I always wondered where All the ones who "got stuck that way" were...Thanks for risking being the first.

>85 LizzieD: I'm pleased to be asked, and would like it to be successful, but wonder what the point was...having me come there TWICE seems excessive. Still, dig we must. *smooch*

>86 Copperskye: Thanks, Joanne, I could use good news.

>87 SilverWolf28: Thank you, Silver!

>88 atozgrl: Wow, another one risking getting stuck that way! Thanks, Irene!

>89 Deern: Thanks, Nathalie!

>90 Berly: Oh dear..."I've met him, that toxic creep should be kept away from Humanity" I'm sure it would say...but I'll keep that in my back pocket. O.o

*smooch*

>91 karenmarie: It's enough hopeful that I'm finding it easy to stay less anxious. I've heard from them, and Cathy had enough interest in what they said to ask me back.

Are you, Madam, accusing me of committing Poetry?! And in my own thread...! I refute this calumny on my curmudgeonly honor!

Monday didn't work, it's a holiday, so now it's Wednesday the 21st.

>92 bell7: Isn't >66 richardderus: delightful? I hope they keep it up. I'm pretty uninterested in the other bestseller lists. Thanks for the boost! *smooch*

Grammar Girl did a video with the etymonline creator! It's really interesting:
https://youtu.be/Nswr96XGt7k?si=LCX8bLGSTDvO6GKu

>54 richardderus: Well, that sounds good.

>55 richardderus: Just wow. That is a very powerful "cartoon." And so spot on. Heartbreaking and enraging.

>69 richardderus: EVERYTHING is crossed!!!!

>104 EBT1002: So glad you liked >54 richardderus:, Ellen, May it please you if/when you read it.

I'm going to hope my way to next Wednesday. I get more and more disgusted by the alcohol and cigarette reek of...well, let's just say I *need* a change.

Seven Dials on Netflix was silly, convoluted, pretty, and fairly fun. The novel was not good; the adaptation could launch Bundle and Battle as a crime-solving team if Chibnall gets lucky. I was no fan of his Doctor Who tenure but Broadchurch had its moments. He'd be off the Christie reservation so the silly purists would get less attention for their endless moans about perfection. I will watch if they make more.

A second interview sounds hopeful, Richard, but still, the suspense is hard to take - triply so for you probably!

>107 Familyhistorian: It's 23° here, windy, and the room's freezing...I'm ready to be magically translated to my own space now! I'm not sure I want to wait for them to invite me. I'll just show up and say "I'm here! Where do I put my stuff?"

*sigh*

014 Winter : the story of a season by Val McDermid

'Morning, RDear! Happy Friday.

>108 richardderus: Brrrr. I'm so sorry your room is freezing.

*smooch*

>110 karenmarie: It's a big issue in here because the windows are on the west side, with nothing blocking the wind off the North Atlantic until it gets to the bay All the way over on the other side of the island a mile away.

I hope you're enjoying your Tamsie time at The Belted Goat *chuckle* right now.

I think the second interview sounds very encouraging, Richard. Ifthey are wise, they will chose you.

>109 richardderus: SOLD! I have a real soft spot for Karen Pirie, and I've been looking forward to this one. Glad you found it a treat.

I wish you a wonderful weekend, Rdear, and I'm still keeping my fingers crossed for you. I think it's a very good sign that they want to see you a second time.
By the way, I bought the book I Deliver Parcels in Beijing yesterday and saw that you wrote a wonderful review last year.

>112 vancouverdeb: Very kind of you to say, Deborah. I hope they're monitoring my social media!

>113 laytonwoman3rd: It's weird, Linda3rd, the way this echoed my impression of Karen Pirie as I read McDermid's memories. Very interesting indeed.

>114 Ameise1: Morning, Barbara! I hope you'll get a lot out of Parcels when you read it. I'm pleased you enjoyed my review!

I'm hopeful for this change. I've been eleven years here. It's time!

Happy Saturday, Richard. Frigid weather here the next few days. At least there is no snow in the forecast. Whew!
Hoping good news is coming your way on Monday. 🙏🤞

>118 msf59: I'll hold those fingers in full cross until Wednesday when the meeting got pushed to.

It got colder yesterday, but mostly because of the wind. I'm glad to say that died down! I'm not excited about the act of packing but am ready to move. Don't freeze!

'Morning, RDear! Happy Saturday to you.

Just so you know, I've started Rachel Reid's Game Changer series. I've read the first, with Scott and Kip, and have started the second, with Shane and Ilya. I may actually start watching the series now that I've got the first book under my belt, since it's on HBO Max.

Stay warm!

*smooch*

>109 richardderus:
You would have gotten me with a BB on this one, but I beat you to it. I put it on my TBR list earlier in January. I loved the idea of writing about a season and how that fits into family, friends, and life.

>120 karenmarie: I'm so glad you're getting into the series! I'm innocent of the episodes themselves but the GIFs are ubiquitous and the fans are *voluble* so if I ever get to see them I think it'll feel like a re-watch.

The books aren't identical as you're finding out. I guess that's inevitable. I don't honestly know what drove the changes in this instance, but whatevs. I thought Fançois Arnaud was a good choice for Scott, but the Kip actor left me cold...and I didn't really *get* the chemistry from what I've seen.

Stay cool! *smooch*

Hmmm. I wish the ones with the power of decision were monitoring your social media presence too, Richard! Maybe they are........ If they are,

Greetings, dear Power People. You really, really, really want our Richard in your facility!

>123 LizzieD: *baaawww* Be cautious, Peggy, anyone would think you didn't detest me. *smooch*

‘Morning, RDear! Happy Sunday to you.

>122 richardderus: I’ve now read books 1 and 2 – Scott and Kip, Shane and Ilya. I’ve started the third, which is Ryan Price and Fabian Salah.

Scott’s described as blond but of course François Arnaud isn’t. Kip except he has hazel eyes and dimples. Robbie GK definitely has dimples, but I don't get the chemistry either.

Shane and Ilya, on the other hand...

*smooch*

>125 karenmarie: Shane and Ilya, on the other hand...

*hubba hubba*

I need to...lie down...for a minute....

I'm glad they didn't make Arnaud bleach his hair or put contacts on, but I am endlessly startled the nasty naysaying nellies who usually bray about "that's not right that's not how *I* saw it" are either so diluted in the luuuv being heaped on the show or really just never got launched. It's not usual in today's media landscape. Do you think there are enough people happy to have something that is one in the eye for the MAGAts and h8rs that they're not allowing the shitty ones to break through?

I can only hope so.

From The Guardian:
People of all sorts, M{AGA} Republicans and Mamdani progressives, hipsters in Portland and evangelicals in Arkansas – people who don’t agree about anything – all actually do agree that something is totally wrong with spend{ing} nearly all their time scrolling endlessly through the algorithmic feeds of their social media.
Article here: https://tinyurl.com/vhdnsrfe

>127 richardderus:. 😂. LT doesn’t count, right? Not algorhytmic. Phew.

Happy New Thread, Richard! I’m crossing all crossables for your newest project.

I’ve started Isola. Is this one you’ve liked?

>128 jnwelch: I never read Isola...an abused woman finds faith...I might unswallow my very stomach if I tried. Thanks for the well-wishes!

Ohh, two more days of suspense. Sorry to see you're spending them in the cold, Richard.

>130 Familyhistorian: I'm bearing up *twitch* as best I can, Meg. *flinch* It's ever so fun, as you can imagine.

015 George Falls Through Time: A Novel by Ryan Collett

>132 richardderus: Great review! I got it from NetGalley, too, and hope to get to it before the end of the month.

>133 amanda4242: Thank you! I hope it amuses you as much as it did me.

Just hi and *smooch*

>135 EBT1002: Hi! *smooch*
***

...if anyone's wondering...

>136 richardderus: Too true.

Good morning and all the best for today. Trying to do some extra crossing!

Morning, Richard. I hope you had a good weekend. I thought you would hear something today but I see they moved it to Wednesday. More waiting...

Zero degrees at the moment and it will not rise above single digits for the day. Of course, getting ready to go play PB.

>81 richardderus: I wondered about Monday with it being MLK. Best wishes on the Wednesday interview.

>138 Deern: Thanks, Nathalie, I'll store them up for Wednesday.

>139 msf59: Single digits...my digits are completely locked in response to the thought! Enjoy your PB today and don't freeze.

I'm just a-waitin'....

>140 thornton37814: I'm not in the work world anymore so holidays aren't much on my mind, but it won't make them go away...I'll be eager to see them on Wednesday.

016 The runaways by Fatima Bhutto

I am not even trying to catch up, Richard, but I wanted to thank you for helping keep my thread warm.

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

>145 alcottacre: Hi Stasia! I'm glad to see you! *smooch*

‘Morning, RDear! Happy cold Monday to you.

>126 richardderus: I’m fascinated that the actor who plays Ilya didn’t speak a lick of Russian until this series. I don’t pretend to know if it’s completely accurate, but it’s more than good enough in his gravelly voice for the series.

I did not know that Scott was supposed to be blond because I saw the YouTube shorts before I read the book.

I’m thrilled that a steamy and sexy gay series is on TV. Or tablet. Or… you get the idea. I wonder what they’ll do with the third book if they get that far? Or have they already started? Fabian is not even a hockey player.

I don’t see any homophobia/hate comments about the Game Changers series, but then again, I don’t look. *smooch*

>132 richardderus: Dammit, I was happily planning to pass on this one until I read What could shake you more than being gay, alone, ad then finding a partner and a purpose and a core after being moved through time and meeting a dragon? I’ve added it to my Amazon wish list. It’s coming out tomorrow and is way too expensive for me, but it may show up at the Library, eh?

>136 richardderus: Sigh.

>144 richardderus: Well, no, but it shouldn’t surprise you that I’m not interested in this book.

*smooch*

>147 karenmarie: Morning, Horrible. I do always go looking for the nasty comments because those people can turn into threats quite quickly. Most often they're sock puppets, though often the puppeteers are stupid and leave fingerprints. Heated Rivalry seems to have enough support to've shut the negativity down for now. I wish it would distract the Byler shippers, too, I am so very very very sick of hearing them hate on those scumbag Duffers. They made a blah little show and telegraphed their gross frat-boy homophobia from Day One. You ignored it, shippers, they didn't hide it. Don't blame dirtbags for being full of dirt.

I am unsurprised at your choices re: these latest two books, and think they'll serve your interests well. I hope KU gets George soon.

*smooch*

017 The Readers' Room by Antoine Laurain (tr. Jane Aitken, Emily Boyce, Polly Mackintosh)

>149 richardderus: Ooh, you got me with a BB for The Readers’ Room! Looks pretty darn good!

Happy Martin Luther King Jr. Day!

Karen O

I'm not sure you know how hopelessly I've fallen in love again (when I remember) with contemporary French writers. Anyway, since I can't - or won't - afford *Rs' Room*, I'm this minute downloading French Windows to my Kindle. That should at least count as a Bbb, right?

Meanwhile, I'm doing my best to help you wait for a successful interview Wednesday. (It's true. I don't despise you!) *smooch*

018 An Astronomer in Love by Antoine Laurain (tr. Louise Rogers Lalaurie, Megan Jones)

>150 klobrien2: Oh that's great, Karen O.! I think you're exactly the right reader for this book. It's got so much going on in a tight, compact space, and so much to say about connecting the dots of one's life...great stuff.

Happy MLK!

>151 LizzieD: I did not know that, Peggy. I'm glad I do now. I'm very similar in my exccitement for a new way to get to France.

*garshk* here I thought you just hung around cuz you felt sorry for me....

BURGOINE #001

Evenings and Weekends by Oisín McKenna

Rating: 3.5* of five

The Publisher Says: For fans of Sally Rooney and Torrey Peters, a taut and profoundly moving debut that follows a cast of intricately linked characters during a heatwave in London as simmering tensions and secrets come to a head over one life-changing weekend.

London, 2019. It’s the hottest June on record, and a whale is stuck in the Thames River. In the streets of the city, four old acquaintances want more from life than they’ve been given. On the summer solstice, the longest day of the year, their paths will intersect at a party that will change their lives forever…

Maggie, a once-hopeful artist turned waitress, is pregnant and preparing to move back to her hometown with her boyfriend and father-to-be Ed, leaving the city she loves and the life she imagined for herself.

Ed, coasting through life as a barely competent bike courier, is ready for a new start with Maggie and their baby, if only to finally leave behind his secret past of hooking up with strange men in train station bathrooms—and his secret past with Maggie’s best friend, Phil.

Phil, who sleepwalks through his office job and lives for the weekends, is on the brink of achieving his first real relationship with his roommate Keith. The two live in an illegal warehouse commune with other quirky creatives and idealists—the site of the party to end all parties.

As the temperature continues to climb, Maggie, Ed, and Phil will have to confront their shared pasts, current desires, and limits of their future lives together before the weekend is over.

Strikingly heartfelt, sexually charged, and disarmingly comic, Oisín McKenna’s addictive, page-turning debut is a mesmerizing dive into the soul of a city and a critical look at the political, emotional, and financial hurdles facing young adults trying to build lives there and often living for their evenings and weekends.

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

My Review: A young person's book. Quite steamy. Heatwaves, horniness, the eternal matter of Youth: Discover the city, discover the needs-being-met rapture, look for satiation in sateity, find yourself...and others...in giving grace.

Absolute favorite quality? No one in this story is malicious, only young and needing Life, so sometimes careless and then contrite. I'm just too old, too much over it to fall in more than like.

Mariner Books asks $10.99 for an ebook. If you're needing something to rev up the libidinous energies, or you're eager to immerse yourself in The Twenties, here you go.

BURGOINE #002

Grown Ups by Marie Aubert (tr. Rosie Hedger)

Rating: 3.5* of five

The Publisher Says: Exhilarating, funny, and unexpectedly devastating, Grown Ups is for anyone who has ever felt the fear of being overtaken by a sibling, who feels almost—but not quite—grown up, and who's struggled to navigate a new future for themselves.

Ida is a forty-year-old architect, single and starting to panic. She's navigating Tinder and contemplating freezing her eggs, terrified that time has passed her by, silently, without her ever realising it.

All she sees are other people's children, everywhere.

Now stuck in the idyllic Norwegian countryside for a gathering to mark her mother's sixty-fifth birthday, Ida is regressing. She's fighting with her younger sister, Marthe, and flirting with her sister's husband. But when some supposedly wonderful news from Marthe heightens tensions further, Ida is forced to mark out new milestones of her own.

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

My Review: It's sharp, pointed, honest and not a little discomfiting:

I hadn’t believed it, not really. My friends have all overtaken me, each and every one of them, but now Marthe too, somewhere inside I had always believed that nothing would come of it, that things wouldn’t ever change, that Marthe would always be there in need of consolation, that she wouldn’t ever overtake me. She can’t overtake me.

Ida's forty, single, in the part of life where nearly everyone asks themselves "Is this it? if it is, am I okay with that?" Ida, like so many unhappy people, answers no. That leads her to behave reprehensibly, to exact a revenge (for Life Being Unfair) on the people she resents. Spoiler: they deserve it. A mordantly amusing midlife crisis novel that's too bleak to be a real comedy.

Pushkin Press needs you to fork over $9.99 for an ebook. Pretty grim, but in the right mood....

019 The shutouts : a novel by Gabrielle Korn

>132 richardderus: I really like the sound of George Falls Through Time apart from the spiders. How many spiders are there exactly?

>158 SandDune: More mentioned than seen; an atmosphere-making prop, really. No more than would be slightly uncomfortable for an arachnophobe.

BURGOINE #003

Amphibian by Tyler Wetherall

Rating: 3.5* of five

The Publisher Says: Sissy is used to being on the outside. The new girl in her West Country school, she recently arrived with her troubled mother, prone to letting Sissy fend for herself.

But from the day Sissy fights a boy in front of Tegan, she's no longer alone. Bonded by violence, they grow so close they feel like one wrapped around each other in bed at sleepovers, sending photographs to men they meet online, and scaring each other with reports of the girls being snatched at night in their town.

Over the course of the school year, they find themselves on the threshold of girlhood, with threats gathering thick and fast around them. And as their make-believe worlds bleed into their daily lives, Sissy feels herself transforming into something strange and terrifying.

With deft notes of magical realism and a constant psychological acuity, Amphibian is a tender, haunting coming-of-age debut, about desire, precocity and the intensity of early friendships that have the power to upend our lives.

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

My Review: Tegan and Sissy, seemingly not similar people, discover that adolescent enmeshing bond of intimate Otherness that enlivens a lot of adolescents' maturation. Using amphibian-ness as a metaphor for adolescence is a great idea. When it begins to become literal I rather lost interest.

I remain unsure if it *did* become literal or if I simply did not understand the last ~15% of the book. Thus my rating, and my lack of enthusiasm for the story. Endings endure in memory; make sure they flow even if they're off kilter. See Mrs. Caliban for a master class.

Ig Publishing says "$18.95 please" no matter what edition you choose.

Mark Rothko, Untitled, 1969

Oil on paper laid down on canvas; Collection of Christopher Rothko. © Kate Rothko Prizel and Christopher Rothko; Photo by the Tumblr poster at the National Gallery of Art in DC

Monday *smooch*

BURGOINE #004

The Dissenters by Youssef Rakha

Rating: 3.5* of five

The Publisher Says: A transgressive novel by an acclaimed writer that spans seventy years of Egyptian history

Certain as I’ve never been of anything in the world that you have a right or a duty to know, that you absolutely must know, I sail through the mouth of that river into the sea of her life.

Amna, Nimo, Mouna―these are all names for a single Egyptian woman whose life has mirrored that of her country. After her death in 2015, her son, Nour, ascends to the attic of their house where he glimpses her in a series of ever more immersive visions: Amna as a young woman forced into an arranged marriage in the 1950s, a coquettish student of French known to her confidants as Nimo, a self-made divorcee and a lover, a “pious mama” donning her hijab, and, finally, a feminist activist during the Arab Spring. Charged and renewed by these visions of a woman he has always known as Mouna, Nour begins a series of fevered letters to his sister―who has been estranged from Mouna and from Egypt for many years―in an attempt to reconcile what both siblings know about this mercurial woman, their country, and the possibility for true revolution after so much has failed.

Hallucinatory, erotic, and stylish, The Dissenters is a transcendent portrait of a woman and an era that explodes our ideas of faith, gender roles, freedom, and political agency.

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

My Review: "A truth-seeker, a lover, a revolutionary-I could never be any of those things if I didn't understand that I was an Egyptian woman's son. Only by finding out how the story of her life is the history of this country could I know who I am."

I wanted to be more impressed than I was by this first written-in-English novel from an Egyptian literary light. It's a bit more self-important than I thought was justified. It intrigued me most when Nour, the son, began to blur his identity in with his mother's. I did not eagerly seek the next chance to read the story, but would dutifully record notes of praise after each sitting. Odd.

Graywolf Press tells you the bill is $9.99 for an ebook.

>162 bell7: Hiya Mary! *smooch*

PEARL RULE #001

Joyride: A Memoir by Susan Orlean

Rating: 3* of five

The Publisher Says: “The story of my life is the story of my stories,” writes Susan Orlean in this memoir. Joyride is a ride through Orlean’s life and career, where every day is an opportunity for discovery and every moment holds the potential for wonder. Throughout her storied career, her curiosity draws her to explore the most ordinary and extraordinary of places, from going deep inside the head of a regular ten-year-old boy for a legendary profile (“The American Man Age Ten”) to reporting on a woman who owns twenty-seven tigers, from capturing the routine magic of Saturday night to climbing Mt. Fuji.

Not only does Orlean’s account of a writing life offer a trove of indispensable gleanings for writers, it’s also an essential and practical guide to embracing any creative path. She takes us through her process of dreaming up ideas, managing deadlines, connecting with sources, chasing every possible lead, confronting writer’s block and self-doubt, and crafting the perfect lede—a Susan specialty.

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

My Review: I noped out at 51%:

I could recall how much fun we'd had when we first fell in love in Portland, and how often we had enjoyed each other, and what a life we'd made—how we had, in a sense, grown up together, became adults together. But those memories were now scorched, indecipherable, as foreign as a language I once spoke fluently but no longer understood. After we signed our divorce agreement, I never saw {him} again for the rest of his life.

That, laddies and gentlewomen, is the sound of the hatchet being buried...in his corpse. I found myself unwilling to keep reading her life story because it felt to me as though we were going to do this kind of thing again and again.

Avid Reader Press thinks you'll enjoy the read $16.99-worth for the ebook. Borrow it from the library.

>152 richardderus:
Glad to see that Antoine Laurain is getting some love from you again. I still have one of his books on my shelf and need to get it read.

Best wishes for the interview on Wednesday, Richard. I hope they chose you!

>161 richardderus: I know Rothko is famous and all that (my FIL loves him!), but I just don't see it. It's a boring mix of colors and I feel like I could do that but wouldn't even want to. What am I missing?

Good luck on Wednesday!! Smooch!

>168 Berly: - (whispers) Thank you, Kim. Those could be my words.) Shhh, don't tell Richard...

>166 benitastrnad: The end of this month marks Pushkin Press's republication of a bunch of the translations, so I'm getting ahead of the curve (so to speak). I'm glad they're doing it! I like his stuff.

>167 vancouverdeb: Me too, Deborah, as I sit stewing in Perry Mason reruns to be followed by Matlock reruns that my noise-cancelling headphones can't completely mask.

>168 Berly: Art isn't for everybody...I detest Norman Rockwell, despite his evident technical prowess, and find Monet supremely tedious. It wouldn't be very good art if everyone liked it!

I think a lot of my pleasure is that I've seen the work in reality, so have a clear picture of the physicality of his practice. It appeals to me because of that added factor but I also just really enjoy it.

Thanks! I'm hopeful, anxious, and just flat unnerved.

>169 jessibud2: see >172 richardderus:

*smooch*

‘Morning, RD! Happy Tuesday to you.

BBs avoided, but a couple of them only because of the price. Cheap me.

I'm hopeful, anxious, and just flat unnerved. I wish I could swoop in and divert you somehow.

*smooch*

>174 karenmarie: You're doing fine, sweetiedarling. I'm not going to be restful until I have a definite yes or no. I think waiting is more awful than rejection because at least then it's done!

I'm using the energy as best I can with review-writing. Astounding how much work gets accomplished when I'm unsettled! *smooch*

>172 richardderus:
I think that art is something to be pondered. If that is the case, then it doesn't matter if you like it or dislike it. It makes you think. If you are pondering about what Rothko was up to doing all those boring rectangles in different colors, then Rothko has made his point through his art.

Most people either like or dislike pieces of art. The ones they like, they tend to forget about. If they don't forget about them, then they are thinking about it, and that is the point of the art. The pieces they dislike make them think and it appears that what they really dislike is the fact that the artwork has made them think. Not in your case Berly, because Rothko has made you stop and think. You are trying to decide what it is that you don't like.

There are artworks that I don't like, but I have to admit that they have made me stop, look, and think. Then I have to make a decision. Do I ignore it? Do I try to understand it? Most of the time, if I don't like it, I ignore it. Like I do with most of Picasso's work. Monet, on-the-other-hand, makes me stop and take a deeper look.

As you know, I am more than intrigued by Rothco - even that yellow/red one, a combination that I try to avoid. What gets to me a little in that one is the dark panel and how he has made it dark. Oh well. I did settle on a book last night, Britain After Rome, that Lucy is reading and recommending. I hope that some of it will stick with me after I get it and read it!

Meanwhile, review and know you wouldn't have all the support here if you didn't deserve it. The point though is that however much you feel unnerved (and who wouldn't be?), you know that your core is strong. You've earned it. *smooch*

>146 richardderus: It is very nice to be seen!

>149 richardderus: Adding that one to the BlackHole. Thanks for the review and recommendation, RD!

>152 richardderus: I can get that one from Hoopla, unlike the previous Antoine Laurain book. Woot!

>157 richardderus: Adding that one to the BlackHole too. Remind me again why I visit your thread, Richard, when it is such a dangerous place for me?

((Hugs)) and **smooches** and hopes that you have a terrific Tuesday!

Hey, RD. Sorry Joyride: A Memoir failed to impress. I am a fan of her work. I might still try the audio.

>176 benitastrnad: It's all very mysterious, this taste in art/literature/music stuff. It calls forth some kind of response, and the response is uniformly what interests me most...both in myself and in others.

>177 LizzieD: Britain After Rome is a fascinating topic! I hope the book lives up to the topic.

I'm so pleased you think I'm not made of easily crumpled tissue paper, Peggy, because there are moments I'm worried I really am. It's nice to hear someone else sees that strength not the frailty.

*smooch*

>178 alcottacre: W00t indeed! Enjoy >152 richardderus: when you get a chance to read it. Laurain's due for a breakout in English. >157 richardderus: will, I predict, really work for you as a story. The stakes are very high indeed.

I think you visit because you feel guilty for each time you evade the book-bullets that define my identity, provide me a reason to live despite the sheer hideous grimness of it All, as they impact others. You know that I batten on the flattening of your wallet, so feel terrible when you deprive me of purpose.

Or something.

>179 msf59: I like Orlean's other work, it really surprised me I didn't like this one. Oh well, there will be another one along soon (I hope) so it will just be a blip.

020 Your name here by Helen DeWitt & Ilya Gridneff

Uh oh, Richard. You know you got me with *Name*. The Last Samurai is on the shelf un-gotten-to because I know I'll need to make time for it, and that's not how I've read in the past 5 years. I put down *Ducks* for much the same reason although I started it and was taken with it. Hooo boy! I see that I put Milkman on my Kindle too. Well, that tears it. I have to live at least forever.

(As to >177 LizzieD: and your response...... of course, you're strong. Who could have lived what you have lived (at least, the small bit I know) and not be strong? Who can volunteer to show vulnerability and not be strong?) *smooch*, WBL!

021 Of Monsters and Mainframes by Barbara Truelove

>185 LizzieD: Oh no, Peggy! I've done you wrong I fear. >184 richardderus: is really long...you might need an extra century for that, Milkman and Ducks, Newburyport on top of Jean-Cristophe and The Magic Mountain. (Although that is one helluva reading list for the Afterlife, I must say.)

I'm glad it's visible to you, old friend. It's a struggle many days to do the work.

PEARL RULE #002

The Last American President: A Broken Man, a Corrupt Party, and a World on the Brink (40%) by Thom Hartmann

Rating: 3* of five

The Publisher Says: From bestselling progressive talk show host Thom Hartmann comes an urgent autopsy of American democracy, showing how plutocrats, political cowardice, and systemic rot built the perfect runway for Trump's authoritarian ascent.

The Last American President rips open America's wounded democracy to expose a terrifying Donald Trump isn't an anomaly—he's the inevitable product of a system engineered to fail. This searing investigation reveals how a man forged by childhood trauma, pathological narcissism, and calculated cruelty didn't hijack democracy—he was handed the keys by those who should have been its guardians.

Hartmann uncovers the unholy alliance between Trump's damaged psyche and America's rotted institutions. From Fred Trump's brutal parenting to Roy Cohn's lessons in shamelessness, from a Republican Party that traded principles for power to billionaire donors who treated democracy as a profit center, this book exposes the assembly line that manufactured an authoritarian.

But this is about more than Trump's past—it's about America's future. As climate catastrophe accelerates and fascism spreads globally, Hartmann reveals the nightmare a second Trump term that doesn't just end American democracy but also triggers irreversible planetary damage. Through meticulous research and unflinching analysis, he shows how political cowardice and corporate greed created the perfect storm that could extinguish humanity's last chance at survival.

This isn't just political commentary—it's a last-minute alarm sounding before the point of no return.

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

My Review: At 40% I was reading about Giuliani's deceptively edited videos of the Georgia election workers from 2020, and realized, "I am just rehearsing my nuclear-grade hatred of this cabal of rotten-souled kakistocrats," and called the time of death for this read. I was not learning new-to-me facts; the analysis was wanting fresh insights; I was paying attention as it happened, so this was not the read for me.

Younger or less fully engaged readers might not know the facts presented here, so will derive more from reading the book. It is unabashedly tendentious, which I fully approve of and support. Gifting to your freshly jarred into alertness family members is an excellent idea...it has a message and delivers it. Hard.

Berrett-Koehler Publishers charges $24.95 no matter which edition you buy. Helping someone catch up to the existential threat to the US is worth it in my eyes.

BURGOINE #004

The Cartographer of Absences: A Novel by Mia Couto (tr. David Brookshaw)

Rating: 4* of five

The Publisher Says: An atmospheric novel about a father and son in the waning days of colonial Mozambique by the winner of the 2025 PEN/Nabokov Award

Diogo Santiago is a celebrated Mozambican poet and intellectual, a well-known professor at the university in his country’s capital. In 2019, on the eve of a cyclone that will devastate the East African coast, he returns to his hometown of Beira to receive a tribute from his fellow citizens. As he travels across Mozambique, his mind returns to the past—to his own upbringing, and to the history of his country when it was still a Portuguese colony.

Diogo’s father, himself a poet and a journalist, observed a terrible massacre committed during the waning days of the Estado Novo and was persecuted by the PIDE, the Portuguese secret police. Diogo’s reflections on his father’s life are interspersed with found documents—letters, stories, entries in the journal kept by the PIDE agent who oversaw the case. As Cyclone Idai approaches Beira, threatening to wipe away the physical traces of the world in which he grew up, Diogo is forced to confront the impermanence of his own memories, too.

A haunting novel of historical witness, The Cartographer of Absences is one of Mia Couto’s finest works. Drawing on the author’s own life in colonial Mozambique, this book is a significant new entry in the world literature canon.

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

My Review: Absolutely wonderful tale of destruction—natural, political, emotional; violence—committed or merely engendered; losses resulting from them and their immense power to clarify, to reify purpose from inescapable action.

Knowledge of colonial Portuguese rule and its structures of oppression will help you connect the story's branches to the narrative trunk. It is unfamiliar territory to most in the US, likely the Anglophone world but the rewards are great for investing the effort. I can't offer more stars because the writing felt more obscurantist than atmospheric a bit too often.

Farrar, Straus and Giroux asks you to deposit $14.99 into their coffers for an ebook. Do it, sez I.

Morning, Richard. Did you get any sleep last night? Hoping for the best for you. 🤞🤞

>190 msf59: Not a lot...I had coffee to rouse my wrinkles...and now it's just be out front to meet the Uber.

Leaving at 10a...until then gnawing gnuckles. I'm very hopeful, but this will be a huge amount of work if it comes through. I want it to, yet that work exhausts me in advance.

‘Morning, RDear. Happy Wednesday to you.

>184 richardderus: I got exhausted just reading the Publisher’s hype. Seismic, riveting, unparalleled, spectacular, death-defying, wonderous, unique. And those are just from the first two paragraphs. No. I still have Ducks, Newburyport on my shelves tbr. And I’m NOT going to feel guilty avoiding it. Nope. Not me.

>186 richardderus: I’m still exhausted from reading your review in >184 richardderus:. AI, vampires, and a spaceship named Demeter. Sigh. No.

>188 richardderus: Glad you called it at 40%. I’ll avoid it.

I didn’t realize this was an in-person decision announcement. Everything’s crossed, all positive energies sent to The Decision Makers. 🤞🤞🤞

*smooch*

>192 richardderus: Perhaps more purging is in order?

I guess you must be meeting now. Sending all good wishes and positive vibes your way!

🙏🙏🤞🤞

>194 mckait: Not necessary...my Uber driver offered to be the moving service for my art and breakables. Can now focus on getting the furniture done.

Me too! Me too! Please let us know what you know as soon as you know it! *smooch*

>193 karenmarie: Morning Horrible! I'm in the lobby waiting for the ladies to be available. I explained to the desk I planned it to be me waiting not them.

I really hope I'll leave with a firm commitment.

>195 atozgrl: Thanks Irene! I'm happy to wait. I don't want them to be the one's to wait for me.

>196 msf59: TYVM

Fingers - crossed
Feet - crossed
Toes - crossed
Eyes - crossed

Paws (x8) - crossed.

You're welcome!

>202 jessibud2: *smooch*

What time is the interview, Richard? (You didn't see me up there, but I'm here helping you wait.)

>204 LizzieD: I'm on my phone so I miss stuff, sorry! It's any minute now!

>182 richardderus: Or something. Well, far be it from me to deprive you of purpose. . . or something.

>184 richardderus: Adding that one to the BlackHole. Thanks for the review and recommendation, Richard!

>186 richardderus: I have that one! I picked it up because of Ezeekat (as he is known on YouTube) - it is published under his imprint.

>189 richardderus: I am adding that one to the BlackHole too!

>205 richardderus: You have no idea how hard I am praying that it works out for you, RD.

((Hugs)) and **smooches** and hopes that you have a wonderful Wednesday!

Fingers crossed for the outcome we are hoping for you , Richard.

Perfection is not of this Earth...no decision made by their finance department yet but I had a very enjoyable meeting with all the ladies.

I asked bluntly, if you don't decide in time for me to move on January the 30th, will there still be an apartment available? Instantly reassuring me, yes, there is no shortage of places; tells me they're really trying to work with me, it's just taking time.

I'm bloody exhausted! Will eat my dinner and go directly to sleep, most likely. Keep the positivity flowing, please?!

What??! They dragged you all the way out there to tell you that they haven't decided? What the heck is wrong with them?

Did you tell them how many digits and eyes are crossed and in danger of sticking that way around the world?

OK. It's not no, so I'll hope that you are able to sleep very well. How I wish things were easier for you, but so long as you get there ------ *smooch*

>208 richardderus: Ugh, the waiting is the hardest part. And the stress of it is exhausting. Sending out all the positive vibes for you.

>208 richardderus: Well, dang, sorry to hear there's no answer yet, but at least it's not a "no." Hoping for a "yes" and SOON. *smooch*

I take that all that as good news, RD. Hopefully this will give you more time to take care of things there. Sweet dreams, my friend.

All this waiting is so hard, Richard, and I'm just part of the chorus with all crossables crossed. Sleep well, my friend. You need it!

>208 richardderus: Whilst not full confirmation that does look like a yes, please wait and we will welcome you with open arms.

You have most of this group willing you there RD so I think it is almost in the bag.

>180 richardderus: I think what we like and not is a mystery. I am a sucker for seascapes and I am not really sure why this is the case. That said some random study will capture my imagination in ways unexplainable.

All I can do is second what >212 bell7: and >213 msf59: said. It's frustrating that you don't have a firm answer yet. But it sounds hopeful. I'll keep all my crossables crossed for you.

Sending positive thoughts to you and the people who decide, and of course crossables will stay crossed. I hope you slept well and are in for a lovely Thursday with some good reading

All crossables continue to be crossed, Richard, and prayers said for you. The waiting must be very hard, but it sounds very positive .

'Morning, RDear.

Oh my. They dragged you out there and you left without a contract. Not very considerate, but you're giving them the opportunity to see how wonderful you are and what a wonderful addition to their community you'll be. Thus the vigil continues.

Hugs and *smooches*

>207 vancouverdeb:, >208 richardderus:, >209 jessibud2:, >210 LizzieD:, >211 Copperskye:, >212 bell7:, >213 msf59:, >214 Familyhistorian:, >215 PaulCranswick:, >216 atozgrl:,>217 Deern:, >218 vancouverdeb:, >219 karenmarie:
Thank All y'all for the continuing good wishes! The issues are now more difficult to solve...and I have hard decisions to make. I suspect the choices they need to make are going to take time. I then expect the window will be the February window will be the one I'm looking at. It's a lot to take in, where their requirements and my needs intersect is not a perfect match. It never is.

So off to the book-mines I go to see what I can see.

>206 alcottacre: It was frustrating, Stasia (see >220 richardderus:), but it's not going to be easy in this life if you want something. I'm glad you've got >186 richardderus: on deck already, and permaybehaps will get to readin' soon...?

>189 richardderus: will, if you can get it from the library, do you a good turn in entertainment.

*smooch*

So, vibes and beams and all that still cranked up....I'm sure the "ladies" were charmed by you, and will exert whatever influence they may have in your favor.

>222 laytonwoman3rd: Thank you, Linda3rd! I don't know if "charmed" is the word, but I do know the director was vocally impressed that I remembered All the other particpants' names, addressed them All with references to our initial meeting's subjects, and was complimentary about the way I handled her when she was tactless (it was a ruse, to test social skills).

It's anxiety inducing to wait. No one likes it. It is not, however, in the least bit unusual. So I wait.

>208 richardderus: Positivity definitely flowing from Texas, RD!

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

>224 alcottacre: TYVM dear one. I'm equally pushing happy stuff your way as this storm bears down on you!

>225 richardderus: Thanks, RD. We are busily battening down the hatches here. They are saying we could get up to 3/4" of ice. I really, really hope that is not true. Snow is one thing, ice is a completely different matter.

BURGOINE #005

Ghosted: A History of Ghost Hunting, and Why We Keep Looking by Alice Vernon

Rating: 3* of five

The Publisher Says: A social, historical and scientific exploration of ghost-hunting, and why our fascination with the paranormal is as timeless as the ghosts we hope to find.

The history of ghosts is ancient, but the history of active ghost-hunting is relatively recent, and investigations into the paranormal have developed hand-in-spirit-hand with scientific discoveries, from radio waves to smartphone apps. Now, more than ever, we want to find our own ghosts. Is it to help process grief? Become influencers? Or ease our fears of death?

Ghosted follows the journey of paranormal investigations from the Victorian era to the modern day, examining how our fascination with ghost hunting has changed alongside technology and culture. Where we once gathered around tables, observing and recording every movement of the medium, we now take electronic equipment and app-laden phones around haunted locations to catch ghosts digitally. Where theatres and concert halls held sold-out performances by conjurers recreating the tricks of fraudulent mediums, we now delight in picking apart and exposing the evidence presented on reality television programmes.

In this book, Alice Vernon embarks on a journey to encounter a ghost, travelling to some of the UK's most haunted locations and encouraging readers to interrogate their own scepticism and belief. Ghosted examines what we are looking for, why we are looking for it, and why have we never given up the ghost.

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

My Review: I don't believe in ghosts as they're presented in popular culture, but am *fascinated* by the why of belief in them; it's incredibly pervasive in most all cultures. I'd hoped Author Vernon would delve into this deeply, but it is more of a survey of some Western cultures' afterlife fantasies with surface-level correlative data presented by a fellow skeptic.

If a deep dive is what you were seeking, this is not that but it was a solidly written read. Just not the one I sought, or thought based on the synopsis it would be.

Bloomsbury Sigma requests $19.00 for a paperback edition. I'm not sure I myownself would spend that.

>226 alcottacre: Ice *ptooptoo* is evil! May it melt instead of stick. *smooch*

BURGOINE #006

Mega Milk: Essays on Family, Fluidity, Whiteness, and Cows by Megan Milks

Rating: 3.5* of five

The Publisher Says: A sparkling, funny, and often wrenching portrait-in-essays on the dairy industry, queer intimacy, family, fluidity, whiteness, and cows.

For decades, Megan Milks has wondered what it means to share a last name with the classic white American beverage. Now, Milks takes on their namesake subject in all its dimensions, venturing into the worlds of small dairies, bovine genetics, and manure while also turning their eye on their family and themself. The resulting essays connect the dots between human lactation, Big Dairy, being queer and lonely, climate change, transmasculinity, the bull semen industry, the milky roots of white supremacy, and the best practices for giving and receiving a hug. With Mega Milk, Megan Milks confirms their place as one of our most exciting queer thinkers and writers.

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

My Review: Milk, some form of it, is our first ever nourishment, and forms our first bonds with caregivers. In that case, what does having it as one's actual name portend, require, cause to occur?

Megan Milk takes her name to its apotheosis by exploring milk the first food of life, milk the metaphor of fluidity and change, milk the industrial product extracted from living beings through her deeply personal lens of Destiny In A Name. Enjoyable; well-made; not terribly profound to my readerly sensitivities. Would gift to any trans person I know.

The Feminist Press charges $17.95 for all admissions to the read.

BURGOINE #007

No Rest for the Wicked by Rachel Louise Adams

Rating: 3.25* of five

The Publisher Says: With an expert hand, Rachel Louise Adams’s debut No Rest for the Wicked reads like an edge of your seat, heart-pounding scary movie.

In one Halloween obsessed Midwestern town, everyone’s on red alert after a local politician goes missing. Little do they know it’s only the beginning.

It’s been close to twenty years since forensic pathologist Dolores Hawthorne left her hometown of Little Horton, Wisconsin. The town is famous for its Halloween celebrations, but also its history of violent deaths linked to the holiday. To Dolores, it’s the place she fled, family, bad memories, and all. Until the FBI calls to tell her that her father—the former mayor turned US Senator—is missing under mysterious circumstances.

Some people count to ten to wake up from a nightmare. Dolores always counts the bones of her head sphenoid, frontal, lacrimal. But no matter how many times she counts them, it doesn’t change the fact that her father is missing, that his final words of warning to her were to trust no one, and that now, the rest of her family is giving Dolores a chilling welcome. With Halloween fast approaching, Dolores must face the past she left behind before it’s too late.

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

My Review: Steady ramping up of the pace is well used in this story of facing up to your past, to your blind spots, and your investments in relationships. I wasn't invested in the story, I think because it's about one thing but presented as a cuter, less compelling thing in the synopsis.

My expectations were set incorrectly so take that into account when I say my attention wasn't particularly compelled. A debut novel that shows promise like this one is more worthy of your taking a chance on it than a failed read by someone more established.

Minotaur Books requires $14.99 for legal access to the ebook.

Good morning, Richard. I think you and the rest of us on the east coast will have to batten down too. Ice is our most likely outcome, and I HATE ICE. We don't have a generator, so I HATE losing power, but that's nothing to losing water, and we won't have to do with that, I don't think.

Waiting and patience and hope and fear - not a pleasant cocktail to say the least. You're handling it all manfully, my WBL. *smooch*

(Meanwhile, no milk, no ghosts for me, but I will eventually get around to at least buying the DeWitt just in case...... I have a copy of House of Leaves and Darconville's Cat and a couple of Yourcenars that I think of as daunting, so I might get to them; might not. Thank you for alerting to me the new one anyway!!)

I'm sorry you don't have an answer yet, RD. It must be frustrating. Hang in there!

In other news, I just saw something about Prue stepping down from GBBO and being replaced with Nigella Lawson. Interesting! I like Nigella, so I am hopeful.

>231 LizzieD: No milk or ghosts? You stun me.

I'm hopeful they misjudged the severity of the impending storm. I hope Your Name Here won't break your brain! I'm doing the best I can to decline catastrophizing obsessiveness. I'll get the answer I need when they give it, not before. *sigh*

Sending power staying on whammies your way, dear one.

>232 katiekrug: I'm annoyed and anxious but that's to be expected. I'll hope for a short wait.

Prue made the excellent observation that she's 86, it's time to go sit in the garden and enjoy the sunshine.

Nigella is a very interesting choice since she's always been a very high-powered active force in her career. Haul Pollywood is pretty sure to be on the receiving end of some serious attitude!

OOOOOOOOOO


The OP is Tumble fixture. He wrote of this image:

Mark Rothko, Untitled, 1969

Acrylic on paper, 74-1/8 x 48-1/8 in. (188.3 x 122.3 cm)

© Kate Rothko Prizel and Christopher Rothko_ARS

I took this yesterday at the works on paper show at the NGA. This is a popular painting in the usual form on this blog and here we see it look much darker than we are used to. Some of these bright scans we have had forever I am finding are a bit different than reality, but then you have to take into account preferences of the format these are being displayed in. Catalog scans often go for punchy bright looks that dazzle immediately.

More and more, galleries are now using lower light (such as this) to display Rothko works in the manner he might have intended, which would be the kind of lighting he used when painting them. Lighter scans are not exactly fiction as Rothkos (as i have been over on this blog many times) are extremely sensitive to light, both bright and dark and warm and cool. This means that when you bring the lighting up to a lot of museum's standards, you'd get a lighter look to the photo.

This kind of lighting is good for a lot of types of painting but, for me, when you start seeing these works in lower light, Rothko's original intentions make sense.

(NGA is "National Gallery of Art" if you're wondering; it's in Washington DC.)

Hey, Richard dear, I am home. Sorry to see that you did not get a definitive yes yesterday but glad they are still working with you. I found a triple post from you in my thread! Currently it is 6F here, with wind chill of -16F. Not going anywhere.

A fuller report on my meeting now that I'm rested and recovered from back-to-back days of riding around:
The director had not met me, only the subordinates, so I had to pass her sniff test. I'm pretty confident I did, she was very engaged with me. There are still things they have to do, and paperwork from Social Security I don't have; when directly asked if I would lose my spot if the paperwork arrived in February, they said no, it would not be an issue...I could move in on 27 February. I can live with that.

It was a long-ass ride back, then yesterday I was in the dermatologist's office for another look at my removed-growth site...no infection, no problems it seems. Worth a visit but it takes a lot out of me. The driver who took me there from the facility was *great* and even stayed in the area to bring me back. We had a second pick-up on the way back, which was weird.

An older wheelchair user and her young aide were waiting a while before we got there, and the aide was angry and rude. It got heated. I stayed out of it. In the end she was accusing him of shoving her (he didn't) and all sorts. I told the dashcam I saw the whole thing and, while he was a little rude, she is the one who got aggressive; he never raised a finger at her; and her wheelchair client was deaf, angry, and making everything worse by shouting at everyone. (Including me.)

Interesting day!

>236 ronincats: Morning, Roni...it was made from my phone so I'm sorry about that. It's a winter wonderland this January, innit. We've got a threatened foot of snow on the way; honestly, snow is not the issue I dread, it's the melt and refreeze resulting in ice! I'm an indoor pup until it's nice again.

Stay warm and safe, dear lady.

‘Morning, RDear! Stay cozy and warm while the nastiness swirls around you. Sorry about the continuing wait.

I took one wish list hit but otherwise dodged nicely.

*smooch*

>226 alcottacre: We’re looking at .5-1” of ice, too, Stasia. We’re as well prepared as we can be.

>229 richardderus: Added to my wish list.

>237 richardderus: The meeting sounds encouraging. Hoping for the best.

>240 swynn: Thank you, Steve, I am too!

>235 richardderus: LOVE! LOVE!! I could look at that for hours. That vertical light on the right side is perfection!!!!!

I'll be back later to say my say about unpleasantness and waiting. Meanwhile, *smooch* to my WBL.

>242 LizzieD: I love >235 richardderus: as well. It's just the apotheosis of mellow pleasant beach like (to me) vibes.

I don't love having to wait, but now that I *know* I'll have a place in February as much as in January. Different mindset, but one that gets me into a very good headspace compared to where I was.

>237 richardderus: It sounds like an 'interesting day' that I can live without. I have never done well with conflict.

I am glad to hear that you did not receive a flat out 'no.'

((Hugs)) and **smooches** and hopes that you stay safe and warm over the weekend!

>244 alcottacre: I think if they'd meant to say no, they simply wouldn't have bothered with a second meeting...I'm only mildly annoyed because having this possibility really burned away a lot of fog to show me I will need to get out of here even if it isn't to there.

It's moving along in a positive direction, Richard. I'm so very glad. What will be the first new thing you pick to add to your new digs? Excluding books, which is a given.

How about a chalk board with bright color chalk to add your own daily messages to yourself? Maybe create your own Rothko-like art! That would be fun. Back when I moved out on my own, ages ago now, I bought magnetic poetry and used it to compose daily couplets to myself. Hm, I don't think that would appeal to you. ha ;)

'Good morning, RDear!

>245 richardderus: I agree that they probably wouldn't have bothered with a second meeting. Waiting 'til February to hear isn't fun. I hope you get approved and can move in as soon after approval as possible.

18-14" of sleet and snow aren't good, but it's good to know that you are and will continue to be safe and warm.

*smooch*

>246 DebiCates: Yeah, maybe not so much with the couplets, there. I'm not a bit sure what I will add yet, but as I cannot bring my books with me, I don't think I can decide in advance....

>247 karenmarie: IF they say yes, assuming All my paperwork gets there, I won't move in until Friday the 27th of February. I'm fine with that, just having a date to work towards is enough for me. Early move-ins are $50 a day. I won't be doing that.

It's 10° out there now and bloody freezing in here. Adding wintry mix is not going to make stuff worse, for me at least, because I ain't gotta go out in it!

Morning, Richard. Glad to hear your have a February date to work with. Keep warm. We may get up to 10F today but it will be sometime this afternoon if at all. We have been avoiding the snow and ice which is a positive.

>250 msf59: Yikes! Getting UP to 10° sounds hellish! I'm glad you don't have snow/ice to cope with on top of being so damn cold.

I'm grateful I don't need to get outside. Having a date is a good thing.

Dropping off warm smooches for you today, RDear. No snowmageddon in my neck of the woods but we're at a crisp -17°C with a windchill of -23°C this morning and it's supposed to stay in that range all day.

>252 MickyFine: "Crisp"

"Crisp" is 50°! But then again you need to recalibrate your ideas when you live in a place where igloos = bungalows. *shiver*

Wait, what? You can't bring your books to the new place?!?!

>254 katiekrug: Nope. No furniture, no books, no artwork, nothing they think could harbor bedbugs. Someone moved in with stuff galore and brought bedbugs with him so now, if I move there, I can't have anything not delivered new from a store.

It's a chance to start totally afresh...or a complete amputation of my past...depending on my mood. It's one big reason I'm just as glad I have until 27 February to find my feet in this new reality...or just reject it...before rushing into something then realizing it was a mistake.

>255 richardderus: - Oh, wow. I get the rationale, but that is... something. Are you allowed to bring clothes? They can just as easily harbor the little nasties.

>256 katiekrug: I think they'd forbid that too, but me turning up in my undies wouldn't work well...I get the reasoning too but WOW.

>248 richardderus: You can't bring your books? Oh, I'm sorry I didn't know that. Will you keep them, maybe in nearby storage? I have thought about that myself. Sometimes I consider selling out and living half a year in Colorado with a daughter and half a year in Texas with the other daughter, perhaps in a fifth wheel. I was stumped, though, by what to do with all my beloved books until I landed on the storage idea. Perhaps it will turn out that as time goes on, I would find I don't need physical possession of all of them. I certainly will never re-read them all or even many, so maybe a fifth wheel adventure would usher in a new chapter where I receive and let go and receive again in succession.

That's just my own thoughts, Richard. Coming soon your happiness will be something you can tweak and customize.

ETA: I should have read further. I understand their rational and it's thankfully for your good health too. Wow, that is whole reset, everything fresh.

>258 DebiCates: That's what I'm wrestling with. What Earthly good will paying to "keep" things I can't use do me? Am I best to use this as a reason to truly amputate my past? It's already happened, as of today no one can reach in to remove my memories...I question with increasing certainty why an object I've possessed for a long time is still necessary. I haven't got An Answer yet but wowee toledo I'm asking the question more urgently than I ever have before.

>259 richardderus: It appeals to me, that concept of a Great Recalibration with material things. Your "increasing certainty" is good. I predict challenges AND wonderments.

I found this on Tumblr:

It feels very on point for me today.
***
>259 richardderus: Everyone gets challenges, but I'm looking for ways to treat them as wonderments.

So you can give up your books, or keep putting up with stinky Old Stuff. Lordy, talk about Hobson's choice. Rules is rules, but it seems to me they're being draconian to no purpose when the little critters could still be catching a ride on you. Or on a visitor who spent the night in a hotel, or....

>262 laytonwoman3rd: They've had one bad experience. They've gone waaaay over the top in response.

...and on the day I wake up and Old Stuff doesn't they'll just broom in some other gutter sweepings. I'm not the least bit happy about it but the need not to be in a marital level of intimacy with someone I despise is worth it.

>255 richardderus: I am fairly sure that I could not give up my books, but then the fun of collecting them again does appeal somewhat :)

((Hugs)) and **smooches** for today and hopes that you have a warm weekend!

>261 richardderus: That is it. In a hard as fuck nutshell. The good news it is the same job of bridge building for everyone. It's beautiful how you got peeps here who are chanting and calling your name to keep going.

>255 richardderus: Oh interesting. A little extreme…couldn't they inspect peoples belongings before bringing them into the apartment?

I wish you luck!

If you can't bring your books, can you bring more than the clothes you stand up in?

That's a long ass wait you have for the new place. I think it sounds very promising though, and will keep all crossables crossed and send up a few prayers for you, Richard.

I used to think that all the books I owned had to stay in the house. A few years ago, I decided that every book I read would leave the house. Either to someone who wanted to read it, or to the small free library, or to the recycling bin. I never read a book twice. At first, I thought it would be difficult for me, but hey, it's liberating. And no, our house isn't book-free. There are still countless books that can be read.
I've been going to our wonderful local library for decades, where I find plenty of reading material. This is easy on the wallet, as books are extremely expensive in Switzerland.
It's nice to hear that you're planning to move at the end of February.
I wish you a lovely Sunday. I hope your home is well heated. I've heard that a terrible winter storm is raging where you live. Take care.

‘Morning, RD! Brrrr.

>249 richardderus: Ah. February 27th. Got it. Fingers and toes still crossed.

>255 richardderus: Yikes, RDear. Starting fresh with ‘stuff’, eh? Sign me up to contribute to new stuff.

Actually, I can understand the restriction because our Library had bedbugs last fall and had to fumigate. They fudged the truth a bit with the public, saying that they were performing maintenance without specifying what the maintenance was, but closed for 3 days while all that was going on.

>259 richardderus: Putting books in storage temporarily IF you can sell some for more than the storage costs/effort might make sense.

>264 alcottacre: Stasia, I have decided that if I have to downsize for whatever reason, I’ll keep out the cherce books, get rid of everything that I don't absolutely need, and put everything else into storage to get to as needed. I don’t need to think about that yet, though.

*smooch*

>270 karenmarie:, >269 Ameise1:, >268 vancouverdeb:, >267 Familyhistorian:, >266 figsfromthistle:, >265 DebiCates:, >264 alcottacre:

Thanks All for the good-luck wishes. I'll be bringing durable goods and my clothes unless they commit to buying me a new wardrobe. I genuinely question this decision now. I haven't stopped the process because I've got time to do the the though processing.

I need not to be surrounded by TV noise, cigarette stink, drunkards, and deeply stupid people.

Is that worth amputating my entire past that I have left?

Morning, Richard. You can't bring your damn books? WTH? Is anything frickin' easy these days?

Has the storm passed you yet? We were only supposed to get an inch or 2 but it looks likes 3 or 4 out there and it is still snowing. Looks like I will be doing some shoveling. Ugh!

>272 msf59: Morning, Mark! No, nothing is easy, nothing is painless/frictionless/simple. It is what it is, though, so at least it's consistent.

I still hate and resent it.

We're getting steady snow, and it's frigid out there, so it's not blowy Snowmageddon here. It stays like this, it won't be an impossible awful wretched storm here...IF it stays as it is.

Well, I'm awfully sorry about your books and other things. I haven't mentioned the fact that having more time to think might be a good thing. I wish it could be more clear and easy for you, but I think you've already made the biggest choice: if not to the Bronx, then somewhere.

Best to you, my WBL. *smooch*

>274 LizzieD: Honestly, Peggy, if I was told right now "you *must* move this coming Friday or lose your spot" I'd lose my spot without hesitation. I need time to grieve, to mourn my life's ugly turn in search of a future that does not make me feel nausea to contemplate. So, well, given how y'all's All powerful gawd is organizing things these days, I guess that's what'll come next.

Gay mystery writer and all-around good American Greg Herren said this in his daily newsletter today:
It’s worse for them for the {E}pstein files to come out than shooting American citizens dead in the streets.

That’s a pretty big fucking tell, isn’t it?

>276 richardderus: Oh my, yes, he speaks truth. I must go find his newsletter. I have been sick to my stomach the past couple of days. It just Keeps. Getting. Worse.
What will it take for his sycophants and cult followers to say, "maybe that is a bridge too far."
And where the hell are the 2nd amendment defenders????

"I need not to be surrounded by TV noise, cigarette stink, drunkards, and deeply stupid people." Indeed.

>277 EBT1002: His daily blog is Queer and Loathing in America: https://gregwritesblog.com/

We don't necessarily see it, but evidence...previously loud accounts going quiet f/ex...suggests some are.

>278 richardderus: I hope you are right. With all my heart I hope. And that in November we have elections.

Having to leave your books behind is very hard, Richard, but I think that leaving old stuff behind will make it worth it.

I thought this might make you a chuckle:

>279 DebiCates: ...maaaybe...

I'm bitter and cynical. Ignore me.

>280 vancouverdeb: It's not easy to accept the loss of so much but them's their rules and I need to adjust myself to the rules if I want the benefits. I am grieving and mourning in advance to get some of it done.

>281 jessibud2: Ha! The weight of a smooch! Cute indeed, TYVM Shelley!

022 Red Is My Heart by Antoine Laurain (tr. Jane Aitken), ( (Illus. Le Sonneur)

Rating: 3.75* of five

The Publisher Says: A moving, evocative exploration of heartbreak and healing in Paris, told through words and images in this stunning collaboration with French street artist Le Sonneur

How can you mend a broken heart? Do you write a letter to the woman who left you—and post it to an imaginary address? Buy a new watch, to reset your life? Or get rid of the jacket you wore every time you argued, because it was in some way responsible?

Combining the wry musings of a rejected lover with playful drawings in just three colours—red, black and white—one of France’s best-selling authors has collaborated with renowned street artist Le Sonneur to create a striking addition to the literature of unrequited love, and a moving, evocative exploration of heartbreak in one of the world’s great cities.

In this playful, poignant series of musings, a nameless narrator remembers a love affair just gone, watches the flight they were due to take to New York depart, sends flowers to a woman who died a century ago, smokes ostentatiously in front of No Smoking signs, and takes solace from the endless distractions and beauty of the city he calls home, Paris. If he walks these streets long enough—the streets of the City of Light, City of Love—he may find himself ready to love again.

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

My Review: This is as close as I (voluntarily) come to poetry. Reminiscent of the concrete poetry that was popular in the 1960s, this illustrated trip into the psyche of a man processing his grief at loving and losing is evocative, emotionally resonant:



I hasten to say the text isn't arranged in flowers or birds flying, more just that the illustrations are copious in number and the text flows in response to them, reminiscent to me of old-timey concrete poetry. The prose is, of necessity, spare; it is making the points the many illustrations are expanding on and evoking responses from.

I'm not the obvious reader for a melancholic, perhaps under-reflective man's internal monologue. I wanted him to have a name so I could shout it at him to get him to see what was in front of him not merely look at it. Acts of adolescent defiance like the highlighted smoking in front of a "No Smoking" sign don't seem cute to me, just...adolescent.

I'm not making a great case for you to pick it up, am I? It's down to my absence of sympathy with things poetical. If you're not so inclined either, not a read to pursue. If, on the other hand, you're amenable to blank verse with integrated illustrations that are, in my opinion, very attractive indeed, you are exactly who the book is made for.

And consider this: I really dislike poetry, and still read this book, still liked this book...Author Laurain is clearly A Talent.It's very unusual for me to do more than look at poetry and slam the book shut, chuck it into the donation pile, and forget it exists.

On that grading curve, my 3.75* looks almost like a full five.

'Morning, RDear, and happy Monday to you.

Except for a small bit of ice you'd never know we might have had the worst ice storm in decades.

*smooch*

>1 richardderus: please

>286 karenmarie: I call that a result for the ages, Horrible! It's largely snow here, a mere thin rime of ice. I expect the melt-and-refreeze won't be lovely but that ain't happnin' while it's under 25° like it is now.

*smooch*

>287 LoisB: Awomen, Lois, awomen. Nice to see you back!

>235 richardderus: Well, this certainly captures my mood just now. >242 LizzieD: How come I don't see any vertical light on the right side? Could that be a metaphor for how I'm viewing life atm? Missing any little shaft of light by focusing on the dark? Also, >243 richardderus: - beach vibes? I must be deep in depression because I don't see that either.

>248 richardderus: That seems a bit draconian, doesn't it? I mean, bedbugs are nasty, but to be forced to give up your books just on the off-chance... And what about photographs? Artwork? Letters, cards and other papers? As someone else said, critters are as likely to come in on clothing. Or are they saying you can't bring your clothes either?

If you have some things you simply can't bear to part with, and they don't fill more than, say, a bankers box or two, you can store them with me. I will make the space and bring them back to you when you want them.

>290 Storeetllr: I'm so grateful you'd offer some of your not-generous space so generously, Mary! I have to put this into a more constructive context, though...I'm getting a chance to let go of *stuff* before some even worse thing comes along to make me do it without time to process my feelings and attachments. *smooch*

>285 richardderus: Shock face emoji!

>292 DebiCates: IK,R?!?

The new thread is up! https://www.librarything.com/topic/378171

>55 richardderus: sad but true

>295 LoisB: Amen, Lois.