mahsdad's (Jeff) 2026 Thread - Q2

Welcome to Q2 of 2026 and my little corner of the world



Hi, I'm Jeff. I live in San Pedro California. Moved out from Pittsburgh in 1989. I'm an avid reader. My wife might say I'm bordering on the obsessive. But then, I think that could apply to a lot of us in this group. I also enjoy photography, movies, hiking and playing games and hanging out with my family. Book-wise, I have a pretty eclectic taste in what I read and I hope to give you not so much reviews but my impressions about what I read.

What you will find here is mostly my rambling thoughts, a whole mess of lists I'm keeping track of, my Wishlist and TBR pile temptations and a smattering of my photography. I don't really make a plan for what I'm going to read thru out the year. Its mostly what strikes my fancy from the TBR piles.

Past 75 Threads :
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2017 2018 2019 2020
2021 2022 2023 2024
2025

Come in and sit a spell.

2026 Statistics - Q2

🎧 - Audio
ER - Early Review
GN - Graphic Novel
K - Kindle


June
37. More Weight: A Salem Story by Ben Wickey (GN) : 75 days :
36. The Talisman by Stephen King/Peter Straub 🎧 : 17 days :

May
35. Going After Cacciato by Tim O'Brien : 18 days :
34. There Is No Antimemetics Division by qntm (K) : 27 days :
33. Easy Money: Cryptocurrency, Casino Capitalism, and the Golden Age of Fraud by Ben McKenzie 🎧 : 10 days :
DNF The Metamorphosis and Other Stories by Franz Kafka
32. Replaceable You: Adventures in Human Anatomy by Mary Roach 🎧 : 7 days :
31. Aliens in the Prime of Their Lives by Brad Watson : 20 days :
30. The Exorcist by William Peter Blatty 🎧 : 6 days :
29. Black Hole Blues and other Songs from Outer Space by Janna Levin : 21 days : '

Favorite : There Is No Antimemetics Divsion


April
28. East of Eden by John Steinbeck 🎧 :
27. The Sympathizer by Viet Thanh Nguyen (K) :
26. The Financial Lives of the Poets by Jess Walter 🎧 :
25. Thrawn: Alliances by Timothy Zahn 🎧 :
24. Emily, Alone by Stewart O'Nan :
23. Shade: The Promise of a Forgotten Natural Resource by Sam Bloch 🎧 :
22. Hitch-Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams 🎧 :

Favorite : The Financial Lives of the Poets

2026 Statistics - Q1

🎧 - Audio
ER - Early Review
GN - Graphic Novel
K - Kindle


March
21. Wish You Were Here by Stewart O'Nan :
20. Thrawn by Timothy Zahn 🎧 :
19. We're Taking Everyone Down With Us by Matthew Rosenberg (GN) :
18. Shy: A Novel by Max Porter 🎧 :
17. Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck 🎧 :
16. John Varley Reader: Thirty Years of Short Fiction by John Varley 🎧 :
15. Shylock is My Name by Howard Jacobson :

Favorite : Wish You Were Here


February
14. The Separation of Church and Hate by John Fuglesang 🎧:
13. The Last Wish by Andrzej Sapkowski :
12. The Heart Goes Last by Margaret Atwood 🎧:
11. Cronus by P. Djeli Clark (K) :
10. The Unworthy by Agustina Bazterrica 🎧 :
NRN - The Wayfinder by Adam Johnson
9. The Story of My Teeth by Valeria Luiselli :

Favorite : Separation of Church and Hate


January
8. Old Fools and Young Hearts by Tom Bodett 🎧 :
7. Rejection by Tony Tulathimutte 🎧 :
6. Short Nights of the Shadow Catcher by Timothy Egan :
5. The Uncool by Cameron Crowe 🎧 :
4. End of the World as We Know It edited by Christopher Golden/Brian Keene 🎧 :
3. Piranesi by Susanna Clarke :
2. An Indigenous Peoples History of the United States by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz 🎧 :
1. The Ones Who Walked Away from Omelas by Ursula K Le Guin (K) :

Favorite : End of the World As We Know It

Audiobook Narrator

Too Many to Name - Rejection, John Varley Reader

Laural Merlington - An Indigenous Peoples History of the United States

Sean Patrick Hopkins - End of the World As We Know It

Adenrele Ojo - End of the World As We Know It

Cameron Crowe - The Uncool

Tom Bodett - Old Fools and Young Hearts

Imani Jade Powers - The Unworthy

Cassandra Campbell - The Heart Goes Last

Mark Deakins - The Heart Goes Last

John Fugelsang - The Separation of Church and Hate

Gary Sinese - Of Mice and Men

Joe Gaminara - Shy

Marc Thompson - Thrawn, Thrawn: Alliances

Stephen Fry - Hitch-Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy

Shawn K. Jain - Shade: The Promise of a Forgotten Resource

Jess Walter - Financial Lives of the Poets

William Peter Blatty - The Exorcist

Mary Roach - Replaceable You

Ben McKenzie - Easy Money

Frank Muller - The Talisman

Pulitzer's Read

Ongoing bucket list to read all the Pulitzer winning novels.

Bold : On the Shelf

2026 - Angel Down - Kraus
2025 - James READ
2024 - Night Watch
2023 - Demon Copperhead READ
2023 - Trust
2022 - The Netanyahus
2021 - The Night Watchman
2020 - The Nickel Boys - READ
2019 - The Overstory - READ
2018 - Less - READ
2017 - Underground Railroad - READ
2016 - The Sympathizer READ
2015 - All the Light We Cannot See - READ
2014 - The Goldfinch - READ
2013 - The Orphan Master's Son - READ
2012 - NO AWARD
- Swamplandia - READ - Nominee
2011 - A Visit from the Goon Squad - READ
2010 - Tinkers - READ
2009 - Olive Kitterridge - READ
2008 - The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao - READ
2007 - The Road - READ
2006 - March - READ
2005 - Gilead - READ
2004 - The Known World
2003 - Middlesex - READ
2002 - Empire Falls
2001 - The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay - READ
2000 - The Interpreter of Maladies - READ
1999 - The Hours - READ
1998 - American Pastoral
1997 - Martin Dressler: The Tale of an American Dreamer READ
1996 - Independence Day - READ
1995 - The Stone Diaries
1994 - The Shipping News
1993 - A Good Scent from a Strange Mountain - READ
1992 - A Thousand Acres - READ
- My Father Bleeds History (Maus) - READ (Special Awards & Citations - Letters)
1991 - Rabbit at Rest
1990 - The Mambo Kings
1989 - Breathing Lessons
1988 - Beloved DNF
1987 - A Summons to Memphis
1986 - Lonesome Dove - READ
1985 - Foreign Affairs
1984 - Ironweed - READ
1983 - The Color Purple - READ
1982 - Rabbit is Rich
1981 - A Confederacy of Dunces - READ
1980 - The Executioner's Song - READ
1979 - The Stories of John Cheever - READ
1978 - Elbow Room
1977 - NO AWARD
1976 - Humboldt's Gift
1975 - The Killer Angels - READ
1974 - NO AWARD
1973 - The Optimist's Daughter
1972 - Angle of Repose - READ
1971 - NO AWARD
1970 - The collected Stories of Jean Stafford
1969 - House Made of Dawn : DNF
1968 - The Confessions of Nat Turner - READ
1967 - The Fixer
1966 - The Collected Stories of katherine Anne Porter
1965 - The Keepers of the House
1964 - NO AWARD
1963 - The Reivers
1962 - The Edge of Sadness
1961 - To Kill a Mockingbird - READ
1960 - Advise and Consent
1959 - The Travels of Jaimie McPheeters
1958 - A Death in the Family
1957 - NO AWARD
1956 - Andersonville
1955 - A Fable
1954 - NO AWARD
1953 - The Old Man and the Sea
1952 - The Caine Mutiny - READ
1951 - The Town
1950 - The Way West
1949 - Guard of Honor - READ
1948 - Tales of the South Pacific
1947 - All the King's Men
1946 - NO AWARD
1945 - A Bell
1944 - Journey in the Dark
1943 - Dragon's Teeth
1942 - In This Our Life
1941 - NO AWARD
1940 - The Grapes of Wrath - READ
1939 - The Yearling
1938 - The Late George Apley
1937 - Gone with the Wind
1936 - Honey in the Horn
1935 - Now in November
1934 - Lamb in His Bosom
1933 - The Store
1932 - The Good Earth
1931 - Years of Grace
1930 - Laughing Boy
1929 - Scarlet Sister Mary
1928 - The Bridge of San Luis Rey - READ
1927 - Early Autumn
1926 - Arrowsmith
1925 - So Big
1924 - The Able McLaughlins
1923 - One of Ours
1922 - Alice Adams
1921 - The Age of Innocence
1920 - NO AWARD
1919 - The Magnificent Ambersons
1918 - His Family

Hugo's Read

Ongoing bucket list to read all the Hugo winning novels.

Bold : On the Shelf

2025 - The Tainted Cup
2024 - Some Desperate Glory
2023 - Nettle & Bone
2022 - A Desolation Called Peace
2022 - A Psalm for the Wild Built (novella) - READ
2021 - Network Effect - READ
2020 - A Memory Called Empire
2020 - This Is How You Lose The Time War - Novella - READ
2019 - The Calculating Stars - READ
2018 - The Stone Sky
2018 - All Systems Red - Novella - READ
2017 - The Obelisk Gate
2016 - The Fifth Season
2016 - Binti - READ - Novella
2015 - The Three-Body Problem
2014 - Ancillary Justice - READ (DNF)
2013 - Redshirts - READ
2012 - Among Others - READ
2011 - Blackout/All Clear
2010 - The Windup Girl - READ
2010 - The City & the City
2009 - The Graveyard Book - READ
2008 - The Yiddish Policemen's Union - READ
2007 - Rainbows End
2006 - Spin - READ
2005 - Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell
2004 - Paladin of Souls
2003 - Hominids
2003 - Coraline (novella) - READ
2002 - American Gods - READ
2001 - Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire - READ
2000 - A Deepness in the Sky
1999 - To Say Nothing of the Dog - READ
1998 - Forever Peace - READ
1997 - Blue Mars
1996 - The Diamond Age - READ
1995 - Mirror Dance
1994 - Green Mars
1993 - A Fire Upon the Deep
1993 - Doomsday Book READ
1992 - Barrayar
1991 - The Vor Game
1990 - Hyperion
1989 - Cyteen
1988 - The Uplift War - READ
1988 - Watchmen - READ - category : Other forms
1987 - Speaker for the Dead - READ
1986 - Ender's Game - READ
1985 - Neuromancer - READ
1985 - Short Story - The Crystal Spheres : David Brin READ
1985 - Novella - Press Enter : John Varley READ
1984 - Startide Rising - READ
1983 - Foundation's Edge
1982 - Downbelow Station
1982 - Short Story - The Pusher : John Varley READ
1981 - The Snow Queen
1980 - The Fountains of Paradise
1979 - Dreamsnake
1979 - Novella - Persistence of Vision : John Varley READ
1978 - Gateway
1977 - Where Late the Sweet Birds Sang
1976 - The Forever War - READ
1975 - The Dispossessed
1974 - Rendezvous with Rama - READ
1973 - The Gods Themselves - READ
1972 - To Your Scattered Bodies Go
1971 - Ringworld - READ
1970 - Left Hand of Darkness - READ
1969 - Stand on Zanzibar - READ
1968 - Lord of Light
1967 - The Moon is a Harsh Mistress - READ
1966 - Dune - READ
1966 - This Immortal
1965 - The Wanderer
1964 - Way Station - READ
1963 - The Man in the High Castle - READ
1962 - Stranger in a Strange Land - READ
1961 - A Canticle for Leibowitz - READ
1960 - Starship Troopers - READ
1959 - A Case of Conscience
1958 - The Big Time
1956 - Double Star - READ
1955 - The Forever Machine
1953 - The Demolished Man - READ

Retro Hugos - this are given for years when no award was given (more than 50 years ago). Of those...

1939 - The Sword in the Stone
1941 - Slan - A.E. van Voigt
1943 - Beyond This Horizon - Robert Heinlein
1944 - Conjure Wife - Fritz Leiber
1945 - Shadow Over Mars - Leigh Brackett
1946 - The Mule - Isaac Asimov
1951 - Farmer in the Sky - READ
1954 - Fahrenheit 451 - READ

Nebulas Read

Bold - On the Shelf

2024 - Someone You Can Build a Nest In by John Wiswell
2023 - Babel, Or, The Necessity of Violence, An Arcane History of the Oxford Translators' Revolution READ
2022 - A Master of Djinn - READ
2021 - Network Effect - READ
2020 - A Song for a New Day
2019 - The Calculating Stars - READ
2019 - This Is How You Lose The Time War - Novella - READ
2018 - The Stone Sky
2017 - All the Birds in the Sky - READ
2016 - Uprooted
2016 - Binti - Novella - READ
2015 - Annihilation - READ
2014 - Ancillary Justice - READ DNF
2013 - 2312
2012 - Among Others
2012 - Paper Menagerie - Short Story - READ
2011 - Blackout/All Clear
2010 - The Windup Girl - READ
2009 - Powers
2008 - The Yiddish Policemen's Union - READ
2007 - Seeker
2006 - Camouflage - READ
2005 - Paladin of Souls
2004 - The Speed of Dark
2003 - American Gods - READ
2002 - The Quantum Rose
2001 - Darwin's Radio
2000 - Parable of the Talents
1999 - Forever Peace - READ
1998 - The Moon and the Sun
1997 - Slow River
1996 - The Terminal Experiment
1995 - Moving Mars
1994 - Red Mars
1993 - Doomsday Book READ
1992 - Stations of the Tide
1991 - Tehanu: The Last Book of Earthsea
1990 - The Healer's War
1989 - Falling Free
1988 - The Falling Woman
1987 - Speaker for the Dead - READ
1986 - Ender's Game - READ
1985 - Neuromancer - READ
1985 - Novella - Press Enter : John Varley READ
1984 - Startide Rising - READ
1983 - No Enemy But Time
1982 - The Claw of the Conciliator
1981 - Timescape
1980 - The Fountains of Paradise
1979 - Dreamsnake
1979 - Novella - Persistence of Vision : John Varley READ
1978 - Gateway
1977 - Man Plus
1976 - The Forever War - READ
1975 - The Dispossessed
1974 - Rendezvous with Rama - READ
1973 - The Gods Themselves
1972 - A Time of Changes
1971 - Ringworld - READ
1970 - The Left Hand of Darkness - READ
1969 - Rite of Passage
1968 - The Einstein Intersection
1967 - Babel-17
1967 - Flowers for Algernon - READ
1966 - Dune - READ

Booker Prize
2025 Flesh - David Szalay
2024 Orbital READ
2023 Prophet Song READ
2022 The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida
2021 The Promise
2020 Shuggie Bain READ
2019 The Testaments
2019 Girl, Woman, Other
2018 Milkman READ
2017 Lincoln in the Bardo READ
2016 The Sellout READ
2015 A Brief History of Seven Killings READ
2014 The Narrow Road to the Deep North
2013 The Luminaries
2012 Bring Up the Bodies
2011 The Sense of an Ending
2010 The Finkler Question
2009 Wolf Hall DNF
2008 The White Tiger READ
2007 The Gathering
2006 The Inheritance of Loss
2005 The Sea
2004 The Line of Beauty READ
2003 Vernon God Little
2002 Life of Pi READ
2001 True History of the Kelly Gang
2000 The Blind Assassin
1999 Disgrace
1998 Amsterdam
1997 The God of Small Things
1996 Last Orders
1995 The Ghost Road
1994 How Late It Was, How Late
1993 Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha
1992 The English Patient
1992 Sacred Hunger
1991 The Famished Road
1990 Possession
1989 The Remains of the Day READ
1988 Oscar and Lucinda
1987 Moon Tiger
1986 The Old Devils
1985 The Bone People
1984 Hotel du Lac
1983 Life & Times of Michael K
1982 Schindler's Ark
1981 Midnight's Children READ
1980 Rites of Passage
1979 Offshore
1978 The Sea, the Sea
1977 Staying On
1976 Saville
1975 Heat and Dust
1974 The Conservationist
1974 Holiday
1973 The Siege of Krishnapur
1972 G.
1971 In a Free State
1970 The Elected Member
1969 Something to Answer For

International Booker Prize

2023 Time Shelter - Georgi Gospodinov (Bulgaria) : trans. Angela Rodel Read
2022 Tomb of Sand - Geetanjali Shree (India) : trans. Daisy Rockwell
2021 At Night All Blood Is Black - David Diop (France) : trans. Anna Moschovakis
2020 The Discomfort of Evening - Marieke Lucas Rijneveld (Netherlands) : trans. Michele Hutchison
2019 Celestial Bodies - Jokha al-Harthi (Oman) : trans. Marilyn Booth
2018 Flights - Olga Tokarczuk (Poland) : trans. Jennifer Croft
2017 A Horse Walks Into a Bar - David Grossman (Israel) : trans. Jessica Cohen
2016 The Vegetarian - Han Kang (South Korea) : trans. Deborah Smith Read

National Book Award Winners

2015 - Fortune Smiles READ
2014 - Redeployment READ
2012 - Beyond the Beautiful Forevers (Non-Fiction) READ
2005 - The Year of Magical Thinking - Dideon (Non-Fiction) READ
2001 - The Corrections READ
1988 - Paris Trout READ
1985 - White Noise READ
1983 - The Color Purple - hardback award READ
1981 - The Stories of John Cheever - paperback award READ
1980 - The World According to Garp - paperback award READ
1979 - Going After Cacciato - READ
1953 - Invisible Man READ

100 SFF/Fantasy Reads as compiled by NPR

https://www.npr.org/2011/08/11/139085843/your-picks-top-100-science-fiction-fant...

1. The Lord of the Rings by Tolkien READ
2. The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy by Douglas Adams READ
3. Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card READ
4. The Dune Chronicles By Frank Herbert READ
5. A Song Of Ice And Fire Series by George R.R. Martin
6. 1984 A Novel by George Orwell READ
7. Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury READ
8. The Foundation Trilogy by Isaac Asimov READ but only the 1st one
9. Brave New World by Aldous Huxley READ
10. American Gods By Neil Gaiman READ
11. The Princess Bride S. Morgenstern's Classic Tale of True Love and High Adventure by William Goldman READ
12. The Wheel Of Time Series by Robert Jordan
13. Animal Farm by George Orwell READ
14. Neuromancer By William Gibson READ
15. Watchmen by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons READ
16. I, Robot, by Isaac Asimov READ
17. Stranger In A Strange Land by Robert A. Heinlein READ
18. The Kingkiller Chronicles BY by Patrick Rothfuss
19. Slaughterhouse-Five By Kurt Vonnegut READ
20. Frankenstein By Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley READ
21. Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep? by Philip K. Dick READ
22. The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood READ
23. The Dark Tower Series by Stephen King READ
24. 2001: A Space Odyssey BY by Arthur C. Clarke READ
25. The Stand By Stephen King READ
26. Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson READ
27. The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury READ
28. Cat's Cradle By Kurt Vonnegut
29. The Sandman Series by Neil Gaiman READ
30. A Clockwork Orange BY by Anthony Burgess READ
31. Starship Troopers by Robert A. Heinlein READ
32. Watership Down by Richard Adams
33. Dragonflight by Anne McCaffrey
34. The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress by Robert A. Heinlein READ
35. A Canticle For Leibowitz By Walter M. Miller Jr. READ
36. The Time Machine by H.G. Wells
37. 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea By Jules Verne
38. Flowers For Algernon by Daniel Keyes READ
39. The War Of The Worlds by H.G. Wells READ
40. The Amber Chronicles by Roger Zelazny
41. The Belgariad By David Eddings
42. The Mists Of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley
43. Mistborn Trilogy Brandon Sanderson
44. Ringworld by LARRY NIVEN READ
45. The Left Hand Of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin READ
46. The Silmarillion by J.R.R. Tolkien
47. The Once And Future King BY by T.H. White
48. Neverwhere by NEIL GAIMAN READ
49. Childhood's End by Arthur C. Clarke
50. Contact by Carl Sagan READ
51. The Hyperion Cantos by Dan Simmons
52. Stardust by Neil Gaiman READ
53. Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson READ
54. World War Z An Oral History of the Zombie War by Max Brooks READ
55. The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle
56. The Forever War by Joe Haldeman READ
57. Small Gods A Novel of Discworld by Terry Pratchett READ
58. The Chronicles Of Thomas Covenant The Unbeliever by Stephen R. Donaldson
59. The Vorkosigan Saga by Lois McMaster Bujold
60. Going Postal A Novel of Discworld by Terry Pratchett
61. The Mote In God's Eye by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle READ
62. The Sword Of Truth Series by Terry Goodkind
63. The Road by by Cormac McCarthy READ
64. Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke
65. I Am Legend by Richard Matheson READ
66. The Riftwar Saga by Raymond E. Feist
67. The Sword of Shannara Trilogy by Terry Brooks
68. The Conan The Barbarian Series by Robert E. Howard and Mark Schultz
69. The Farseer Trilogy by Robin Hobb
70. The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger READ
71. The Way Of Kings by Brandon Sanderson
72. Journey To The Center Of The Earth by Jules Verne READ
73. The Legend Of Drizzt Series by R. A. Salvatore
74. Old Man's War by John Scalzi READ
75. The Diamond Age by Neal Stephenson READ
76. Rendezvous With Rama by Arthur C. Clarke READ
77. The Kushiel's Legacy Series by Jacqueline Carey
78. The Dispossessed An Ambiguous Utopia by Ursula K. Le Guin
79. Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury
80. Wicked The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory Maguire READ
81. The Malazan Book Of The Fallen series by Steven Erikson
82. The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde READ
83. The Culture Series by Iain Banks
84. The Crystal Cave by Mary Stewart
85. Anathem by Neal Stephenson
86. The Codex Alera Series by Jim Butcher
87. The Book Of The New Sun by Gene Wolfe
88. The Thrawn Trilogy by Timothy Zahn
89. The Outlander Series by Diana Gabaldon
90. The Elric Saga by Michael Moorcock
91. The Illustrated Man By Ray Bradbury short works collection
92. Sunshine by Robin McKinley
93. A Fire Upon The Deep by Vernor Vinge
94. The Caves Of Steel by Isaac Asimov READ
95. The Mars Trilogy by Kim Stanley Robinson
96. Lucifer's Hammer by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle READ
97. Doomsday Book by Connie Willis
98. Perdido Street Station by China Miéville
99. The Xanth Series by Piers Anthony
100. The Space Trilogy by C.S. Lewis

100 Horror Reads as compiled by NPR

https://www.npr.org/2018/08/16/632779706/click-if-you-dare-100-favorite-horror-s...

1. Frankenstein by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley READ
2. Dracula by Bram Stoker READ
3. Young Goodman Brown by Nathaniel Hawthorne
4. The Tell-Tale Heart by Edgar Allan Poe
5. Carmilla by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu
6. The Turn Of The Screw by Henry James
7. The Great God Pan by Arthur Machen
8. The Monkeys Paw by W. W. Jacobs
9. The Willows by Algernon Blackwood
10. The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman READ
11. Oh, Whistle, And Ill Come To You, My Lad by M. R. James and Darryl Jones
12.The Werewolf Of Paris By Guy Endore
13. I Am Legend by Richard Matheson READ
14. Let The Right One In By John Ajvide Lindqvist
15. The Vampire Chronicles (First Triology) by Anne Rice READ
16. Minion (Vampire Huntress Legend Series) by L. A. Banks
17. The Hunger by Alma Katsu
18. Those Across The River by Christopher Buehlman
19. Bird Box by Josh Malerman READ
20. Feed (Newsflesh Series) by Mira Grant
21. World War Z by Max Brooks READ
22. The Girl With All The Gifts by M. R. Carey READ
23. The Shadow Over Innsmouth by H. P. Lovecraft
24. The Ballad Of Black Tom by Victor Lavalle READ
25. The Fisherman by John Langan
26. Laundry Files (Series) by Charles Stross
27. The Cipher By Kathe Koja
28. John Dies At The End by David Wong READ
29. At The Mountains Of Madness by H.P. Lovecraft
30. All Our Salt-Bottled Hearts by Sonya Taaffe
31. Uzumaki by Junji Ito
32. Communion: A True Story by Whitley Strieber OR Majestic by Whitley Strieber
33. The Repairer Of Reputations by Robert W. Chambers
34. The Haunting Of Hill House by Shirley Jackson
35. The House Next Door by Anne Rivers Siddons
36. Burnt Offerings by Robert Marasco
37. The Shining by Stephen King READ
38. House Of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski
39. The Elementals by Michael McDowell
40. The Woman In Black by Susan Hill
41. Lunar Park by Bret Easton Ellis
42. The Bone Key by Sarah Monette
43. Wylding Hall by Elizabeth Hand
44. Infidel by Aaron Campbell, Jose Villarrubia, Pornsak Pichetshote and Jeff Powell
45. The Ruins by Scott Smith
46. Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier
47. Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been? by Joyce Carol Oates
48. The Red Tree by Caitlin R. Kiernan
49. Swan Song by Robert McCammon
50. The Screwfly Solution by James Tiptree Jr.
51. Left Foot, Right by Nalo Hopkinson
52. Come Closer by Sara Gran
53. Furnace by Livia Llewellyn
54. The Bloody Chamber by Angela Carter
55. Through The Woods by Emily Carroll
56. Sandman by Neil Gaiman READ
57. Her Body And Other Parties by Carmen Maria Machado
58. White Is For Witching by Helen Oyeyemi
59. Goblin Market by Christina Georgina Rossetti
60. Experimental Film by Gemma Files
61. The Lottery by Shirley Jackson READ
62. The Collector by John Fowles
63. The Terror by Dan Simmons
64. Intensity by Dean R. Koontz
65. The Girl Next Door by Jack Ketchum
66. Exquisite Corpse by Poppy Z. Brite
67. Night They Missed the Horror Show by Joe R. Lansdale
68. Penpal by Dathan Auerbach
69. NOS4A2 by Joe Hill READ
70. Bloodchild by Octavia E. Butler
71. Lord Of The Flies by William Golding READ
72. The Handmaids Tale by Margaret Atwood READ
73. Beloved by Toni Morrison
74. Kindred: A Graphic Novel Adaptation by Octavia E. Butler
75. The Devil In America by Kai Ashante Wilson
76. I Have No Mouth And I Must Scream by Harlan Ellison
77. Books Of Blood by Clive Barker READ
78. The October Country: Stories by Ray Bradbury
79. The Weird: A Compendium Of Strange And Dark Stories by Ann Vandermeer and Jeff VanDermeer
80. The Imago Sequence and Other Stories by Laird Barron
81. Alone With the Horrors: The Great Short Fiction of Ramsey Campbell, 1961-1991 by Ramsey Campbell
82. Things We Lost In The Fire by Mariana Enriquez
83. Shadowland by Peter Straub READ
84. A Head Full Of Ghosts by Paul Tremblay
85. Rosemarys Baby by Ira Levin
86. The Exorcist by William Peter Blatty READ
87. The Body by Stephen King READ
88. Its A Good Life by Jerome Bixby
89. The Other by Thomas Tryon
90. The Troop by Nick Cutter
91. Elizabeth by Ken Greenhall
92. Please, Momma by Chesya Burke
93. Scary Stories To Tell In The Dark by Alvin Schwartz and Stephen Gammell
94. Goosebumps (Series) by R. L. Stine children
95. Rotters by Daniel Kraus children
96. Jumbies Rise Of The Jumbies by Tracey Baptiste
97. The House With A Clock In Its Walls by John Bellairs
98. Spirit Hunters by Ellen Oh
99. Coraline by Neil Gaiman READ
100. Down A Dark Hall by Lois Duncan

Weird Books List

From Book Riot - The 100 strange and weird "must read" books. https://bookriot.com/i-got-your-weird-right-here-100-wonderful-strange-and-unusu...

A Jello Horse by Matthew Simmons
After the People Lights Have Gone Off by Stephen Graham Jones
Alligators of Abraham by Robert Kloss
An Exaggerated Murder by Josh Cook
Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer READ
Archivist Wasp by Nicole Kornher-Stace
As She Climbed Across the Table by Jonathan Lethem
Bear vs. Shark by Chris Bachelder
Beatlebone by Kevin Barry
Being Dead by Jim Crace
Big Machine by Victor LaValle
Brave Story by Miyuki Miyabe (Author), Alexander O. Smith (Translator)
Cat Country by Lao She
Damnificados by JJ Amaworo Wilson
Deathless by Catherynne M. Valente
Delicious Foods by James Hannaham
Dendera by Yuya Sato (Author), Edwin Hawkes (Translator), Nathan A Collins (Translator)
Disquiet by Julia Leigh
Duplex by Kathryn Davis
Escape from Baghdad! by Saad Hossain
Fram by Steve Himmer
Geek Love by Katherine Dunn
Girlfriend in a Coma by Douglas Coupland READ
God Help the Child by Toni Morrison
Half Life by Shelley Jackson
Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World by Haruki Murakami
Heart of a Dog by Mikhail Bulgakov (Author), Michael Glenny (Translator)
I Crawl Through It by A.S. King
In the House Upon the Dirt Between the Lake and the Woods by Matt Bell
Jamestown by Matthew Sharpe
Just Like Beauty by Lisa Lerner
Lagoon by Nnedi Okorafor
Lives of the Monster Dogs by Kirsten Bakis
Long Division by Kiese Laymon
Masters of Atlantis by Charles Portis
Mermaids in Paradise by Lydia Millet
Motherfucking Sharks by Brian Allen Carr
Mr. Fox by Helen Oyeyemi
Mr. Splitfoot by Samantha Hunt
Observatory Mansions by Edward Carey
Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood READ
Paper Tigers by Damien Angelica Walters
Prodigies by Angélica Gorodischer
Pym by Mat Johnson
Radio Iris by Anne-Marie Kinney
Remainder by Tom McCarthy
Shine Shine Shine by Lydia Netzer
Sister Mine by Nalo HopkinsonSister Mine by Nalo Hopkinson
Slade House by David Mitchell READ
Slapstick or Lonesome No More! by Kurt Vonnegut
Some of Your Blood by Theodore Sturgeon
Stranger Things Happen by Kelly Link
Sudden Death by Álvaro Enrigue (Author), Natasha Wimmer (Translator)
The 13 1/2 Lives of Captain Bluebear by Walter Moers
The Bear Comes Home by Rafi Zabor
The Beautiful Bureaucrat by Helen Phillips
The Bees by Laline Paul
The Blue Girl by Laurie Foos
The Brief and Frightening Reign of Phil by George Saunders READ
The Cheese Monkeys by Chip Kidd
The Country of Ice Cream Star by Sandra Newman
The Daughters by Adrienne Celt
The Family Fang by Kevin Wilson
The Giant’s House by Elizabeth McCracken
The Gone-Away World by Nick Harkaway
The Gracekeepers by Kirsty Logan
The Hotel New Hampshire by John Irving
The Illumination by Kevin Brockmeier
The Incarnations by Susan Barker
The Intuitionist by Colson Whitehead
The Last Illusion by Porochista Khakpour
The Legend of Pradeep Mathew by Shehan Karunatilaka
The Library at Mount Char by Scott Hawkins
The Man in My Basement by Walter Mosely
The Manual of Detection by Jedediah Berry
The Ninth Life of Louis Drax by Liz Jensen
The Orange Eats Creeps by Grace Krilanovich
The Passion by Jeanette Winterson
The Portable Veblen by Elizabeth Mckenzie
The Rabbit Back Literature Society by Pasi Ilmari Jääskeläinen (Author), Lola M. Rogers (Translator)
The Raw Shark Texts by Steven Hall READ
The Story of My Teeth by Valeria Luiselli (Author), Christina MacSweeney (Translator) READ
The Teleportation Accident by Ned Beauman
The Unfinished World and Other Stories by Amber Sparks
The Vanishers by Heidi Julavits
The Vaults by Toby Ball
The Vegetarian by Han Kang READ
The Vorrh by B. Catling
The Wasp Factory by Iain Banks
The Weirdness by Jeremy Bushnell
The Wilds by Julia Elliott
Three Scenarios in Which Hana Sasaki Grows a Tail by Kelly Luce
Version Control by Dexter Palmer
Viper Wine by Hermione Eyre
Waiting for Gertrude by Bill Richardson
What Was Lost by Catherine O’Flynn
Who Was Changed and Who Was Dead by Barbara Comyns
You Too Can Have a Body Like Mine by Alexandra Kleeman
Zazen by Vanessa Veselka
Zeroville by Steve Erickson

Jeff's Weird Additions
Help! A Bear is Eating Me by Mykle Hansen
WhaleFall by Daniel Kraus
Gravity's Rainbow - Thomas Pynchon
Cartoons - Kit Schluter
Blob: A Love Story - Maggie Su

Esquire's 75 Best Sci-Fi books of all time.

Choosing the 75 best science fiction books of all time wasn’t easy, so to get the job done, we had to establish some guardrails. Though we assessed single installments as representatives of their series, we limited the list to one book per author. We also emphasized books that brought something new and innovative to the genre—to borrow a great sci-fi turn of phrase, books that “boldly go where no one has gone before.”

75 - The Echo Wife, by Sarah Gailey
74 - The Calculating Stars, by Mary Robinette Kowal READ
73 - Redshirts, by John Scalzi READ
72 - Beautyland, by Marie-Helene Bertino
71 - The Ten Percent Thief, by Lavanya Lakshminarayan
70 - Midnight Robber, by Nalo Hopkinson
69 - Snow Crash, by Neal Stephenson READ
68 - Star Maker, by Olaf Stapledon
67 - Contact, by Carl Sagan READ
66 - Under the Skin, by Michel Faber
65 - Way Station, by Clifford D. Simak READ
64 - Sea of Rust, by C. Robert Cargill
63 - What Mad Universe, by Fredric Brown
62 - The Book of Phoenix, by Nnedi Okorafor
61 - Semiosis, by Sue Burke
60 - Excession, by Iain M. Banks
59 - The Claw of the Conciliator, by Gene Wolfe
58 - Lord of Light, by Roger Zelazny
57 - This Is How You Lose the Time War, by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone READ
56 - The Resisters, by Gish Jen
55 - Rosewater, by Tade Thompson READ
54 - Children of Time, by Adrian Tchaikovsky
53 - Solaris, by Stanislaw Lem READ
52 - A Clockwork Orange, by Anthony Burgess READ
51 - The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress, by Robert A. Heinlein READ
50 - A Wrinkle in Time, by Madeleine L’Engle READ
49 - The Time Machine, by H.G. Wells
48 - The Body Scout, by Lincoln Michel
47 - An Unkindness of Ghosts, by Rivers Solomon
46 - The Mountain in the Sea, by Ray Nayler
45 - Neuromancer, by William Gibson READ
44 - The Stars My Destination, by Alfred Bester READ
43 - The Sparrow, by Mary Doria Russell
42 - The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, by Douglas Adams READ
41 - A Canticle for Leibowitz, by Walter M. Miller Jr. READ
40 - Project Hail Mary, by Andy Weir READ
39 - Zone One, by Colson Whitehead TBR
38 - The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet, by Becky Chambers READ
37 - Engine Summer, by John Crowley
36 - The Children of Men, by P.D. James READ
35 - Radiance, by Catherynne M. Valente
34 - The City & The City, by China Miéville
33 - A Memory Called Empire, by Arkady Martine
32 - Ancillary Justice, by Ann Leckie DNF
31 - The Stand, by Stephen King READ
30 - In Ascension, by Martin MacInnes
29 - Dhalgren, by Samuel R. Delany
28 - The Forever War, by Joe Haldeman READ
27 - 1Q84, by Haruki Murakami READ
26 - Future Home of the Living God, by Louise Erdrich
25 - Ammonite, by Nicola Griffith
24 - Annihilation, by Jeff VanderMeer READ
23 - Oryx and Crake, by Margaret Atwood READ
22 - Hyperion, by Dan Simmons
21 - Red Mars, by Kim Stanley Robinson
20 - Shikasta, by Doris Lessing
19 - The Sirens of Titan, by Kurt Vonnegut
18 - Roadside Picnic, by Arkady and Boris Strugatsky READ
17 - Childhood's End, by Arthur C. Clarke READ
16 - The Complete Robot, by Isaac Asimov READ
15 - How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe, by Charles Yu READ
14 - Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley READ
13 - The Employees, by Olga Ravn
12 - 1984, by George Orwell READ
11 - The Three-Body Problem, by Cixin Liu TBR
10 - Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, by Philip K. Dick READ
9 - Station Eleven, by Emily St. John Mandel READ
8 - Exhalation, by Ted Chiang READ
7 - Never Let Me Go, by Kazuo Ishiguro
6 - The Left Hand of Darkness, by Ursula K. Le Guin READ
5 - Kindred, by Octavia Butler READ
4 - The Fifth Season, by N.K. Jemisin
3 - The Martian Chronicles, by Ray Bradbury READ
2 - Dune, by Frank Herbert READ
1 - Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley READ

Woman's Prize for Fiction

Got this list from Paul, another one to add to my collection.

https://womensprize.com/prizes/womens-prize-for-fiction/

1996. A Spell of Winter by Helen Dunmore
1997. Fugitive Pieces by Anne Michaels
1998. Larry's Party by Carol Chields
1999. A Crime in the Neighborhood by Suzanne Berne
2000. When I Lived in Modern Times by Linda Grant
2001. The Idea of Perfection by Kate Grenville
2002. Bel Canto by Ann Patchett
2003. Property by Valerie Martin
2004. Small Island by Andrea Levy
2005. We Need to Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver
2006. On Beauty by Zadie Smith
2007. Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozie Adichie
2008. The Road Home by Rose Tremain
2009. Home by Marilynne Robinson
2010. The Lacuna by Barbara Kingsolver On the shelf
2011. The Tiger's Wife by Tea Obreht
2012. The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller READ
2013. May We Be Forgiven by A.M. Homes
2014. A Girl is a Half-Formed Thing by Eimar M
2015. How to be Both by Ali Smith READ
2016. The Glorious Heresies by Lisa McInerney
2017. The Power by Naomi Alderman READ
2018. Home Fire by Kamila Shamsie
2019. An American Marriage by Tayari Jones
2020. Hamnet by Maggie O'Farrell On the shelf
2021. Piranesi by Susannah Clarke READ
2022. The Book of Form and Emptiness by Ruth Ozeki
2023. Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver READ
2024. Brotherless Night by V.V. Ganesthanathan
2025. The Safe Keep by Yael Van Der Wouden

Christmas Gifts

2015
Tunneling to the Center of the Earth: Stories - Kevin Wilson READ
The Magician's Book: A skeptic's Adventures in Narnia - Laura Miller
Burning Paradise - Robert Charles Wilson READ
The Assassination of Margaret Thatcher: Stories - Hilary Mantel READ
The Marriage Plot - Jeffrey Eugenides READ
St. Lucy's Home for Gilrs Raised by Wolves - Karen Russell READ

2016
The Sellout - Paul Beatty READ
The Windup Girl - Paolo Bacigalupi READ
Among Others - Jo Walton READ
Perdido Street Station - China Mieville DNF
An Abundance of Katherines - John Green READ
Interpreter of Maladies - Jhumpa Lahiri READ
Empire Falls - Richard Russo READ

2017
Revelation Space - Alastair Reynolds READ
The Tipping Point - Malcolm Gladwell DNF
Consider Phlebas - Ian M. Banks
Tenth of December - George Saunders READ
Some Luck - Jane Smiley
A Clockwork Orange - Anthony Burgess READ
Stone Spring - Stephen Baxter
The Path Between the Seas - David McCullough
The Hours - Michael Cunningham READ
Beloved - Toni Morrison DNF
All the King's Men - Robert Penn Warren

2018
Adventures of Oliver Twist/A Christmas Carol/A Tale of Two Cities/Great Expectations - Charles Dickens
The Worst Hard Time - Timothy Egan READ
Circe - Madeline Miller READ

2019
Oryx and Crake - Margaret Atwood READ
Under the Black Flag - David Cordingly
Major Pettigrew's Last Stand - Helen Simonson READ
Cold Comfort Farm - Stella Gibbons READ
Advise and Consent - Allen Drury

2020
Ready Player Two - Ernest Cline READ
The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet - Becky Chambers READ

2021
Intercourse/Severance: Stories Rober Olen Butler READ
Salt: A Word History - Mark Kurlansky READ
Homegoing - Yaa Gyasi READ
The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon READ

2022
Faulkner: Novels 1942-1954 - William Faulkner
West - Carys Davies READ
Yellow Birds - Kevin Powers READ
Shylock Is My Name - Howard Jacobson READ
Justice - Larry Watson
Lost Everything - Brian Francis Slattery READ

2023
Growing Up Yinzer - Dick Roberts READ
A Fire Upon the Deep - Vernor Vindge
Frankenstein - Mary Shelley READ
Prophet Song - Paul Lynch READ
Holly - Stephen King

2024
A Psalm of the Wild Built - Becky Chambers READ
American Dirt - Jeanine Coummins
Behind the Beautiful Forevers - Katherine Boo READ
Demon Copperhead - Barbara Kingsolver READ

2025 @weird_O
Light Between Oceans - ML Stedman
The Arrest - Jonathan Lethem
O Pioneers - Willa Cather
A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry
Prairie Fire - Caroline Fraser
Les Miserables - Victor Hugo

2026 So Far

Books Read - 21

First Book: Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas
Last Book: Wish You Were Here

Pages Read - 2,303
Hours Listened - 5 days, 12 hrs and 3 mins
Words Read - 1,852,748

Overall sources
DTE - 29%
Audio - 57%
Digital - 14%

Unique Authors - 21
Lady Authors - 6
Authors of Color - 1

Total BFB/Chunksters for 2026 - 3
Reread - 2
Gave Away - 4
Purchased - 12







#recap

My favorite useless chart... The Scatter Plot

These are the books I've read and when they were published.

2026 Books of the Month

January : End of the World As We Know It edited by Christopher Golden
February : The Separation of Church and Hate by John Fuglesang
March : Wish You Were Here by Stewart O'Nan

April :
May :
June :

July :
August :
September :

October :
November :
December :



#botm

>11 mahsdad: oh, very interesting list! Thanks.

Happy new thread Jeff

Happy new thread, Jeff!

Happy April, Jeff. Happy New Thread. I just finished The Separation of Church and Hate. I agree, it was excellent. I was thinking of doing a shared read of The Mambo Kings in July. Would you like to join us? It is a Pulitzer title I would like to cross off the list.

>19 ffortsa: I know, right?!

>20 ArlieS:, >21 quondame:, >22 msf59: Thanks for stopping by

>22 msf59: Definitely put me on the list for Mambo Kings. I haven't read it, and its on the list, so its fair game.

Happy New Thread!

Happy New Thread, Jeff!
You've put together a great collection of lists—I haven't read nearly enough of the books on them...

Happy New Thread! Now just missing some of your photos...

>25 SirThomas: Hi Thomas, thanks for stopping by. Too many books, not enough time.

>26 elorin: Hi Robyn, thanks. What do you mean about missing photos. Are some not showing?

Fantastic Foto Friday

Happy Friday Folks! Its spring in California, so that means poppies!



Book Update
>2 mahsdad: Q2 Books
>3 mahsdad: Q1 Books
>4 mahsdad: Audiobooks

Reading - Emily, Alone by Stewart O'Nan : 28%
Listening - Shade: The Promise of a Forgotten Natural Resource by Sam Bloch : 65%
Listening - Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams : 69%
Digital - The Sympathizer by Viet Than Nguyen : 77%
Graphic Novel - More Weight: A Salem Story by Ben Wickey : 30%

21. Wish You Were Here by Stewart O'Nan : This is book 1 of a trilogy about the lives of Emily and Henry Maxwell and their family. In this story Emily, recently widowed, is going from Pittsburgh to Western NY to spend a last vacation at her cottage by the lake. Her son, his wife and their children, her daughter and her kids and Emily's sister-in-law are there as well to do the nostaglic things that you do when you go away to the same place every year. Go to the touristy places, have the traditional dinners and do the fun lake things that they always do. But its not the same, everyone has their own issues and challenges they're dealing with. But nothing ever is that bad, its just a nice family story that in a lot of ways I could see myself in the story. It was, perhaps, a little bit too long, and there were some story lines that didn't really go anywhere. One was that there was a side story about a clerk at a gas station being kidnapped and unless I missed something, we never found out what happened. But, I guess that might be the case for real, if you go to a different town, experience the local news for a week and go home, there was a time pre-100% news all the time, where you wouldn't know after you left home. A writing conceit, that I don't know was just a typo or I'm reading too much into things. Emily's daughter-in-law is named Lise, but in some places its spelled Lisa. I "think", its Lisa in the chapters from Emily's point of view because she has her issues with Lise and just doesn't want to call her that, and says Lisa. Or maybe I'm just crazy. ;) At any rate, I enjoyed it and went right on to start reading Emily, Alone

Jeff's 2026 B.A.S.S tracking document

#ff

>24 SilverWolf28: Hi Silver, just realized I missed you. Thanks for stopping by!

For the Pulitzer fans, or more specifically if anyone is a fan of Don Delillo's White Noise, Netflix did a movie of it.

Here's the trailer : https://youtu.be/SgwKZAMx_gM?si=RSmsK5KSTtZSTMGR

Star's Adam Driver, Greta Gerwig and Don Cheedle. Looks delightfully weird.

>28 mahsdad: Lovely. We saw a bed of them in SCBG Saturday, but they don't properly belong in beds but poured over hillsides.

>22 msf59:
The two of you prompted me to purchase a copy of Separation of Church and Hate at our local public library Book Fair a week ago. No telling when I will get it read, so thanks for the prompt to purchase. I am sure that John Fugelsang will be sending both of you a thank you card soonish.

I am looking forward to reading Mambo Kings in the near future. A few people I know have told me that it is not the authors best book, but I have it on the shelves and so need to read it.

Happy new one, Jeff!

Comparison updates on my reading:

Pulitzer Fiction Winners - 25 read
Booker Prize - 40 read
Booker International - 6 read
Hugos/Nebula - 6 read
Women's Prize - 10 read
SFF 100 - 22 read

Happy new thread, Jeff!

Happy new thread, Jeff!

*Looks like I really want to wish you a happy new thread!

>31 quondame: Absolutely, fields and fields of 'em

>32 benitastrnad: Church and State, so glad to be able to contribute to our shared obsession

>33 PaulCranswick: >34 PaulCranswick: Thanks for stopping by. Lists, and our progress on them. I think that's what's fun about them, just seeing the progression. No obsession, just watching the progress.

>35 drneutron: >36 drneutron: I'll take all the good wishes you all can muster. ;)

New Book - audio

Thrawn: Alliances by Timothy Zahn (read by Marc Thompson



Grand Admiral Thrawn and Darth Vader team up against a threat to the Empire in this thrilling novel from bestselling author Timothy Zahn.

“I have sensed a disturbance in the Force.”

Ominous words under any circumstances, but all the more so when uttered by Emperor Palpatine. On Batuu, at the edge of the Unknown Regions, a threat to the Empire is taking root—its existence little more than a glimmer, its consequences as yet unknowable. But it is troubling enough to the Imperial leader to warrant investigation by his most powerful agents: ruthless enforcer Lord Vader and brilliant strategist Grand Admiral Thrawn. Fierce rivals for the Emperor’s favor and outspoken adversaries on Imperial affairs—including the Death Star project—the formidable pair seem unlikely partners for such a crucial mission. But the Emperor knows it’s not the first time Vader and Thrawn have joined forces. And there’s more behind his royal command than either man suspects.

In what seems like a lifetime ago, General Anakin Skywalker of the Galactic Republic and Commander Mitth’raw’nuruodo, officer of the Chiss Ascendancy, crossed paths for the first time. One on a desperate personal quest, the other with motives unknown . . . and undisclosed. But facing a gauntlet of dangers on a far-flung world, they forged an uneasy alliance—neither remotely aware of what his future held in store.

Now, thrust together once more, they find themselves bound again for the planet where they once fought side by side. There they will be doubly challenged—by a test of their allegiance to the Empire . . . and by an enemy that threatens even their combined might.

"I have sensed a disturbance in the Force." Emperor Palpatine paused, stretching out his thoughts to the two men standing before his throne, awaiting their reactions. No. Not men. Of course not men. Men were insignificant, pitiable creatures, fit only to be ruled, or intimidated, or sent to die in battle. These were fare more than mere men.

#newbook

Book Haul

13. There Is No Antimemetics Division by qntm. I'd had this on my WL for a while, I saw some post on TikTok or Instagram about it. But then I saw the other day on Joe's thread about it being on sale. So I went to Kobo to see (trying not to buy anything digital from Amazon, since you can't download their books anymore.) With Kobo, I can download them and run them thru Calibre and get the converted onto the Kindle format. $1.99 is a bargain. Now, of course, when am I actually going to read it.

#bh

>23 mahsdad: >32 benitastrnad: We have a date for The Mambo Kings in July. Glad we landed a solid BB with Separation of Church and Hate. It is comforting to see the point of view of Jesus, which largely goes to the wayside with them.

>22 msf59: >23 mahsdad: I might try reading Mambo Kings with y'all in July. I gave it a shot quite some years ago, but I was put off by the accolades lavished on enormous penises. I'm willing to give it another, perhaps more open-minded, shot.

Jeff, I was thinking of making a list of all your lists, but I was afraid it might turn out to be a doorstop, an unabashed chunkster.

>40 msf59: >41 weird_O: Cool for Mambo. I have it on hold from the library (eBook), whenever it comes in, I'll grab it and then turn turn on airplane mode, so I can keep it even after I return it. (Kindle hack for you, borrow a bunch of books but then turn off the wifi and never worry about them getting returned on you, unfortunately it doesn't work with audio books)

>41 weird_O: A list of lists, that would definitely get a little dense. Might get a little "Inception-y" LOL.

>27 mahsdad: oh no I just meant that your new thread had lists. And some book descriptions. But not many photos yet.

>43 elorin: Hang on there'll always be more ;)

Here's the full trailer for Netflix's version of Remarkably Bright Creatures. I read this last year and loved it.

Going to have to watch this one...

https://youtu.be/b14IFe4an5k?si=f0R7yrO0k5RrJrMV

Fantastic Foto Friday

Happy Friday Folks! Its spring in California, so that also means Jacarana



Book Update
>2 mahsdad: Q2 Books
>3 mahsdad: Q1 Books
>4 mahsdad: Audiobooks

Reading - Emily, Alone by Stewart O'Nan : 76%
Listening - Thrawn: Alliances by Timothy Zane : 80.22%
Digital - The Sympathizer by Viet Than Nguyen : 80%
Graphic Novel - More Weight: A Salem Story by Ben Wickey : 48%

23. Shade: The Promise of a Forgotten Natural Resource by Sam Bloch 🎧 : Read on Audio. This is an excellent NF book talking about the history of that unrealized natural resource ... Shade. That thing we take for granted and in our modern world has only recently starting coming back to the idea that we need it. How we've become addicted to our A/C life and forgotten about technics that were learned millennia ago. A very interesting and engaging read. Highly recommend.

22. Hitch-Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams 🎧 : Read on audio by Stephen Fry. What's not to say, this is one of my favorites. I've read it, watched the TV show, listened to the radio play, played the Infocom game, and now the audibook read by Fry. If you've read it, read it again, it a quick comfort food read. If you've never read it, and you like witty sci-fi, see the previous sentence. Read it. Hey do you know where your towel is?

Jeff's 2026 B.A.S.S tracking document

#ff

>46 mahsdad: The splat of the purple. So much a part of here and yet always a surprise to my desert child self.

>47 quondame: I know, and its purple for such a short time. Half the time when I realize they're blooming, half the blooms are on the ground.

Book Haul We finally did our annual Christmas book haul. Instead getting gifts every year, we go to a fancy bookstore to indulge. We also go to an interesting lunch. This year it was Vroman's in Pasadena and we went to a hole-in-the-wall Thai place for a very nice lunch.

My Books
14. On Tyranny - Snyder, Timothy
15. Kafka on the Shore - Murakami, Haruki
16. Gates of Fire - Pressfield, Stephen
17. Purity - Franzen, Jonathan (actually this is both mine and Laura's, separately we both picked up a copy from the bargain shelf)
18. Language of the Night - Le Quin, Ursula K

Liz's
19. Well of Ascension - Sanderson, Brandon
20. Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke - LaRocca, Eric
21. Muted Vol 1 - Mundt, Miranda
22. Muted Vol 2 - Mundt, Miranda
23. Gideon the Ninth - Muir, Tamsyn

Laura's
24. Mirage Factory - Krist, Gary
25. A Deadly Education - Novik, Naomi
26. Burning Chrome - Gibson, Williams

#bh

New Book

Black Hole Blues and Other Songs from Outer Space by Janna Levin



The authoritative story of the headline-making discovery of gravitational waves—by an eminent theoretical astrophysicist and award-winning writer.

From the author of How the Universe Got Its Spots and A Madman Dreams of Turing Machines, the epic story of the scientific campaign to record the soundtrack of our universe.

Black holes are dark. That is their essence. When black holes collide, they will do so unilluminated. Yet the black hole collision is an event more powerful than any since the origin of the universe. The profusion of energy will emanate as waves in the shape of spacetime: gravitational waves. No telescope will ever record the event; instead, the only evidence would be the sound of spacetime ringing. In 1916, Einstein predicted the existence of gravitational waves, his top priority after he proposed his theory of curved spacetime. One century later, we are recording the first sounds from space, the soundtrack to accompany astronomy’s silent movie.

In Black Hole Blues and Other Songs from Outer Space, Janna Levin recounts the fascinating story of the obsessions, the aspirations, and the trials of the scientists who embarked on an arduous, fifty-year endeavor to capture these elusive waves. An experimental ambition that began as an amusing thought experiment, a mad idea, became the object of fixation for the original architects—Rai Weiss, Kip Thorne, and Ron Drever. Striving to make the ambition a reality, the original three gradually accumulated an international team of hundreds. As this book was written, two massive instruments of remarkably delicate sensitivity were brought to advanced capability. As the book draws to a close, five decades after the experimental ambition began, the team races to intercept a wisp of a sound with two colossal machines, hoping to succeed in time for the centenary of Einstein’s most radical idea. Janna Levin’s absorbing account of the surprises, disappointments, achievements, and risks in this unfolding story offers a portrait of modern science that is unlike anything we’ve seen before.

Somewhere in the universe two black holes collide - as heavy as stars, as small as cities, literally black (the complete absence of light) holes (empty hollows). Tethered by gravity, in their final seconds together the black holes course through thousand revolutions about their eventual point of contact, churning up space and time until they crash and merge into one bigger black hole...

#newbook

New Book - audio (REREAD)

The Financial Lives of the Poets by Jess Walter



A comic and heartfelt novel from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Beautiful Ruins and Cold Millions about how we get to the edge of ruin—and how we begin to make our way back.

What happens when small-time reporter Matthew Prior quits his job to gamble everything on a quixotic notion: a Web site devoted to financial journalism in the form of blank verse?

Before long, he wakes up to find himself jobless, hobbled with debt, spying on his wife's online flirtation, and six days away from losing his home. . . . Until, one night on a desperate two a.m. run to 7-Eleven, he falls in with some local stoners, and they end up hatching the biggest—and most misbegotten—plan yet.

And behind the counter, the ever-patient Rahjiv makes half-lidded eye contact with me as he rings up another patchouli-foul giggler - Reese's Pieces, Pic-6 Lotto, Red Bull and a cheddar-jack tacquito - Rahjiv probably thinking: These kids, eh Matt - or maybe not, because Rahjiv doesn't know my name and I don't where a nametag.

#newbook

This is profound....

From a YT channel called Below the Fray that I forgot I followed.

This is called Don't Read Fiction : Optimize your soul into Oblivion with Self Help Books

https://youtu.be/MCHIRkaGGUM?si=XmWTnGJXk5w1dbNB

Spoiler - it isn't about not reading fiction, he's firmly in our camp, its snarkily/poetically about why you should.

For anyone that's going to participate in the group read of Mambo Kings this summer, if you need an EPUB or MOBI digital version, hit me up. I borrowed it from Libby and it only came on DRM'd EPUB. But I have ways... so now I have an unDRM'd version.

Okay, I didn't think I would add another one, but I just couldn't help myself. Saw this in this past Sunday's LA Times. I liked how they grouped them and they were an interesting list to look thru. Enjoy...

LA Times 101 Best Book Club Picks

Dishing about what you’re reading is one of life’s greatest pleasures. Even better if your audience has read the same book. Reading with others also provides space to deepen community, ignite conversations and share moments of joy. Los Angeles needs that more than ever right now as we continue to shoulder a heavy 2025 marked by fires and ICE raids. But how to choose a book to get started? The best books to read in groups inspire a dialogue. They have sparkling prose and unshakable narratives. These were the guiding factors for compiling our recommendations for all kinds of readers.

We surveyed 200-plus luminaries in the book and journalism worlds to make this in-depth list. The voters included prizewinning authors, indie bookstore owners, a Man Booker Prize judge, Ivy League professors, literary agents, lauded journalists and several zealous book club members. To ensure an especially varied selection, the editors gave a final curatorial pass.

The list includes 10 categories for every type of reader, whether you reach for literary fiction or romance. We also crowned an “Ultimate Book Club Pick,” which is the title that received the most votes out of all the books by a landslide, and happens to be eerily prophetic (find it among the “Make-Believers” selections). Of course, we couldn’t include every worthy book.
— Sophia Kercher

The Literati

MARTYR! by Kaveh Akbar
THE TRUE STORY OF RAJA THE GULLIBLE by Rabih Alameddine
BIG SWISS by Jen Beagin
2666 by Roberto Bolaño
TRUST by Hernan Diaz
JAMES by Percival Everett READ
SULA by Toni Morrison
THE SYMPATHIZER by Viet Thanh Nguyen READ
AFTERPARTIES by Anthony Veasna So
MARGO'S GOT MONEY TROUBLES by Rufi Thorpe

Hopeless Romantics

PRIDE AND PREJUDICE by Jane Austen
LORD OF SCOUNDRELS by Loretta Chase
LOVE LETTERING by Kate Clayborn
OUTLANDER by Diana Gabaldon
BOOK LOVERS by Emily Henry
A CARIBEAN HEIRESS IN PARIS by Adrianna Herrera
NINE RULES TO BREAK WHEN ROMANCING A RAKE BY Sarah MacLean
THE SEVEN HUSBANDS OF EVELYN HUGO by Taylor Jenkins Reid
GAME CHANGER by Rachel Reid
NORMAL PEOPLE by Sally Rooney

Wannabe Detectives

IN COLD BLOOD by Truman Capote READ
ECHO PARK by Michael Connelly
KING OF ASHES by S.A. Cosby
IN THE WOODS by Tana French
THE TALENTED MR RIPLEY by Patricia Highsmith
I'LL BE GONE IN THE DARK by Michelle McNamara READ
DEVIL IN A BLUE DRESS by Walter Mosley
SING HER DOWN by Ivy Pochoda
LILIANA'S INVINCIBLE SUMMER by Cristina Rivera Garza
HARLEM SHUFFLE by Colson Whitehead

Memoir Lovers

FUN HOME by Alison Bechdel
KITCHEN CONFIDENTIAL by Anthony Bourdain READ
THE YELLOW HOUSE by Sarah M. Broom
STAY TRUE by Hua Hsu
SPLINTERS by Leslie Jamison
IN THE DREAM HOUSE by Carmen Maria Machado
BORN A CRIME by Trevor Noah
I'M GLAD MY MOM DIED by Jennette McCurdy
MEN WE REAPED by Jesmyn Ward
EDUCATED by Tara Westover

Die-Hard Angelenos

EVE'S HOLLYWOOD by Eve Babitz
THE BIG SLEEP by Raymond Chandler
CITY OF QUARTZ by Mike Davis
PLAY IT AS IT LAYS by Joan Didion
L.A. CONFIDENTIAL by James Ellroy
THE SONS OF EL REY by Alex Espinoza
POSTCARDS FROM THE EDGE by Carrie Fisher
INHERENT VICE by Thomas Pynchon READ
COLORED TELEVISION by Danzy Senna
SIDEWALKING by David L. Ulin

Politicos

THE FIRE NEXT TIME by James Baldwin
THE MESSAGE by Ta-Nehisi Coates READ
WOMEN RACE & CLASS by Angela Y. Davis
ENSHITIFICATION by Cory Doctorow
ONE DAY, EVERYONE WILL ALWAYS HAVE BEEN AGAINST THIS by Omar El Akkad
AMERICA, AMÉRICA by Greg Grandid
DOPPELGANGER by Naomi Klein
DEMOCRACY AWAKENING by Heather Cox Richardson
ON TYRRANY by Timothy Snyder
OUR MIGRANT SOULS by Héctor Tobar

Armchair Travelers

DESERT SOLITAIRE by Edward Abbey
IN PATAGONIA by Bruce Chatwin
THE MOTORCYCLE DIARIES by Ernesto Che Guevara
DOWN AND DELIRIOUS IN MEXICO CITY by Daniel Hernandez
THE HALF KNOWN LIFE by Pico Iyer
ON THE ROAD by Jack Kerouac
ON THE NOODLE ROAD by Jen Lin-Liu
MY KIND OF PLACE by Susan Orlean
ON THE HIPPIE TRAIL by Rick Steves
WILD by Cheryl Strayed READ

Outdoor Enthusiasts

THE BOOK OF HOPE by Jane Goodall
THE ABCs OF CALIFORNIA'S NATIVE BEES by Krystle Hickman
BRAIDING SWEETGRASS by Robin Wall Kimmerer
DESERT ORACLE by Ken Layne
HERE COMES THE SUN by Bill McKibben
LOVE LETTER TO A GARDEN by Debbie Millman
WILD LA by Lila Higgins and Gregory B. Pauly READ
THE HIGH SIERRA by Kim Stanley Robinson
THE BACKYARD BIRD CHRONICLES by Amy Tan
AN IMMENSE WORLD by Ed Yong

Long-Haulers

DON QUIXOTE by Miguel de Cervantes
UNDERWORLD by Don DeLillo
MIDDLEMARCH by George Eliot
ULYSSES by James Joyce
THE STAND by Stephen King READ
IN SEARCH OF LOST TIME - SWAN'S WAY by Marcel Proust
THE TALE OF GENJI by Murasaki Shikibu
THE BOOKS OF JACOB by Olga Tokarczuk
ANNA KARENINA by Leo Tolstoy
INFINITE JEST by David Foster Wallace

The Make-Believers

ORYX AND CRAKE by Margaret Atwood READ
WE LOVE YOU, BUNNY by Mona Awad
A DISCOVERY OF WITCHES by Deborah Harkness
NETTLE & BONE by T. Kingfisher
KATABASIS by R.F. Kuang
THE LEFT HAND OF DARKNESS by Ursula K. Le Guin READ
SEVERANCE by Ling Ma
A COURT OF THORNS AND ROSES by Sarah J. Maas
THE HOBBIT by J.R.R. Tolkien READ
FOURTH WING by Rebecca Yarros

Ultimate Book Club Pick

PARABLE OF THE SOWER by Octavia E. Butler READ

>55 mahsdad: Interesting, if not a list of the best book clubs…..

>56 quondame: I'm always for lists that that give you some more BBs. Interesting technical point. On the LA Times in the site, for each book, there was a link to buy (obvious), but also a link to borrow, and it took you right to that book in the LAPL's catalog. Thought that was good advertising for the library.

For any fan's of Peter Heller's Dog Stars, here the trailer to the upcoming movie. Didn't know they were doing one.

https://youtu.be/n5EgMdzV3zc?si=0RJJsPe4NlrGwJPv

Fantastic Foto Friday

Happy Friday Folks! For more of what you expect of me, here's a flower.



Book Update
>2 mahsdad: Q2 Books
>3 mahsdad: Q1 Books
>4 mahsdad: Audiobooks

Reading - Black Hole Blues and Other Songs from Outer Space by Janna Levin : 37%
Listening - Financial Lives of the Poets by Jess Walter : 50%
Digital - The Sympathizer by Viet Than Nguyen : 84%
Graphic Novel - More Weight: A Salem Story by Ben Wickey : 56%

25. Thrawn: Alliances by Timothy Zahn 🎧 : Read on Audio. This is Book 2. More political intrigue with Grand Admiral Thrawn. This time its two story lines, where Thrawn and Anakin are working together to investigate the disappearance of Padme and a mysterious factory run by the separatists, this is set at the time of the Clone Wars. Then Thrawn is working with Darth Vader pre Star Wars, to investigate a Rebel outpost. it was a good read, especially on audio. It was read by Marc Anderson and he does an excellent job of selecting good character voices.

24. Emily, Alone by Stewart O'Nan : Book 2 of the Emily and Henry trilogy that started with Wish You Were Here. This one is basically a year in the life of Emily and her SIL in Pittsburgh. Just good cozy, well written stories. Emily's dealing with a health scare with Arlene, her SIL, also dealing with Emily getting older; not wanting to drive, but having to, issues with neighbors and the city, and the inevitable situation of having to attend more and more funerals as you get to the age where your friends start passing. This is set in Pittsburgh, and as a former Pittsburgher that's part of its charm, there were so many places mentioned that I wanted to break out Google Maps to see where she was. I have book 3, but I'm going to wait a little bit before I start Henry, Himself, just for some variety. Recommend. You probably don't need to read this 2nd, but for me it was nice that I did.

Jeff's 2026 B.A.S.S tracking document

#ff

And as a bonus picture, my son Loki and probably the reason RD hates Felis catus.

And a bonus bonus image.

Last week I shared a Jacaranda, went by it yesterday, its even more glorious...

>59 mahsdad: I feel very up-close-and-personal with that display of foliage fertility.

>62 quondame: Almost a little bit naughty? ;)

I like that list up there (somewhere). Like the categories. I've read a surprising number of them. Not a lot, but I was surprised. Well. Onto the list goes this list. (Gotta get it centered so the list doesn't list.)

>67 mahsdad: Hi Bill. Too funny. We certainly don't want the lists to list. :)

New Book - audio

East of Eden by John Steinbeck (read by Richard Poe)



In his journal, Nobel Prize winner John Steinbeck called East of Eden "the first book," and indeed it has the primordial power and simplicity of myth. Set in the rich farmland of California's Salinas Valley, this sprawling and often brutal novel follows the intertwined destinies of two families—the Trasks and the Hamiltons—whose generations helplessly reenact the fall of Adam and Eve and the poisonous rivalry of Cain and Abel.

The masterpiece of Steinbeck’s later years, East of Eden is a work in which Steinbeck created his most mesmerizing characters and explored his most enduring themes: the mystery of identity, the inexplicability of love, and the murderous consequences of love's absence. Adapted for the 1955 film directed by Elia Kazan introducing James Dean, and read by thousands as the book that brought Oprah’s Book Club back, East of Eden has remained vitally present in American culture for over half a century.

The Salinas Valley is in Northern California. it is a long narrow swale between two ranges of mountains, and the Salinas River winds and twists up the center until it falls at last into Monterey Bay. I remember my childhood names for grasses and secret flowers. I remember where a toad may live and what time the birds awaken in the summer - and what trees and seasons smelled like - how people looked and walked and smelled even. The memory of odors is very rich.

#newbook

New Book

Aliens in the Prime of Their Lives by Brad Watson



In this, his first collection of stories since his celebrated, award-winning Last Days of the Dog-Men, Brad Watson takes us even deeper into the riotous, appalling, and mournful oddity of human beings.

In prose so perfectly pitched as to suggest some celestial harmony, he writes about every kind of domestic discord: unruly or distant children, alienated spouses, domestic abuse, loneliness, death, divorce. In his masterful title novella, a freshly married teenaged couple are visited by an unusual pair of inmates from a nearby insane asylum―and find out exactly how mismatched they really are.

With exquisite tenderness, Watson relates the brutality of both nature and human nature. There’s no question about it. Brad Watson writes so well―with such an all-seeing, six-dimensional view of human hopes, inadequacies, and rare grace―that he must be an extraterrestrial.

(from Vacuum) The Mother told the boys that she was much unappreciated in this house. She was just like a slave. She pushed the vacuum cleaner back and forth on the floor at their feet where they sat on the sofa.

#newbook

Seen in the parking lot last night.

The most adorable car I think I've ever seen. LOL

>68 mahsdad: That car is adorable! I have to think that a taller person might not too well, but one could just keep the car around to look at.

Karen O

>54 mahsdad: Oh, when is the read planned? I've had the book for ages unread.

>55 mahsdad: interesting list - I counted 20 already read, lots more tempting. Thanks.

and
>61 mahsdad: gorgeous
and
>68 mahsdad: definitely

>69 klobrien2: Hi Karen, yeah it is kinda tiny. I'm suspecting that the engine isn't too big so most of your lower body is in the engine compartment. LOL

>70 ffortsa: Hi Judy, Yeah there is one for Mambo Kings in July. Mark is the the ring leader. Go let him know you're interested and he'll put you on the list.

>71 ffortsa: Lists - yeah, that's why I keep putting them on my threads, I like having them around as my own personal BBs :)

And thanks for the photo love.

>68 mahsdad: A Nash Metropolitan! As I live and breathe! A family in my Mt. Lebanon neighborhood owned one, back in the 1950s. That very paint scheme and colors. I haven't a clue as to the family's name, but I'm remembering (I hope accurately) they were next door neighbors to Bob Prince, who was the Pirates' play-by-play announcer (radio, of course). Prince owned a '54 Corvette for a time. A blue one, alternative to the iconic cream-colored model. Powered by Chevy's stovebolt 6.

 Bob Prince owned a 'Vette like this one, displayed at a 2023 street fair.

>73 weird_O: Bill! I didn't know you were from the 'burgh!

Bob Prince, wow that's a blast from the past.

That vette is sweet. My Dad was always wanted to get a old vette. Came close a couple times, but never pulled the trigger.

I lived in Pittsburgh from '53 through '60, when we moved back to Reading, from where we started. I liked it, but I didn't really have mobility. A lot I didn't experience. Some fond memories.

>75 weird_O: I lived there from '66 thru '89 when I moved to CA. I've been gone longer than I lived there, but I'll always be a Yinzer. :)

Fantastic Foto Friday

Happy Friday Folks! While I'm staunchly non-religious, I can certainly appreciate a nice cross, art-wise. This one is part of the church behind my house.



Book Update
>2 mahsdad: Q2 Books
>3 mahsdad: Q1 Books
>4 mahsdad: Audiobooks

Reading - Black Hole Blues and Other Songs from Outer Space by Janna Levin : 55%
Reading - Aliens in the Prime of Their Lives by Brad Watson : 32% started reading this because sometimes reading about physics is a bit too much
Reading - A People's History of the United States by Howard Zinn : 1% Laura and I are doing a shared read of this. We have 2 copies and a couple times a week we're going to get off the phones and turn off the TV and read together. Should take a while. ;)
Listening - East of Eden by John Steinbeck : 40%
Digital - The Sympathizer by Viet Than Nguyen : 90%
Graphic Novel - More Weight: A Salem Story by Ben Wickey : 64%

26. The Financial Lives of the Poets by Jess Walter 🎧 : Reread. Read on audio. This is my first Walter I read and it made me a life long fan. During the financial crisis of 2008, Matthew and his wife are struggling. He's out of work and about to loose his house. Most of his issues are self-inflicted, his wife has a spending problem and is possibly having an affair. Matthew is struggling because of his failed attempt to start a financial news and poetry website. He's having a mid-life crisis. At the beginning of the book, he goes to a 7-11 one night and meets a couple of young "hooligans" and decides that the solution to his problems is to start selling weed. What could possibly go wrong? The story's a littled dated, given that I can go to at least 3 weed stores in the 5 miles between me and the freeway. Its an excellent story nontheless. Walter does the narration and among authors reading their stuff, he is one of the better ones. If you're a fan of his, or not, I'd definitely recommend this.

Jeff's 2026 B.A.S.S tracking document

#ff

>77 mahsdad: That does make some statements. The grey metal against a not always blue sky might fade away - which seems message full to me.

>78 quondame: I like it!

New Book - ebook

There Is No Antimemetics Division by qntm



An antimeme is an idea with self-censoring properties; an idea which, by its intrinsic nature, discourages or prevents people from spreading it.

Antimemes are real. Think of any piece of information which you wouldn't share with anybody, like passwords, taboos and dirty secrets. Or any piece of information which would be difficult to share even if you tried: complex equations, very boring passages of text, large blocks of random numbers, and dreams...

But anomalous antimemes are another matter entirely. How do you contain something you can't record or remember? How do you fight a war against an enemy with effortless, perfect camouflage, when you can never even know that you're at war?

Welcome to the Antimemetics Division.

No, this is not your first day.

"Do anything nice over Christmas?" This time the assistant doesn't answer at all. She just stops typing, dead in the middle of a word, and stares at Quinn. Quinn says, "Did I ask you that already?" "Twice," the woman says. Exasperation and puzzlement. "We already had that whole conversation. And we also already had the conversation where I told you you already asked me that and you apologized."

#newbook

>80 mahsdad:
This one sounds interseting. I guess that is a BB. And while I am at it - what a great dust jacket. Pretty interesting on its own.

Yeah, I saw a couple reviews of it on TikTok. People said they liked it a lot but that it was weird. I like weird books.

I’m good with weird!😀

>83 drneutron: So far so good. Its very trippy. I'm about 20% in.

New Book - audio

The Exorcist by William Peter Blatty



Originally published in 1971, The Exorcist, one of the most controversial novels ever written, went on to become a literary phenomenon: It spent fifty-seven weeks on the New York Times bestseller list, seventeen consecutively at number one. Inspired by a true story of a child's demonic possession in the 1940s, William Peter Blatty created an iconic novel that focuses on Regan, the eleven-year-old daughter of a movie actress residing in Washington, D.C. A small group of overwhelmed yet determined individuals must rescue Regan from her unspeakable fate, and the drama that ensues is gripping and unfailingly terrifying. Two years after its publication, The Exorcist was, of course, turned into a wildly popular motion picture, garnering ten Academy Award nominations. On opening day of the film, lines of the novel's fans stretched around city blocks. In Chicago, frustrated moviegoers used a battering ram to gain entry through the double side doors of a theater. In Kansas City, police used tear gas to disperse an impatient crowd who tried to force their way into a cinema. The three major television networks carried footage of these events; CBS's Walter Cronkite devoted almost ten minutes to the story. The Exorcist was, and is, more than just a novel and a film: it is a literary landmark. Purposefully raw and profane, The Exorcist still has the extraordinary ability to disturb readers and cause them to forget that it is "just a story." Newly polished and added to by it author and published here in this beautiful fortieth anniversary edition, it remains an unforgettable reading experience and will continue to shock and frighten a new generation of readers.

Like the brief doomed flare of exploding suns that registers dimly on blind men's eyes, the beginning of the horror passed almost unnoticed; in the shriek of what followed, in fact, was forgotten and perhaps not connected to the horror at all. It was difficult to judge.

#newbook

April Recap

Books Read - 7

First Book: Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy
Last Book: East of Eden

Pages Read - 700
Hours Listened - 62:11
Words Read - 788,748

Overall sources
DTE - 25%
Audio - 61%
Digital - 14%

Unique Authors - 25
Lady Authors - 6
Authors of Color - 1

Total BFB/Chunksters for 2026 - 4
Reread - 4
Gave Away - 4
Purchased - 26

#recap

2026 Books of the Month

January : End of the World As We Know It edited by Christopher Golden
February : The Separation of Church and Hate by John Fuglesang
March : Wish You Were Here by Stewart O'Nan

April : Financial Lives of the Poets by Jess Walter
May :
June :

July :
August :
September :

October :
November :
December :




#botm

Fantastic Foto Friday (On Saturday)

Happy Saturday Folks. Sorry for missing the post for yesterday, I know you wait with bated breath for my drivel. ;) I was up in San Francisco for a work event, and instead of experiencing the pain that is flying in this country, I decided that it was just barely close enough to drive from LA to SFO. On Tuesday I drove up going the coastal route, took my time and visited some wineries. Yesterday, I just came back the 5 on the central route. It took less time, but its not a very "touristry" drive. I didn't get back to late in the afternoon and didn't want to post.

Not sure what direction I'm facing, but I am in the hills above the winery area of Los Olivos. I have several FF worthy pictures that I'll be sharing over the coming weeks. Enjoy



Book Update
>2 mahsdad: Q2 Books
>3 mahsdad: Q1 Books
>4 mahsdad: Audiobooks

Reading - Black Hole Blues and Other Songs from Outer Space by Janna Levin : 74%
Reading - Aliens in the Prime of Their Lives by Brad Watson : 56%
Reading - A People's History of the United States by Howard Zinn : 1%
Listening - The Exorcist by William Peter Blatty : 89%
Digital - There is No Antimemetics Division by QNTM : 19%
Graphic Novel - More Weight: A Salem Story by Ben Wickey : 69%

28. East of Eden by John Steinbeck 🎧 : Read on audio, narrated by Richard Poe. A classic in American Literature that I won't be able to do justice to. Set in Salinas Ca, in the late 1800's/early 1900's. It basically tells the story of Adam Trask and his family struggles. Other descriptions/reviews tell how it is a parallel story of Cane and Abel. Both from his and his brother's early life and the lives of Adam's twin boys who were abandoned by their mother when they were born. I liked it a lot and I'm glad that I finally read it (Ironically, I was finishing it up as I was driving thru Salinas), but I'm not sure it was the end all - be all American Novel that some people say that it is. A must read in the American novel lexicon.

27. The Sympathizer by Viet Thanh Nguyen (K) : This one I had been reading for a while, it was my going outside book, since it was on my kindle. I tend to only read my kindle when we're out and about. I have too many paper books that I should be reading when I'm at home. This is the story of a double agent in Viet Nam and his story of being embedded in the South at the end of the War and what happens when it makes it to America, but starts working with a group that wants to go back and continue the fight for Communism in the East. It was a really good read.

Jeff's 2026 B.A.S.S tracking document

#ff

>88 mahsdad: Such a California scene, but with its own character.

I don’t hold to books having more than the “right” to be treated as potentially treasured items. Reading them is what converts the potential to the real, or shows it to be false advertising. But what you choose to read should not be the slightest bit directed by objects.

>3 mahsdad: I read The Unworhty last month and enjoyed it. But Tender Is the Flesh is my favorite so far from Bazterrica.

>89 quondame: Thanks for the photo love!.

I'm not sure what you mean by what you are saying about books being potential treasured items... I'm going to assume you're talking about my Kindle habits. Prior to getting my kindle (in probably 2019ish), we would always take books with us when we went out to eat. I was always a paper version kinda guy. I got the Kindle on impulse and found it much more convenient to carry and read when out and about. It was easy (at the time, Amazon has made it more difficult since) to put library books and free books that I got in various places on it. And then it was easy to carry it around and always have a book with me. What I choose to read is by no means dictated by an object. Its just that some of the books that I read happen to be on that object.

>90 ocgreg34: Hi Greg. I think I'm in the same boat with her current stuff. Tender is my favorite. Her short story collection (Nineteen Claws and a Black Bird) is also worthy of reading, if you haven't yet.

>91 mahsdad: I live in a house with fewer bookshelves than my inventory of paper books requires, even with substantial double shelving. A with few exceptions, I value the contents infinitely more than the package.
It just seemed you felt obligation in some way to the physical books you owned more than to electronic texts, which, since the library ebooks can be taken away more easily than the paper ones, is the opposite of what my gut tells me.
Add that to my hands being pained by holding HB weight objects, and I only resort to them in emergencies.
I don’t think I ever took pbs or HBs to restaurants, but Kindle and iPad, one is always with me.

>93 quondame: Hey there.

I by no means feel an obligation either way, paper or digital, other than the fact that both piles are vast and I should be reading more.

We are a reading family and always take books to outside meals. I used to travel a lot and spend a lot of time eating alone in a hotel bar/restaurant and I wiould always have a book. When I got the kindle, I found that it was easier to carry around and thus it became my going outside book. My ebook collection is basically a bunch of books I got for free when TOR was doing an eBook of the month club, plus a handful that I purchased from Ammy (though I've stopped doing that), I've bought several (including the entire Discworld series from Kobo and I've found the way to convert them over to Kindle.

I generally have 3 books at least that I'm working on at any given time, Paper, Digital and Audio.

Regarding the library ebooks. The hack there is that when you borrow it and transfer it over to the Kindle, put it on Airplane mode. The book won't "return" until you go back on the network again. In fact, borrow a couple of books get them on the Kindle, then you can read them at your leisure without having to worry about them getting returned.

Unfortunately, I haven't figured out how to do that with audio. ;)

>94 mahsdad: When I read on one of series of Kindles I used the airplane mode trick regularly. It's less useful on my iPad, but on my iPad I have several reading apps in addition to browsers and other apps, so I put up with the inconvenient. My husbands iPad pro is for gaming and reading comics and for novels he uses a Kindle.

>95 quondame: Yeah, I hear ya. Have you used Hoopla much? I have it on my iPad, but I only do graphic novels with it. I like that it doesn't have holds, but it seems that LAPL's catalog for eBooks and audio isn't as deep as Libby (even though usually everything I want to read on Libby is a hold ;) )

New Book - audio

Replaceable You by Mary Roach



The body is the most complex machine in the world, and the only one for which you cannot get a replacement part from the manufacturer. For centuries, medicine has reached for what’s available—sculpting noses from brass, borrowing skin from frogs and hearts from pigs, crafting eye parts from jet canopies and breasts from petroleum by-products. Today we’re attempting to grow body parts from scratch using stem cells and 3D printers. How are we doing? Are we there yet?

In Replaceable You, Mary Roach explores the remarkable advances and difficult questions prompted by the human body’s failings. When and how does a person decide they’d be better off with a prosthetic than their existing limb? Can a donated heart be made to beat forever? Can an intestine provide a workable substitute for a vagina?

Roach dives in with her characteristic verve and infectious wit. Her travels take her to the OR at a legendary burn unit in Boston, a “superclean” xeno-pigsty in China, and a stem cell “hair nursery” in the San Diego tech hub. She talks with researchers and surgeons, amputees and ostomates, printers of kidneys and designers of wearable organs. She spends time in a working iron lung from the 1950s, stays up all night with recovery techs as they disassemble and reassemble a tissue donor, and travels across Mongolia with the cataract surgeons of Orbis International.

Irrepressible and accessible, Replaceable You immerses readers in the wondrous, improbable, and surreal quest to build a new you.

The Victorian upper crust excelled at taking apart dinner. Plates were flanked by as many as sixteen utensils. There were special knives and forks for game and roasts and separate sets for fish and salad and fruit. But table ware only takes one so far. To reduce a mouthful of mutton or hare to what is known in oral-processing parlance as "the swallowable state," a certain amount of chewing must take place. For that one needs teeth.

I forgot to post this earlier, I'm about half way thru

#newbook

New Book

The Metamorphosis and Other Stories



Since his death in 1924, Kafka has come to be regarded as one of the greatest modern writers, one whose work brilliantly explores the anxiety, futility, and complexity of modern life. The precision and clarity of Kafka's style, its powerful symbolism, and his existential exploration of the human condition have given his work universal significance. In addition to the title selection, considered by many critics Kafka's most perfect work, this collection includes "The Judgment," "In the Penal Colony," "A Country Doctor," and "A Report to an Academy." Stanley Appelbaum has provided excellent new English translation of the stories and a brief Note placing them within Kafka's oeuvre. A selection of the Common Core State Standards Initiative.

#newbook

>96 mahsdad: I do use Hoopla for some books, mostly from LA County library. Theoretically Hoopla is moving toward being able to support multiple library cards.

>99 quondame: That's interesting. I have 3 cards loaded in Libby (LAPL, LA County and Palos Verdes). Hoopla, I have setup with LAPL

Fantastic Foto Friday

Happy Friday Folks. Here's another image from my winery side quest on my way to San Francisco last week.



Book Update
>2 mahsdad: Q2 Books
>3 mahsdad: Q1 Books
>4 mahsdad: Audiobooks

Reading - The Metamorphosis and Other Stories by Franz Kafka : 11%
Reading - A People's History of the United States by Howard Zinn : 1%
Listening - Replaceable You by Mary Roach : 63%
Digital - There is No Antimemetics Division by QNTM : 39%
Graphic Novel - More Weight: A Salem Story by Ben Wickey : 69%

31. Aliens in the Prime of Their Lives by Brad Watson : This was a very interesting collection of short stories. I picked up on a whim just on the title alone. Mostly just slice of life stories, with a slightly off kilter perspective. As someone said in another review I was looking at. This would appeal to George Saunders fans. And as one I can agree.

30. The Exorcist by William Peter Blatty 🎧 : Listened on audio, read by Blatty himself. I could have sworn I read this during my horror phase in my younger days, but I'm not so sure. It is such a classic in pop culture with the movie, that I wasn't expecting all of the mundane lead up to the last hour or so. A lot about the Mom's movie career, a bit of a police procedural with some deaths under strange circumstances, all the while they are still trying to figure out what's wrong with Reagan. (side note, she is a HECK of a lot younger than what they portrayed with Linda Blair in the movie, made it a lot more creepy). I'm not sure I was exactly horrified by it, but it was certainly a creepy story.

29. Black Hole Blues and other Songs from Outer Space by Janna Levin : When I bought this, I'm not sure I realized what it was about. I liked the title and just skimmed the blurbs. Levin also wrote A Mad Man Dreams of Turing Machines, a book I've had on my WL for years. This one the NF story of how physicists came up with the idea of how to detect and measure gravitational waves and the long bureaucratic and contentious road that it took to build the tools necessary do it. A fascinating read.

Jeff's 2026 B.A.S.S tracking document

#ff

>101 mahsdad: Looks like work, getting the greenery up into the air.

>101 mahsdad: What an evocative image. It feels as though I'm there smelling the earthy, chalky odor in the air.

Isn't Janna Levin interesting? She's an okay writer but what an eye for a story. Happy weekend-ahead's reads!

>102 quondame: With grapes you take advantage of all available space. Hilly or otherwise.

>103 richardderus: Thanks for the photo love.

You are exactly correct with your assessment of Levin. it was an okay story but I wanted to keep reading it. (even tho the HB version had the damn artificial deckled edges that I despise so much. LOL)

>101 mahsdad:
I have also had Black Hole Blues on my wishlist for years. I will get to it someday. I watched the 1st episode of the reworked Cosmos series with some of the new updates and, once again, was fascinated by the wonder that is our universe.

>105 benitastrnad: Hey Benita. If you're like me you have no need for more books. But.... do you want my copy of Black Hole Blues? I'd be happy to send it to you.

Popping in to thank you @mahsdad for gifting me with News of the World. I finally read, and LOVED it.

>107 fuzzi: Hi Fuzzi! I'm so glad you liked it!

New Book - audio

Easy Money: Cryptocurrency, Casino Capitalism, and the Golden Age of Fraud by Ben McKenzie



From a famous actor and an experienced journalist, a wildly entertaining debunking of cryptocurrency, one of the greatest frauds in history and on course for a spectacular crash.

At the height of the pandemic, TV star Ben McKenzie (The O.C., Gotham) was the perfect mark for cryptocurrency: a dad stuck at home with some cash in his pocket, worried about his family, armed with only the vague notion that people were making heaps of money on something he—despite a degree in economics—didn’t entirely understand. Lured in by the promise of taking power from banks, possibly improving democracy, and sure, a touch of FOMO, McKenzie dove deep into blockchain, Bitcoin, and the various other coins and exchanges on which they are traded. But after scratching the surface, he had to ask, “Am I crazy, or is this all a total scam?”

In Easy Money, McKenzie enlists the help of journalist Jacob Silverman for a caper and exposé that points in shock to the climactic final days of cryptocurrency now upon us. Weaving together stories of average traders and victims, colorful crypto “visionaries,” Hollywood’s biggest true believers, anti-crypto whistleblowers, and government agents searching for solutions at the precipice of a major crash, Easy Money is an on-the-ground look at a perfect storm of 2008 Housing Bubble-level irresponsibility and criminal fraud potentially ten times more devastating than Bernie Madoff.

This is a book about cryptocurrency and fraud: a parable of money and lying, or rather a parable of fake money and lying for money. Thematically, it bears striking resemblance to a popular folktale. Unlike that tale, however, this story is true.

#newbook

Interesting that I just finished it, but Netflix did a new adaptation of East of Eden. Starring Florence Pugh.

Here's the trailer - https://youtu.be/fdBr5KyUilU?si=ZXPCj6Gd4vGflnWG

New Book

Going After Cacciato by Tim O'Brien



"To call Going After Cacciato a novel about war is like calling Moby-Dick a novel about whales."

So wrote The New York Times of Tim O'Brien's now classic novel of Vietnam. Winner of the 1979 National Book Award, Going After Cacciato captures the peculiar mixture of horror and hallucination that marked this strangest of wars.

In a blend of reality and fantasy, this novel tells the story of a young soldier who one day lays down his rifle and sets off on a quixotic journey from the jungles of Indochina to the streets of Paris. In its memorable evocation of men both fleeing from and meeting the demands of battle, Going After Cacciato stands as much more than just a great war novel. Ultimately it's about the forces of fear and heroism that do battle in the hearts of us all.

It was a bad time. Billy Boy Watkins was dead, and so was Frenchie Tucker. Billy Boy had died of fright, scared to death on the field of battle, and Frenchie Tucker had been shot through the nose. Bernie Lynn and Lieutenant Sidney Martin had died in tunnels. Pederson was dead and Rudy Chassler was dead. Buff was dead. Ready Mix was dead. They were all among the dead.

#newbook

Fantastic Foto Friday

Happy Friday Folks. We're headed out shortly for a delayed anniversary weekend away, so just a quick post. Here's one of the new fauna that's walking around.



Book Update
>2 mahsdad: Q2 Books
>3 mahsdad: Q1 Books
>4 mahsdad: Audiobooks

Reading - Going After Cacciato by Tim O'Brien : 11%
Reading - A People's History of the United States by Howard Zinn : 1%
Listening - Easy Money by Ben McKenzie : 74%
Digital - There is No Antimemetics Division by QNTM : 61%
Graphic Novel - More Weight: A Salem Story by Ben Wickey : 69%

Jeff's 2026 B.A.S.S tracking document

#ff

>111 mahsdad: I’m adding this to my list of must-reads. I read The Things They Carried last year; great book.

>112 mahsdad: Photo love

Love your photos, have a wonderful weekend, Jeff.

>113 ocgreg34: Glad to spread the BBs

>114 elorin: >115 SirThomas: Thanks for the photo love!

Book Haul

We spent the weekend down in San Diego, primarily to see P!nk in concert on Friday Night. But on Saturday, after getting out and doing a bit of hiking(strolling) in nature we found a couple indie bookstores to visit. La Playa books and Mysterious Galaxy Books

For Me
27. American Hippo by Gailey, Sarah
28. Valley of Vengeful Ghosts by Fu, Kim

For Laura
29. Franciscan Frontiersmen by Kittle, Robert
30. Vancouver in California by Vancouver, George
31. Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faires by Fawcett, Heather
32. Pomegranate Gate by Kaplan, Ariel
33. Tomorrow and Tomorrow by Sweterlitsch, Tom

#bh

Look... Nature. (taken near the Cabrillo State Marine Reserve)

>118 mahsdad: I like!

>120 fuzzi: Thanks!

New Book - audio Reread

The Talisman by Stephen King/Peter Straub (read by Frank Muller)



Jack Sawyer, twelve years old, is about to begin a most fantastic journey, an exalting, terrifying quest for the mystical Talisman—the only thing that can save Jack’s dying mother. But to reach his goal, Jack must make his way not only across the breadth of the United States but also through the wondrous and menacing parallel world of the Territories.

In the Territories, Jack finds another realm, where the air is so sweet and clear a man can smell a radish being pulled from the ground a mile away—and a life can be snuffed out instantly in the continuing struggle between good and evil. Here Jack discovers “Twinners,” reflections of the people he knows on earth—most notably Queen Laura DeLoessian, the Twinner of Jack’s own imperiled mother. As Jack “flips” between worlds, making his way westward toward the redemptive Talisman, a sequence of heart-stopping encounters challenges him at every step.

An unforgettable epic of adventure and resounding triumph, The Talisman is one of the most influential and highly praised works of fantasy ever written.

On September 15th, 1981, a boy named Jack Sawyer stood where the water and land come together, hands in the pockets of his jeans, looking out at the steady Atlantic. He was twelve years old and tall for his age. The sea-breeze swept back his brown hair, probably too long, from a fine, clear brow. He stood there, filled with the confused and painful emotions he had lived with for the last three months.

#newbook

Fantastic Foto Friday

Happy Friday Folks. Glad this week is over. With it being the week before a holiday we had a lot of people on my team out, making the workload a bit cumbersome. If it wasn't for having to work, this job would be kinda nice. LOL.



Book Update
>2 mahsdad: Q2 Books
>3 mahsdad: Q1 Books
>4 mahsdad: Audiobooks

Reading - Going After Cacciato by Tim O'Brien : 53%
Reading - A People's History of the United States by Howard Zinn : 1%
Listening - The Talisman by Stephen King/Peter Straub : 19%
Digital - There is No Antimemetics Division by QNTM : 84%
Graphic Novel - More Weight: A Salem Story by Ben Wickey : 75%

33. Easy Money: Cryptocurrency, Casino Capitalism, and the Golden Age of Fraud : Listened on audio, read by McKenzie. McKenzie is an actor (Jim Gordan in Gotham, of late), an a budding journalist. During covid he became interested in the up-incoming world of cryptocurrency and started looking into it, and didn't like what he saw. He started investigating with journalist Jacob Silverman and wrote some articles criticizing the industry. They continued to look at things and what resulted was this book, both a primer about what crypto is (and even though it was well described, I still don't think I understand how it works), and a history of the rise and fall, crime and corruption of crypto and its main players. He is firmly not a fan and this further cemented my thoughts of NOT getting into crypto. In his words, its the biggest Ponzi scheme since Madoff. An excellent and timely read.

32. Replaceable You: Adventures in Human Anatomy by Mary Roach 🎧 : Listened on audio, read by Roach. I love Roach's stories/explanations into areas, I wouldn't think I was interested in. In this case it was all about the history and future of parts of us that are replaceable, how and by what. From, skin from frogs, hearts from pigs, and plexiglass eye lenses, to 3d printed parts using stem cells. This was fascinating read.

Jeff's 2026 B.A.S.S tracking document

#ff

Guardian's Top 100 Books Published in English

https://www.theguardian.com/books/ng-interactive/2026/may/12/the-100-best-novels...

Take it for what its worth, but its a list, so you know I'm going to post it. LOL

100 My Ántonia
99 The Go-Between
98 The Road READ
97 Catch-22 READ
96 Pedro Páramo
95 The Return of the Native
94 The Known World
93 Invisible Cities
92 Sentimental Education
91 Life and Fate
90 Jacob's Room
89 The Left Hand of Darkness READ
88 Ragtime
87 The Line of Beauty READ
86 The Turn of the Screw
85 The Vegetarian READ
84 The Talented Mr Ripley
83 A Farewell to Arms
82 The End of the Affair
81 Buddenbrooks
80 Rebecca
79 Go Tell It on the Mountain
78 A House for Mr Biswas
77 The Rainbow
76 Dracula READ
75 The Bluest Eye
74 Nervous Conditions
73 Austerlitz
72 Our Mutual Friend
71 Kindred READ
70 Jude the Obscure
69 Crime and Punishment
68 Blood Meridian
67 The Man Without Qualities
66 The Master and Margarita
65 The Color Purple READ
64 The Good Soldier
63 White Teeth
62 Half of a Yellow Sun
61 The Rings of Saturn
60 Howards End
59 Never Let Me Go READ
58 Disgrace
57 The Sound and the Fury
56 Mansfield Park
55 The Waves
54 Orlando READ
53 The Transit of Venus
52 The Golden Bowl
51 My Brilliant Friend
50 Wide Sargasso Sea
49 A Fine Balance
48 The Metamorphosis READ
47 Vanity Fair
46 The Leopard
45 The Golden Notebook
44 Giovanni's Room READ
43 Housekeeping
42 The Magic Mountain
41 Heart of Darkness
40 Song of Solomon
39 Their Eyes Were Watching God READ
38 The Age of Innocence
37 Invisible Man READ
36 The Handmaid's Tale READ
35 Great Expectations
34 Wolf Hall DNF
33 David Copperfield
32 The God of Small Things
31 The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie
30 Frankenstein READ
29 Pale Fire
28 The Brothers Karamazov
27 The Trial
26 Don Quixote
25 Lolita
24 The Remains of the Day
23 Midnight's Children READ
22 Things Fall Apart READ
21 The Portrait of a Lady
20 Wuthering Heights
19 The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman
18 Persuasion
17 One Hundred Years of Solitude
16 Nineteen Eighty-Four READ
15 Moby-Dick READ
14 Mrs Dalloway
13 Emma
12 Bleak House
11 The Great Gatsby
10 Madame Bovary
9 Pride and Prejudice
8 Jane Eyre
7 War and Peace
6 Anna Karenina
5 In Search of Lost Time
4 To the Lighthouse
3 Ulysses
2 Beloved
1 Middlemarch

#list

>124 mahsdad: You have some work to do, my friend and you have some fantastic reading ahead of you- Middlemarch, Beloved, To the Lighthouse, Jane Eyre, P & P, The Great Gatsby, Bleak House- should I go on? 😊

If you are ever ready to read The Brothers Karamazov. I am in.

Happy Friday, Jeff. I have to drop a BB- please read A Violent Masterpiece. I know you enjoy a juicy crime novel and this one is ACES! He could easily become a favorite crime writer.

I read and enjoyed The Talisman decades ago. I NEED to get to the latest Roach.

>125 msf59: A lifelong conquest, my friend. But a fun one.

>126 msf59: A BB for a BB. You add Replaceable You to your stack and I'll add A Violent Masterpiece

😁

>123 mahsdad: That image is judging me, I'm sure I'm lacking in some major way.

>124 mahsdad: I got 47 on that list. A good number of those that you haven't read are 19th cent. novels by women.

Pretty light standard! I'm glad GOING AFTER CACCIATO made an impression on you. It was so huge and inescapable in the 70s.

>124 mahsdad: to my astonishment, I've read 63 of these titles over the years! It doesn't make me 'well read' - but I am pleased.

>128 quondame: You know I can see the judgement in that light. Too funny.

>129 richardderus: Cacciato is such an interesting read, shades of magical realism and Catch-22. About 2/3rds thru, and one thing that I'm noticing is that for a story about a war, how little of the war there is. Mostly its anticipating and preparing for some bit of violence, coming right up to it, and jumping to right after and saying basically; "well, that just happened". I like it.

>130 ffortsa: I think, sadly, that even if you had just read 63 books total for a lifetime, makes you, on the average, very well read.

I've read 13 on that list, though I tried reading others but didn't finish.

I just finished a reread of Pride and Prejudice. It's my favorite book by JA.

I was thinking it was time to do a reread of Middlemarch. Let me know if/when you decide to try it.

>132 fuzzi: Hi Fuzzi. It might be a while till I get to Middlemarch. :) I have so many books on the shelf that I need to get to, I tend to use these lists just as placeholders/reminders of things I should or might want to read, if I ever get around to it. LOL

Fantastic Foto Friday

Happy Friday Folks. Yeah, short week! Gotta love national holidays and not working in a service industry. Thank you for those of you who do, I appreciate being able to go to a grocery store or a restaurant on a holiday. ;)



Book Update
>2 mahsdad: Q2 Books
>3 mahsdad: Q1 Books
>4 mahsdad: Audiobooks

Reading - Going After Cacciato by Tim O'Brien : 89%
Listening - The Talisman by Stephen King/Peter Straub : 65%
Graphic Novel - More Weight: A Salem Story by Ben Wickey : 84%

34. There Is No Antimemetics Division by qntm (K) : 27 days : Oh my goodness what an excellent and trippy book. This was original written as a web serial, gained a cult following and a book deal that allowed qntm to revise the story and publish it traditionally. Marie is the director of the Antimemetics division of a mysterious organization that protects humanity from "unknown" entities that can feed on your memories. How can you fight something that as soon as you mention them, you forget that you mentioned them. What Marie begins to uncover is that the world has been at war with these entities for many years, or have they already lost. There could be a secret plan to defeat the entities in place, but it can't be known that it exists because as soon as its known, the enemy knows. It was a bit of a confusing, disjointed read, but in the best possible way. I loved this.

Jeff's 2026 B.A.S.S tracking document

#ff

New Book : ER win

Always One Mistake by Ace Boggess (short stories)



A cow falls through the roof of a bar, landing on a criminal struggling with his bad choices. A recovering gambler wins and wrecks a car on the same day. A mysterious woman transforms toys and oddities into higher powers for newcomers at a twelve-step program. In a fit of road rage, an angry driver mistakenly flips off a cop. A broken man finds a curious companion while attending the reunion show of the favorite heavy-metal band from his youth. These are the strange stories of the all-too-real world of Always One Mistake. Here, author Ace Boggess shows humanity at its bleakest, but also its most hopeful. These stories are explorations of what it means to live in modern times—times filled with addiction, crime, loss, and overcoming.

He couldn't tell if it were a hillock or another grave. Bernard stepped up the slight rise, black shoes digging into the mud and wet grass. Streaks of brownj already coated the legs of his ashen slacks like flames painted on the side of some jock's sports car.

#newbook

>135 mahsdad: I hope it stays as good as the intro!

Pretty hollyhock, love that soft almost-lavender.

>136 richardderus: Hi RD. Thanks for the photo love.

Always One Mistake - I hope so too. I haven't been too proactive at picking LTER books in the recent past. I've got so many of my own books to read, why pile on. But I still go visit occasionally, this one was actually in the January batch. The "A cow falls through the roof of a bar, landing on a criminal struggling with bad choices" line sealed it for me and I wanted to read it.

>134 mahsdad: Soft, lovely, secret.

New Book - ebook

Mort by Terry Pratchett



Death comes to us all. When he came to Mort, he offered him a job. In this beloved work of fantasy comedy, the Grim Reaper is a black-robed skeleton with glowing blue eyes and a scythe who’s fond of cats and eternally baffled by humanity. He yearns to experience what humanity really has to offer, but to do so, needs to hire help.

As Death’s apprentice, Mort will have free board, use of the company horse, and, best of all, another chance at life, because being dead isn’t compulsory.

It’s a dream job—until Mort falls in love with Death’s daughter, Ysabell, and discovers that your boss can be a killer on your love life…

The Discworld novels can be read in any order but Mort is the first book in the fan-favorite Death series. The collection includes:

Mort
Reaper Man
Soul Music
Hogfather
Thief of Time

This is the bright candlelit room where the lifetimers are stored - shelf upon shelf of them, squat hourglasses, one for every living person, pouring their fine sand from the future into the past. The accumulated hiss of the falling grains makes the room roar like the sea

#newbook

2026 Books of the Month

January : End of the World As We Know It edited by Christopher Golden
February : The Separation of Church and Hate by John Fuglesang
March : Wish You Were Here by Stewart O'Nan

April : Financial Lives of the Poets by Jess Walter
May : There Is No Antimemetics Division by qntm
June :

July :
August :
September :

October :
November :
December :




#botm

May Recap

Books Read - 7

First Book: Black Hole Blues
Last Book: Going After Cacciato

Pages Read - 1,077
Hours Listened - 32:01
Words Read - 617,891

Overall sources
DTE - 29%
Audio - 57%
Digital - 14%

Unique Authors - 32
Lady Authors - 8
Authors of Color - 1

Total BFB/Chunksters for 2026 - 4
Reread - 4
Gave Away - 7
Purchased - 34

#recap

Love me some Pratchett! And flower photos. Carry on...!

>143 mahsdad: Hi Kim, thanks for stopping by.

Several years ago, I did a Humble Bundle purchase of all of his works. I've been slowly adding them to my kindle and slotting them into rotation.

>143 mahsdad: Is this your first time reading Mort? I adore Death as a character.

>144 elorin: Yes it is. Not too far into it, but its very good so far.

And in another spectactular example of what you've come to know and love (or hate) about my thread....

LISTS!...

NYPL's Reading America : 250 Years, 250 books

https://www.nypl.org/books-more/recommendations/reading-america/adults.

They've put together a very interesting list of notable books that reflect on and illuminate the American Experience.

150 Adult books, 50 Kids, 50 Teens. I'm only listing the Adult books, but the link will let you see and borrow (if you have a NYPL library card) all of them.

Adventures of Huckleberry Finn By Mark Twain
African American Poetry: 250 Years of Struggle & Song By Kevin Young (ed.)
African Founders: How Enslaved People Expanded American IdealsBy David Hackett Fischer
Against Interpretation and Other Essays By Susan Sontag
All In: An Autobiography By Billie Jean King
The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay By Michael Chabon READ
American Conservatism: Reclaiming an Intellectual Tradition By Andrew J. Bacevich (ed.)
American Pastoral By Philip Roth
American Prometheus By Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin
American Struggle By Jon Meacham
Angels in America: A Gay Fantasia on National Themes By Tony Kushner
Appetite City: A Culinary History of New York By William Grimes
The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin By Benjamin Franklin
The Autobiography of Malcolm X By Malcolm X as told to Alex Haley
Bad Indians: A Tribal Memoir By Deborah A. Miranda
Battle Cry of Freedom: The Civil War Era By James McPherson
Beloved By Toni Morrison
Between the World and Me By Ta-Nehisi Coates
Blood Meridian By Cormac McCarthy
Brown Girl, Brownstones By Paule Marshall
Buckley: The Life and Revolution that Changed America By Sam Tanenhaus
Call It Sleep By Henry Roth
Can’t Stop, Won’t Stop: A History of the Hip-Hop Generation By Jeff Chang
The Carrying By Ada Limón
A Certain Idea of America: Selected Writings By Peggy Noonan
City of Dreams: The 400-Year Epic History of Immigrant New York By Tyler Anbinder
The Collected Poems of Langston Hughes By Langston Hughes
Common Sense By Thomas Paine READ
The Complete Poems of Emily Dickinson By Emily Dickinson
Conditional Citizens: On Belonging in America By Laila Lalami
Country Music USA By Bill C. Malone and Tracey E. W. Laird
Cuba: An American History By Ada Ferrer
The Death and Life of Great American Cities By Jane Jacobs
Death of a Salesman By Arthur Miller
Democracy Moving By Ariel Nereson
Demon Copperhead By Barbara Kingsolver READ
Devil in the Grove By Gilbert King
Dispatches By Michael Herr
Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance By Barack Obama
The Earth in the Attic By Fady Joudah
Eleanor Roosevelt, Volume 3: The War Years and After 1939–1962 By Blanche Wiesen Cook
The Essential Writings of Ralph Waldo Emerson By Ralph Waldo Emerson
The Federalist Papers By Alexander Hamilton, James Madison,…
A Field Guide to American Houses By Virginia Savage McAlester
The Fire Next Time By James Baldwin
Photographs by Steve Schapiro
Framing America: A Social History of American Art By Frances K. Pohl
Friday Night Lights: A Town, a Team, and a Dream By H. G. Bissinger
From the Streets of Shaolin: The Wu-Tang Saga By S. H. Fernando, Jr.
G-Man: J. Edgar Hoover and the Making of the American Century By Beverly Gage
Gilded Suffragists By Johanna Neuman
Grant By Ron Chernow
The Grapes of Wrath By John Steinbeck
The Great American Sports Page By John Schulian (ed.)
The Great Gatsby By F. Scott Fitzgerald
Harriet Tubman: Military Scout and Tenacious Visionary By Jean Marie Wiesen and Rita Daniels
Harvest of Empire: A History of Latinos in America By Juan Gonzalez
Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis By J. D. Vance READ
How the García Girls Lost Their Accents By Julia Alvarez
How to Survive a Plague By David France
How Yiddish Changed America and How America Changed Yiddish By Ilan Stavans and Josh Lambert (eds.)
Howl, and Other Poems By Allen Ginsberg
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings By Maya Angelou
I Lost it at the Movies: Film Writings, 1954–1965 By Pauline Kael
The Joy Luck Club By Amy Tan
Killers of the Flower Moon By David Grann READ
Kindred By Octavia E. Butler READ
King of the World: Muhammad Ali and the Rise of an American Hero By David Remnick
King: A Life By Jonathan Eig
Ladies and Gentlemen, the Bronx Is Burning By Jonathan Mahler
Lafayette in the Somewhat United States By Sarah Vowell READ
Leaves of Grass By Walt Whitman
Let the Record Show By Sarah Schulman
Lincoln at Gettysburg: The Words that Remade America By Garry Wills
The Literature of Japanese American Incarceration By Frank Abe and Floyd Cheung (eds.)
Low Life: Lures and Snares of Old New York By Lucy Sante
The Lyrics: 1961–2012 By Bob Dylan
A Man on the Moon: The Voyages of the Apollo Astronauts By Andrew Chaikin
The Men Who United the States By Simon Winchester
Miles: The Autobiography By Miles Davis with Quincy Troupe
Minor Feelings: An Asian American Reckoning By Cathy Park Hong
Moby-Dick By Herman Melville READ
Most Blessed of the Patriarchs By Annette Gordon-Reed and Peter S. Onuf
My Beloved World By Sonia Sotomayor
My Lives: A Memoir By Edmund White
My Name Is Barbra By Barbra Streisand
The Namesake By Jhumpa Lahiri
Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave By Frederick Douglass
Native Nations: A Millennium in North America By Kathleen DuVal
Native New Yorkers By Evan T. Pritchard
1929 By Andrew Ross Sorkin
97 Orchard By Jane Ziegelman
Ninth Street Women By Mary Gabriel
The Omni-Americans By Albert Murray
Oscar Hammerstein II and the Invention of the Musical By Laurie Winer
Our History Is the Future By Nick Estes
Patriot Number One: American Dreams in Chinatown By Lauren Hilgers
A People's History of the United States By Howard Zinn READ
Phillis Wheatley: Complete Writings By Phillis Wheatley
The Piano Lesson By August Wilson
Pilgrim at Tinker Creek By Annie Dillard
Prison Writings: My Life Is My Sun Dance By Leonard Peltier
Puerto Rico: A National History By Jorell Meléndez-Badillo
A Raisin in the Sun By Lorraine Hansberry
Reagan: His Life and Legend By Max Boot
The Rebellious Life of Mrs. Rosa Parks By Jeanne Theoharis
Redeployment By Phil Klay READ
The Rediscovery of America By Ned Blackhawk
The Revolutionary: Samuel Adams By Stacy Schiff
The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt By Edmund Morris
The Second Founding By Eric Foner
1776 By David McCullough READ
She Had Some Horses By Joy Harjo
Silent Spring By Rachel Carson
Sister Outsider: Essays and Speeches By Audre Lorde
Sisters in Law By Linda Hirshman
The 1619 Project: A New Origin Story By Nikole Hannah-Jones (creator)
The Slip By Prudence Peiffer
Solito: A Memoir By Javier Zamora
The Souls of Black Folk By W. E. B. Du Bois
The Sound and the Fury By William Faulkner
Speak Now: Marriage Equality on Trial By Kenji Yoshino
The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down By Anne Fadiman
Stone Butch Blues By Leslie Feinberg
The Stonewall Reader By The New York Public Library
Strangers in the Land By Michael Luo
Streets of Gold: America's Untold Story of Immigrant Success By Ran Abramitzky and Leah Boustan
Suffrage: Women's Long Battle for the Vote By Ellen Carol DuBois
Taking Manhattan By Russell Shorto
The Taste of Country Cooking By Edna Lewis
Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln By Doris Kearns Goodwin
Tell Me How It Ends: An Essay in 40 Questions By Valeria Luiselli
There's Always This Year: On Basketball and Ascension By Hanif Abdurraqib
These Truths: A History of the United States By Jill Lepore
This Muslim American Life: Dispatches from the War on Terror By Moustafa Bayoumi
To Kill a Mockingbird By Harper Lee READ
Travels with George: In Search of Washington and His Legacy By Nathaniel Philbrick
Triangle: The Fire that Changed America By David Von Drehle
The Undocumented Americans By Karla Cornejo Villavicencio
Unsung: Unheralded Narratives of American Slavery & Abolition By the Schomburg Center for Research…
The Warmth of Other Suns By Isabel Wilkerson
Wayward Lives, Beautiful Experiments By Saidiya Hartman
We the Women: The Hidden Heroes Who Shaped America By Norah O'Donnell with Kate Andersen…
What the Constitution Means to Me By Heidi Schreck
The White Album By Joan Didion
The White Devil's Daughters By Julia Flynn Siler Women, Race & Class By Angela Davis
Working By Studs Terkel
The Years of Lyndon Johnson, Vol. 1: The Path to Power By Robert A. Caro
Yellow Bird By Sierra Crane Murdoch
The Young Lords: A Radical History By Johanna Fernández

#list

New Book - audio

The Professor and the Mad Man: A Tale of Murder, Insanity, and the Making of the Oxford English Dictionary by Simon Winchester



Masterfully researched and eloquently written, The Professor and the Madman is an extraordinary tale of madness, genius, and the incredible obsessions of two remarkable men that led to the making of the Oxford English Dictionary—one of the most ambitious projects ever undertaken. As definitions were collected, the OED’s overseeing committee, led by Professor James Murray, was stunned to discover that one man, Dr. W. C. Minor, had submitted more than ten thousand entries. But their surprise would pale in comparison to what they were about to discover when the committee insisted on honoring him. Dr. Minor, an American Civil War veteran, was also an inmate at an asylum for the criminally insane.

In Victorian London, even in a place as louche and notoriously crime-ridden as Lambeth Marsh, the sound of gunshots was a rare event indeed. The marsh was a sinister place, a jumble of slums and sin that crouched, dark and ogrelike, on the bank of the Thames just across from Westminster; few respectable Londoners would ever admit to venturing there. It was a robustly violent part of town as well...

Just because...

>149 mahsdad: So textural. If it looks that way to me in a picture, what must the bee feel?

>149 mahsdad:- Stunning shot!

>148 mahsdad: 5 Stars for The Professor and the Madman inspired reading of Winchester's

The Meaning of Everything (4 Stars) and daughter K.M. Elizabeth Murray's Caught in the Web of Words (5 stars),

then moved on to locate two of the original O.E.D.!

>150 quondame: >151 jessibud2:. Thanks for the photo love!

>152 m.belljackson: More books for the WL. I was looking at Winchester's catalog, and noticed he wrote Krakatoa: The Day the World Exploded. I swear I've read that, but it must have been before I started tracking.

I also need to read The Map that Changed the World, I could have sworn that already was on the WL.

You have 2 OEDs? Wow. I was thinking as I'm listening to Professor, that it would be neat to have one. But then given the size, maybe not.

Brand new, the full 20 volumes is only 21,728 pages and costs $1,215. ;)

OED story -

While searching for old OED, I finally realized that was not the original name and typed in:
"A New English Dictionary" - There appeared a single affordable volume, Volume Vii: Part II, Ph-Py
which I ordered - lovely, every old word.

Around the same time, LT offered a free Chapter A Day - one with Melville's "Bartleby, the Scrivener."

Reading moved along until the word "pursy' - not in my faithful AMERICAN HERITAGE DICTIONARY.

You may have guessed! James Murray and my solitary volume came through in glorious form!

I was happy - and yet this volume lacked one thing = a testimonial Thank You to the Madman.

So (this was way back when I was working full time and could afford another $65),
back I went to Barnes and Noble for their one lonely copy of Volume III D and E.

Yes, Dr. William Chester Minor does receive a Thank You from Professor James Murray in that hefty tome.

What fun!

>154 m.belljackson: >155 m.belljackson: So cool

As I understand it, the full edition of the OED is no longer available in paper. It is now 26 volumes in length and comes on 26 CDs for home use, and in other formats is no longer available to the public. A subscription to the OED cost the University about $12,000.00 per year. That figure is based on student, faculty, and staff enrollment. The OED is one of the cheaper databases maintained and it is well worth the cost. That is because the OED contains so much more than just the meaning of the word. The Etymology sections alone are of great help to most faculty on campus. The pronunciation section is great as well and closely related to the contents of the Etymology section. Great thing - the OED. Thanks indeed to Dr. Minor and Dr. Murray. Not to mention all of Murray's other assistants. A great number of them were women who got no credit at all.

Fantastic Foto Friday

Happy Friday Folks. Half way thru! How the heck did it get to be June already. Oh well, time flies. And here's your flower. ;)



Book Update
>2 mahsdad: Q2 Books
>3 mahsdad: Q1 Books
>4 mahsdad: Audiobooks

Reading - Always One Mistake by Ace Boggess : 59%
Listening - The Professor and the Madman by Simon Winchester : 42%
eBook - Mort by Terry Pratchett : 19%

37. More Weight: A Salem Story by Ben Wickey (GN) : 75 days : This was a door stop of a graphic novel. And a pretty interesting read, too. It tells the story of Salem MA, and the witch trial furor that happened there in the 1600s. The first section is a retelling of what actually happened, including the pressing of Giles Corey. He was accused of witchcraft and refused to plead guilty or not guilty. In that time you could be forced to plead by "pressing", layed out under a board where rocks were added until you couldn't take it anymore. Spoiler alert, he could take it and died under the rocks after 3 days. The second section is Nathaniel Hawthorne and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow strolling around Salem in the 1860s reminiscing about the times and the history of Salem. The last section was a history/"whatever happened to" section of life in Salem after the trials, what became of the families of the women who were hanged for witchcraft and the modern legacy. It was a good read, but a little long. One mitigating factor was that there was about 75 pages of end notes and acknowledgements that I didn't bother to go thru.

36. The Talisman by Stephen King/Peter Straub 🎧 : 17 days : Reread on audio by the great Frank Muller (probably one of my favorite narrators, especially with King's works). King and Straub penned this tale of young Jack who has to go on a classic quest to the other side of the country, thru this world and a parallel world of the Territories to retrieve "The Talisman" to help save his Mom. He is beset by evil people and creatures, some of which are "twinners", people from the Territories who are the alternate versions of people here in the real world. I'm rereading this, and will reread Black House soon, in anticipation of the third book in the trilogy; Other Worlds Than These that King wrote after the passing of Straub.

35. Going After Cacciato by Tim O'Brien : 18 days : Author of The Things They Carried, this is another novel of Viet Nam, a war story, but not quite. In the mountains after a fire fight, Cacciato puts down his weapon and say’s he’s walking to Paris. His squad has to go after him. What commences is a highly improbably, fantastical journey that is an interesting take on what war does to a man.

Jeff's 2026 B.A.S.S tracking document

#ff

>157 benitastrnad: Caught in the Web of Words offers details about Murray's assistants, kids, and the many volunteer women.

>158 mahsdad: Lovely. June, yes, shocking, yes.

OED. I own the full HB 12 volume and supplement edition that was availble in the early 1970s. I can’t get it off the shelf or hold it, but possess it I do.

I also bought a CD version for my PC which had a deplorable app and was discontinued. I resent that rather more than I resent Amazon/Kindle highjinks. I think I even ran a simulator on my first MACs so I could access that OED.

>157 benitastrnad: >159 m.belljackson: Interesting.

>160 quondame: And possession is a good part of our obsessions here, is it not? LOL

>158 mahsdad: I love the full-face zinnia portrait!

Cacciato got lots of comparisons to Catch-22 back in the day, which...fair. It was more like Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance to me, very philosophical but surreal in tone. It was a landmark, though.

Saturday's great, as The Cure reminded me mere moments ago, but Friday I'm in love!

>162 richardderus: Thanks for the photo love.

Cacciato and Catch-22, That's what it reminded me of. Trippy magical realism that I was never sure what what was real.

You know I've never read Zen. We have it, I guess I should sometime.

Book Haul

A couple different venues here for a combined haul. 1 from Early Review, 1 from Kobo as an excuse to test my setup of Calibre on my new work laptop to make sure my deDRM capabilities still work. And 2 from a new/rebranded indie bookstore in Torrance. For those in the area, the was a used bookstore called Sandpiper books. It has morphed into Saint Ex books with new owners. I got a couple at their soft opening today.

34. Always One Mistake by Ace Boggess (LTER)
35. Dreaming in Code: Two Dozen Programmers, Three Years, 4,y732 Bugs, and One Quest for Transcendent Software by Scott Rosenberg (Kobo)
36. The Library at Mount Char by Scott Hawkins
37. Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk by Ben Fountain.

#bh

>164 mahsdad:
I have a copy of Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk and have wanted to read Library at Mount Char for a long time. Both titles will have to wait for a while.