richardderus's seventh 2026 thread

I always have to look up "Sarmatian" whenever I run across this glorious diadem. Not that fascinated by Iranian equestrian nomads, TBH.

𝗠𝗔𝗥𝗞 𝗥𝗢𝗧𝗛𝗞𝗢, Untitled, 1967
oil on canvas, 80 × 69 in. (203.2 × 175.3 cm) from The Governor Nelson A. Rockefeller Empire State Plaza Art Collection, New York

I've switched up the image of a Rothko here because I found another that evokes my sense of peaceful hope, optimism, and faith in humanity. I wish all of those things to every living one of us. No matter who; no matter where; no matter what.

THIS THREAD'S REVIEWS

107 The Plague of God (Sword Shatterers #1) in post #13.
108 The Sun King's Man (Sword Shatterers #2) in post #14.
109 Bloom: a novel in post #34.
110 If this be magic : the unlikely art of Shakespeare in translation in post #51.
111 Livonia chow mein in post #98.
112 Double shadow : a novel in post #99.
113 The lost book of Elizabeth Barton in post #114.
114 Your behavior will be monitored in post #115.
115 The Perfect Circle in post #129.
116 Kill Dick : a novel in post #131.
117 A violent masterpiece : a novel in post #158.
118 Boomtown: The True Story of the Wickedest Town in Texas in post #168.
119 Dreamt I Found You in post #200.
120 Smoking Kills in post #214.
121 Prestige drama in post #234.
122 Lost in Yellowstone : a novel in post #250.
123 The young will remember in post #277.
124 The Maid and the Socialite : the brave women behind Green Bay's scandalous Minahan trials in post 285.
125 Disposable Wives: Murder and Menace in Green Bay's Rural Belgian Settlement in post #286.

All my threads in the 75ers linked somewhere here

2026 threads
Reviews 001 to 010 back here.
Reviews 011 to 022 back here.
Reviews 023 to 055 back here.
Reviews 056 through 071 back here.
Reviews 072 through 092 back here.
Reviews 093 through 106 back there.

Previous years
My Last Thread of 2009 Is Here:
Reviews are back-linked there.
My Last Thread of 2010 Is Here:
Reviews are back-linked there.
My Last Thread of 2011 Is Here:
Reviews are back-linked there.
My Last Thread of 2012 Is Here:
Reviews are back-linked there.
My Last Thread of 2013 Is Here:
Reviews are back-linked there.
My Last Thread of 2014 Is Here:
Reviews are back-linked there.
My Last Thread of 2015 Is Here:
Reviews are back-linked there.
My Last Thread of 2016 Is Here:
Reviews are back-linked there.
My Last Thread of 2017 Is Here:
Reviews are back-linked there.
My Last Thread of 2018 Is Here:
Reviews are back-linked there.
My Last Thread of 2019 Is Here:
Reviews are back-linked there.
My Last Thread of 2020 Is Here:
Reviews are back-linked there.
My Last Thread of 2021 Is Here:
Reviews are back-linked there.
My Last Thread of 2022 Is Here:
Reviews are back-linked there.
My Last Thread of 2023 Is Here:
Reviews are back-linked there.
My Last Thread of 2024 Is Here:
Reviews are back-linked there.
My Last Thread of 2025 Is Here:
Reviews are back-linked there.

All previous Burgoine reviews linked here.

THIS THREAD:
#023 When I Was Death in post #123.
#024 Liar's Dice in post #127.
#025 Dark Is When the Devil Comes in post #135.
#026 Morsel in post #142.
#027 Blood Trail in post #144.
#028 Stay for a Spell in post #148.
#029 The Heavy Side: A Novel in post #149.
#030 Screen People: How We Entertained Ourselves into a State of Emergency in post 239.

All previous Pearl Rule reviews linked here.

THIS THREAD:
#006 Before Evil: Young Lenin, Hitler, Stalin, Mussolini, Mao, and Kim (29%) in post #150.

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

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

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

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

☀☁☂☀☁☂☀☁☂☀☁☂☀☁☂☀☁☂☀☁☂☀☁☂☀☁☂☀☁☂☀☁☂☀☁☂☀☁☂☀☁☂☀☁☂☀☁☂☀☁☂☀☁☂☀☁☂☀☁☂

1Q26 in review is here.
2Q26 due 30 June 2026.

GBBO and other special hashtaggie projects will be linked here.

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

See >6 richardderus: for 2025 achievements & 2026 goals, and quarterly wrap-ups. Special hashtag events in >7 richardderus: .
Monthly wrap-up posts to be linked below. 2025's wrap-ups are back-linked here.

January 2026 here.
February 2026 here.
March 2026 here.
April 2026 here.

All my six-stars-of-five reads since I first said I wanted to give a book six stars of five for being a perfect read in 1994. I've started the list with 2013 to coincide with the launch of my blog. All the links take you to the reviews I posted for those titles on the blog.

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

1. THE SONG OF ACHILLES


2. MATTERHORN


3. EUROPE IN AUTUMN


4. MARGARET THE FIRST


5. MISSIONARY


6. CIRCE


7. BLACK LIGHT


8. YOU EXIST TOO MUCH


9. COVE


10. KIBOGO


11. THE WORDS THAT REMAIN


12. GLORIOUS EXPLOITS


13. THE REMEMBERED SOLDIER

Okay, the next post is your opportunity to vent.

Happy New Thread! Only had to refresh twice to make sure. 😃

>11 mahsdad: I appreciate you refreshing so I don't go mental with a misplaced post for an entire year of stress and anguish. Welcome!

107 The Plague of God (Sword Shatterers #1) by Carlo F. Sente

108 The Sun King's Man (Sword Shatterers #2) by Carlo F. Sente

Happy New Thread, Richard! Glad to be joining you in the Great Beyond of Books! And Coffee.

Happy new one, Richard.

Happy new thread, Richard!

>15 Storeetllr: HEAVY on the coffee! *smooch*

>16 jessibud2: Thanks, Shelley!

>17 atozgrl: Thank you, Irene.

Happy new thread Richard! Your threads are always a delight to visit. I learn something all the time (Sarmatia, this time).

Karen O

Salutations on your latest thread, dear fellow!

Happy new one, Richard. You are one hard act to keep up with!

Happy new one Rdear. I hope you’ve settled in well at your new place. I wish you a lovely Sunday.

Happy Sunday, Richard. Happy New Thread. I will be heading for a solo walk this AM, despite the chilly start. Lots of sunshine at the moment. Books in the PM. Enjoy your day.

>21 klobrien2: Yay for finding delight! Thanks, and welcome Karen O.!

>22 PaulCranswick: Thank you most kindly, PC!

>23 RebaRelishesReading: Amaze amaze amaze, Reba, your observations are timely indeed. Two threads in April alone!

>24 Ameise1: Barbara, how lovely to see you around and about! I'll visit your thread here directly to see how much better you're feeling. Transatlantic Sunday orisons.

>25 msf59: Thanks, Birddude! I'm delighted you have the right weather to enjoy a solo birding walk. It's cloudy and seasonably chilly today so I am in hog heaven.

Happy new thread, RD!

I'll wave to you from the Yankees game today :)

>31 katiekrug: *ugh* Don't waft Yankees my way, it's sticky enough! :-P

Thanks, "enjoy" the game!

Go Royals!

‘Morning, RDear, and happy new thread! Happy Sunday, too.

>1 richardderus: Love the diadem, especially the dangly bits.

Not much to say, still trying to get back to pre-book sale normal, dammit.

*smooch*

109 Bloom: a novel by Robbie Couch

>33 karenmarie: The struggle is real, Horrible. You'll get there in the end. I wish it would happen more quickly! I'm in the damp-doldrums just now but the a/c is helping reduce the burden a bit. *smooch*

Apparently felonious yam is planning to build a replica of the Arc de Triomphe in his own honor. This idiocy has...attracted commentary in the late-night comedyverse. Jimmy Kimmel, the national treasure that you are:
“The Arc de Triomphe has the names of generals who fought and died for France engraved on its face,” said Kimmel. “Ours will have the name of the draft dodger who killed America on it.

“It’s going to be beautiful,” joked the host. “It strikes the perfect balance between Scientology and Liberace that we have come to expect from our president.”
source: https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2026/apr/17/stephen-colbert-trump-pope-leo-r...

Oh so true Mr. Kimmel, oh so sadly true.

>37 RebaRelishesReading: Funny...depressing...a meld of the two. *sigh*

Happy New Thread, Richard! I’m
so glad that you have brought the crowns back . 👑

>36 richardderus: Not at all fair to Liberace, I feel.

>40 laytonwoman3rd: I'll go along with that after I finish laughing, Linda. Otherwise, we are devoted to JK and sad when we find a rerun and have to give JF a chance, but not much of one.

Happy New Thread, my WBL! I'm delighted to see crowns (I'd probably be fascinated by the Sarmatians if only I had time) and that wonderful Rothko (now I can look at it against the favorited yellow and white too). I am sitting here wearing a sweater!!!!! What a contrast to yesterday!!!!!!!!
May you feel better and better! *smooch*

Happy new thread Richard.

>39 vancouverdeb: Deborah me deario! So glad to see you here. I have so many images stored, far more than I initially thought, and it does seem a shame not to share them.

>40 laytonwoman3rd: ...there is that...

>41 LizzieD: Thank you, Peggy me lurve. I'm mildly annoyed by my wound deciding to bleed today but it demonstrated one of my central loves about my apartment: wood floors don't stain as readily as carpets.

>42 ArlieS: Thanks, Arlie!

Happy new one! I do like that Rothko - peaceful, but with an energy to it.

>47 bell7: Thanks, Mary! I'm extra fond of that one because of its energy.

...and can I get tickets?

>41 LizzieD: I, on the other hand, am still brokenhearted that there's only a month left of Colbert. Kimmel is a decent backup (I do watch when Colbert is a rerun), and I enjoy his monologues, but it's not the same. Some of his bits don't do much for me. I will probably watch after Colbert is gone, but then Kimmel will no doubt go into his summer hiatus shortly thereafter, and I don't know what I'll do then. I guess I need to start reading at bedtime.

110 If this be magic : the unlikely art of Shakespeare in translation by Daniel Hahn

>50 atozgrl: I don't even want to touch that unhappy reality. I was never All that eager to watch TV at 11pm but I liked his highlight reels a lot. He's so smart and so incisive in his analysis of what's behind what's going on.

I hate the enshittification of our world.

Morning, Richard. I hope you had a fine Sunday at the new digs. I went to the Arboretum for a solo walk, despite the chill. It was nice to get out birding back-to-back days. I miss my regular outings. That damn pickleball. Which reminds me- I will be heading out to play soon. 😎

>49 richardderus: I want tickets too!!

‘Morning, RDear. Happy Tuesday to you.

>49 richardderus: *snort*

>51 richardderus: Added to my wish list.

I continue to be Very Happy For You in your new digs.

*smooch*

>53 msf59: It was a gorgeous chilly day out there, so I thoroughly enjoyed my walk back from the (fruitless) trip my caseworker and I took to SSA's office. She, poor little tropical flower she is, was miserable but I offered to make the walk by myself....

Enjoy the PB sessions!

>54 karenmarie: Morning, sweetiedarling. I think >51 richardderus: will delight you. I'm fresh from a lovely walk so my mood's very elevated. I'm eager to get some more of this week's debuts reviewed, but might have to wait for Wednesday for two I'm most looking forward to telling All y'all about.

*smooch*

Went to our local aquarium over the weekend, and saw a side of their Octopus that you don't normally see. :)



Speaking of our resident alien creatures, did you see the trailer for the movie version of Remarkably Bright Creatures?

>57 mahsdad: We were just talking about that movie...can't wait to see it.
That octopus photo is just fantastic. We have one here at the Steamtown Aquarium, but it is so reclusive we rarely see any side of it.

Not trying to catch up, RD, as I am 50+ posts behind again.

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

>50 atozgrl: and >52 richardderus: I loved early Colbert, but since he's been back one of us has changed. I watch only the first part of JK's monologue most nights before heading off to finish feeding the crew.
>51 richardderus: Got me, of course! I read and reviewed an ER offering, Worlds Elsewhere: Journeys Around Shakespeare's Globe some time ago, but the author dealt more with staging than actual translation. I'll greet this one with real enthusiasm and with thanks for your review! (I won't try to read it in one sitting, or even 2.)
>57 mahsdad: What a gorgeous creature!

I'm glad that you are enjoying your walks, Richard, and wish you healing feet to make them totally enjoyable. *smooch*

>57 mahsdad: I did see it! Like >58 laytonwoman3rd: I'm eager to see the film.

Fascinating creatures, the octopods, with their oddly delicate looks matched to their powerful musculature.

>58 laytonwoman3rd: It looks from the trailer like a film I'll really enjoy, so I'm hoping you will too!

>59 alcottacre: The list of titles in >2 richardderus: will tell you if you've missed anything terribly interesting, Stasia, so keep on keepin' on.

>60 LizzieD: Hiya Peggy...I'm looking out on sunshiney perfection after a cloudy morning so I might just go out for a short trip before dinner. My feet are complaining but this season is so short I think I'll just ignore 'em and take 'em on that walk. *smooch*

>51 richardderus: will delight you!!

So a certain someone known to all and sundry here as @bell7 mailed me a letter. It required I go downstairs to collect it. A short, tense meeting with the mail carrier later, I brought it upstairs...and laughed and laughed.

It was addressed to the proper address...in the wrong borough!! This is BRONX, NY not Brooklyn! Thank goodness the zip+4 was correct or who knows where it might have ended up. *chuckle*

>49 richardderus: lol

Happy new thread!

>66 RebaRelishesReading: IK,R?!

>67 drneutron: Thanks, Doc!

>65 richardderus: 🤦‍♀️ I just double checked my address book, and I wrote Brooklyn there too, oops. My deep apologies to all who know and love the borough and I'm glad it arrived despite the error 😂

>52 richardderus: I can understand why you might not want to watch any TV that late at night. However, since I've retired, I usually am not ready to shut things down quite yet, and I've needed the humor that the late night folks give us to get through the horrors of the recent years.

Speaking of Colbert specifically, he has also done some amazing interviews, and I'm going to miss that part of the show also.

>70 bell7: *chuckle* It made me snort and the mail carrier's outraged stiffness...!!

>71 atozgrl: I'm weird. I don't want to watch TV at all. Once I got a VCR in 1988 I've never since, ever, watched TV live unless it was with someone. Before that, from 1973 on, I just didn't watch TV except in groups.

Happy New Thread!

>74 SilverWolf28: Thank you, dear lady, I'm happy to see you!

>73 richardderus: Once I got a VCR in 1988 I've never since, ever, watched TV live unless it was with someone. We do watch TV, but also pretty much never watch anything live, with the exception of the odd sporting event.

>77 PaulCranswick: I am another one not counting TV as a form of leisure. Just watch sport on it and that is all these days.

>76 SandDune: Sports are always best watched in company as it's much more fun to holler at the screen if you've got company in doing so. And you and Mr SandDune are watching together, it sounds like, so sharing an experience can arguably be called the purpose of doing the staring.

>77 PaulCranswick: ^^^see above

I can't think where you would find the time to be a TV watcher, PC, with everything you carry on your shoulders. It offers very little compared to books, it takes HUGE amounts of time, and can't really be called involving too terribly often...All those being hallmarks of things you *do* commit your paltry "free" time to.

Morning, Richard. I am a TV person but normally just in the evenings, unless an afternoon Cubs game is on and then I have it on with the sound off as I read. I have been a film buff most of my life and there is a lot of quality TV series on these days, plus Sue and I watch a show or 2 together.

I will tend to the kids this AM and then head out to hang with Jack, until he goes to school.

>80 msf59: Preach, Mark! I am a “TV person” and a movie buff and I really think there are a lot of good things to view. But I do realize it’s personal inclination. Like the line from the classic “Laugh In” TV show— “Different strokes for different folks”!

End of my two cents!

Terrific Tuesday, Richard, et al.!

Karen O

'Morning, RDear! Happy Tuesday to you.

All quiet in my part of central NC. No puttering, only lollygagging, reading, and spreadsheet/Lightning Round stuff allowed.

*smooch*

I might have a cent and a half to add to the TV commentary. I faithfully watch Jeopardy and wish my WBL would get on and mint himself plenty of $. (The current champion has netted $750,000 or so; even with taxes that will be a nice! pay for 27 sessions that are less than 30 minutes each.) I like Finding Your Roots, but I seldom watch the whole program. I do wish that they could solve the mystery of my two paternal great-grandmothers for me. Mostly though, our TV plays sports, and if I have a book and can breathe in the same room as my DH, I'm happy to ignore them.
I have collected DVDs of my favorite things from the 80s on, and that's what I watch for an hour most nights. I have a large enough collection now that I can watch them again and again, spread out over the years, especially when I choose a Time Team or Secrets of the Dead every now and then.

I'm back with the remnants of my morning coffee, which I've changed into a coffee "drink" with more half&half and a dollop of caramel syrup. It's not coffee any longer, but it's a treat. Enjoy your day, Richard! *smooch*

'Mornin' Richard! I enjoyed your review of the book about Shakespeare translations. I've always wondered how poetry in particular can be successfully translated into a language other than the one it was written in. I'm putting the book on my TBR Someday list.

>57 mahsdad: Ooooh, a film adaptation of Remarkably Bright Creatures! BTW, that's a gorgeous image!

My TV is usually only on when I have the grandkids, and then only sparsely. I do watch the occasional DVD, but the whole idea of watching TV makes me tired. I don't know why, because I used to enjoy it, back in the day.

>80 msf59: Have fun with the Jackson time today!

>80 msf59:, >81 klobrien2: There's always something to watch...but I'd rather read more often than not. I thoroughly LOVED Heated Rivalry but wouldn't have bothered to watch it had I not read the book series...just wouldn't have occurred to me...and what a giant awful hole that would've left in my experience because it's different from the books in some crucial ways that honestly add something important to the story. I was also recently very swept up in Mary & George which adapted very richly The King's Assassin. But in both cases I'd already read the books.

>81 klobrien2: *smooch*

>82 karenmarie: Given what's been happening, I'm just glad you're not in a tougher-to-handle space, Horrible. I'm still very annoyed by the world, but what else is new. I'm interested to see who ends up being cast as Troy Barrett given how much Rachel wants Jacob to keep the course of casting unknowns to give them a shot at stardom like Connor and Hudson have had. That Inannen guy people are carrying on over is...well...underwhelming to me.

*smooch*

>83 LizzieD: ...it's a dessert...

Well, I like Time Team reruns too, especially the specials about one site over time (!) and the weird ones like St. Osyth and her headless Walk of Shame. I think secrets of the Dead is a PBS show...? Once in a way I run across it on YouTube.

All of us have really interesting family stories that we don't know the endings to, so that's why those DNA/genealogy shows are so much fun! The *idea* of being on camera makes me think I'm having another stroke with the nausea, sweating, dizziness, and bright flashing lights in my peripheral vision. *shudder*

Spend a splendiferous evening. *smooch*

>84 Storeetllr: It's ceaselessly noisy, it's strobing at 24fps, the "laughter" is cachinnation, there's not much appealing about it in any but the most restrained doses.

I'm looking forward to the adaptation! Sally Field will be fun to watch as Tova.

had to run and look up "Time Team" new to me!

Aside from Jeopardy and the news all our TV is though the Smart TV Roku box

Was it Paul Simon who said "I Get all the news I need from the Weather Report"? Works for me.

>90 magicians_nephew: Yep! "The Only Living Boy In New York" was the B-side of "Cecilia," my favorite of Simon and Garfunkle's stuff. I suspect he was being cute about the jazz group Weather Report, since he was so pop and they were bleedin'-edge cool back then.

Time Team has a YouTube channel where they're releasing the classics and making new episodes, so dive in!

>91 richardderus: One Time Team episode was set near my home town where they tried to discover the buried town of Kenfig. That was a fairly prosperous town in the earlier Middle Ages but was buried by sand by the fifteenth or sixteenth century. I seem to remember that they dug down about 20ft and just found more sand! All you can see now are the very scant remains of Kenfig Castle.

I do enjoy Time Team! I rarely watch TV as I have so many other things to do. . .

((Hugs)) and **smooches** for today and hopes that you have a wonderful Wednesday, RD.

Happy Wednesday, Richard. Looks like a glorious day ahead and perfect for my bird walk this morning. There will be about a dozen in attendance, and I hope we hit a jackpot of migrants and returning residents. I have a reputation to uphold after all. Enjoy your day.

‘Morning, RDear! Happy Wednesday.

>87 richardderus: Hmmm. I haven’t paid attention to S2 casting talks. I’ll have to check out Innnen to play Troy Barrett.

OK, WBL, no Jeopardy for you. I'm sorry that we can't rig a way for me to be the contestant with Bluetooth or something in my ears for you to give me the answers. I'd gladly give you the first million or so!
>92 SandDune: Wow, Rhian! I'll look for Kenfig. I can't imagine how frustrating it must be to dig in sand!

*smooch*

>91 richardderus: LOL. I read the first line of your post and when "WHHHAATT???" (maybe I'm more involved in Cecilia that I should be lol)

111 Livonia chow mein by Abigail Savitch-Lew

112 Double shadow : a novel by Andrew Ludington

>92 SandDune: I'll have to find that episode, Rhian, it sounds like one of those that makes our hearts go out to the producer..."oh hell we got zilch how do we make this interesting?"...but they manage to make it interesting anyway.

>93 alcottacre: It's All down to how we allocate the time we've got. I allocate very little to just staring, and that is always intentional. *smooch*

>94 msf59: It got cloudy, rained a bit early on, but it's a lovely springlike 50° out there. I walked over to Morton Williams, the nearby supermarket, for laundry supplies. *happy sigh* cool and breezy and just perfect.

>95 karenmarie: Wednesday orisons, Horrible! *smooch*

Innanen's an ooshy-gooshy little mini-marshmallow of a boy. He's less Troy Barrett than I am.

>96 LizzieD: Just not in me to go on camera, I fear, but if you can figure out how to cheat....

*smooch*

>97 RebaRelishesReading: IJBOL

The picture in your mind must've been hilarious, Reba!

>100 richardderus: The overall story is quite interesting. Prosperous town, a borough (so licensed to hold a local market and send 2 MPs to Parliament) gradually overwhelmed by sand. They could clearly see it coming as there are records of local by-laws prohibiting removing grass from the dunes. But because it was a borough, it continued to send MP’s to Parliament until 1832, despite the fact that the town had been abandoned and only a few farmers lived there, and really big towns like Birmingham couldn’t. But pretty much nothing to see there now, just sand (and lots of rare orchids).

>106 SandDune: I recall one cause of the Great Reform Act was the "rotten boroughs" that kept the oligarchs safe from All us hoi polloi votin' 'em out. So Kenfig was one of those! Interesting.

Happy new thread, Richard. I was hit by quite a few BBs as I got caught up. Thank you, I think.

>90 magicians_nephew: Smart fellow Paul Simon.

Some of the best American poetry in my lifetime is captured in his song lyrics.

I hear the drizzle of the rain
Like a memory it falls
Soft and warm continuing
Tapping on my roof and walls.

And from the shelter of my mind
Through the window of my eyes
I gaze beyond the rain-drenched streets
To England where my heart lies.

Sweet Thursday, Richard. Glad you got out for a walk yesterday. I know you are located in the Bronx but are there any parks you can stroll though, anywhere near you?

We leave for our trip in one week. It is coming up fast.

>108 Familyhistorian: I'm reloading the biblio-Bren gun as I type....

Thanks, Meg!

>109 PaulCranswick: Didja hafta go and call it "poetry"? Did I kill your kitten without noticing it or sumthn? Poetry *ptooptoo* They's song lyrics, man, not some borin' hifalutin' gobbledegook.

>110 msf59: There are two parks, Jerome Park and St. James Park, very nearby. I'm quite close to the Grand Concourse, where the fancying-up of the Bronx got started in 1894 as the plans to form NYC from what we now call the five boroughs were getting finalized. I got a picture of the redbuds in bloom in St. James park that I'll port over here later on to show y'all.

A week!! How exciting! Portugal here they come, hide the bookstores and get the china stacked pretty!

113 The lost book of Elizabeth Barton by Jennifer N. Brown

114 Your behavior will be monitored by Justin Feinstein

>115 richardderus: Maybe two minutes after I posted this review on Goodreads, the author liked it and followed my reviews. It's always a pleasure when authors see my reviews and enjoy them enough to engage with the ones to come...they don't have to do that, there's nothing requiring them to pay any extra attention to a reviewer after acknowledging a particular one of their own works. There's no rule saying they have to do even that! It was nice for me, today, to get that little extra validation when a toothache was dragging my mood down.

>116 richardderus: GOOD for you, Richard! A very nice start to your day!!!! (But I"m sorry to hear about the toothache. NOT good. Hope you can treat it without help.)

You got me with both the Feinstein and - probably - the Brown. I'll be checking them out and putting them on the wish list if they aren't too awfully expensive at the moment. I'm still clinging to the boost I got when Molly at BLP liked my reviews enough to say so and sent one to Jerome Charyn. He actually emailed me. One and only time!!!! There we go; I used your success to feel good for myself all over again. *smooch*

ETA: Brown: probably not unless it goes for $1.99.

Hello, RDear! Happy Thursday to you.

>99 richardderus: Interesting, but not quite enough to spend a valuable Audible credit on for the first one in the series. I don’t particularly like the narrator’s voice.

I dodged your other reviews.

*smooch*

>117 LizzieD: Hiya Peggy! I think >114 richardderus: is a library borrow, unless (as you say) it goes down to $1.99. Even then I'd lean more towards the borrowing idea.

I've got an anti-inflammatory prescription coming later today. It should help with the jaw pain. I'm hoping that's All that will be needed. If there's an infection I'll go back for the ABX.

I'm still right pleased with the way Feinstein responded. It's nice to be positively noticed.

>118 karenmarie: *chuckle* You just keep that up, there, sweetiedarling. I've got other bibliobullets in my magazine.

>116 richardderus: That's really cool! (the author interaction, not your toothache ☺️)

>121 RebaRelishesReading: I'm really glad to know you're not a sadist, Reba, glorying in my swollen jaw. ;-P

I'm still pleased about it, so I'll use that to Rise Above the ouchie.

BURGOINE #023

When I Was Death by Alexis Henderson

Rating: 3* of five

The Publisher Says: A group of teen girls does Death incarnate's bidding in this haunting speculative young adult novel.

Roslyn Volk isn’t herself anymore. It’s been a year since her sister, Adeline, died in the woods under mysterious circumstances, and Roslyn is still tormented by her absence. So when the elusive caravan of girls that Adeline spent her last summer with rolls back into town, Roslyn joins them to finally figure out what happened to her sister.

Strange, beautiful, and intriguing, the girls are closed off from the world. And as it turns out, they’re brought together by a force more sinister than Roslyn’s nightmares could have conjured: Death himself.

Death has spared the girls from untimely endings, and to pay for their lives, the girls travel the country reaping souls on his behalf. Now Roslyn must decide if finding closure is worth the price of striking the same deal.

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

My Review: Death as a character, death as a life passage for the survivors, grief and grieving are all worthy and interesting topics to explore; the bonds of siblinghood are of eternal interest to us who were siblings and often to those who were not for the same reasons: The closeness arising from being family, born or made, never fails to involve readers.

I was no great fan of this iteration of the story because I thought it pulled its punches too often for a YA novel and not often enough for a middle-grade one. It was an okay way to spend an afternoon, but no more.

G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers wants $10.99 for an ebook.

>116 richardderus: How nice that the author liked your review, and followed you too! I hope the medicine helps with your toothache. A toothache is not fun.

>124 atozgrl: Thanks, Irene, it's really validating when someone looks at what you said about their work and likes it enough to say "well done, and thanks." I'm hoping the anti-inflammatory will keep the pain in check. My jaw's in a bad mood so the rest of me is, too.

BURGOINE #024

Liar's Dice by Juliet Faithfull

Rating: 3.5* of five

The Publisher Says: A heart-rending and hopeful debut about a teenage girl in 1970s Brazil who is unexpectedly torn away from her disabled twin sister—and who must learn what it means to fight for those we love when all the odds are stacked against us.

Everyone knows, but no one talks.

Identical twins Dolores and Mita grow up in lockstep in rural Brazil, speaking their own secret language, dancing together, inseparable even when they sleep. But at age seven, they discover that Mita has a degenerative condition—and Dolores does not. On the cusp of adolescence, Mita's illness becomes debilitating, and without telling Dolores, their parents send Mita across the Atlantic Ocean to a hospital in their father’s native London.

The rest of the family moves to Rio and begins to live a bourgeois lifestyle, but Dolores is miserable there. She misses her small-town and most especially her twin, who her parents seem to have forgot ever existed. And she has no way to contact Mita—particularly since, at twelve years old, Dolores still cannot read or write. She is desperate to speak to her again—and desperately alone and unhappy at her posh new school. But everything begins to change when she meets a brave, headstrong girl from the favelas who shows Dolores a new side of Rio, and how to survive it.

Tensions are on the rise with the dictatorial government cracking down on protesters and dissenters. Both at home and in the country at large, there are cover-ups at play—and Dolores pushes to find the truth about right and wrong, her lost sister and her place in life. In a setting where repression and silencing were part of everyday life, Liar’s Dice is about the secrets we hold, both personal and political, and the consequences of keeping them. Atmospheric and intimate, Juliet Faithfull's coming of age novel captures the intensity of forming your own identity, and the courage and love required to forge a different life.

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

My Review: Coming of age, authoritarian politics, intellectual disabilities, twinhood bonds, adolescent-female angst, dual timelines, disappearing siblings...holy crap, lady, pick two and master those before going wide! Debut novels get graded on a curve around here but wow is this ambitious story trying to do too much and not succeeding at most of it.

I feel sure the readers who enjoy coming-of-age stories with a political edge, and the readers who recently discovered Brazil's fascinating culture, will love this read.

Random House would like $13.99 for you to legally access an ebook. I myownself would point you to the library.

‘Morning, RDear! Happy Friday.

>119 richardderus: Jaw pain? Ugh. I hope the prescription helps.

>120 richardderus: I’m wearing a BB-proof vest, metaphorically speaking.

Congrats on the Feinstein liking your review!

*smooch*

>127 karenmarie: Thanks, sweetiedarling. I'm not possessed of the Rx, it never arrived, but the jaw pain's lessened. That's both a relief and a worry, since it's done the improving on its own I have no reason to think it won't randomly get worse again.

I'm still very pleased he bothered to say he enjoyed it! *smooch*

115 The Perfect Circle by Claudia Petrucci (tr. Anne Milano Appel)

>129 richardderus: I'm sold but not buying yet. I hope your jaw continues to improve.
I'll give you my theory, having watched an aggregate of maybe 20 non-consecutive minutes of NOVA's series on the brain. Everything is so connected that I suspect that when a person takes action to get a healing process started, the brain sends out a message of comfort to the afflicted part that help is on the way. I like that better than what I always assumed about myself - I wait so long that the thing has already started healing when I finally yield and ask for help.

*smooch*

116 Kill Dick : a novel by Luke B. Goebel

>130 LizzieD: I think you're onto something, Peggy. It explains the placebo effect nicely.

Both my reviews for today were for stories I liked a lot. Nice to have a day like that! *smooch*

>99 richardderus: My local library has the first one in the series so I will start there. Good to know the second book in the series is a good one!

>114 richardderus: I just added this one to the BlackHole the other day. Thank you for the input on the book, RD.

>115 richardderus: Adding that one to the BlackHole too. Thanks for the review and recommendation!

>129 richardderus: And yet another one into the BlackHole. . .

>132 richardderus: Yay for a day when all the reads are good ones!

>133 alcottacre: Yay for a day when I don't need to hold my nose while I'm writing. Sunday is gang-review day for April so I have All my snarkys cued up to choose from. I'm glad you're finding some stuff to maybe, one day soon, read. *smooch*

BURGOINE #025

Dark Is When the Devil Comes by Daisy Pearce

Rating: 3.5* of five

The Publisher Says: Unrelentingly scary and thrilling, Dark Is When the Devil Comes is an ambitious and chilling novel from acclaimed horror author Daisy Pearce.

The woods are known as the place to avoid. What goes in, doesn’t come out.

Hazel has been gone from her small hometown of Idless in the English countryside for years. Now returned in the wake of a traumatic divorce and crumbling personal life, her simple plans are to lay low at her parents’ vacated house, reconnect with her prickly sister Cathy, and slowly get back on her feet.

Cathy is surprised when Hazel doesn’t show. Their relationship strained from a fallout half a decade ago, she didn’t expect them to get back into a sisterly rhythm…though she hadn’t counted on Hazel bailing, either.

But something isn’t adding up. Other people in town whisper of a threat that can’t be shaken. The woods are known for being restless. And Cathy knows the old saying.

If you go looking for trouble, you just might find it.

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

My Review: Hazel returns to her childhood home covered in mud and misery, smeared with the wreckage of a horrible divorce. She wants to see if her bond with Cathy, her sister, is still functional,if home is still home, if there is in fact another life to replace the one she's lost.

Home is, unexpectedly, scarier than her ruined life in deeply weird and uneasy ways. As she tries to make sense of the changes and the alienness surrounding her, Hazel vanishes leaving Cathy to discover dark and stormy lies underpinning both women's lives.

Minotaur Books thinks $14.99 is a just and reasonable demand to make on your wallet in exchange for this story. Sure, why not.

Morning, Richard. I am glad you have a couple of nearby parks to visit. At least to enjoy a touch of nature. As expected, John of John has been excellent. Stuart sure seems to have come out of nowhere but we are sure glad he did. I hope you can swing a copy when it is finally released.

Dropping off your dose of weekend smooches. They go great with coffee, I hear.

>136 msf59: It's a very pretty space, Kingsbridge. I'm delighted to be here. Urban enough for my city-tat self, with patches of nice, green play space, and trees lining my block.

I am so glad you're enjoying Douglas Stuart's latest book.

No.

Really.

*fume*

>137 MickyFine: Morning, Mick! Just finished my daily pot of coffee so am fully prepared to confirm your hupohesis is correct. *smooch*

'Morning, RDear! Happy Saturday to you.

>131 richardderus: Almost got me because ... LA ... but I resist.

>135 richardderus: I like thrilling but not scary. Another pass.

Nice try!

*smooch*

>140 karenmarie: Morning, Horrible, you're clearly growing more agile inside that biblio-Kevlar. note to self increase bribes to chiropractors to relocate

You'd HATE >131 richardderus: intensely, so good choice on that one, and if you ever pick up a horror book I'll keep over from the shock, so none of this is unexpected.

*smooch*

BURGOINE #026

Morsel by Carter Keane

Rating: 3.5* of five

The Publisher Says: The Blair Witch Project meets The Ritual, with a generous helping of The Menu, in Morsel, a delicious folk horror novella perfect for fans of T. Kingfisher, Cassandra Khaw, and Paul Tremblay.

Lou did what the children of parents with back-breaking, poor paying jobs are supposed to do; pulled up her bootstraps, went to college, and got an office job with coworkers who won’t stop talking about their multi-level marketing scheme disguised as self-betterment.

Determined to lift her ill mother out of poverty before it's too late, and in the spirit of climbing the corporate ladder, Lou accepts an assignment in the rural hills of Ohio. She quickly finds herself stranded in the middle of nowhere with a sabotaged truck, a dog she’s determined to keep safe, and something stalking her through the ancient Appalachian woods.

If she can’t escape the woods in time, she’ll come face to face with the fact that her job isn’t the only thing that wants to eat her alive.

Morsel is a chilling testament to the burden of generational poverty and the all-consuming nature of capitalism, where the monster and the monstrous, in the end, are not the same.

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

My Review: Monstruous is the right term for the system excoriated in this story. I use it in place of the modern "monstrous" to send you on the hunt that will cast you up on John Knox's tedious doorstep to show you how long (since 1558, at least) we've been shouting at the Powers That Be there's something very wrong with the way things are and, if you're all not very careful, 1789 could be prologue not footnote.

The huge challenge of the novella form is to keep the pace up while still using your story to make the point you're after making; this story chose pace over story so gets a tiny ding off its stars, but what an ambitious swing it was!

Tor Nightfire needs you to give them $12.99 to read it. Unless your library is very good about buying horror, buying it's your best bet.

Just dropping by to wish you a lovely weekend!

BURGOINE #027

Blood Trail by Matt Query and Harrison Query

Rating: 3* of five

The Publisher Says: A poacher-turned-game-warden is on the hunt for a bloodthirsty cult in this unnerving thriller from the authors of the “artful chiller” (Lincoln Child, #1 New York Times bestselling author) Wilderness Reform.

Clark Rickert was once the most prolific big game poacher throughout the Rocky Mountain west but when he lost both his son and his wife, he turned away from hunting. Now a game warden working for the very law enforcement officers that once pursued him so aggressively, Clark is overwhelmingly successful at his job.

So, when there’s a string of disappearances in rural Montana, Clark is selected to join a task force on an operation targeting a mysterious, violent cult in the area. As he works to uncover the truth, Clark begins to be plagued by visions and starts to realize that there is a deeper purpose to his assignment and the cult might up to something far more terrifying than anyone could have guessed.

From two authors who “set themselves apart with sterling prose” (Publishers Weekly), Blood Trail is an eerie and suspenseful horror novel that will sink its teeth in you.

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

My Review: A dark, violent mix of dad-book, supernatural/cult thriller, and weirdly ambiguous redemption arc for a bad hombre. I was awash in acronym soup, annoyed by the way Clark vacillates between his draw towards and repulsion by the acts of the baddies, and the sheer overwhelming sausage party atmosphere of the whole exercise.

It's not bad, it's not great, and it is too damn long.

Emily Bestler Books/Atria takes $14.99 for your access to the ebook.

>143 Storeetllr: Thanks, Mary, same wish heartily returned. *smooch*

Happy weekend *smooch*

I either watch nothing for months or binge watch a show I'm interested in a week or so, and there's no in between. I'm in one of the stretches of watching nothing, at least 'til football season comes around.

>146 bell7: Weekend orisons, Mary! I'm as much a passion-driven watcher as I am a reader. I binge relatively few shows but do enjoy the ones I consent to watch quite a lot. GBBO is one of the few remaining I'll watch weekly as they're released. I'm so very glad the streaming model has prevailed! *smooch*

BURGOINE #028

Stay for a Spell by Amy Coombe

Rating: 3.75* of five

The Publisher Says: A cursed princess must discover what her heart truly longs for in this charmingly cozy romantic fantasy for everyone who’s ever lost—or found—themselves in a bookshop.

Princess Tanadelle of the Widdenmar is disillusioned with life as a princess. She longs for real conversation, the chance to build a life of her own making, and uninterrupted reading time.

During a routine royal visit to the town of Little Pepperidge, Tandy’s dream comes true when she finds herself cursed to remain in a run-down bookshop until she unlocks her heart’s desire. Certain that someone will figure out how to break the curse eventually, and delighted by the prospect of an entire bookstore of her own, Tandy settles into life among the stacks. She finds it easy to exchange balls and endless state dinners for teetering piles of books and an irritatingly handsome pirate who seems bent on stealing her stock.

She even starts to believe she's stumbled into her very own happily ever after.

There's just one, minor problem: as Tandy's royal duties go unfulfilled, her frantic parents start sending princes to woo her, each one of them certain their kiss will break the curse. After all, what more could a princess want but a prince?

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

My Review: Found-family romantasy with an utterly ensorcelling premise of being cursed to spend your life in a bookshop (!!) until you figure out what your heart's true desire is. That scenario being my heart's true desire I guess I'd be there the rest of my days. Boo hoo.

Don't look for world-building, magic-system development, or deviation from heteronormativity. All vibes, no plot, and you're golden; I was modestly involved throughout.

Ace asks you to hand over $14.99 for an ebook. Do it if you're in need of an "aaawww" read.

BURGOINE #029

The Heavy Side: A Novel by Ben Rogers

Rating: 2* of five, all for the idea

The Publisher Says: The Heavy Side explores the unlikely and fateful collaboration of a hotshot Silicon Valley programmer and a Mexican drug cartel.

Vik Singh has developed a clever app for drug dealers, and now both the DEA and the cartel are after him. Narrated by Vik's girlfriend, Remi, the story grapples with America’s insatiable hunger for drugs and the human toll it takes on our neighbors to the south. We witness a young man confronting his artistic pride and a young couple trying to make up for past betrayals.

"The Social Network" meets "Narcos" in this suspenseful and intelligent literary thriller.

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

My Review: Very very dull. I took over five years to finish it but I did, so I'm counting it as a full-blown read. The idea appeals to me, the nerdy tech scum agreeing to make an app to *help*a*drug*dealer*succeed* without irony, or implicit condemnation.

I wondered if the author's ever had an actual conversation with a female human. The "girlfriend" character was laughably "seductive"...even your sister could tell you no woman thinks the word "coquettish" in reference to blotting her lipstick.

CQ Books (non-affiliate Bookshop.org link) wants $19.95 for a paperback.

PEARL RULE #006

Before Evil: Young Lenin, Hitler, Stalin, Mussolini, Mao, and Kim (29%) by Brandon K. Gauthier

Rating: 3* of five

The Publisher Says: Should we humanize the world's most inhumane leaders?

Adolf Hitler. Joseph Stalin. Benito Mussolini. Mao Zedong. Kim Il Sung. Vladimir Lenin. These cruel dictators wrote their names on the pages of history in the blood of countless innocent victims. Yet they themselves were once young people searching for their place in the world, dealing with challenges many of us face—parental authority, education, romance, loss—and doing so in ways that might be uncomfortably familiar.

Historian Brandon K. Gauthier has created a fascinating work—epic yet intimate, well-researched but immensely readable, clear-eyed and empathetic—looking at the lives of these six dictators, with a focus on their youths. We watch Lenin’s older brother executed at the hands of the Tsar’s police—an event that helped radicalize this overachieving high-schooler. We observe Stalin grappling with the death of his young, beautiful wife. We see Hitler’s mother mourning the loss of three young children—and determined that her first son to survive infancy would find his place in the world.

The purpose isn’t to excuse or simply explain these horrible men, but rather to treat them with the empathy they themselves too often lacked. We may prefer to hold such lives at arm’s length so as to demonize them at will, but this book reminds us that these monstrous rulers were also human beings—and perhaps more relatable than we’d like.

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

My Review: I finally admitted to myself, as I was about to embark on the chapter where Lenin's brother is executed by the tsar's regime, that I do not care. These men were not monsters, but they were bloody-handed, bloody-minded murdering bastards, so knowing they were once belovèd sons/brothers/husbands did nothing to make me loathe them less.

The author's written a darn good book, carefully sourced and cited, that tried to do something to me I did not want done. YMMV

Tortoise Books only wants $9.99 for the ebook! Go get one!

"I'm delighted to be here. Urban enough for my city-tat self, with patches of nice, green play space, and trees lining my block."

^Sounds perfect, Richard. I am very happy for you. We are keeping it low key this weekend. Getting some chores done, talking things over about our trip, taking Juno for a couple of nice walks. All good here.

Enjoy your Sunday.

‘Morning, RD! Happy Sunday to you.

>141 richardderus: Yes, please and thank you, to bribing chiropractors to relocate. I’m going to call the office manager tomorrow to see if I can get any of my pre-paid-not-yet-used visits refunded. There are no chiropractors in the practice I am willing to go to. Wish me luck!

>151 msf59: It’s a fine line to draw – excusing evil or not. I like it in fiction but not in real life. In fiction, it’s fun watching an author ‘work’ a morally gray character, in real life it turns my stomach.

Hmmm… Horror or cozies. Nope. The Kevlar continues to hold.

*smooch*

>151 msf59: Sunday orisons, Birddude!

>152 karenmarie: Happy Sunday, sweetiedarling. I hope you're successful getting that cash back since your experiences are so...not productive. The problem with humanizing awful people is the way it *requires* us to confront the Problem of Evil being inherent in all of sentience, not just theology.

I'm unclear why this issue keeps jabbing us in tender places because it is the furthest thing from new, it's never changed even a shred, and can't be ignored without dire social consequences like the existence of this regime.

It's a puzzlement. *smooch*

>155 LizzieD: .....and not just a puzzlement, a MYSTERY. Nor is it the kind of mystery I enjoy. I'm encouraging myself to live without any of your latest middling-or-worse-rated reviews. I'm happy to read a middling book when it pulls one of my many chains, but not otherwise.

I hope you're enjoying a pleasant Sunday. I've taken all my Duck Francis pbs off the shelf and replaced them with my DVD collection. Now I have a box of old favorites and nowhere to put it - yet. *smooch*

>155 LizzieD: One does not get too many Sundays lovelier than this one was...cool enough, sunshine all afternoon long. I totally agree with your evasive maneuvers, Peggy, as launching an away mission with an at-best mildly okay target makes zero sense.

Do you really plan to re-read Dick Francis novels? Maybe the Little Free Library beckons....

*smooch*

Richard, are you here today? I just logged in and wonder what I'm missing. I'll look for a new thread.

Oh yes! I couldn't part with my Dick Francis. I don't know which ones I'll rererereread (most likely the early ones, but I never know), and I can't let them go yet.

Hope you're well and busy exploring your new world! *smooch*

117 A violent masterpiece : a novel by Jordan Harper

>157 LizzieD: I wandered among the threads as I tried to accomplish some bureaucratic nonsense that remains undone.

I'm pleased to say I got the benefit of a gorgeous day indeed, sunny and cool not cold. I'd like to be done with nonsense but it is not yet done. *sigh*

Stay well, me lurve.

Morning, Richard. I have been hearing some of the buzz for A Violent Masterpiece. Glad to hear that it worked for you. I may have to see if an DRC is still available.

After I tend to the kids this AM, I will scoop up Juno and run her out to Brees. They will watch her, while we are gone. Truly a blessing. I will play with Jack a bit and then take him to school.

>160 msf59: Morning, Portugal-bound Birddude! Enjoy the bonus Jackson time, and schmoozle Juno's ears from me. I hope you can get the DRC, I think this story will appeal to you...maybe wish for it if they've taken it down?

‘Morning, RDear! Happy Tuesday to you.

>158 richardderus: Probably just a tad more vicious and depraved than I’d otherwise consider, but …. LA … so onto the wish list it goes. The Kevlar didn't work.

Not off to book sort, but I’ll get a call from Rhoda when they’re getting ready to head to Virlie’s. I’ll take a Tramadol soon and join them.

*smooch*

>162 karenmarie: I knew I'd find the weak spot! Enjoy your Virlie's today.

*smooch*

>158 richardderus: I'm surprised that this is not for me right now. Instead, I'm really enjoying *Bea Hyde-Clare2* with thanks to you and expect to pick up *Maisie Dobbs* with thanks to Lucy sometime soon.
We are getting a little mist that doesn't mitigate our 12" rain deficit but doesn't suck what water is around either.

Enjoy your day. I'm happy to see you back here (where you belong!)! *smooch*

>164 LizzieD: I'm glad I've got a lovely-lookin' day to look back on. It had its weird moments, but it really came down to putting my head down and doing the necessary things as they came up. I wish more big ones came under the heading "completed" but it was not for lack of me doing what needed doing!

*smooch*

'Morning, RDear! Happy Wednesday to you.

Virlie's was fun. Prescription, cash for my cleaning ladies, and going in for a blood draw were the major excitement yesterday. Oh, and then a clean house!

*smooch*

>166 karenmarie: Isn't the clean-house feeling the absolute best? I'm happy with you for a good Virlie's trip to compensate for not being up to book-fondling in full just yet. I hope you'll get there soonest.

*smooch*

118 Boomtown: The True Story of the Wickedest Town in Texas by Joe Pappalardo

Good morning, Richard! The rest of the day to you since I'm too late to give you the top of the morning!

Do NOT let greedy people make their own rules. Absolutely! Everything I read leads me back to the entity. I go crazy when I hear news commentators center-to-left refer to "Liberation Day" or "The Great Big Beautiful Bill," etc. Do NOT adopt the entity's language unless you're making your mockery clear.
How's that for sequence?

Otherwise, I can move on past Texas cesspool and wish that you may finish what has taken you away for the better part of two days. *smooch*

>169 LizzieD: Well said! I hate when I hear the OTT PR language of the current fascist regime used by news commentators, as if it's true and accepted. It's not true, and I don't accept it.

Hi, Richard! Missed me with that last BB. I see and read too much about greed, scammers, and grifters in the news and on social media to want to read about it recreationally. Maybe someday, when this is over, if I live that long.

Hello there, Richard! Hope your Wednesday is...wonderful!

Karen O

>169 LizzieD: Hiya, Peggy! Unless the purpose is brutal excoriating sarcasm and contumely, using "Their" language ought to be common sense not to do. I just don't see that as a difficult ask, so it makes me think it's part of a normalization drive. I do not want this normalized. At All. In any way shape or form.

It's been annoying to do what I can to get the bureaucrats to do what they should, only it's never enough.

>170 Storeetllr: Probably all to the good, Mary, nothing about Pappalardo is crucial to read for those of us already woke. Funny how "They" use woke as an insult: "...so you want to stay sleeping, like "Sleepy Joe Biden, then? That's the opposite of woke...."

It really annoyed the jerk I said it to.

>171 klobrien2: I'd take "not annoying" but alas....

Stay well, my friend!

>168 richardderus: Funny- I have a very good friend named Joe Pappalardo. He will get a kick out of this. It actually sounds like something I would like too. I took a screenshot of your review and will share it with him.

Sweet Thursday, Richard. I did request a DRC of A Violent Masterpiece but have not heard back. I hope I can get it.

Our taxi picks us up at 1:15. Yeah, baby!

I wish you a day with new joys found and old frustrations avoided, my WBL! *smooch*

Thursday *smooches*

Hi everyone! I've been MIA because, in mental-health speak, I ran out of spoons. Today was challenging because, in this facility, we have monthly trips to do things in the outside world. This month's was a trip to Olive Garden, which...well...okay. I don't like their food but this was specially organized for all the new residents, and I'm one, so kinda gotta go. Eating a salad and some breadsticks will just not be enough to show happy gratitude, so fettucine alfredo it was...and tiramisu for dessert YUUUM.

The location wasn't far away, but it was still time sitting while getting there, time sitting while there (I had to get up for a walk mid-meal which caused our escorts enormous angst and requited one of them to stop eating HER lunch to watch me, which meant I had to go back in sooner than I'd've liked or it would've been unbearably guilt inducing), then time sitting to get home. My pain patch is not due for a change until tomorrow so it was...challenging. I ran upstairs as fast as I could and plonked my feet on my bolster pillow until time to go down for dinner.

I was as sociable as I could be to be sure I left the table as a good guest. My bookish pal Margie and I had a lovely chat about 29th Street South, her latest read, and how many memories of the Kennedy assassination we had, what books could dig out of our brains, why reading makes our world so much better...y'know, like being here only with tiramisu! (which, YUUUM)

Since dinner I've been napping and grumbling about how very resentful I feel towards my differing sources of pain. I'm finally not feeling the burn of my crystals growing into the flesh so came here to report on a day that, while rough for me, shows all y'all why ending up here is the best thing that could possibly happen to me, and how lucky I've been yet again. I come here to have a sense of community given to me, I go out into a world I like being part of, I get treated as a valued and wanted member in my home and my community...these are wonderful things. I'm grateful I had Long Beach but happy I could leave to get so much more.

I'm so tired still so I'm off to go to bed. *smooch* all around

It sounds like you ended up in a much healthier place with effort made to make it an inclusive community. Something worth sitting down for even if it's painful. I hope the pain is gone and the warmth of being appreciate stays after you wake, Richard.

‘Morning, RDear! Happy Friday to you.

>167 richardderus: Clean house is absolutely worth the money we spend. At a minimum I hope to meet up after book sort at Virlie’s for a while.

>168 richardderus: I’ve added this one to my wish list. The 20s and 30s are fascinating to me re crime and corruption in general, and Texas Ranger Hamer is fascinating. I rabbit holed to The Highwaymen, and Bill and I will watch it very soon. It’s on Nextflix.

>179 richardderus: What a good new resident you are! I’m sorry for all the sitting – believe me, I can relate – but tiramisu is YUUUM.

Have you mentioned bookish pal Margie before? Last month’s been rather sketchy for me, but I’m glad you’ve got at least one bookish pal in The Bronx.

Pain medication on its last legs before renewing sucks.

*smooch*

>180 Familyhistorian: That's pretty much how I saw the situation, Meg, and while I wouldn't do it every week, or maybe even every month, I got a lot out of the trip. Definitely the sense that effort was being made so I could feel it was worth my time to reciprocate the effort.

>181 karenmarie: Hiya Horrible! I'm not sure if I've mentioned Margie before. She's teeny-tiny, has some significant health challenges, and taught in Catholic schools most of her life. I think I've got a photo from this trip...hang on...

...that took forever! You'd think, with a Google phone and a Chromebook, this would be easier. She's standing as tall as she ever can and she's still not as tall as seated me.

I'll go down to get my new patch in a little while and girl howdy do I need it.

>168 richardderus:
This sounds like what happened in Phenix City, Alabama between 1945-1960. That too didn't end well.

>183 richardderus: Maggie looks like a sweet lady with a wonderful smile, and I'm so glad you found a good friend there!

Hope your new patch gives you relief!

>184 benitastrnad: ...or Hot Springs from the 1880s, or Las Vegas after WWII, or....

It's never ceased, I guess it's coeval with the existence of cities, I don't see humanity changing much so into the future too.

>185 Storeetllr: It's allowed me to get out and buy some stuff I needed, so that's a good start. I'm so pleased Margie's around, it does make mealtimes more fun.

APRIL IN REVIEW
I wrote thirty-two reviews total, twenty-five for books published in April; out of forty-nine DRCs I got that were publishing in April for 51% of the total. Quite a few, six of twenty-four unwritten ones or 25%, are June-review bound because they're QUILTBAG stories. I'm very pleased with this level of performance...I need to make a consistent effort to keep the current-month reviews that much of my total writing output or risk getting turned down for things I really want. Like John of John, which I did not get despite raving about his previous books and Mark did. *sulphurous muttering*

There were three excellent reads in April: The Violence: My Family's Colombian War; An Honest Living: A Memoir of Peculiar Itineraries, both memoirs and both highly politically charged; and the Azeri novel via New Vessel Press My Dreadful Body by Egana Djabbarova and translated by Lisa C. Hayden, a deeply involving and truly disturbing story of a woman's cultural experience of femaleness and the physicality of womanhood. My favorite read of the month was, however, my biggest surprise: Self-Help from the Middle Ages: What the Seven Deadly Sins Can Teach Us About Living by Peter Jones, which I requested on a whim since I think about medieval times the way normal men do about the Roman Empire. It was enlightening, it was upsetting to my prejudices and ideas about the people of the times, and it humbled me for its astonishing and evident deep-diving into archives I did not know existed. Impressive work!

I didn't HATE my one Pearl-Ruled read, just...well, got squicked out by what it means, and whether I could really get behind that. Can't all be bangers, of course, or the very idea of the banger is meaningless.

I'm glad to have you here, Richard, and grateful that you can be so grateful in spite of having pain and patience tested. You're a mensch, my WBL!

I LOVE Margie! What a smile! I'm sure that there is a sparkle in those eyes too, especially when she talks books with another reader. Well-met for you both!!!

I'm impressed that you kept your reviewing up to snuff with everything else going on in your April, and I look forward to May! *Smooch*

Glad you are making friends in your new home and that you have outings. Sorry about the pain though.

>189 LizzieD: “You're a mensch, my WBL!”

I keep meaning to ask…what does “WBL” stand for?

Dear Richard, have a lovely weekend, full of reading and good times!

Karen O

>189 LizzieD: Thank you most kindly, Peggy me lurve. I feel more grinchly than menschy to be frank, but I'm trying to match outside and inside in the mensch direction.

Margie's a real pip! I met her in the wellness office on my second visit here before I was approved for move-in. It's a good thing to find a kindred spirit. It made me very glad I got in!

I'm looking at a May list that has forty-four releasing titles on it...*whew* If I can get twenty-five written reviews done from that group I'll be okay with my efforts, and more than that will be good performance. *smooch*

>190 RebaRelishesReading: Pain's a constant, Reba, I don't ever get a break from it. I define my level of pain every day, whatever I wake up with is zero, so variations are always relative. It's one way I stay (reasonably) sane. Yeah, having the pleasure of meeting my neighbors and finding them agreeable is a good thing indeed!

>191 klobrien2: Thanks, Karen O.! Wooly Baa Lamb is Peggy's nickname for me because she absolutely refuses to believe I am as pure and innocent of motive as the aforementioned lamb, so reminds me of my evil-hearted curmudgeonly ways at every opportunity. I am, of course, Loftily Ignoring the jibe. *hmmf*

>194 richardderus: My heart is breaking. No jibe intended. I absolutely believe what a person says about himself until he proves himself wrong.
Hmmm. By that measure does "me lurve" mean that I'm the opposite?????

Meanwhile, happy playing with the May list!

>195 LizzieD: *snort* As if, Peggy me lurve. *smooch*

Not even trying to catch up, RD, but hope things are going well for you in your new establishment. Thank you for helping to keep my thread warm while I was offline.

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

‘Morning, RDear! Happy Saturday to you.

>183 richardderus: Margie looks like someone who is looking at the positives, not the negatives.

>188 richardderus: Congrats. Well done, especially considering you were getting settled into your new home.

Drat. I passed on Self-Help from the Middle Ages on your last thread, but I have reconsidered, listened to the Audible sample, and have spent one precious credit on it. Kevlar fail.

*smooch*

‘Morning, RDear! Happy Saturday to you.

>183 richardderus: Margie looks like someone who is looking at the positives, not the negatives.

>188 richardderus: Congrats. Well done, especially considering you were getting settled into your new home.

Drat. I passed on Self-Help from the Middle Ages on your last thread but have reconsidered, listened to the Audible sample, and have spent one precious credit on it. Kevlar fail.

*smooch*

119 Dreamt I Found You by Jimin Han

>198 karenmarie: Thanks, Stasia! It's a process but one I'm already made significantly happier by undertaking.

I'm glad you're back where you belong, dear lady.

>199 karenmarie: I'll refrain from c-verbing in your face as you so richly, warmly hate it when people use that word, but I am unable not to smile smugly. I suspect you'll find that precious credit well-used after you get into the tale Author Jones weaves.

Margie's a pip! It's nice to have her to chat with.

*smooch*

Happy Saturday, WBL! I'm happy to think about your having other things to do than deal with the wearing cost of living with a drunk. We're overcast when it's not actually raining, and the rain is enough to make a little noise as it falls through trees. VERY NICE!
Take care of yourself and seize the day!!! *smooch*

Dropping off weekend smooches that are full of sunshine and the joy of it (finally) being warm enough to open some windows.

>203 LizzieD: Saturday orisons, smoochling...I'm having a pain day that I cant quite will away. It's been couldy most of the day but it's perfect May weather for All of that. I honestly can't believe I spent years being that person for someone I really disliked, but I know it was survival not something real because it's really easy to feel relief and freedom in not doing it now.

I'm so delighted to be quiet and alone unless I seek company out. Free at last, free at last...
*smooch*

>204 MickyFine: It's so joyous to have unconditioned air isn't it?!

*smooch*

Ah! I did wonder what WBL stood for too, Richard. Thanks to Karen O for asking.

>183 richardderus: Margie looks like a great new neighbour. My sister and husband are in New York City this week, just flew in today. They went with some friends and are staying in Greenwich Village. I have never been there, but my sister sent me their itinerary . I don't fly , so I enjoy seeing where people are going and where they stay. My sister indulges me with picture of their hotel rooms etc. I love it.

>207 vancouverdeb: Oh, they came for the Met Gala, did they? Are they dressing as anything particularly Canadian or leaving that to Hudson Williams and Connor Storrie? *chortle* The Village is now very different from the famous counterculture era but still pretty awesome as a place to go and look at cool buildings.

Margie's a lot of fun. It's great to have such a force of nature around to inspire me. Enjoy the week-ahead's reads, Deborah!

'Morning, RDear! Happy Sunday to you.

Well, I finished How to Read a Book, my book for today's discussion at my house, about 5 a.m.

There will be 6 of the 10 of us, just perfect for the dining room table so I don't have to dislodge Bill from the living room. I asked him to mute the TV volume while they were here and he agreed.

*smooch*

>209 karenmarie: Morning, sweetiedarling...how'd you like it? I'll come look at your thread this afternoon. Can you get Bill some Bluetooth headphones? It might end up as a save your sanity investment....

*smooch*

Gorgeous weather here today too, but I can't walk in it. My knee/back/leg still are quick to complain when I walk more than a little. Oh well. I hope that your day has less pain, but I suspect you'll have to endure more before you can have less. You're more than reticent about it.

Anyway, read well, eat well, and continue to revel in your new place! *SMOOCH*

>211 LizzieD: I'm always happy in this bit of spring, it's far enough from the horror that is *ptooptoo* summer that I can ignore that pollutant in my happiness.

I'm propping up my foot to keep bleeding at bay while the current rock works its way out. No walkies for me, either. It was a sloppy-joe supper with a big mound of carrots as side veg. I was very happy indeed, as I brought my own jalapeño jack cheese to top it off.

*smooch*

>208 richardderus: I had to look up the Met Gala, Richard , as it is not on their itinerary. I think they will be wearing flannel checked shirts and toques, in true Canadian form. I think it looks more like a walking and eating trip. I think they are going to look at buildings yes, and hope to see some one " famous" according to the place they are eating at. I am glad you are enjoying Margie's company.

120 Smoking Kills by Antoine Laurain (tr. Louise Rogers Lalaurie)

>213 vancouverdeb: Walking and eating are two of Manhattan's greatest pleasures indeed. I think, given the fact it's 15C today, they're leavin' the toques in the suitcase...if they bothered bringin' them at all.

>200 richardderus: Adding that one to the BlackHole! Thanks for the review and recommendation, RD.

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

‘Morning, RDear, and happy Monday to you!

>210 richardderus: I didn’t get back to my thread last night, but have done my “morning thing” – Wordle, reply to messages, info about yesterday, and plans for today. My plan is to write a full review of How to Read a Book.

When Jenna was born, we lived in a different house. Bill’s Media Room was on the first floor. Jenna’s bedroom was on the first floor. I insisted that he use headphones because the volume he listened to things kept waking her up. He was not pleased and was, frankly, an asshole about it, although he did wear them. I really hesitate to ask him to use headphones again, simply because I’m not up for confrontation or martyrdom. They would save my sanity but contribute to my stress levels.

>212 richardderus: Ah yes, the horror that is *ptooptoo* summer. I feel the same way about NC summers. Ugh to the rock and bleeding.

I’m not quite as bold as you – I get pepper jack, not jalapeño jack. But, yum.

>214 richardderus: Interesting premise, but the Kevlar holds.

*smooch*

>214 richardderus: Right onto the wish list it will go as soon as PBS lists it. Thanks, Richard!

I wish you the best day possible and even a little better than you can expect! *smooch*

ETA: It's already listed as a pb from 2018, so it's on the list!

>216 alcottacre: I think you won't be sorry to have >200 richardderus: on your library list, Stasia, it will engage you very well. *smooch*

>217 karenmarie: Summer *ptooptoo* is Old Nell's Curse among the seasons. Its blasting battering blaring heat is the definition of misery. OTOH the jack/compté/havarti cheese family is among the finest cultural creations of humankind. Especially when enlivened by peppers or dill or caraway.

That fight having been capped by a pyrrhic victory makes it not worth having again. I'm sorry I evoked unpleasant memories.

>214 richardderus: would not do much for you, I guess, but the premise is amusing enough to make an anecdotal experience sufficient.

*smooch*

>218 LizzieD: I got two DRCs, one in 2017 from Gallic Books and one last year from Pushkin Press, so I can count this unchanged republication as a rare re-read. It will amuse you, I expect, with its mordant humor.

I was yanked awake at 5am by a fire alarm, as someone made toast in their apartment and the stupid thing went off. It was not a pleasant awakening. Two hours of Sandi Toksvig on QI later I was calm enough to make coffee and start my day.

*smooch*

That's 2 BB's. And one of them is a book by Laurain that I have never heard of. Great Balls of Fire! That's exciting.

'Morning, RDear, and happy Tuesday to you.

>221 richardderus: Ugh to the 5 a.m. fire alarm. Yay to Sandi Toksvig and QI.

*smooch*

>222 benitastrnad: *eville chortle* I'm doing a happy dance, but internally because my foot hurts. I can't imagine you'll be disappointed in >214 richardderus:, Benita, it's his usual sly humor with a mordant edge.

>223 karenmarie: Morning, Horrible, happy Cinco de Mayo! I'll go get some lovely beef tacos they're serving this afternoon as a celebration.

Toksvigulating is a good way to restore inner peace. I'm not a bit sure how normies make it through without a dose of QI's best-rounds compilations at the least. *smooch*

>219 richardderus: Good to hear!

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

>226 alcottacre: Wednesday smooching, Stasia dear lady!

I haven't been spending much time on LT that last week or so, RD, so dropped in to catch up. Seems to me going to Olive Garden to welcome new residents is an odd choice when you're in the land of Arthur Avenue! Also, OG is gross. BUT, I'm glad you had a decent time, and Margie sounds like a delight :)

'Morning, RDear! Happy Wednesday to you.

Reading, lollygagging, and possibly watching a non-Arsenal soccer match today at 3 with Bill. Bayern vs. PSG to see who plays Arsenal in the Champions League Final.

*smooch*

>228 katiekrug: I think it's downright perversion, TBH, but remembering I live among people who aren't sophisticated...sweetheart Margie thinks OG is excellent, and she's Italian...it's all of a piece. I got decent tiramisu, so I'm callin' it a win.

My next review below is of a book I think you should give serious thought to adding to the library list. All the way through, I thought "Katie will love this" but refrained from line-bombing your thread only with the most strenuous self control.

>229 karenmarie: Wednesday orisons, sweetiedarling. Arsenal's been treating you well, I see on Bsky. I hope the best team has a good match so the competition will be sharp!

*smooch*

*taps fingers impatiently for review*

121 Prestige drama by Séamas O'Reilly

>232 katiekrug: Delivered!

Oh, yes! That one was on my radar, but I'm glad to see it's now released. I SO loved his memoir.

This one isn't listed at any of my libraries yet, but I've got it on my To Look For list...

>235 katiekrug: It's a delight to read! Worth searching up.

>233 richardderus: Ooh, you got me with Prestige Drama—looks really good, and you give it a very nice review and rating. Thanks!

Karen O

>233 richardderus: Me too! Me too! I was here before Karen and then disappeared with half a sentence unposted after checking out O'Reilly at Amazon and checking for him at PBS. I'll eventually be getting both the memoir and the novel. Northern Ireland has even more appeal lately since I discovered DNA from Donegal and more eastern parts of Northern Ireland.

I wish you a good day! *smooch*

BURGOINE #030

Screen People: How We Entertained Ourselves into a State of Emergency by Megan Garber

Real Rating: 3.25* of five

The Publisher Says: From the popular and award-winning staff writer for The Atlantic, an eye-opening look at how the current media landscape has incentivized us to see our fellow citizens as characters in an ongoing entertainment—and how we can fight back against this phenomenon.

Whether it’s our reality-television-star President or our expertly curated Instagram feeds, the line between fact and fiction—between what’s real and what’s fabricated for entertainment—has never been more blurred. Plot Twist explores what happens when we cede our reality to spectacle. Megan Garber explains how today’s internet-inflected culture conditions us to see one another not as people but as characters in an ongoing show, and how some of our most chronic and harmful social conditions—loneliness, depression, mistrust, misinformation, cynicism—stem from our demand for diversion.

In ten chapters, each themed around an element of stagecraft—from “The Producers,” who edit our reality, to “The Props,” the strangers we turn into objects of our amusement, to “the Haters,” the worshipful Qanon-types who expect the prophecies of their anonymous leader to play out on live television—Garber argues that this comedy of our daily lives is quickly becoming tragedy. And we can’t understand our politics without first understanding our culture.

Like The Anxious Generation but about our media diet, Plot Twist shows why Megan Garber is one of the most respected and widely-read journalists of our day. It is an urgent, page-turning, and dazzling look at how we entertained ourselves into our current predicament, and how we might find our way out of the maze of misinformation and chaos.

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

My Review: My key take-away from this read was the new-to-me framing of social media as "two-way screens." I find that idea very useful in understanding the intense and very recent driver of our twentieth-century discovery of the joys of staring at things coupled with our ancient desire to be heard.

It's an important text but I felt it might just end my life as a sentient being from the numbing effect of too many wrong examples that don't amplify the argument (or even sometimes make sense to me) coupled to no examples of things that badly need explication.

HarperOne wants $14.99 for an ebook. Borrow it from the library.

>237 klobrien2: Oh yay! I think Author Séamas is One To Watch for sure. His style is distinctive, and in my ear very funny, as well as very clearly of a place. I wonder if he'll do something like Ferdia Lennon did...apply his Irishness in a totally different direction of storytelling. I kind of hope so, but even if not, he's really good to read.

Sending hugs, dear lady.

>238 LizzieD: Afternoon, Peggy me lurve. I'm pleased I've put >233 richardderus: on your radar. It's got something special, something I don't find All that often, so I really want to get your attention on its existence.

Donegal, eh? I think the DNA revolution is so amazing! We learn so much from it. I remain unwilling to put my own DNA into a database, but it doesn't stop me from thoroughly enjoying the knowledge we gain from the analysis of it. *smooch*

>233 richardderus: You got me with Prestige Drama and another one too but I'm just on my way out the door so can't remember which it was. I do remember that Margie looks like a fun person to know from her photo. Looks like you landed in a good place.

>242 Familyhistorian: My accustomed good luck, Meg. I'm glad >233 richardderus: hit you right!

>233 richardderus: Yeah that does look like a winner, RD.

Congratulations dear fellow for passing 2,000 posts on your threads overnight (my overnight, not yours).

>233 richardderus: Oooh, I really liked Did Ye Hear Mammy Died? and I'll have to add that to my list as well.

'Morning, RDear! Sweet Thursday, as Mark would say.

The Kevlar is holding against The Troubles and The Media.

It's raining. We need the rain. I shall lollygag, read, work on spreadsheets and my May Lightning Round.

*smooch*

>244 PaulCranswick: Two thousand! Wow. I'm never not amazed at how fast it adds up.

I suspect you'd enjoy the heck out of >233 richardderus:, PC.

>245 bell7: Good plan indeed, Mary. I hope you end up delighting in it.

>246 karenmarie: Madame TVT the Eville. Greetings. I hope you are well.

Enjoy your various activities. *polite bow*

(The Scent of Sin...you ghastly human being...should be buried in a vault to prevent other people being as traumatized as I have been.)

122 Lost in Yellowstone : a novel by Nicole Maggi

>250 richardderus:
This series sounds much like the Anna Pigeon series, which I really really liked. I am still working my way through that series at this point in time. Anyway, its a BB.

>251 benitastrnad: All the YAY for that, Benita! I'll go look into the Anna Pigeon ones, though I'll never, ever admit it if you wing me with those on my own thread. ;-*

Good evening, my WBL. I am a longtime Anna Pigeon fan too although I confess to liking the settings more than the mysteries a lot of the time. The early ones are a little more occultish than I like, for no good reason that I could see back then. She pretty much loses that except when she goes to the fort in the Dry Totugas where Dr. Mudd was kept after Lincoln's assassination. I have no idea whether you'd like them, but I keep picking them up used and hope to read the rest along with rereading some of my favorites. (I freaked the whole time I read her Carlsbad Caverns one, Blind Descent.)
I'll keep an eye out for Emma too...

Hope your day has been good and that you have the end of this foot attack in sight. *smooch*

Another Anna Pigeon fan here. The one I almost couldn't get through was the one that had Anna diving (ALONE) on a shipwreck in Lake Superior (Superior Death). Because of how tough that was, I knew I didn't want to share her peril in a cave, so skipped right over Blind Descent. I really like the character and the settings, but wish Anna could just solve mysterious deaths without getting herself in so deep (see what I did there).

>215 richardderus: Just yanking your chain, Richard. They didn't take along toques, maybe cotton checked shirts? I am not sure. Nothing Canadian. I had never heard of the Met Gala, but thanks to you I have now. I checked out some of the outfits and they are quite something.

>253 LizzieD: Good Friday, Peggy me lurve!

...wait...that sounds weird in May, doesn't it...anyway, wishing you a happy Friday of nothing much and zero strenuousness. *smooch*

>254 laytonwoman3rd:, >253 LizzieD: Anna Pigeon is just now crossing my path, and all y'all knew about her since who whipped the cat...
...
...
...no, I'm not the *least* bit hurt, or feeling neglected, or any such of a thing. Nonsense! *sniff*

Diving ALONE is asking to make a skeleton once the fishes and sea slugs and suchlike are done battening on your nutrients. The cave one is giving me anxiety just thinking about it.

>255 vancouverdeb: I'd be shocked to see a Canadian in a toque now. Unsurprised to see a Texan in Canada in a coat and toque now, since it's winter weather for us about now where y'all mush your moose-drawn sleds to mall-gloo....

:-P

It's Sir David Attenborough's 100th birthday today! Go watch the BBC's adorable short film of animals saluting the occasion in celebrity voices:
https://youtu.be/RtLNuKX7ATM?si=F3n3Q_CNXJ01PaVS

It's Friday! Happy start of the weekend!

>250 richardderus: All I could think of while reading your review was whether the foot was cooked. I mean, aren't all geysers in Yellowstone boiling hot?

>233 richardderus: I loved the memoir, so I should love this short novel. Onto the TTBR (Teetering To Be Read) pile it goes!

‘Morning, RDear! Happy Friday to you.

>249 richardderus: Traumatized by The Scent of Sin? The second one is good, too, and the third one comes out on the 29th. *smile*

*smooch*

>221 richardderus: Eek! Not a great way to wake up.

Better than a serious fire though.

>260 Storeetllr: It would have to be. At least parboiled, if not fully cooked. *shudder*

Enjoy >233 richardderus:! I think his musicality will deliver the goods for you. Happy weekend-ahead's reads!

>261 karenmarie: Madam. I am most honored to receive your visit. My therapist has sent you an accounting for her efforts, to date, made to repair what is left of my soul.

Your swiftest remittance to her is requested.

>262 ArlieS: Morning, Arlie, it was decidedly not my preferred wake-up method. I'm glad the system works because I very much want to be informed of a fire, but I also want people not to be settin' it off absent the real thing!!

>259 richardderus: Thanks for that link, Richard! I'll join you and the animals in birthday wishes for Sir David!

Parboiled feet and fire alarms and smelly sin with a therapist - what a thread!

>257 richardderus: Do not be miffed, WBL. You remember I said that I have some doubts that you will like Anna Pigeon. Never mind. Enjoy an Excellent Friday. How's that?

*smooch*

>257 richardderus: See...if you've been visiting my threads regularly... I have reviewed several of the Anna Pigeon books. I only discovered them myself back in 2022 when we watched Ken Burns's National Parks documentary series, and the author (a former park ranger herself) was one of his talking heads. And also, I'm with Peggy...these might not be your kind of thing. Always a bit hard to judge.

>266 LizzieD: My threads are always...eclectic, shall we say. That short was so funny!

Well, those two plots aren't calculated to make me rush out to get one. *smooch*

>267 laytonwoman3rd: Your thread must've switched recently as I've lost it. I'll coddiwomple thitherward here directly.

Based on y'all's two plots presented here ain't sellin' me on Anna Pigeon.

Just dropping by to let you know that I should be finishing The Violence: My Family's Colombian War today. I was going to read it anyway after hearing about it from Joe when we were in Chicago last year, but your review made me get to it faster. Thus far I have found it to be excellent, so Thank You, RD!!

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

>179 richardderus: ok I am not going to even try & keep up with your thread, but this post gave me joy to see how you have landed in a happy place .

>115 richardderus: That might have to go on my TBR wishlist ......

>269 richardderus:
The Anna Pigeon series is alot like the C. J. Box series, so if you like the one you will like the other. There is lots of darkness in the Anna Pigeon books and that is suprising considering that the first one was published in 1993. I think that some of them are only touted as mysteries, but I think that many of them really belong in the thriller/suspense category. There is also a great deal of violence in these novels and that is why I compare them to the Joe Pickett series. There are times when I find the violence a bit too much, but then I am a bit on the squeamish side when it comes to that sort of thing.

I got started on them because they were often the only fiction books I could find about "places." Places are a very strong part of the plot of these mysteries, so you get deep details about the National Parks as you read the books. The other thing about the series, is that they feature many of the natural and historica parks that are not well known. For instance, there are two books that are set on the Natchez Trace Parkway and somebody up-thread already mentioned the one on the Dry Tortuga's. There is a fine list of the books in order of publication with the name of the park setting on Wikipedia.

And I am about to really blow your socks off - There is about to be a TV series based on the books. It is a USA Network series with a, largely, Canadian cast. I don't know much about it, but maybe some of our Canadian friends do? I think it begins broadcasting later this year, (2026), but am not sure about that date.

>270 alcottacre: I'm really glad I influenced you to pick it up sooner, Stasia, and I'm unsurprised you're enjoying it. Very good writing! *smooch* for a happy weekend-ahead's reads.

>271 roundballnz: I'm glad to see you around here, Alex! >115 richardderus: should, IIRC your tastes, give you a very good time indeed.

I'm really happy and grateful that I'm in a place that lets me feel as happy as I do!

>272 benitastrnad: Morning, Benita, I'm going to borrow the first one from the library to test the waters. I'm not squeamish about violence until it's about children or animals. Homey don't play that.

I'm delighted to hear about the TV series! I'm all for authors getting Hollywood money. I hope it turns out to be a good one, though the money will soothe any disappointment I feel sure.

>275 richardderus:
Good luck with reading them. I haven't read the first book in the series Track of the Cat - but I do have it queued up and ready to take with me on vacation. They make good airport reading, plus my copy is a used pocket-sized paperback, so it isn't hard to stuff in my backpack.

123 The young will remember by Eve J. Chung

>276 benitastrnad: I'm not sure how soon I'll get the urge but it's firmly on my radar.

ETA the showrunner is a playwright and Canadian crime-TV monadnock. It ought to be a good ten episodes.

‘Morning, RDear! Happy Saturday to you.

>264 richardderus: I’ll wager that my therapist’s efforts for the amount of money I’ve spent on BBs from your threads will match or exceed your therapist’s efforts to repair your soul. *smile*

>277 richardderus: Reading this review, it occurred to me that Hwan’s parents weren’t alive in 1950. They’re definitely younger than me; however, her grandparents were alive in 1950 and the Korean War played out around them. Gotta pass, though. Too close, in the same way that most books about the Pacific Theater of WWII are too close, given that former coworker Kazuko’s grandparents disappeared from Tokyo, never to be heard from again.

*smooch*

I don't think the Chung book is calling me either, Richard, in spite of your thoughtful and balanced review.

One more word about Anna Pigeon, please. I thought that the first one was the weakest. She has a sort of mystic connection with a mountain lion that left me cold if I'm remembering correctly. I think this may also be a first novel for Barr, and her writing certainly improves through the series. Otoh, it's only 270 pp, so you could easily polish it off to see whether the settings and continuing characters are going to sit well with you. Obviously, they did with me.

*smooch*

>279 karenmarie: Afternoon, smoochling. Since you never, ever listen to me, ever, about books *sniff* I'll just glide all ghostlike and insubstantial and unnoticed to the history idea: Rob's mother served in Vietnam, and he genuinely cannot see why anyone would care to read about it because it was so much a part of the woman he so disliked's world view. I was the opposite with my father and Korea...it fascinated me because my father was so eloquently expressing himself about the place. He reserved his contempt for command structures. (Not a happy little Navy man, Dad.) So the idea of our responses to stories being so often contingent on our ancestral inheritance is one I thought about a lot in relation to this read.

It's threatening to rain, but it's held off thank goodness so I could make a quick trip to Morton-Williams. Bread and cheese later, I'm good, it can rain now. *smooch*

>280 LizzieD: I think a first book in a mystery series needs to set the ongoing tone, Peggy; is that what you're saying, that this one does not? If that's the case, which one should I start with?

Skipping >277 richardderus: is a reasonable call. I'm interested in trying another book by her, but not pounding the drums to get others to join me in this one's fandom. Spend the day splendidly. *smooch*

Dropping off your recommended weekly dose of smooches. Looks like an excellent batch of reviews from the past week.

>283 MickyFine: Morning, Micky!! Thanks for topping up my *smooch* supply, it was running low so I was running the risk of grumpiness.

124 The Maid and the Socialite : the brave women behind Green Bay's scandalous Minahan trials by Lynda Drews

125 Disposable Wives: Murder and Menace in Green Bay's Rural Belgian Settlement by Lynda Drews

‘Morning, RDear! Happy Sunday to you.

>281 richardderus: Martyrdom does not suit you…

Bill’s dad served in Korea. He was in the First Cav. Your dad and Bill’s dad being in Korea is interesting to me. Of course, we don’t discuss "The Korean War" around Hwan.

I experienced enough about Vietnam as a teenager and young adult, even protesting some. I have also read enough and seen enough movies about Vietnam to just not want to go there anymore. Of course, there may be a book that gets past my defenses, but nothing so far in a very long time.

>282 richardderus: I rarely worried about reading the first book in a mystery series until about 10 years ago. Now, it’s very important that I do so.

Interesting books, good reviews, I’ll pass for now.

*smooch*

Those are 2 interesting choices for Mother's Day, Richard! Of course, you have the right of it with every word. I thank you for the reviews of books I would otherwise have completely missed. I expect that I'll miss them both, at least for right now. Justice is the great thing.

*smooch* for the rest of your day

>287 karenmarie: We all pick up habits from each other in a social system like this one, I guess, but I've been a complete bug for start-at-#1 since I got the concept of ordinals in 1967...I FORCED my mother to get me The Secret of the Old Clock before I'd read The Secret of Shadow Ranch.

I don't think >285 richardderus: or >286 richardderus: will cause the Earth to retilt its axis for you, somehow....

*smooch*

>288 LizzieD: I'm not about to go saccharine-sweet on Mothers' Day, Peggy, it's condescending and disrespectful. Plus most women find my willingness to believe they've been wronged by men a relief or so I've been told. I don't see any special reason to encourage you to rush out to get either of them, unless as gifts for someone silo'd away in Denial.

*smooch*

I just read this line in a fan-fiction story based on Rachel Reid's Heated Rivalry characters, Ilya and Shane. It's a story set at The Cottage (IYKYK) and Shane's Dad is there waiting for his boys to return from a run:

There is a distinct carving etched into the bark: a crude heart encircling "I + S." An innocent proclamation of love, etched by hands that sought to immortalize their bond, here in their secret place where there are no judgments or repercussions. Only acceptance. If they can't tell the world, they will tell the trees, the birds, the sun, the moon and the stars.

I'm not crying, YOU're crying.

I think I miss Rob more than I thought I did. Here's another quote from a fanfic, quoting the Venerable Sagan from Contact:

She began to understand why lovers talk baby talk to one another. There was no other socially acceptable circumstance in which the children inside her were permitted to come out. If the one-year-old, the five-year- old, the twelve-year-old, and the twenty-year-old all find compatible personalities in the beloved, there is a real chance to keep all of these sub-personas happy. Love ends their long loneliness. Perhaps the depth of love can be calibrated by the number of different selves that are actively involved in a given relationship.

Depressing how easily I'm flattened today.

>290 richardderus:
I am not a big fan of Mother's Day either. Every year I try to forget that it exists.

>293 benitastrnad: It's best to lay low on days like this that mean other, non-celebratory things to some of us. Saves friction.

Monday *smooch* and hope the books are treating you well

>295 bell7: Monday *smooch* back, Mary!
***
Come see the new thread:
https://www.librarything.com/topic/384261#

>285 richardderus: >286 richardderus: Thank you for the good, truth-filled reviews. I'll put them on my TBRS (to-be-read-someday) list. See you on your next thread!