Bookmarque’s Padded Cell 2026 - The Lunatics are in the Hall (Two)

Time certainly does fly. Here’s May’s recap -



21 titles, most audio and many were short so don’t be too impressed. I went down the Pleasant Green rabbit hole a bit because the Call of the Cthulhu campaign is going like crazy. A few of those dramas are no longer on Sound Cloud so I went to the Internet Archive to find them and that led to another rabbit hole of R.D. Wingfield pieces, but I stopped myself after two since another collection was coming out at Audible and I’d buy that one.

Speaking of that collection though, it wasn’t as strong as the first because many of the stories had similar themes and a lot of his tropes were really evident. The semi-disgraced police officer is reluctantly taken on only to break a big case. Used and abused employees get revenge on their employers or similar businesses with heists and burglaries. Also I was a bit disgusted at the rampant sexism that bordered on misogyny with these. Women only exist as window dressing/body parts to be ogled and commented on by the men, or as the butts of jokes because they’re just ditzy women, don’t know any better and can’t be taught. Really makes me angry that some men’s self-esteem issues spill over into this kind of asshattery.

Anyway, T.C. Boyle’s latest was fun if a bit maddening because the main character just lets himself in for a load of trouble he could have avoided by growing a spine. The new Moriarty drama was a hoot and as it is supposed to be the last one, it ends well, but I’m a little sad there won’t be more.

Now I have three series going that are included in my Audible subscription - one is a cosy WW2 mystery series set in rural England with good atmosphere, writing, characters and dialog; the other is a modern mystery series set in Washington, but the cop himself is a pretty stupid one and continuously gets himself into situations that no good cop would. Not sure I’ll continue with that one. Oh and the third is the Roy Ballard mysteries that I’ll finish up since they are reliably good if a tad repetitive.

True Biz was a bit of a surprise mainly because it is technically Y.A. which I rarely read, but had an adult timeline that diluted the teenage angst nicely. It is a bit axe-grindy with regard to deaf culture issues and past offences, but the story works. Many were put off by the ending which doesn’t tie things up neatly, but rather just stops as life generally goes. Doubt I’ll read more from the author even so.

Wonderful Life with Stephen Fry was alternately joyful and uplifting and sad and maddening the next. Mostly because humans are the worst species on earth and we just don’t give two shits what we do to the planet or anything that lives on it, including us. Still, listening to Fry describe animals, ecosystems and environments was fabulous. It’s a buffet of great variety and I think will spark interest for listeners who might find something they really want to know more about and get further books about those things. It was also nice to realize just how much I know about certain things like fungi and octopuses for example.

I read True biz a few years ago when my friend gave me a copy for Christmas, and I loved it. It's certainly educational in terms of giving information about D/deaf issues and culture, but mostly managed to show rather than tell. And I thought the author's reason for the inconclusive ending was sound.
Your posts remind me that I need to read more T. C. Boyle!

Should hit £305K today. So much fun.

>2 Sakerfalcon: Yeah it was educational which is why I picked it to begin with and I'm glad it was woven into the story for the most part. I did like the injections of history and facts about things like schooling and implants and ASL, which I've always known is a full and rich language like any other, but having more info is always good. I wish it had been offered as a class when I was a little kid so I could be multi-lingual, but alas it wasn't and I bet it still isn't. A friend of mine has a 2nd grader who has been in immersive schools her whole life for Spanish and she speaks as fluently in that as English. So great.

Oh and everyone needs more T.C. Boyle!

Happy new thread!

Happy new thread!

Thanks guys. Some additional merch dropped for purchase for the Call of Cthulhu project (not tempting for me, but others are picking it up) and so the total went over £310,000 -



It's going to be an interesting 2nd half of the year as Julian starts writing and updating. Officially he starts after the campaign is close, but I know he's got a lot of irons in the fire with research and other ideas. Fun watching the process so far and the community is a hoot. Very nerdly in a specific way.

Happy New Thread! 🧵

Happy new thread!

Happy New Thread! :)

Thanks peeps. Not the sharpest photo since I was shooting through a window, but I like it. The first doe & fawn I've seen up close so far this year. Backyard is sometimes wild kingdom. On the way down the street today husband and I saw a bear. First time in years to see one of them.

>11 Bookmarque: What a perfect pose. The expression on the doe's face is lovely.

>11 Bookmarque: That's just beautuful. Such stillness and grace in the doe, such calm confidence in the fawn, and a setting of perfect peace. I love all your outdoor and nature photos, but this one is special because the subject is quietly aware of us.

>11 Bookmarque: I love watching for first fawn of the season. For us it was around May 15th. I don’t have any good pics, though. In our neighborhood the does are under pressure from development and predators. Coyotes get around half of the fawns. My neighborhood has a lot of free ranging dogs that chase them as well.

Thanks peeps. The fawn was probably 7-10 days old, but still very young and just starting to explore around mom. Most likely it still curls up and stays hidden while she wanders, something which is the usual with White tails, Elk and other deer. A couple years ago we spotted a fawn in the side yard doing just that.

>11 Bookmarque: Wonderful photo. (And Happy New Thread!)

>11 Bookmarque: Wonderful scene, >13 Meredy: said it very nicely. You could probably sell that picture some where.

>11 Bookmarque: Aw! Such a sweet and peaceful photo.

Happy new thread.
That is a lovely picture.

>11 Bookmarque: Aww, sweet! Nice of them to pose for you like this. It looks so lush and quiet.

And Happy New thread!

>11 Bookmarque: Awww :) Such a sweet moment you captured.