Jill's 2026 Reading, Rummaging, and Sorting Piles of Books, Part Four

Look out your window, boys and girls. Jill's Thingaversary Parade in celebration of living 20 years on the LT platform is passing by.

Order of Parade (check off boxes not included)

Parade Grandmaster. REGAL CAT with CROWN riding on ROOMBA
Dancing Nymphs Scattering Confetti (a la Sherman and Mr. Peabody)

Disorganized Set of Kazoo Players in PJs.

Float featuring Space Aliens and Bug-Eyed Monsters

Line of Pool Boys Carrying Drinks with little paper umbrellas

Herd of Wildlife
Squirrels
Deer
Rabbits
Water Buffalo

Line of Dancing Girls

Grand Piano Float with Musical Entertainer Playing Bach

Elephants (*because as we all know…)

Handlers walking Pub Denizen dogs

Librarian Book Cart Drill Teams

Marching Brass Band

More Dancing Nymphs Scattering Confetti

Balloon (Godzilla)

Roombas and Daleks Marching in Formation

Balloon (Cheese Wedge)

Balloon (Wine Bottle)

Chefs marching with French pastries and other delectable desserts

Float with Full Court of Masked Enforcers Seated in Comfy Chairs

Final Float - Green Dragon Pub replicated in roses and morning glory petals

Band of Waving Piffle Posters (You know who you are...)

Closing Parade Banners with Pub Rules (Thank you, @clamairy, for all you’ve done these past umpty-ump years, to build us this wonderful group space. If no one else has told you today how amazingly wonderful you are, let me be the first.)

*** Organizer Apologizes for her failure to craft clever haiku hints for a Hunt of some sort***

>1 jillmwo: Happy 20th Thingaversary, my friend! 🥳 May the next 20 years here be just as wonderful. Happy New Thread, too.

(No need to thank me, it's been my pleasure. )

>1 jillmwo:
Happy Thingaversary and Happy New Thread!

That is the most impressive parade I have ever seen. You should be in it on a golden throne with velvet drapes over the back.

By the way, I second your message to @clamairy.

Happy Thingaversary! Best parade I have attended in a while!

>3 pgmcc: & >4 rhondak101book: My favorite thing is the Godzilla balloon!

>1 jillmwo: Happy 20th Thingaversary! Hurray!

The parade is amazing, thank you so much for making it happen ✨

I also second the message to @clamairy.

Happy 20th Thingaversary and New Thread!

Thank you all, >2 clamairy: >3 pgmcc: >4 rhondak101book: >5 clamairy: >6 Alexandra_book_life:.

For the record @ScoLgo was right about the short story by Alix Harrow, The Six Lives of the Saint. Excellent. Really well done.
Find it here: https://www.amazon.com/Deaths-Saint-Into-Shadow-collection-ebook/dp/B0BGQ9B7LF/

>1 jillmwo: Fabulous! Absolutely brilliant! What a spectacular way to start the day!

Happy 20th, and happy new thread!

>1 jillmwo: Happy Thingaversary and happy new thread! I love the list of parade marchers and floats. I'm sure the enforcers appreciate the chairs!

>8 jillmwo: Quite the shiny new thread you have here - congrats.

I'm glad you enjoyed The Six Deaths of the Saint! May I also recommend taking a gander at The Knight and the Butcherbird?

And yes, wholeheartedly agree that @Clamairy deserves all the accolades for moderating this group.

>5 clamairy: Excellent Godzilla balloon! I want one in my front yard!

Oooh, I love a good parade! Thanks for this one.

Many happy returns! . . . to the bookstore.

>1 jillmwo: Happy 20th Thingaversary! Special applause for the best New Thread entry and greatest parade lineup!

Happy 20th, Jill!

>1 jillmwo: Happy 20th Thingaversary! What a spectacular parade! I am glad the SPITTING COBRAS stayed at home.

>16 Sakerfalcon:. I confess that I ought to have thought of them...But we wouldn't have wanted them to be stepped on by either the water buffalo or by the elephant(s).

>11 ScoLgo: That second short story was quite an interesting post-apocalyptic experience. I am definitely going to try to get to her book, The Everlasting during the month of July.

Also a review shown here of Sandbar Sinister. Quite a bit of fun. It's good to be reminded that the country survived both Prohibition as well as the Great Depression. Common sense is quite an asset and the states of New England manage to hold onto and use theirs.

>17 jillmwo: I'm very fond of the Asey Mayo mysteries. I spent years collecting them and finally got fed up enough to just go to ABE and order the ones I was missing. I have all her other series, the Leonidas Witherall ones, which are okay, but I like Asey Mayo better :)

>17 jillmwo: I really ought to read those, as I will indeed be summering on Cape Cod (and autumning and springing. Winter is elsewhere.)

Elsewhere on Karlstar's reading thread, there was a cultural reference made to the weather machine operated by the evil scientist, Stefano. I can now report that the writers of General Hospital were borrowing from preceding generations. This morning on Project Gutenberg, I was introduced to a novelette entitled The Man Who Put Out The Sun by Murray Leinster. The blurb on the title page reads:

"As surely as the sun will rise to-morrow" goes the saying—but that day the sun did not rise, and the blinded world was at the mercy of a merciless scientific madman.

Probably not the highest quality science fiction, but certainly diverting. Part of a series of stories that feature the evil mad scientist, Preston. But, of course, our heroes manage to save the situation. See https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/78979/pg78979-images.html.

>20 jillmwo: That might be fun!

>17 jillmwo: Thanks for mentioning Taylor and this series. I've never heard of the series, and now I am looking for a beach book for one of the July Take It or Leave It challenges.... hmmm.... Asey Mayo seems "taylored" to my needs.

>22 rhondak101book: I see what you did there... *snerk*

There are plenty of readily available titles in the series. You shouldn't have any difficulty in finding one that will appeal.

J.B. Priestly in English Journey manages to skewer the ideas of the privileged class whenever it seems called for:

Far too many opinions about staying quietly at home happen to be expressed by comfortable professional men writing in warm, well-lighted, book-lined apartments thirty feet long by fifteen broad.

It's not that he's impolite, but he is certainly observant of human frailties.

I’ve been reading Priestly’s memoir travelogue, English Journey, alongside the comprehensive (if dry) historical The Thirties: An Intimate History. Both are slower reads, but between the two it becomes very clear how dreary and uncomfortable life must have been for the ordinary person. Throughout that decade, Agatha Christie was undoubtedly popular for the reason that she wrote much-needed and marvelous escapist content.

Such good prose and so many good quotes in English Journey that I will find it difficult to boil it all down in a review.

Another surprising bit from English Journey, written in 1933 or 1934:

The long stone walls and the few stone buildings did not suggest man’s handiwork or his presence, but seemed to be natural outcroppings of the grey rock. Not a soul was about. A few birds went beating up against the wind and crying desolately, that was all. The country was Thibetan in its height and emptiness. It was impossible to believe that in half an hour we might have dropped into Harrogate and taken the waters. I tried to remember exactly where it was that, years before in this region, I had stumbled upon a genuine deserted village. There it was, on the moors, with two small factories and several rows of cottages, and completely uninhabited. (Something, I believe, went wrong with the water supply.) I remember eating my sandwiches inside one of the cottages, from which most of the roof was gone. I stared at the gaping doorways and the grass-grown street; and not even a mouse stirred. No village I saw in the war area, I think, gave me the same complete picture of desolation as that empty shell of a moorland village did.

>25 jillmwo:
I like Priestly’s works. Your quotes are intriguing.

Another quote (although not from Priestly, @pgmcc). This one is from a story in the UK-based publication, The Bookseller:

As usual, one of the most popular speakers at the conference was NielsenIQ BookData’s Philip Stone, who gave a clear-eyed view of the state of the book market, contending that the weak-to-modest growth in book sales we have seen recently will likely continue. Units are down and only price rises are keeping the market ahead.

So that may explain in part why book prices have been creeping upwards.

>27 jillmwo:
Thank for that. It is the type of information I was thinking of when you linked to extracts from that report on book sales.

Mention of Neilsen takes me back. Neilsen provides sales data on grocery sales as well.

From today's New York Times:

Philadelphia on the morning of July 4, 1776, was a pleasant 68 degrees, according to a diary kept by Thomas Jefferson. In 2026, Philadelphia is facing far less pleasant weather on Saturday, as dangerously high temperatures will drag on for another day.

Honestly, I had to wonder at what point in the day Jefferson made that entry in his diary. July in this part of the country rarely just sits at a pleasant 68. Perhaps he was writing at 7 or 8 in the morning.

For the record, today we are expected to hit something like the 101 or 102 mark. (It's hovering around 90 at the moment.) Our local township has cancelled all holiday-related events until 5pm this evening. The city of Philly cancelled the big 4th of July parade.

>28 pgmcc: That was clipped from their coverage of a day long publishing conference. Overall, it seemed to me that the article was not particularly enthusiastic w/r/t the future. Lots of emphasis on the need for encouraging people to read. (Which is undoubtedly the case, but not a particularly easy thing to do. One can't just crack the bullwhip and insist; there has to be coaxing and persuasion and awards of personal pizzas.)

From John Greenleaf Whittier's famous poem, Barbara Frietchie:

Up rose old Barbara Frietchie then,
Bowed with her fourscore years and ten;

Bravest of all in Frederick town,
She took up the flag the men hauled down;

In her attic window the staff she set,
To show that one heart was loyal yet.

Up the street came the rebel tread,
Stonewall Jackson riding ahead.

Under his slouched hat left and right
He glanced: the old flag met his sight.

“Halt!”— the dust-brown ranks stood fast.
“Fire!”— out blazed the rifle-blast.

It shivered the window, pane and sash;
It rent the banner with seam and gash.

Quick, as it fell, from the broken staff
Dame Barbara snatched the silken scarf;

She leaned far out on the window-sill,
And shook it forth with a royal will.

“Shoot, if you must, this old gray head,
But spare your country’s flag,” she said.

A shade of sadness, a blush of shame,
Over the face of the leader came;

The nobler nature within him stirred
To life at that woman’s deed and word:

“Who touches a hair of yon gray head
Dies like a dog! March on!” he said.

All day long through Frederick street
Sounded the tread of marching feet:

All day long that free flag tost
Over the heads of the rebel host.

Ever its torn folds rose and fell
On the loyal winds that loved it well;

And through the hill-gaps sunset light
Shone over it with a warm good-night.

Barbara Frietchie’s work is o’er,
And the Rebel rides on his raids no more.

Honor to her! and let a tear
Fall, for her sake, on Stonewall’s bier.

Over Barbara Frietchie’s grave
Flag of Freedom and Union, wave!

My mother quoted bits of this poem to me with some regularity over the course of my childhood. The full thing may be found here: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/45483/barbara-frietchie. Happy Fourth of July.

>30 jillmwo:
I think it was in Portable Magic I read about pocket books being very popular in the pulp fiction era. They were considered part of the rise of pulp fiction because they were easily carried and read on commutes and elsewhere. Within the past two years another thread had a discussion about how pocket books were being published recently. Last year I noticed French bookshops and supermarkets have been promoting pocket book formats.

The personal pizzas sound like a good motivational approach to encourage reading. Of course, one would have to demonstrate they had actually read bought or borrowed a book from a library. The buying and library borrowing events are what generates value for authors and publishers. I suppose a side order could be a reward if someone publishes a review.

>31 jillmwo: I remember this being in one of our primary school reading-books.

>29 jillmwo: And then some people deny the reality of global warming and climate change!! This is a splendid (?) example.

>30 jillmwo: From the few people who remember it that I've talked to, the pizza thing worked!

Bookstore devoted to subgenre of Romantasy opens in the UK: https://www.theguardian.com/books/2026/jul/06/inside-the-uks-first-romantasy-sho...

Another quote from J.B. Priestly in his English Journey:

...the Potteries seem to me unique. They look like no other industrial region. They are unique in their remote, self-contained provincialism. And they are unique in their work, an industry that is still a craft, and one of the oldest in the world. We ought to keep that craft here, even if it means looking at the trade mark when we buy a cup and saucer and being ready to spend a little more on them. We must have our own “throwers” and “jollyers.” Why should we subsidise other people’s fun? “Throwing” and “jollying” should begin at home. I shall never look at a piece of crockery with the same eyes that I used in my ignorant pre-Pottery days. I shall feel the reverberation of every fresh blow that strikes the industry, because I shall know that it means that a few more deft thumbs are robbed of their clay, that some will “throw” and “jigger” no more, and that some good folk who only ask to put their time-old skill at our service will go to join the unhappy idlers who hang about the dingy little streets in the dingy little towns that are still a city only on paper.

Personally, I think his chapter on the Potteries (otherwise known as Staffordshire) should be required reading for students with an interest in writing non-fiction. The prose is good, the point he is making is good. There's a whiff of both the personal as well as of the collective identity. One wants to go out immediately to buy a bit of Wedgewood.

>37 jillmwo:
Wedgewood was lovely.

My Chromebook appears to have bitten the dust and my back up machine reminds me why I had thought I should get the newer one. At any rate this will mean that reviews will be slow to arrive and chat on threads may be short in length and/ or haphazard..*murfle* Expect typos.

>31 jillmwo: I loved that poem when I was young.
Thanks for sharing. Sorry about your Chromebook!

>39 jillmwo: Sorry about the Chromebook! There are some good deals out there on no-too expensive Chromebooks, luckily.

>23 jillmwo: I liked The Cape Cod Mystery alot. Mayo is a fun, whimsical character. I will continue looking for these. Thanks!

Took me a week or two to finally complete the reading of this relatively short book, but it was entirely worth the effort. I'm sure it won't be everyone's cup of tea, although Larrimore's book is really quite even-handed. So many lenses necessary to properly live with Job. (For the record, there's not much value awarded here to any tradition of Job's piety and patience. Larrimore doesn't present those characteristics as being the intended substance, most particularly in the 20th and 21st centuries.) An interesting book.

>40 clamairy: >41 Karlstar: The Chromebook came back from the shop and is currently usable, but I don't think I'll ever buy another one from ASUS. My older Chromebook was an ACER and it is now more than 10 years old, yet the battery in the thing is more robust than that in the ASUS device. (I find this an indication of substandard product development.). My desktop is a 10-year-old Mac handed to me by my former employer (as a parting gift to me as either a deserving employee or as a game contestant) and it seems to be slow but still with most of its wits about it. My boss said no one else in the organization had any preference for a desktop machine and without saying it exactly, I don't think he wanted it to be stored in their Baltimore office.

BTW, there will be a review coming, but if you're a fan of classic British Golden Age mysteries, I most heartily recommend Not to Be Taken by Anthony Berkeley. The British Library released this one within the past year and it's really rather fun. I had several candidates for the murderer but was wrong in the final outcome. It has some problems, yes, but for the most part, it was excellent stuff.

>44 jillmwo: That's good news, congrats!

This one was read on the basis of book group participation. I wasn't bowled over by it, but the discussion of it during the gathering absorbed a fully-focused 90 minutes. That frequently happens when none of us are particularly enthusiastic about the reading experience, but My Real Children offered a certain amount of meat. What was it that Jo Walton was trying to convey to the reader? Was she successful in doing so? Did it matter if we understood what she intended as the point of the book? Did the writing style work? (IMHO, not really, but YMMV.)

Some while back, some of you were talking about Kate Atkinson's book, Life After Life. Jo Walton's book makes use of a similar narrative device and it won a couple of awards the year it came out. It's thought-provoking but it's not lively entertainment.

Really rather an entertaining reading experience. I am so glad the British Library continues to release some of these Golden Age murder mysteries!!

>48 jillmwo: Oh, fine... Just go ahead and blast us all in the face with what sounds like perfect hot weather read.

*wanders off grumbling (not really) to add book to Libby wish list...*

As an entirely unscientific survey, can I see a show of hands of those here in the Pub who can claim any degree of familiarity with The Odyssey? The movie-going American public is losing its little mind. It doesn't matter in what form you read the thing, whether juvenile retelling or whatever. I don't expect many of my acquaintance have read it in the original Greek. Just how much suspense should one really expect in approaching the story?

>50 jillmwo:
I read it many years ago but cannot remember much about it. I was young and eager in those days. I do remember I enjoyed it.

ETA: I did not read it in Greek.

>50 jillmwo: I’ve never read it and do not know much about it. I thought it was about a journey/adventure. It’s about a war??

Oops. I've just deleted my post. I was thinking of the Iliad. Early morning here and not enough coffee. But the Odyssey is still pretty violent. And yes, I've read that a couple of times too.

>50 jillmwo: I have not read it but I am familiar with it. I had to read an in-depth synopsis of it before I read Ulysses in grad school. I have been toying with the idea of listening to an audiobook version, although I do have a doorstop trade paperback copy of it here somewhere.
(My daughter has read The Iliad in Greek.)

>50 jillmwo: I started to read it and stopped, I think. I'm somewhat familiar with the story from reading so many things that have referenced it or summarized it, but can't say I've read it.

>50 jillmwo: I read it decades ago in English. My undergrad arts option was Classical Greek, and we read snippits there but I no longer remember anything.

I'd quite like to see the movie. I remember a TV series (on Masterpiece Theatre?) with Irene Pappas as Penelope that was very good.

>50 jillmwo: I've read it! Not in Greek, I am afraid ;) It was many years ago, I remember enjoying it. I have also read a few retellings.

>51 pgmcc: >53 catzteach: >54 haydninvienna: >55 clamairy: >56 Karlstar: >57 tardis: >58 Alexandra_book_life:. Okay, at the risk of putting words into the mouths of others, you generally understand that The Odyssey has to do with the hero trying to return home from the Trojan War to the family he left behind and events happen to him during the journey. (Translation as one NY Times best-selling SF/F author put it to a Worldcon audience years ago: Johnny gets his ass caught in a bear trap and has many adventures getting it out.)

So it seems to me that if you even have that much familiarity with the story of the Odyssey, then you will know that despite the many adventures, Odysseus eventually succeeds in reaching home. Suspense is not a critical factor except insofar as it's got to be there because people enjoy stories most when they don't know or can't be sure of HOW Johnny gets himself out of the bear trap. But there is little doubt for the most part that Johnny will succeed because he is (after all) the HERO. HEROES escape the various traps and overcome the magic and/or monsters that constitute the barriers.

So how can you go to a movie (specifically, The Odyssey) and then complain that the new Christopher Nolan movie lacks suspense? What kept you in the seat for 3 full hours? (That rather rhetorical question is directed toward the various souls who watched the movie in IMAX on opening day) People are all over social media platforms complaining about the diverse casting, the so-called lack of suspense, etc. And I can't help but wonder WHAT IN THE NAME OF SENSE DID THEY THINK THEY WERE GETTING?

(Apologies for shouting in all caps, but it's been a bit of a week.) Oh, and for the record, I think I read it in the Fagles translation at least a decade ago, but I can't say I recall a great deal of it. The best-selling book Circe has stuck with me more than the full Homeric thing.

>59 jillmwo: I'm laughing, but the answer is relatively simple; people are idiots. Circe was a wonderful book! I preferred it to her best-selling Song of Achilles.

(I just used one of my Audible credits in a two for one sale and got the Odyssey as read by Claire Danes, and The Splendid and the Vile.

>59 jillmwo: Oh no, not the lack of suspense in The Odyssey! What will they think of next??? I am laughing.

(People are weird.)

I loved Circe, by the way.

>59 jillmwo: I have to admit that I mostly misunderstood your question in >50 jillmwo:, being generally uninformed in what is happening in social media (I gave it up 3 years ago). This post helped clarify your point.

I have read The Odyssey several times and in several translations since I encountered it in Edith Hamilton's Mythology as a tween. I have taught parts of it several times. For all of these reasons, I never considered going to the movie because I predict that I would not like the changes. I say this with the understanding that adaptations from one medium to another requires changes, but I also understand that changes will also be made to appeal to the mass market. Case in point, other medievalists were so excited to see the movie The Green Knight (2021), I was not interested.

Before I start writing an op/ed piece about what I think one can learn by reading The Odyssey, I will leave this behind, which is more articulate than I could ever be
Ithaka by C. P. Cavafy.

>59 jillmwo:
I love your point. The "shouting in all caps" was perfectly appropriate. :-)

You have stirred my deep and fractured memory regarding my reading of The Odyssey. Two things stand out in my memory. One was the way homer took the presentation of a decorated goblet to Odysseus as an opportunity to explore the stories pictured in the carvings on the goblet. This struck me as the way a person telling tails to gathered warriors and other high ranking people would structure their memory and verbal storytelling.

The other memory is around Odysseus's return home. It struct me as very much Monthy Python humour when Argos recognised his master's voice, raised his head, and died. Very sad, but very much the type of existential humour Monthy Python would have used. Again this struck me as a technique a verbal storyteller would use to tap the emotions of their audienc.

Your question may result in my rereading the story, but as you know, I am always full of these good intentions until something new and shiny comes along to distract me.

Your comment about heroes also struck a chord with me. The hero getting their ass stuck in a bear trap is fairly ineffective in stirring up my emotions because, as you quite rightly point out, you know they are going to get out of the deadly, inescapable situation they are in. That is one of the issues I have had with reading Kate Atkinson's Jackson Brodie novels. I enjoy the stories but when Brodie is in an impossible situation it is impossible to feel the tension you are expected to feel because you know he is going to get out of trouble. It is probably an issue for my reading the current Chakraborty. No matter how impossible it is for Amina to escape a situation you know she is going to wriggle out of it some way. Am I just becoming old and crochety? That is not giving anything away because, like watching a film called The Odyssey, the hero always gets out alive.

John Yorke's Into the Woods is basically named after the same principle. In his Trip to the Moon: Understanding the true power of story one of the things he does is questions the validity of "The Hero's Story" as a generally applicable structure to fiction.

The Odyssey is up there with Shakespeare and the Bible with being one of Western Lit’s most influential works, and many of the themes are foundational and relatable across cultures. It’s only natural people will have strong opinions one way or another. I’m not certain I want to see Nolan’s version any time soon. If I do, I’d rather watch it after the fuss dies down and people’s opinions are not taking up space in my head. For those who haven’t read it, I highly recommend reading whatever translation, retelling or adaptation appeals to you. There are so many choices.

I wonder if people would complain about lack of suspense in Titanic.

>50 jillmwo: Yes, I've read it in translation (only lasted a week in Baby Ancient Greek my freshman year of college.)

I haven't decide whether to see it yet. I did love Monica Hesse's column on it in the WaPo a few days ago, though. Gift link:
https://wapo.st/3R4EEoV

>59 jillmwo: Very well put! I wonder if the same people expected suspense while watching Oppenheimer or Lincoln?

Well, the movie I learned this morning from a commercial has an R rating so no one is going to be taking their six-year-old to it. And I'm honestly unclear on what percentage of the current population will have any familiarity with the story. I can understand to some extent the quibbles over the casting (although people who still think Helen of Troy was a blue-eyed blonde really do need to jettison that particular Barbie doll concept). But I think going to see The Odyssey with an expectation of long drawn out suspense suggests someone is confusing Homer with the The Bourne Identity.

>67 Karlstar: Exactly. We know about Ford's Theater and the assassination. Oppenheimer was (for me at least) a little bit different because I really did not know much about the man or the various processes through which his work was managed. It concerns me that Elon Musk has followed the model of establishing a specific incorporated community in Texas entirely devoted to and built around his particular vision of how to go into space.

>66 Marissa_Doyle: Yes, that Washington Post column was worth the read.

>65 reconditereader:. I snorted at that. We have had a long standing thing in this house where when someone is going to watch something for the umpteenth time, we pause for a beat and then inform him or her mournfully that the ship sinks.

>64 ludmillalotaria:. I might see the movie at some point when they make it available on a streaming service, but I don't think I am willing to pay IMAX theatre pricing. There was an interesting moment just now on TV where a commentator noted that there was something elitist in a cinematic approach that insists that your movie art should only be seen through the use of a particular high-end technology. I know why Nolan wants it shown that way; I just don't think it is going to be possible for the experience is to scale quickly. Movie theaters are having too much economic challenge to do all the necessary upgrades.

>63 pgmcc:. Clearly your memory of the work is more robust than mine, given that you can recall the narrative use of the decorated cup.

>62 rhondak101book:. I am disappointed that you won't be writing an op-ed about the lessons learned via The Odyssey. I, for one, would enjoy reading that.

>61 Alexandra_book_life: and >60 clamairy:. I am glad you laughed. And I think we should rename the Pub's Poisoners' Cabal and make it the Sorceress' Cabal specifically in honor of Circe.

I'm currently only allowed to sit in a chair for 35 minutes or so at a time because of the muscles in my hip acting up. But I will be back with a review of The Murder at World's End at some point later in the day. I thank both Marissa Doyle and @tardis for that recommendation because I read it at their behest.

>68 jillmwo:
At least you have reached the point of acknowledging that there is a Pub Poisoners’ Cabal.

And do not think I have not spotted conspiracy to hit me with a BB for Circe.

>59 jillmwo: People are nuts lol

My thanks go to both @tardis and @Marissa_Doyle for drawing attention to this one. I found it thoroughly enjoyable as I read it during an irritating week. Feeling irascible and grumpy? This one will shift your mood. Somewhat in the same vein as Robert Jackson Bennett's Ana and Din books, but without the SF world-building. And far funnier.

>70 Narilka: Yes, they are. I can't think how I've tolerated so many of them up until now.

>69 pgmcc: I never denied that there was a cabal. At the moment, we're expanding the investigative scope. You can't keep this group of intelligent women from exploring the possibilities. Circe is merely a case in point.

>71 jillmwo: Another shot right between the eyes. Adding this to my wishlist.

>71 jillmwo:
I spotted this in a bookshop today but did not pick it up. :-(

Yes, I was in a bookshop today. In fact, I was in three bookshops. :-)

Yes, books were bought.

>71 jillmwo: Glad to hear you enjoyed it. I may have to put it up farther on my TBR …

>71 jillmwo: Well! You already had me with this: "Somewhat in the same vein as Robert Jackson Bennett's Ana and Din books, but without the SF world-building. And far funnier."

But the slam-dunk was: "The setting is Downton Abbey but the demeanor of the household is not nearly as well-behaved. (There’s a dinner party that is quite unlike anything Carson ever had to oversee.)."

I'm so there.

>50 jillmwo: >59 jillmwo: And, although late to the discussion, I was introduced to The Odyssey by an aggressive 9th grade teacher who was going to make darn sure we knew about Odysseus, Penelope (with weaving!), the Cyclops, Scylla, how Poseidon messed with the oceans - all the top hits of the tale. I really don't recall any mention of Circe.

Kudos to Madeline Miller for Circe, for refreshing my memory on so much of it while elevating Circe's storyline.

I'm interested in seeing the movie, and would be disappointed if it didn't follow the basic storyline. Yes - it's a journey homeward! (And by various accounts, he's not especially happy once he's returned and does some horrible things!)

I would love to see this character shown as the brave, crafty, but definitely flawed man that he was portrayed as being.

>71 jillmwo: Another day, another BB... :D

>77 terriks: I was introduced to The Odyssey by an aggressive 9th grade teacher who was going to make darn sure we knew about Odysseus, Penelope (with weaving!), the Cyclops, Scylla, how Poseidon messed with the oceans. But aren't you a better woman today as a result? Honestly, last night I saw that Stephen Fry's retelling of The Odyssey was on sale at AMZ for $3.00 and so I grabbed it to read at bedtime. I feel a need to revisit the story.

>78 Alexandra_book_life: 76 >74 clamairy:. I chivvied my book group into making it the next mystery selection. It's got a certain amount of froth but so has a well-made latte. And we like both.

>75 pgmcc:. I would have been disappointed had you not made purchases while visiting 3 bookshops, but did I miss an title acquisition report? What precisely did you walk out with?

Coming up later in the day will be a lengthy review of English Journey. It took me at least three drafts to work out what I wanted to say and, even with cuts, it will undoubtedly appear as a big wall of text.

BTW, @pgmcc, some while back (possibly several years back) you wrote enthusiastically about a book by Melvyn Wall, The Unfortunate Fursey. It's been one of my evening reads. I'm only about halfway through, but I am smiling with delight as I go. It's possible you undersold it. His short stories were good as well but we've talked about those.

Also of possible interest: a 2021 write-up regarding LibraryThing and cataloging practice. No paywall barrier at this moment in time.
https://journals.ala.org/index.php/lrts/article/view/7503/10549

>79 jillmwo:
You have not missed anything. I am still on the extended weekend trip with my wife and her siblings. Not much time for reading or reporting; just about time to buy books. :-)

I am glad you are enjoying Fursey. It is a great read.

>82 pgmcc: Wait -- you're still carousing? What fun you must be having!!! Birthday wishes to Catriona!

Seven paragraphs on English Journey.