Richard the Eighth

Self-explanatory, no? I'm also open for business in the 2010 group. My 2010 75-Books thread is over there.

Reviews for books one through twenty-five are over here.

Reviews for books twenty-six through thirty-seven are over here.

Reviews for books thirty-eight through fifty-three are over here.

Reviews for books fifty-four through sixty-eight are over here.

Reviews for books sixty-nine through seventy-three are over here.

Reviews for books seventy-four through eighty-six are over here.

Reviews for books eighty-seven through one hundred nine are over here.

Cool ticker thingie:




Reviews are in post:
(note that touchstones are in the reviews to save me endless touchstone corrections)

110. The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane...#91

111. Earth Under Fire...#128

112. Choosers of the Slain...#130

113. Good Morning, Midnight...#135

114. Islands of Instability...#145

115. The Blithedale Romance...#152

116. The Lost Art of Gratitude...#156

117. Stories in Stone...#1

118. The Gilded Dinosaur...#181

Have you starred in both groups, and I look forward to following your progress!

found and starred you .... good luck with the writing for NaNoWriMo.... we're rooting for you and will track your progress

found and starred **

Richard the Eighth- You are my hero, sir! Good luck on the novel. I'll will be reading a long!! Your faithful servant!

Is this the thread where you get gout?
ETA: can you tell I'm reading Wolf Hall?

Who gets to be Anne Boleyn? Who will be beheaded first?

I'll volunteer - my head is SPLITTING right now anyway... If I could quietly saw it off myself I would!

Found and starred, Richard Dear.

ellie...sorry to hear your head is splitting..Do you, like me, suffer from migrane headaches?

Richard, good luck!

Just wanted to damn you and thank you for suggesting the Meg Langslow series - Murder with Peacocks was just the comfort read I was looking for, but now my TBR pile is going to be thrown off by more Andrews!

Hi Linda! I don't know if I have migraines or just bad headaches. Either way, I know when I start to feel queasy and want to saw off my own head, it's time to bring out the big(ger) guns and hit the co-codamol... That usually works so maybe not migraines, who knows?

Ricardo, would you mind very much if we just, y'know, thwacked you over the head with a brick or something, give our TBR piles a little rest for a day or two? ;-)

*thwack* owww

No more reviews for a while, I'll be concentrating on NaNo. Promise. Just one more before I focus on that exclusively!

Can't be the only person concerned at the thread title after all these LT engagements... and in the anniversary year too.

A friend of mine is working at Hampton Court at the moment, playing Katherine Howard's sister for their "historical interpretation" tableaux so I'm hearing a lot more about the wives than I necessarily want to.

I've got four characters outlined in the Death in Blue & White thread...the hero, the sidekick, the magical helper, and the trickster...along with an obituary of the victim. Come visit!

*watching from a distance*

Good, Richard, that will give me a chance to catch up with you!! You've been moving too fast for me for the last two months!

Still recovering from all that Halloween candy, but Hi!

Hi Richard!

There's still a big bowl of Halloween candy on the desk in the next cubicle over.... Dots and Tootsie Rolls. Fortunately, not two of my favorites.

That is so nice, McKait!!

It's a great image, dearest, and it says it all. xoxo

Dear Richard.

I've read your wonderful, kind, considerate and thoughtful comments throughout the 75 challenge group. Each message was sincere and heartfelt.

I've been thinking a lot about what I like about you, and, there are many things.

But, at the tippy top are the following:

a) Your intelligence
b) Your humor
c) Your kindness
d) Your ability to make us laugh right out loud
e) Your honesty and integrity
f) Your openness and willingness to share your journey.

BIG hugs to you!

Linda

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QYU3995mieo

& thank you.
belva

What is it about this rdear guy anyway?
Besides all of your comments of course .. lol
he is quite something..

blessed am I my friend.. positively blessed.

------->----@

(((((((hugs)))))))

>22 Whisper1: Oh Linda, you're gonna make me cry! Thank you, thank you for the completely unearned praise. And back at'cha, babay!

*sniff*

>23 rainpebble: Belva, oh dear, the waterworks is a-flowin'

*sniffity sniff*

>24 mckait: Kath dear, well, it helps that there are those whose example inspires me, like you.

Where oh where have you been, rdear? I miss you ....

Wanted to pop in and wish you a very Happy Thanksgiving

Have a Happy Thanksgiving, Richard!

It's nearly the end of November - does that mean we'll be getting our dear Richard back soon?

aw, silly rdear...

missing you
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Yet another member of the Richard Dear fan club madly waving Hi from the crowd. :) Hope you had all sorts of yummy food for Thanksgiving. I want to hear all about it (and yet I don't because when you write about food I have to make mad dashes to the kitchen...). Love ya!

when??? come back already!

Isn't your company gone yet????????????????
We want to know what you cooked; we want recipes; we want hugs; we want kisses; we want to feel the love dear St.!~!~!
Oh hell, I know where you are!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! You are over there writing that most wonderful novel. Therefore we must be patient for 1 more day.
Love you,
belva

*worried*

*me too*

He went to Austin.. ( per fb )

Ah! Anyone know if he finished his writing?
belva

>36 mckait:

KATH said..."he went to Austin"

anyone who hasn't been to Austin, Texas..that is a trip unto itself...let us pray for Richard...we know he will survive..but...what cost??

Isn't it snowing in Texas? That's what I heard on t'internet.

Yup, parts at least. Also in Louisiana where my parents live.

We're supposed to get snow in Atlanta tomorrow morning, from the same system that affected Texas and Louisiana. The local paper indicates that we'll get just a dusting in the city, though.

Snow? SNOW?! Here in England we won't be expecting so much as an icing-sugar sprinkling until late January, surely...

Still, as long as we get some beautiful crisp winter days, all blue skies and gleaming pale light, I'll have a smile on my face just the same! :-)

We've got snow in the mountains of Western Pennsylvania -- our first real accumulation of the year, rather late for us.

We're getting some accumulation in central Maryland today. But it's been too warm and won't stick around long.

We are getting a light dusting in SE Ohio..but it's cold..

........Sorry Richard..we seem to have monopolized your thread with Weather-talk.........*smirk*

No snow in Atlanta, unfortunately. However, the northern suburbs and the north Georgia mountains did get a dusting.

flakes in the air here yesterday...
very cold today.

Maybe rdears keyboard is frozen??

We got three or four inches, I think. Our back alley was like a skating rink this morning.

I live on a steep hill. As I pulled out of the garage today on my way to church, I started sliding down the alley. Meanwhile, my car's dashboard "message center" offered the newsflash: "Traction Control Off" and then "Service Traction Control."

Needless to say, I started praying before I got to church!

Yikes! I hope you got to church safely. I think it is safe to say God got all of your attention yesterday :)

umm....would you all hate me if I tell you that I'm sweltering in the hot humidity of Singapore right now?

no... I would feel sorry for you :(

Definitely won't hate you, Caroline! I hate hot, humid weather!

And, Stasia, I did get to church and back safely. (Hallelujah!)

Good! (Amen)

Richard, where oh where are you.
As you can see we are posting without you..hoping from your return!

Terri, glad you made it to church and back safely. Years ago I was heavily involved in my local Methodist church. I taught Sunday school, chaired the Staff Parish Relations committee, sang in the choir and was way too committed to a bunch of very dysfunctional folk. I learned a sad lesson and that is not to overcommit and to be very careful where I put my energy. While I met some wonderful friends, overall the politics were energy draining and I left the vipers nest before I was poisoned.

Richard, where oh where are you.
As you can see we are posting without you..hoping from your return!

Terri, glad you made it to church and back safely. Years ago I was heavily involved in my local Methodist church. I taught Sunday school, chaired the Staff Parish Relations committee, sang in the choir and was way too committed to a bunch of very dysfunctional folk. I learned a sad lesson and that is not to overcommit and to be very careful where I put my energy. While I met some wonderful friends, overall the politics were energy draining and I left the vipers nest before I was poisoned.

Richard, where oh where are you.
As you can see we are posting without you..hoping from your return!

Terri, glad you made it to church and back safely. Years ago I was heavily involved in my local Methodist church. I taught Sunday school, chaired the Staff Parish Relations committee, sang in the choir and was way too committed to a bunch of very dysfunctional folk. I learned a sad lesson and that is not to overcommit and to be very careful where I put my energy. While I met some wonderful friends, overall the politics were energy draining and I left the vipers nest before I was poisoned.

"Left the viper's nest before I was poisoned"...LOL

I am currently enmeshed in the viper's nest. My husband calls me "Church Lady." For me, it is a safe place, but I do have to be careful lest my core spirituality is infected. Case in point: at our overflowing UMW Christmas Luncheon on Saturday, those "without reservations" were asked to sit at the overflow tables in the church hallway. I didn't know whether to cry or weep so I just joined them. I try to remember that church is the place for sinners, not saints...and I am definitely in that first category.

I'm baaa-aaack!

And what a lovely feeling...I so appreciate the appreciation y'all've given me. I was in Texas for the "snow" last week...I counted 47 flakes! At my daughter's house, there were almost 100! *heaves impatient sigh* It's not like Madison, WI, where they got 18in in one day. THAT's something to talk about.

In other news, I think good things are happening writing-wise. It looks as if I could land a ghost-writing gig! It means putting "Death in Blue and White" on hold, but that's okay by me since this one is more money and all ready to fly! Cross all crossable parts, please?

Ooo, and getting home was a gas. I had a fun, if much prolonged, layover in Philly. Cute young guy plops dow next to me in the flight waiting area, starts talking, and proves to be interesting. Bonus: Lives on LI. Extra bonus: Single, 30, and has a taste for the silver-haired. He's already called once since I got back last night. It is a real ego boost to be found attractive by those young enough to be your children.

PLUS I arrived to find a box from Amazon containing a book I didn't order but am looking forward to reading: Earth Under Fire: Humanity's Survival of the Ice Age by one Paul Laviolette. I was a bit verschmeckled about how it got to me, until I read the packing slip. An old friend and former client sent it to me! I had not heard from this lady in at least 6 years, and out of the blue comes this lovely gift! The only email addy I have for her doesn't work, but now I have a snail-mail addy from the receipt, so I can express my thanks the old-fashioned way.

Can a man claim more delightful blessings than me? I doubt me much that he can. Y'all make it even more cool and fun to be on the Interweb thingie than I can express, and RL just had to play catch-up! *contented sigh*

Welcome back! (Already adding to my wishlist!)

hi Richard

Good to see you are back!
crossing all fingers, toes and paws available here at home for you :-)

Anita

Welcome back. We missed your posting. I don't comment often but I certainly read them.

'bout time

Responding to #62 (who hates to be called by number): Ha! Ya don't know the half of it, snooglepoogums. So So So glad to be home.

Hey, ever'body! And calm...so far it's very interesting, but not so very well-written. Not at all bad, mind, just not exciting. Hopefully that will change later in the book.

I'll wait for your review - I like the subject and am always ready to get a different view though I do prefer well written;)

meanie

Glad you're back, with great stories and opportunities to boot!

RICHARD!!!!! RICHARD!!!!! YOU ARE BACK!!!!!

Not that I missed you or anything.

humph

Humph indeed, Number 68, which one of us didn't answer HER phone this evening? Hmmm?

Hi Stasia! How you doin' darlin?

Luxxly one, so glad you're here.

calm, I'll review before the end of the year...too interesting not to share.

Welcome back! Glad to hear that you survived the Blizzard of 2009 in Texas.

I was in Madison last December, on the day that it received 11 inches of snow in about 9 hours overnight. My friend still had to go to work, and his daughter went to her violin lesson that afternoon, as it wasn't canceled. Wisconsinites are a hardy breed.

Ain't they just, Darryl? It puts my hothouse-flower self to shame. I walked the dog in 34F and thought I would expire of the cold. Of course, 34F + 20mph winds = 0MIGOD IT'S COLD.

The school district in my friends' town (Middleton, just west of Madison) has a very strict school closure policy in terms of temperature and frozen precipitation. The schools only close if the wind chill is less than 35 below zero. I visited them in February of last year, and one day the actual temperature was -17 degrees, but the wind chill was -37 degrees. So, no school for Mary!

The U. of Wisconsin-Madison canceled classes yesterday -- for the first time in 19 years!

A friend of Auntie's lives in Oxford, WI, and reported that her second-floor deck was even with the tops of the drifts! I know that's BLOWN snow, but still...just plain *yech* all over that.

I don't want to live anywhere ever again where I can't go outside for weeks at a time because the weather is so unpleasant. I think Long Island's about perfect that way.

Yep. My friends would like to see me move there, as I could work as a hospitalist at the U of Wisconsin's children's hospital. It's a great area to live in, but it's just too damned cold! For the past 2-3 years they've received far more snow than in usual winter seasons, which just adds to the misery.

Welcome back, my dear Richard!! We missed you terribly ....not that it's stopped us from continuing to use your thread here to chat away. ;-) But I'm so glad that the rightful owner is back and in great spirits by the sound of things.

#69: I am doing just fine, RD, although I must confess to being a tad disappointed you did not stop by Sherman while you were in Texas. Never mind that it is at the other end of the state from where you were.

Richard

You devil!




You left us, we all missed you and now you come back to fill our hearts with glee...

Ok, ok, Welcome back!!!! You were missed..VERY much!

#62/68 says

You clearly have the wrong number for me... You used to have it right...could it be your recent advanced age???? neither of my phones have a call from you. Best remedy that..

not that I care

humph humph!!!

>78 mckait: OOO! OOO! "Not that I care" is it?! HAAA-RUMPH! See? SEE?! I go away to tend to my knitting and I come back and them as was all actin' like friends can't be arsed to pick up a blinkin' phone!!

Wonder what's up with my phone book? The number looks the same. I can't figure this out. I'll dial manually this time.

>77 Whisper1: Linda, how very very pleasurable to hear that from someone I missed too! And I admit that I'm a devil. No excuses. I just am. Mean and red and possessed of horns, that's me.

>76 alcottacre: Stasia loveycuddles, it wasn't for lack of desire, just lack of transportation...I had no car of my own. From here on, I think I'd rather bring the dog and drive. The Divine Miss can do Auntie duty.

>75 cameling: cameling, who could be in a bad mood when he comes home to find he's been missed?! Isn't that sort of the point of going away...find out how people REALLY feel about you? I've had a very pleasant homecoming all the way around. Thanks to all of you who trashed the place errrmmm hung out and kept the lights on while I was away!

Now come on it could have been worse I was about to suggest kittens to get you back until kath told us you were in Texas and Facebooking!! (*horror*)

Adding books to library and not posting = alive and ignoring us: = minor worry! = where's Richard = what's wrong = major worry!

My most beloved of St.s;
Perhaps next year we can visit our daughters at the same time as I do have a car when I am down in Texas. I usually go for 2-3 weeks and I can be your driver. I think I am only two hours from you. I am right in the middle. I could take you to Stasia!~!
I got myself to her this past year so you can feel confident with my driving in Dallas traffic!~!
Have I told you lately that I love you?
belva

#79: I guess I will forgive you this one time then. I am still not happy about it though. Maybe next time?

Oh my, I could not handle that much snow - I like high heels way too much. An unexpected snow day is nice, but these days I don't think a day off is worth weeks of slush and mud!

I did think it was funny that it was snowing in Texas when it was 60 degrees here in Maryland.

thinking of you in sunny Singapore. I had a great swim in the sea this morning and got back to find some text messages from my friends at home in MA moaning about the snowstorm I missed. ;-)

#83: I did think it was funny that it was snowing in Texas when it was 60 degrees here in Maryland.

Luxx, it was 15 degrees here 2 days ago!

hmmm caroline is being a bit smug don't you think?

me too...

I feel much better now rdear......
it had been way too long!

#85 - Wow! Still colder than it is here, although we are supposed to see some snow tomorrow. All the better for staying inside and reading.

Swimming in Singapore, shopping in Tokyo, partying in Australia. I want Caroline's job!

>88 kidzdoc: Really, Darryl? I think it sounds like a lot of work to have that much fun. I like my house, my kitchen, and my dog. The people? ~meh~ ;->

>87 London_StJ:, 83 Luxx...Maryland?! The land of BWI airport aka the Eastern Hellmouth?! I hope you live far, far from that Sink of Devilry. (Many a lost hour there.)

>86 mckait: kath, so true. I am so revoltingly chipper and pleased with myself these days that I worried you'd feel annoyed with me.

>85 alcottacre:, 82 Stasia, assuming I drive next time, I'll come in through Plano where I'll stop to see my younger sister and her clan, and spend a day or two so we can meet. Sherman's only an hour from there, we can work with that! Austin's about four hours, it's a little harder.

>84 cameling: I Refuse to Acknowledge the Agent Provocateuse who wrote that missive.

>81 rainpebble: Belva! Sweetest! Thank you thank you thank you! What a great way to start a day, someone I love telling me I'm loved. I wish that more people had such amazing luck.

>80 calm: calm, no no! Never ignoring! Simply overwhelmed and unable to focus, and LT takes focus!! I keep in touch with my daughter via Facebook, eve when we're in the same zip code, because she's rotten at keeping in touch. Just like me, I fear. Well, that's the way it is with kids...your failings rear up and smack you, too late to do much about. Humbling lesson, that one.

>89 richardderus: - I only fly once a year (if that), so it's not that bad. We live close enough to the airport that it's not a hassle, but far enough that we don't actually have to *deal* with it. And it's a lot easier than flying in and out of Dulles!

One hundred ten of seventy-five:

The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane by Katherine Howe was urged upon me by a fellow LTer whose previous urged reading, The Hummingbird's Daughter, was so ghastly and generally unpleasant to read that I was worried this book would be a stinker too. After all, hype + feminism + supernatural goins-on = *groan* for the typical Y-chromosome bearer.

I was completely wrong. I'm sorry I waited to read it.

Don't mistake me, it's a first novel with first-novel flaws, but it's a very good read and it's a promising debut. The basic story, a grad student in American History's discovery of a previously unknown primary source for data on the Salem witch trials, is built to excite the historian in me. The book itself, being a recipes-and-remedies book written by multiple generations of gifted women, also hooks my attention immediately.

The author, who is descended from an accused witch from Salem and who counts another, who died there, among her connections, is uniquely placed to make this story exciting. She is also a grad student, and she's made of storytelling stuff. No one who comes from such a lineage could escape the desire to make use of such great material. Considering the number of books, fiction and non, published about Salem, not many have tried. But Howe makes us invest in so much more than just the Salem-ness of the tale. She brings her creations to a simmer early in the book, and then lets 'em fly on the boil with a finely adjusted sense of pacing that I wish she'd teach to other novelists.

The first-novel blues come when Howe writes about her male characters. They're not well drawn, and their actions aren't very believeable. She also has some data withheld from her main character that I simply can't believe a mother would fail to mention to a daughter. (So as to avoid spoilers, I can't say what, but it's a pretty big omission IMHO.)

Hey, pobody's nerfect, right? I forgive these flaws because the story is so tightly paced, and so much of the time is spent with delightful characters, that it's an overall joy to read. Buy it new, in paperback, and you'll a) love the object itself since the publisher made a beautiful book, and b) support an author whose future work bids fair to make your dollars well spent. Very much recommended.

That sounds fascinating! Great review - onto the list it goes.

Great review Richard!

Thankfully that one is already on the list;)

>93 calm: calm, *snaps fingers* Curses! Foiled again! My evil plot to cause all TBRs to swell is set back!

>92 London_StJ: Luxx, YOU at least keep my plot afloat...plus I bet you'll really like the book.

I added it when jude reviewed it awhile back - check it out she got a Hot Review! and you do cause my TBR's to swell - I just don't always tell you!

>94 richardderus: Richard, I'll be blaming you when our living room floor collapses.

Swamped with Holiday stuff, and hampered by fractured ribs from a snow boarding accident, so not a frequent visitor lately. But I saw 50 unread posts on your thread and knew you were back so I had to pop in and say HI! and let you know I missed you.

Hugs (but only ever so gently!)

And I used to live in MN and if it is going to be that darn cold, it had better snow so there is something fun to do outside!!

aside from being annoyed that you absolutely refuse to love HD
I could not be annoyed with you. I am filled with happiness for you and good feelings after our talk. I find myself at a loss to figure this out. You should annoy me often, yet? Must be a past life connection. Or maybe just kindred spirits....

Caroline, are you dried off yet?

Love pobody's nerfect. May have to steal that. I had Deliverance Dane on the list already, but I'm glad to hear it's worth keeping there (first-novel-itis notwithstanding).

Welcome back!

Deliverance Dane was already on my list, but I stopped by its page to give your review a thumbs up. Good review!

#89: My father lives in Plano, so I am very familiar with it. Next time!

#91: That one is already in the BlackHole, so I am not adding it again. Glad to see you liked it though. Completely disagree with you regarding The Hummingbird's Daughter still :)

re: The Hummingbird's Daughter ...great minds Stasia :)

Richard- Welcome back, good sir! You were sorely missed! Liked the review! Jude also recently read it and praised it. On the WL it goes!

Great review!

#102: LOL!

:)

Poor richard just can't see it is all.. :P

Count me in with the great minds who enjoyed The Hummingbird's Daughter, although I'm really glad we don't all like the same books. How boring that would be.

#107: I'm really glad we don't all like the same books. How boring that would be.

So true!

except for that one... ( lol )

Seeing as how I've already got Deliverance Dane on my TBR pile, I escape unscathed for a change from Richard's thread.



#88: Darryl .. you wouldn't want my job ... I fail to mention the aggravating partners and clients that I have to meet in my travels for fear of sounding too much like a whiney brat. Richard is right.. it's a lot of work to have some fun. But having said that, I take whatever fun I can get, and if I didn't try to find ways to have fun while I'm traveling, then this job would REALLY stink! ;-)

arrghhh....I tried to undo the underlining but it's not working....

What underlining? I see lots of blue type! Glad you find ways to eek some fun out of your job. Otherwise, what's the point? I mean besides money...

It looks like the code from your animation isn't closed properly. Your response is actually a link to the glitter graphics site.

Is this Richard's thread or not? He has not posted since #94...Hint, hint. Come out, come out, wherever you are!

I went into deep-stealth mode for Christmas decorating. The tree's up, and it's gorgeous (of course). The mantelshelf's crapped up, the wreath is on the front door, the planters are appropriately evergreened, and all's right with the world. This coming weekend is The Divine Miss's orgy of tinsel in the dining room. I'm a little scared.

Christmas dinner plans got a lovely turbocharge...one of our guests is springing for a whole, entire prime rib for all 12 of us! Yuuuum! I'm thinking maybe a 25-pounder, and nothing else. Who needs veggies when ya got prime rib?! Of course, there just *might* be leftovers. Wouldn't that be a shame?

As to that excrescence on the dog-butt of literature's half-wit cousin, "The Hummingbird's Daughter," I refrain from further comment so as to avoid the sobriquet "grumpy old man." But it really does suck. Bad, with teeth.

Hellll-0.....RichardDear

funny, that "Bad, with teeth" comment....i tend to seek books that have "teeth"..that "bite back" as it were..now i own The Hummingbird's Daughter..yes i do..but have not read it..so i won't be a snot and comment with no knowledge aforethought....but "sucky" books can be Good..if only for that raison, p'tit..

glad you are back....and i wish Christmas was over, already..Jeesh!

J

I don't mind teeth, dear Jude, just not on the tender anatomy. Then I mind them a lot.

Ah ha! I know...tree glamming aside, the truth of the matter is you have been hiding under the mistletoe again!! It is, I must admit, a nice place to be. Merry Christmas to you. Mwaaaa! (That's a kiss.) I love your description of the tinsel orgy and the crapped up mantel. Isn't decorating fun?

ah yes..Richard..them that bite..that bite "nasty"..eh??

i meant books that make me think outside the box...get it?

maybe you can answer outside your Fan Club???

Ricardo! Long time no catch-up, I've been so busy rushing around doing last minute book orders for customers who haven't grasped the idea that Battling the Christmas Post for Stupid Orders a week before the big day just isn't fun for us right now. Oh, and my laptop's dead. The good news: I'm flatly refusing any more orders until after Christmas and my new laptop is on its way. All will be well...

Hello to all...including you Richard. Your holiday plans sound lovely.

I want to share a wonderful happening in my life.... I feel very lucky to have such a special partner. Tonight I returned books to the library. I haven't been there in weeks and discovered that my friend the librarian had a tree in the lobby filled with tags listing presents needed for local families There were presents under the tree, but there are 38 needy families and many tags with names and presents.

The due date is tomorrow evening and I grabbed a bunch of tags. Then, as I walked to the car, it dawned on me that I have meetings all day tomorrow and plans tomorrow evening.

Alas, Will smiled and took the tags and said he would do the shopping tomorrow.

Ah, God Bless Us Everyone, including the children who need strange sounding toys.....

He's a keeper W1!! And you are so lovely, you deserve someone like that.

you are very fortunate Linda... I am happy for you!!!

What a terrific guy!

>111 cameling: cameling: you need a closing link tag (</a>) after the Glitter Graphics image - that should switch off underlining/blue.

(Hi Richard. I'm not just here as tech support, honest.)

Rachael, you're decorative enough that I don't mind you being aywhere at all, doing anything short of burning books or crosses.

OMG - Somehow I did not have your thread starred and since I have also been dealing with lots of illnesses, doctor visits, invasive diagnostic procedures, etc.; I missed you horribly and couldn't focus my poor invalid brain enough to chase you down.

Gotcha starred. Read all the posts about bad weather, warm weather, that durn book (not to be named ) that you guys keep insisting on validating/dissing, condemnation of the esteemed/reviled Facebook website, and mention of a lovely husband of a truly lovely, loving woman (whom she richly deserves, btw) and, and, and ...

You are SO back on my radar and SO warmly welcomed.

Having you "back" is almost like being at a good party enjoying yourself a lot, and then someone you really love and haven't seen for a while arrives unannounced; then the party becomes splendid and warm and lovely beyond what you had hoped or expected. You are that person, RD.

Welcome home, you big ol' grumpy, warm bear of a man. I've got a feeling that you are finally getting a tiny glimpse of how lovable/attractive you are AND additionally, how much you were missed here on LT.

Gosh, it's good to see you.

Woofie

One hundred eleven of seventy-five:

Earth Under Fire: Humanity's Survival of the Ice Age by Paul Laviolette

Pseudoscience. Fun, interesting ideas, but pseudoscience. I mean, really, can one be expected not to bust a gut laughing at someone seriously proposing a previously unknown particle called an "etheron"?

Still and all, the idea of passing information down through the ages encoded in stories is a good one. I feel there's a flaw in this book's argument about Western Astrology containing 10,000-year-old info because Western Astrology as known today ain't been around no 10,000 years. I also have a kick with the author's 20 billion year timeclock...the Universe isn't that old.

But hell, I was inspired to go look up the data we possess on many of the author's claims, and so feel a lot better educated than I would otherwise.

It's not that I believe modern science is always right, either. It's just that I don't think one should go after modern science using its own methods and means when you can't back up what you're saying using those same methods and means.

Recommended? No. Scientists warned away with vigor, as I fear for your blood pressure should you read this book. Spiritual seekers should read the book cautioned to assume the science is bad, but the idea of generational transfer of information bears very serious consideration and quite a lot of rigorous thought-experimentation. There seems to me something worthwhile in thinking this subject through more carefully and more objectively than this author has done.

Prose unexciting, though not soporific. Well, not that soporific. Nap, not REM-sleep, inducing.

#128: OK, skipping that one. I hope your next read is better for you, Richard!

One hundred twelve of seventy-five:

Choosers of the Slain by James H. Cobb

One of our own LTers sent this to me as a birthday gift. I read any book I review twice before I review it, and the re-read of this book kept getting put off. Well, folks, it's not because I didn't want to re-read it...it's because I need my beauty sleep (quite urgently, in fact) and that won't be happenin' while I'm reading this book.

It's exciting. It's very exciting. It's vividly written, and it's tautly paced, and it's just plain good fun to read.

Frank the Fireman had a fight with his wife, so he spent a few nights here. He was unused to the idea of reading in bed, since he's not much of a reader and his wife's never voluntarily picked up a book. So I crawl into bed, find the few square inches where he and the dog aren't, and start reading. An hour passes. flip*flip*flip Up pops Frank's head..."turn out the light, I can't get to sleep"...tough noogies, boyo, you're the one who needs to crash elsewhere and there are other beds in the house if you can't sleep.

He was pretty grumpy until I started telling him the story of "Choosers." I got him up to speed, then started reading page 81 (Eighty Miles East of Peninsula Valdes) to him. We finished the book this evening. He's snoring now, but it was a half-hour before he stopped chattering excitedly about the ending and how awesome (his word) the whole book had been.

Another convert to reading, possibly, and courtesy of a genre that gets very little respect...the military thriller. I admire Cobb's ability to give urgency even to techno-jargon that ordinarily puts me off. I think the way the man paced his book is flat-out excellent, and if any accolade can convince the skeptical to read a particular book, how's this: "This is such an awesome story! Are there more like it?"

Wherever Mr. Cobb is, I hope his buttons are popping off from pride in a job well done. As for the jaded sixty-books-a-day readers around here *cough*StasiaKath*cough*, well...put on the clear lenses of the inexperienced and see a genre perhaps not your favorite with really fresh eyes. Recommended to all but the most technophobic.

#130: I am going to be reading the rest of the series next year. I will let you know *cough*Richard*cough* how it is!

Must I read book I and II before reading Choosers of the Slain by James H. Cobb?

#133: Linda, Choosers of the Slain (aka Sea Strike) is the first book in the series.

One hundred thirteen of seventy-five:

Good Morning, Midnight by Jean Rhys

I am not a woman. I think one needs to be a woman to appreciate Jean Rhys. I think one needs to be a Lifetime/WE/Oxygen viewer to appreciate Jean Rhys.

Sophia is a fallen woman returning to the scene of the crimes she committed in her youth. Paris being the venue. The details are too tedious to go into here, but suffice it to say that this dimwitted tree-sloth of a souse is almost, but not quite, as much fun to hang around with as a tranquilized heifer.

I hated the book, from its vintage-1970 jacket (uuugh) to its cigarette-scented pages, many of which the last person to check the book out of the liberry (in 1983) was kind enough to sprinkle with hair and dandruff which landed on my chest as I turned them (I almost retched), and then on to its self-pitying, cloying, oh-shut-UP narrative of the nothing that happens to the narratrix.

I didn't like Wide Sargasso Sea, either. I'm putttin' Jean Rhys in the bin. No more.

#135: I have Wide Sargasso Sea here to read and hope I like it more than you did, RD. Maybe being a woman helps? I am not a Lifetime/WE/Oxygen viewer by any means though.

What is WE anyway?

Uh oh.... I have Good Morning, Midnight somewhere in my TBR stacks and this review does not bode well for it being moved up the ranks. I'll give it a shot anyway ... just incase. Especially since I remember you not liking The Guernsey book while I did.

NOT to mention Hummingbirds Daughter!

( oops...mentioned it!)

hmm I have to read Wide Sargasso Sea for a lit class. I hope I'll like it better than you did. Thankfully, it's short. I want to read Jane Eyre first though maybe then it will make more sense (one of the classics I've been avoiding for who knows what prejudice of mine)

#135: Ick.

I read Wide Sargasso Sea and liked the creativity of looking at the cad Rochester and sheding a light on crazy Bertha in the attic. But, there were parts of the book that I thought were way too weird.

Richard, I laughed right out loud at your wonderful funny comments! You are a gem!

Admitted, Jean Rhys is a "Acquired Taste"...and once acquired, to be indulged in small sips....over-wrought, anyone? But i liked Wide Sargasso Sea as a flip side to Jane Eyre...and sometimes over-wrought is good!

I think one needs to be a woman to appreciate Jean Rhys. No thank you, we don't want her. Or at least I don't. I read Wide Sargasso Sea a couple years ago and absolutely hated it. It was the first "Bronte revision" I had ever read, and it was a huge turn off. It may actually be more appealing to someone who hasn't read (or just didn't like) Jane Eyre, but I'll stick with the story Miss C.B. had to tell, thank you.

never read her, but I like her name :)

One hundred fourteen of seventy-five:

Islands of Instability by M.C. Miller

I'm on record as a thriller reader by choice. I choose these entertainments carefully, because a bad thriller is a worse read than a bad example of almost every other genre. This thriller was an LT Member Giveaway, as it was self-published by the author.

I liked it very much. I'd even go out and buy one. It's nicely written, plausibly plotted, tautly paced, and--for a wonder--actually edited! Most amateur writer/self-publishers don't pay enough attention to the role of an editor in the creation of a good novel. Mr. Miller did. He got good advice, I can see, because the plot holes are few and far between, but also because the thread of a book, the argument it makes about the world, is so consistent.

The settings...Asia's Muslim parts, different bits of China for the most part...are hot spots in the world, so it makes a lot of sense to set a thriller there. It's nice, and fairly unexpected, to see that the politics of the region are thought through and the conclusions the author posits are well supported by the information presented in the book itself.

The main character, Cole Taylor, is well enough drawn to make me suspect that a series is planned. If so, that's a darn good thing. Off-the-shelf woman heroes as written by men are no more interesting than their off-the-shelf male counterparts. Cole is a woman I could enjoy following around.

I expect that Miller will grow as a writer, blowing past the inevitable infelicities of style and occasional lapses of imagination that *every* writer needs to work out and shake off. That there were as few as exist in Islands of Instability is another reason I hope more self-published writers will hire Miller's editor, whoever s/he may be!

Recommended for Christmas giving to thriller readers who are getting jaded, for those interested in China's increasing economic and political and military ascendency, and for adventurous lady readers who want a flawed, real heroine to enjoy.

#145: As I count myself among thriller readers, it sounds like I have something to look forward to in Islands of Instability. Thanks for the recommendation, Richard. Thumbs up for the review, too!

Another one to toss on the teetering pile..thanks alot...and i enjoy Thrillers...if they actually Thrill..a strong Female lead doesn't hurt...either

;-}

A very nice review, Richard. Definitely one for my shelves. I haven't read a really really good thriller in a while. I've certainly had my fair share of ho-hum thrillers this year, and bad thrillers just irritate and send me into a deep grump.

I read Wide Sargasso Sea and really enjoyed it. I saw it more as being inspired by Jane Eyre rather than as some form of rewrite. It was truly bizarre, but kind of interesting in that crazed, life-in-the-tropics sort of way. Very melodramatic, though. However, reading Richard's review makes me absolutely not want to read Good Morning, Midnight. Too bad, too, because the title is certainly engaging. However, a title doesn't make for a good read, unfortunately, so thanks for the heads up, Richard.

Hoping you had a great Kringlemas - and that the visitors were not too annoying;) Missing you - see you on the threads as life gets back to normal!

:) * waves* * waits for pics to appear*

One hundred fiifteen of seventy-five:

The Blithedale Romance by Nathaniel Hawthorne

I read this as part of the RL book circle's festivities. I can't really say I enjoyed it, though I admired it. I thiink I learned a lot from it...for example, there is no new idea anywhere under the sun. Hawthorne (really? no touchstone for Hawthorne?!) wrote of such familiar characters to any modern reader, the creepy pseudo-spiritual control freak, the conflicted feminist, the wishy-washy eternal follower, that it really feels like the book could have been written yesterday.

In the author's preface to the book, he is even very careful to state that he is NOT modeling the characters in the book, nor the community that they inhabit, after his own experiences and the people he knew while living in a Utopian community much like the fictional Blithedale of the title. He goes so far as to say he hopes other specific members of Brook Farm, the real-life communiity Hawthorne lived in during 1841-1842, will write the definitive books about it. Ha. He's already done it. And I venture to say, though without any personal experience to back it up, the definitive history of many another Utopia.

I find the American aversion to all things Socialist very curious. Hawthorne defends himself against as-yet-unleveled accusations of beig an apologist for Socialism in choosing to write about Brook Farm at all. It existed from 1841-1847, and it had as little impact on American culture as the other "Socialist" Utopias before it and after it did. What precisely does America's vast majority fear? The possibility that others could be helped in some way? What is this reactionary terror of social justice about?

Well, it seems that Hawthorne wondered the same thing. He put it inside the struggles of the characters to get their needs met. Conformism is rewarded for flirting with radical thought and then returning to it by gaining a lot of money, access to a comfortable life, and an aura of sanctity that is almost palpable. Americans fear the alternative...shunning and criticism and poverty...so they see the radical and just readjustment of society's power (aka money) as a threat instead of a basic benefit. Hawthorne isn't on board with this, it becomes obvious, though he plays by the rules of his time. It's an interesting thought experiment to imagine what a Hawthorne born in 1904 would have done with this story.

I don't think I'd recommend the book to anyone not already accustomed to nineteenth-century writing. It's not the equal of The Scarlet Letter, so it doesn't transcend its era as effortlessly. But for the initiate, this is some excellent storytelling.

I'm hoping you had a great holiday!

#152: Nice review, Richard. I will have to re-read that one some time soon.

Thaks for the holiday wishes, all, and indeed we had a lovely time. Auntie's birthday on the 23rd (91!), Christmas Eve tradition of fish dinner, and Christmas Day tradition of prime rib with popovers all ate well. We had (gasp!) houseguests, and day-trippers from the City, and small-but-thoughtful gifts for each other which the three of us exchanged almost furtively so as not to awaken the "oh but we didn't bring anything for you" monster.

It was very relaxed and very relaxing compared to last year's peripatetic hither then thither then yon drive-fest. The cooking went smoothly, the eating was done with appropriate appreciative noises, the drinking was world-class thanks to one guest's surreptitious gift of a bottle of really good Scotch to The Divine Miss.

Since I was able to quash The Divine Miss's exuberant desire to inivite a Thanksgiving-sized crush of people, which I can enjoy only once a year, each party was for ten. That's a really comfortable crowd size for me. I can make dinner for ten in no time at all, and enjoy the process, and then enjoy chatting with the guests because I don't have to holler over the crowd noise. Of course The Divine Miss did her fair share of the cooking, and far more than her fair share of the clean-up, and looked fabulous doing it all. It added greatly to my pleasure in the events to see her enjoying herself thoroughly.

Shaan, a dear friend of ours for years now, came to stay for three days with her wonderful man Matt. They took pictures of Stella and also a few of a snow-being that I shan't describe, of Matt's creation, which I will post here as soon as Shaan sends them to me.

I hope all my threadies had equally lovely times, and that the return of the light will bring us all well-filled hearts and well-warmed souls.

One hundred sixteen of seventy-five:

The Lost Art of Gratitude by Alexander McCall Smith

After all, what can one say about life that hasn't been said before? Jamie, Isabel, Grace, the aptly named Cat, and young Charlie are here presented for our quiet pleasure, going about their lives and moving through their entirely real world. The characters are deeply enmeshed in the pleasure centers of a certain type of reader, the one who smiles fondly at Ellen Glasgow or Elizabeth Goudge books when they emerge, raining the slight wisps of dust that neglect engenders, from a long shelf-slumber. McCall Smith manages to bring these characters to modern life, Trollopean in his expansion of the core characters's world but maintaining a caring and kindly focus on them.

I wish more people could achieve the feat of getting novel cycles like this published. It's not that there is anything that will win a Nobel contained in these pages, but rather that every page of them affords the voyeuristic pleasures that reading always does, but without the slightly unsavory prurience that so often seems obligatory in current sex-drugs-violence potboilers.

I expect, one day soon, to visit Edinburgh and see Isabel's "green Swedish car" tootle by me as I stand at a zebra crossing, Charlie in his carseat and Jamie animatedly making a point to a composedly driving Isabel, as I wait to cross the Royal Mile. I can think of no more precious compliment to give to Alexader McCall Smith than that.

Glad you had a great holiday Richard. My daughter, son-in-law and three grandchildren left five minutes ago. The house is blissfully quiet, but I do miss them.

Sounds lovely rdear...mine was good too... and continues.. today is Cory's birthday, tomorrow is Kim's ( niece) the 30 is her husbands.. he was my friend before he was her hubby.. and then the neplet Oliver.. his uncle , dad and great grandpa.. ( my sisters husband son and my stepdad) will al occur before the 12th..

sigh

Kath...It is nice of you to remember the birthdays of so many people! Of course, I'm not surprised! You are such a kind, sweet person.

Richard...You have yet another hot review! Congratulations to you!

Well, they are family... and so...

Linda.. I have lost your thread, can you put a link to it in my thread if you can find it?

rdear is suh a hootie! I mean Hottie!

Congratulations on the Hot Hootie Review, richard. Glad you had a nice Christmas and I'm sorry I didn't get a chance to stop over for a spell. It's been a manic holiday weekend for me, and I was just so rushed off my feet, it didn't even really feel like Christmas this year.

Oh well ... I'll just read your post again, and pretend that I was there, in your very relaxed environment.

My goodness! That little nothing-much got a hot review! I'm flattered.

Cameling, we'd've loved to have you. It was calm, cool, and collected around here for a wonder! I love the easy ones, though I confess I was scared the whole time lest the house ignite or the car explode or something, just to make sure Chaos got her innings.

Linda, Kath, how lovely to see yinz!

One hundred seventeen of seventy-five:

Stories in Stone: Travels Through Urban Geology by David B. Williams

I like pop science books a lot. I enjoy learning about things I've either avoided in the past or simply never thought thing one about. This subject is one of the latter.

Williams has an extra-interesting (to me) chapter on brownstone(s)...as I'm a few miles from Brooklyn, and a former resident of a brownstone-clad building in Manhattan, I've seen a lot of stuff about them. I've noticed, for example, a fact that Williams explores at some length...the rotten condition of a lot of brownstone facades...and always thought, "whatinaheck made people use this stuff?! It's ugly and it's fragile!" Well, Mr. Williams goes into the bad-condition part (cheap construction) and even comments on the changes that took place in attitudes towards the stone. Originally the brownstone wasn't thought highly of by the cognoscenti of the day, being drab and uniform and inidicative of a certain bourgeois striving that the haut ton has always smirkingly dismissed. Then it came to be seen as charming, for some damn reason, and now it seems that we're heading back into condescenscion. Fashion...plus ca change....

Granite, my personal favorite stone, gets a lot of play in this book, and I learned a great deal about its genesis and its manifold strengths. I lived in a part of Texas that is a big ol' granite shelf with dead coral reefs atop it (the Hill Country), whence cometh a lovely pink granite.

I think books like this offer a very useful meditation on the world around us. A built environment is every bit as complex and interesting and worthy of quiet contemplation as a natural environment is, and too few people afford the built environment more than a disparaging glance. It's foolish to think that a state of nature has more inherent interest than humanity's considered labors. Why should we humans dismiss the fruits of our labors? Why not appreciate both for their different strengths?

I don't think Williams exactly meant to bring this idea to the fore, but it's the first thing that sprang to my mind. I'd recommend the book more highly, but the author isn't a prose stylist of any great note. He's solid and informative and able to convey a sense of his pleasure in the stones we build our life-caves from, but his words take flight exactly never and I see that as a demerit. I'd like for people who *don't* like science to read the book. It's worth your while because you'll get a small sense of what science does...explain the universe to us in useful and interesting ways.

#163: I am going to look for that one despite your reservations, since I do like science a lot (actually I like a lot of things a lot, lol). Thanks for the review, Richard.

Richard, you are back!! Hugs and kisses. Missed you so much.

Hmm. I gave your review a thumbs up, but forgot to mention that I enjoyed your review, especially the paragraph about brownstones. I'd love to live in a brownstone in Brooklyn, especially in Boerum Hill, Prospect Park or Park Slope.

wow......fascinating... both the information and that you were so invested in it.
Must put this on the maybe list....

I was just in a brownstone in Harlem a week ago and it made me hum Sesame Street theme and songs for the whole day. Granted, my friend's house was gutted on the inside after he bought it, but he kept the facade which does look very charming.

Excellent review, Richard. This will go on my list.

Hi guys! Welcome to one and all. I just got off the phone with Ruthie/womansheart and am glad to report she's in good spirits if not physically tip-top. We are heading for a real solution to her ailment, though, and she is optimistic about this being finnally the end of the pain she's endured for so long.

We also discussed an interesting fact: Tomorrow, New Year's Eve, is a Blue Moon...the second full moon within a month. Something special should be happening, don't y'all think? I say let's get a powerful group of prayers going up tomorrow for the Blue New Year and see if we can't build us a prettier 2010!!

Who's with us?

Count me in!!

>171 Whisper1: Linda, you have done the unimaginable...I, the curmudgeonly crusty alte kacker who sternly bans GIFs from his threads due to their yechhhiness, LIKE that GIF! It's adorable, leave it up!

#170: I am in, too!

Happy New Year, my friend! See you on the other side!

count me in for strong energy, my friend..

>170 richardderus:: I'm with you as well. Ruth is one of the dearest people on LT. I'm so glad she has you for a special friend, Richard.

I just happened to stumble over here this morning to find news of Ruth. I'm also sending positive thoughts and warm wishes to her along with a prayer for a full and speedy recovery. Thank you so much for the info, Richard.

And that is a lovely GIF Linda.

Richard Dear and lovely and assorted other dear friends (Linda, Stasia,Mark, Kath, Donna, Bonnie, 'Berly, Bonnie in Seattle, Jude, Brent, Caroline ... all of you great men and women, et.al.) hanging out here on this excellent cyber-planet of our creation aka LibraryThing.

Let's enjoy our "once in a blue moon" adventure together by continuing into the new year with enthusiasm and glee. We can top 2009, I believe, though it has been absolutely wonderful, and a year of building and strengthening community and friendships for each one of us. Something very special HAS happened here in our LT Community and what a terrific way to celebrate and say goodbye to 2009 and a great big welcome to 2010, and a year of fabulous reading, laughing and dear friendships continuing and deepening.

Sometime/anytime really that works during the day, at the best and truly good relaxed time for each one of us, let's raise our cups filled with a love of life to ourselves and each and every one of us. We have done well. Let's continue the tradition of respect and caring as well as the interest and excitement in the books that we find and share with each other.

Happy New Year, Richard Dear, and all beloveds and may it also be safe and healthy, too.

With love,

Woofie, the Victorious

There's absolutely nothing I can say to top the beautiful and eloquent note that Ruth just posted.

I've had a marvelous year getting to know many delightful individuals in the LT community and I am looking forward to another year in your special company.

I'm definitely in for tonight's blue moon gathering of positive energy and prayers for good health, peace, love and a better year ahead for all.

Peace, love and good will all coming your way from me St. Richard. I love you and wish you the best in 2010.
big new year hug,
belva

LAST REVIEW of 2009!

One hundred eighteen of seventy-five:

The Gilded Dinosaur: The Fossil War Between E.D. Cope and O.C. Marsh and the Rise of American Science by Mark Jaffe

Fitting way to end the year in reviews, no? Talking about fossils, by a fossil, referring to a fossil medium.

Ah, science. You successor to religion as a means of explaining everyday life's many and various mysteries. You pretender to the Throne of God in your assertions of omniscience and omnipotence. You silly, arrogant adolescent brat! I love you no matter what, just like I do my kid.

Science in the 1840s, when this book begins to trace its protagonists's courses through life in earnest, had fewer stagnant backwaters more rank and turgid than our own USA. Germany, France, England! The Big Three! The Commanders of the Heights looked down on us rude mechanicals in the all-too-recently Colonies and viewed Harvard and Yale and Princeton much as we today view community colleges: They serve a purpose, one supposes, but one would never allow one's daughter to marry a "graduate" of same.

So how, with such a richly deserved international rep as a scientific backwater, did the USA emerge as one of the preeminent scientific powers? In fairly large part because of the fight between Cope and Marsh, each determined to describe and name and claim credit for discovering the most, the biggest, the earliest, the crucial fossil, preferably of a dinosaur but in a pinch of a Pleistocene mammal, or a bird, or even a fish. FIRST counted MOST because of the convention that the first guy gets to name the discovery, and that's a huge---HUGE---deal because ever afterwards (well, almost ever afterwards, the exceptions needn't concern us here) your name is It.

Cope was a Quaker, with the seemingly universal Quaker trait of reserve. He was a married man, possessed of a deeply beloved wife and adored daughter. He was well-off, from a well-off family and never thought of himself as an outsider. He, naturally, was the underdog in every fight with Marsh because of this.

Marsh was a poor lad from a poor family, never married and no close ties to his birth family, though he (crucially for his ambitions) had a super-rich Uncle Peabody who funded his fossil fetish. He was hail-fellow-well-met, he never failed to browbeat, overawe or cow those he needed to accomplish his ends, or suck up to those whose ends he could serve while doing himself the maximum good. In short, a politician, and a surprisingly good one, given that his emotional constitution was both jealous and iniflexible. I think that, had I ever met Othniel (he hated that name!), I would have LOATHED him and attempted to belt him in the chops on G.P.s.

Cope, milder of manner but completely ruthless in his pursuit of fossils, was also the more prolific publisher of papers. He won many a battle in the Fossil Wars simply by being first on the field, though very often with the wrong information or with the right information wrongly interpreted. Famously, he assembled a pleisiosaur's skeleton with the head on the tail! And it was exhibited in the principal scientific museum of the day that way! And Marsh corrected him, publicly! Juicy stuff, and stuff that Jaffe makes excellent use of in his well-paced text.

The role of human nature's failings in the progress of the world is not an unexplored subject. It's evergreen, though, in its interest to us, and rightly so. Without Cope and Marsh's Fossil Wars, would we possess an interational scientific reputation today (albeit a steadily eroding one)? Yes, of course, it was inevitable that a huge, increasingly rich country like the USA was in the 19th century would come to the forefront. It was a matter of survival, really, since without scientific advance there is unlikely to be technological advance. But the Fossil Wars added so much to the world's store of knowledge that they were instrumental in affording American scientists something almost beyond price: Prestige. The burnished glow of merited repute. It's a huge gift these men gave to posterity, and one we've squandered most foolishly in recent times.

Anyway, I think this is the perfect end-of-year book because it's such a fun read, because it's a fascinating subject, and because, to a few important people, it's a reminder that a nation that fails to move forward is sliding backward. We're in danger of doing that again. In fact, I argue that we're already 10 years behind. The superconducting supercollider; the American absence from space; the abysmal condition of science education among our youth. It's a worrisome return to the status quo antebellum. I can only hope that the end of the Aughties means the end of the conservative, nay-saying, how-dare-we anti-science league's power.

Recommended. Really, truly good stuff here.

Oh cool! Some high-powered prayin' goin' on tonight, I see!

BELVA!! THERE YOU ARE!!

And now it's time to bid a fond farewell to this thread. I am so deeply flattered that y'all come here and read my reviews, chat with me or without me, and generally brighten my--and your--days by being the interesting, funny, appreciative, and appreciated people that y'all are.

Thanks. From the bottom of my heart, thanks. It's good to know each of you.

Another good review Richard!

Also dropped by to wish you a Happy New Year;-)

*applause*

Bravo, Richard! What a fabulous review, and I couldn't agree with you more in your assessment of the current state of American science in your last paragraph. I'm definitely adding this to my wish list.

>184 calm: Hey calm! Hippo gnu Jar-Jar two ewes, too!

>185 kidzdoc: Darryl, my goodness! How flattering! Go forth and proselytize, good doctor, or science will fall behind even farther! After all, a pediatrician should possess a perfect "in" to brainwash...I mean persuade!...those of tender years to appreciate and pursue scientific study!

*snort* I wish I believed myself....

You overestimate my skills of persuasion, sir. I have a hard enough time getting the wee ones to open their mouths to let me examine their tonsils. :-)

LOL

Yeah, well, ain't that the curse of adulthood...knowing what's good for 'em and not being able to enforce it on 'em.

Besides, one never knows what seeds one plants simply by being there. I have a nephew who, a few months ago, emailed me the "news" that he's gay (no! really? *chuckle*) and that the reason it's so not-a-big-deal for him in his life is that he saw that it wasn't a big deal in mine all his life.

I do not think his father is thanking me, though.

before everything goes to Hell..here is my offering

i know you hate these Gizmos....tough..i like this one..for you & your Honey of choice..your family (that you speak to)....you have been a good LT friend to me..i appreciate:


glitter-graphics.com

Love you right back, Jude! *huggings*

And now, for all four of y'all on LT who sent this to me, I post it here (without embeds) as my thanks and profound gratitude for saying this to me. Back at'cha, and to everyone who hasn't seen it, I am grateful and happy to have met each of you!

Subject: Please send back. ( I did ) It's neat. Don't delete this one, you'll laugh when you see the return message.




I would never trade my amazing friends, my wonderful life, my loving family for less gray hair or a flatter belly. As I've aged, I've become kinder to myself, and less critical of myself. I've become my own friend. I don't chide myself for eating that extra cookie, or for not making my bed, or for buying that silly cement gecko that I didn't need, but looks so avante garde on my patio. I am entitled to a treat, to be messy, to be extravagant.

I have seen too many dear friends leave this world too soon; before they understood the great freedom that comes with aging.

Whose business is it if I choose to read or play on the computer until 4 AM and sleep until noon? I will dance with myself to those wonderful tunes of the 60 &70's, and if I, at the same time, wish to weep over a lost love ... I will.



I will walk the beach in a swim suit that is stretched over a bulging body, and will dive into the waves with abandon if I choose to, despite the pitying glances from the jet set.

They, too, will get old.
I know I am sometimes forgetful. But there again, some of life is just as well forgotten. And I eventually remember the important things.

Sure, over the years my heart has been broken. How can your heart not break when you lose a loved one, or when a child suffers, or even when somebody's beloved pet gets hit by a car? But broken hearts are what give us strength and understanding and compassion. A heart never broken is pristine and sterile and will never know the joy of being imperfect.



I am so blessed to have lived long enough to have my hair turning gray, and to have my youthful laughs be forever etched into deep grooves on my face.
So many have never laughed, and so many have died before their hair could turn silver.



As you get older, it is easier to be positive. You care less about what other people think. I don't question myself anymore.
I've even earned the right to be wrong.

So, to answer your question, I like being old. It has set me free. I like the person I have become. I am not going to live forever,
but while I am still here, I will not waste time lamenting what could have been, or worrying about what will be. And I shall eat dessert every single day(if I feel like it).

MAY OUR FRIENDSHIP NEVER COME APART ESPECIALLY WHEN IT'S STRAIGHT FROM THE HEART!

Yeah, Richard..i read "the above"...and i think you have it nailed...but i have held the same opinions since i was in my 20s..like, "nobody is gonna tell me how i deal with LIFE"

oh hell Richard...you are my Friend...no Explanation necessary

;-}

Richard--I raise my glass in toast to you and say a hearty Cheers! You have been a great source of delight for me this year and I look forward to sharing 2010 with you. A pleasure to have met you. With love and laughter, berlykins.

Thanks for posting that, a friend commented on my grey hairs recently and actually made it into a compliment;-)

Also - Thanks for being you and making the world a better place.

Amen to your wonderful message Richard!

Happy, Happy New Year to All!

Hugs and cheers all the way around.

Man, I got misty-eyed reading all these wonderful messages, starting with my good friend Ruthie! What a great bunch of folks! Who would have ever guessed we would have gained such a special 2nd family! Truly blessed! Happy New Year, guys!!

See you next year, Richard Dear.

With love, Woofie

It's been such a wonderful experience building new friendships here and I feel I've know you all for years. Happy New Year all, and a great big lovey hug from me to all of you.

Richard, it has been a pleasure hanging out with you here this year! Your last book sounds fascinating and a great way to end 2009. See you on the other side tomorrow!!

Happy New Year, Richard! Thank you so much for extending your circle of friends to include me.

A Happy New Year to Richard and all of you. Being on LT has been a mindexpanding experience.

Ruthie, prayers and good thoughts are coming your way from Alabama.

Richard, I must tell you that your reviews and comments have given me much pleasure, lots of laughter and food for thought.

Looking forward to good 2010.