richardderus reviews 75 NEW and 25 OLD books--2010, #1

I'm in the Books Off the Shelf group, too, so I will review 25 books that've sat on my shelves since who-whipped-the-cat and also 75 new books...published no earlier than 2008...this year.

Last year I wrote 118 reviews, so go to my eighth 2009 75-Books thread and follow its links back to see what happened there.

12 Jan 10 UPDATE: I now have a Homeless Reviews thread in Club Read 2010. I've set a completely arbitrary goal of 50 books to review that I don't own, and were published before 2008, so they don't fit anywhere else.

FOR THOSE JUST TUNING IN: I don't practice book reporting in my reviews. I see the purpose of my review of a book as describing what I *felt* and *thought* and why I think you *should* (or shouldn't, though that's rare with me; why review a book I didn't like unless there's a compelling reason?) read it. I don't know the readers of my reviews personally, for the most part, so I don't have any way to gauge whether you'll agree or disagree with me. It's always perfectly fine with me either way, and I invite comments from all.










Books are reviewed in post number:

3. The Devil's Company...#177

2. Shooting An Albatross...#147

1. Everything Ravaged, Everything Burned...#57

Found and starred**

Have fun reading;)

Welcome back!

Glad to see you back with us again, Richard. The place is just not the same without you.

Glad you are back Richard.

I am thinking about the 'off the shelves' too, because I have so many 'older' ones and yet keep buying new.

Still have a bit of time to decide.

Richard - what did I miss? A group for Books off the Shelves---or is that just an expression you're all using for clearing out the TBR pile?

#6 - I'm answering for Richard - it's a group here on LT. Come join us!

Thaks, Luxx! I posted that to tutu's profile a while ago, but it's efficient and thoughtful of you to put it here too. I'd say it's about the best idea for a group since the 75-Books Challenge itself.

I agree! It's been a nice push already, and I'm rediscovering some great books hidden on my shelves.

ETA: Sorry to clutter your thread

No, no, dearest! Clutter is unwanted (like glittergraphics, ugh)...your post was a) informative b) helpful and c) in keeping with the 75 group's zeitgeist of "who has, shares" that makes this forum such a terrific place to hang.

OMIGOSH I am already schvitzing about finding people's threads in the 2010 group and I can't even SEE anymore from the stress!

If I haven't posted in your thread, and you want me there, post a link!

Starred!

You HAVE posted in my thread, and it just made me happy all over. I feel important now. : )

woohoo - Richard posted in my thread!! Pleased to see you there ;)

I spent a couple of hours doing that the other day. And then all I could think about was having to go back and check every few days to make sure I got everyone that had not signed up earlier.

Come Christmas I'll post a picture of my Texas Sheet Cake just for you. ;)

*waves* Hi, Richard!

Hey Richard! Got you starred!! Miss hearing from you!

#13: Richard complained on my thread, so I guess I should feel important, too :)

Starred.

*lights a fire and plumps some pillows......then breaks out the Bailey's for hot chocolate. * All is now right with the world.

Yum on the Bailey's, but I just had me a blast from the past. I found that our local Stop'n'Shtup carries Manhattan Special Espresso soda and I, being the coffee drinkers' coffee driniker, hadda have a big bottle. I make ice cream floats with it...vanilla ice cream, some Kahlua, a big splodge of espresso soda, ooo aaa

ooo aaa indeed... sounds yummy, and mysterious

This stuff is deVOON, dearest, you should certainly see about getting some soon. I found out about it from the party of the second part to my final engagement. The victim kept it in her fridge at all times, and I think I drank a case in the year we were engaged.

I suspect it might be hard to come by in my teeny neck of the woods. Might have a look at Amazon..

( see, even misguided engagements can sometimes have positive results. )

...timidly pipes up...
Hi Richard,
Long time lurker...first time commenter.
I've been reading your threads for a while. We like some of the same mysteries. Your reviews are great. Oh, and did I mention I'm allergic to cats??? (However, unlike you, I really like cats - at least the friendly ones. I wish I wasn't allergic.)

Angela

Here's my thread for 2010:
http://www.librarything.com/topic/79657

Starred. Looking forward to see what you're reading next year. :)

You've been starred.

Starred, likewise....

*waves frantically* How do you get 2 ticker tapes on your thread, Richard? I tried adding a second, and it seems to overwrite the first so I still only end up with the 1.

I had to actually close the browser and start over to get a second one to work.

Richard - I have been a serious silent lurker on your thread 2009 - so will see if I be a bit more verbal this year. Starred you, of course! (who hasn't?)

Hi Richard....I'm going to try to emerge from Lurker Jungle also.

Ditto!

Starred!

Hey Richard! I've got you starred for 2010.

If everyone stops lurking....
There will be way too many messages to read!

Anita, I worry about that, too...it's not even the 31st and I have 38 messages in the thread! *gulp*

Ah well, I appreciate each of y'all's contributions to the fun that I have here every time I open the site. *happy sigh*

>31 cameling: cameling poopsiekins, see your PMs.

Books Off the Shelf, huh? That would be a good motivator for me--thanks for the link, and good luck in your reading and reviewing this year. :)

I signed up for the Books off the Shelf challenge myself. Trying to read or re-read 25 old (more than a year) that I don't have reviews up for yet. I forgot I had a few of these gems.

I expect the "Books off the Shelf" group to be a motivator for me, too, since the shelves are positively groaning under the books I've already got.

I need to move many of these along to their new homes. Sitting untouched and unread for a decade is no life for a book.

I just ordered more books.... including Sophie's World: A Novel About the History of Philosophy (FSG Classics)by Jostein Gaarder, and two others by this author...
they are destined for the groaning shelves at my house if I don't do something about my computer habits soon...

There are so many there already, and yet...
I will have to start adding the latest arrivals after the boys leave...

So far I only challenged myself to one off the shelf a month, .. sad state of affairs..

#42 I ditto your thoughts Richard. My books are screaming read us and set us free already!!

#43 I'll be stopping by Borders today to check out their 75% off sale with gift card in hand.

the better to find you my dearr

I've gotten this from four LTers yesterday and today. I don't want to perpetuate the email-inbox cluttering of the past, so I post it here with my profoundest thanks to each who has sent it to me, and right back at'cha.

If the embeds don't come through, it's no huge loss...it's the words that are so very true and so very cool.

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!

Beautiful words from a beautiful soul, Richard! Thanks for sharing!

Amen Richard.

Sweetikins... you are the life and soul of the LT party...love ya!

{{{rd}}}

Nice thoughts to carry us into the new year.

Happy New Year Richard and what a way to start - not one but two hot reviews! Looking forward to many more in 2010.

Happy New Year! :)

Good grief sir! two?!?!?

congrats :)

For a wonder, they're both reviews I'm proud of! I liked the books, obviously, but it's nice to see reviews I enjoyed writing get hot status.

Today will review Everything Ravaged, Everything Burned as the official first review of 2010.

Richard- Happy New Year! Looking forward to your thoughts on Everything Ravaged, Everything Burned. I read it last June and was quite impressed. Edgy stuff!

Review: 1 of 75

Title: EVERYTHING RAVAGED, EVERYTHING BURNED

Author: WELLS TOWER

Rating: **** (four of five stars)

FOR THOSE JUST TUNING IN: I don't practice book reporting in my reviews. I see the purpose of my review of a book as describing what I *felt* and *thought* and why I think you *should* (or shouldn't, though that's rare with me; why review a book I didn't like unless there's a compelling reason?) read it. I don't know the readers of my reviews personally, for the most part, so I don't have any way to gauge whether you'll agree or disagree with me. It's always perfectly fine with me either way, and I invite comments from all.

If this is the beginning of a career, it's hella fine and bodes so well for the rest of his earthly time that I am thrilled and grateful he decided to write.

The nine stories in the collection are the products of much careful observation, writing, and re-writing, and that shows in their craftsmanship. There are very few infelicities of style on display here. But what doesn't show, what's invisible to the naked eye, is the muse-touch that brought Wells Tower to our shelves. He's not a writer made, he's a writer born. How dare I assess a stranger's character? I dare because there are only a few times in life when the hairs on one's neck stand up and the palms of one's hands moisten when someone not right there *feels* like they are.

Tower is a star. He writes beautifully. He imagines fully the characters he presents to us. These are craftsmanly things, things I can teach someone to do. What I can't teach someone to do is to see so deeply into the reality of another's life. That makes Tower very unusual.

In every story in this collection, there is something unexpected. The last story, set in Viking times, is a complete departure from the present-day fringes-of-society settings of all the others...but only at first glance. The characters in Tower's fiction are all men looking for meaning in all the socially sanctioned places and not finding it. I can't think of a more evergreen plot off hand. But these men all have one thing in common that isn't superficial. They are all wounded from within by anger.

An angry Viking...yeah, so? The Viking in question, however, is wounded by the anger he feels at change, at the world daring to shift him into a new place. Like the other Tower men, modern men, he feels cut off from his source of meaning and connection. I don't think this is anachronistic, because I think that's been a human experience since scientific-Adam fathered the first huge batch of modern human males.

Why read about angry men, I hear the ladies murmur, we see 'em all the time...yes, I know, but ask yourself this: Why is anger so male an emotion? Why are men so ticked all the time? Turn to fiction for your answers. Betrayal of the trust a man reposes in others is a biiig one ("The Brown Coast", "Wild America", "On the Show"), or the inability of humans to cope with change ("Everything Ravaged, Everything Burned", "Door in Your Eye", "Executors of Important Energies")...in short, the same things that make women angry, right?

Not exactly. Tower's men, like the flesh-and-blood ones I know and love, are befuddled by the very fact of feelings. They aren't mad because you hurt their feelings, they're mad because you found them in the first place and THEN hurt them.

And they have no way to tell you this. So Tower had to do it for you. So he did. Go say your thank-yous at the cash register, buy his book, read it and apply your confusion to the real men in your life.

OK, OK. Good to read your review, as everything I'd seen to date had me putting this in the box marked 'GIMMICK'. On the wishlist, all right?

On your way to another hottie! - read and thumbed. I also checked out availability over here - you are very bad for my wishlist - X-fingers for that lottery win;-)

HA! *ching*

First victims racked up...five billion to go...

;->

Happy New Year!! Yours truly, a devoted reader.

Dear King of the Hot Reviews

I believe you will have yet another one with this excellent review! Thumbs up from me.

Great job, Richard! you nailed it perfectly! Big surprise, right?

*sigh*

MUST you call him king Linda???

*leaves thread to make room for rdears head*

Pah, fie, a mere king cannot encompass the perfection that is moi...I am the Most Imperially Magnificent Pooh-Bah!

Yeup, yeup, thass me all rootie all toot.

Okay, Pooh-BAH, you've done it again. A book that I would never have even considered looking at goes on the wishlist. I have to admit, you do know how to push the right buttons when you write a review. "the flesh-and-blood ones I know and love, are befuddled by the very fact of feelings. They aren't mad because you hurt their feelings, they're mad because you found them in the first place and THEN hurt them. Now I finally understand! :-)

CAROLYN!! Welcome and then some! I have missed seeing you 'round here. And as for the informative parts of my reviews, you will receive your semi-annual statement in March. Due on receipt. XD

Where is your 2010 thread?

Can we call you Pooh for short?

It's already one of my nicknames. Pooh, Mudge, Timogen, Richez (this last from my high-school flame Jules)...I'm easy. Or so the Turkish Delight tells me.
;->

Kath..
Yep, I do think our dear Richard qualifies for King status. He has TWO hot reviews listed on the home page.

And, he is very deserving of them....

What a great way to start the New Year.

And, by the way Sir King. I won't bow, but I will whisk a kiss off to ya!

King Linda ? How odd. I am away writing reviews and Richard becomes King Linda. Just stopped in to say hi, and post a link to my 2010 thread. No books yet, but soon.

http://www.librarything.com/topic/79436

Oh super MIMP-B, I bow before your eloquence and gleefully grin because I already have this book in my TBR pile. *doing a happy dance at the near miss of having to add yet another book to my wish list*

I reviewed the first of the 25 OLD books on my "Books off the Shelf" thread in post#12 for the interested.

It's not a rave.

#57: My local library actually has a copy of that one! Yippee!!

#65: I am so not calling you that.

Great review of Everything Ravaged, Everything Burned, Grand Poohbah For Life! I've had my eye on this one for awhile, but your review makes me want to read it ASAP.

I think we should all chip in and buy him a Water Buffalo hat.

reporting in to say i'm behind already... and am just going to go forward.

Bisous mon ami

water buffalo hat?

hmmmm

maybe so, maybe so

The Water Buffalo hat reference may be lost on non-Americans and younger LTers:

LOL... am I dating myself when I say that I remember the Water Buffalo hat and by saying that they surely do not make cartoons like they used to anymore. *sigh* I think I'm starting to sound like an aged aunt

I bought my boys Looney Tunes collections for Christmas because I can't stomach most of the cartoons that are on these days. Bleh.

Happy New Year! I, too, lurked last year but I will try to come out of the woodwork and post this year. Excellent review of Everything Ravished, Everything Burned! I'd add it to my wishlist if it weren't already there.

The cartoon network had A Looney Tunes Marathon on New Year's day. If they don't show them, the kids growing up now will not care about them (ie: buy their DVDs) in the future.

My god, I really feel old now. I watched Flintstones cartoons **in prime time** when they were new. ABC was the Fox of its time.

All Water Buffalo hats gratefully accepted and worn through the internal customs and morality check at the airport.

Luxx, Looney Toons have their issues too...but frankly, at least they were funny most of the time ("What's Opera, Doc?" still causes me to hyperventilate with laughter).

For the most part, every moment the tv was on was unpleasant for me. I am not a cartoon fan, not a stooges fan, not a sports fan..including not a fan of fishing shows.

The only thing I enjoyed watching was Star Trek ( 3 times)

I am one who will leave the tv off if ther is nothing I particularly want to watch. The men in the family are not. And they like sports ( including car auctions) loud.

I gave serious thought to chucking the tv off the back porch....

I did throw our tv out, and we went for two years or so without one. It was a wonderful experience. We bought a new one when Max was born so I could turn movies on for Brooks while I fed the little one, but we still go several days without turning it on. My mother in law is obsessed with tv, and it drives me a little bonkers. She actually went on and on about how tvs are such great babysitters ... I still shudder when I think about that. She's a great grandmother, but I really can't wrap my head around some of her ideas.

During those glorious weeks when dan is fishing in Canada, I go for days with no tv. No news, no nothing unless it is something I specifically want to watch, and remember to watch.. lol.

It is so quiet and relaxed. Popcorn for dinner if I want.. lol
He didn't go in 2009. Here's to 2010!

we haven't had tv during our married life (since Dec 26 2001). we do watch avidly when staying in a hotel and miss it at least once a year :)

(ETA we do have a home cinema which shows movies almost nightly, but off discs)

I'm with the non tv set but fortunately ours is in the family room we built in the basement. I will watch the odd movie with Himself, however.

I'm always threatening my family that I will put that dog gone box on the curb. But then something like LOST comes along and I completely forget everything I've said about that wonderful form of entertainment!

I'm a sucker for cop/mystery shows, but I only sit down to watch them a couple times a month. I usually end up in front of the tv when I've had a long day with the kids and my eyes are too tired to read. My husband doesn't watch tv (he's an online gamer, so that's his zone-time of choice), and the toddler doesn't seem to care one way or the other. He does love his "Aladdin" dvd, though.

I had no TV from 1979-1992, and never missed it. Then along came Star Trek: The Next Generation, and I got a TV in time for season 4 plus re-runs. I didn't get serious about the thing until I got digital cable in 2006.

I loves me some History International Channel! Science Channel! Logo, once in a blue moon, and PBS's digital World channel, and VOD.

Next thing I know, I'll be getting a BlackBerry. It's scarin' me.

I've gotten really good at tuning out white noise, including sounds from the tv if I'm not interested in the program on. My husband loves his Sunday talking heads shows and I'll sometimes sit in the room with him and read, oblivious to the people talking or shouting at each other on the screen.

I do need my NCIS and Mentalist fixes each week though. Oh and Masterpiece Theater

Antiques Roadshow and Law and Order (original only and not the non-stop reruns on AMC). That doesn't mean the TV isn't on just that I go to another room most of the time to...wait for it......read:)

#91 Did you like the new Star Trek movie? I haven't seen it.

>94 jadebird: Oh my goodness YES! It was very, very well-done and it reboots the franchise creatively by making it subtly clear that this is an *alternate* universe. Very much a pleasure to watch.

Now mind, I did not say I don't watch tv.. It is just not my default mode. I have no problem with quiet. I do like NCIS, Mentalist, House ( of course, the vile thing.. ) and Lie to Me... and try to remember to watch. I rarely choose tv over a book, but sometimes they share my attention...

Rdear, did you try Sanctuary on SyFy? I don't remember....

#95 Way cool! Thank you.

Want an alternative universe? Watch Avatar! I just saw it today in 3D and in an Imax theater and I cannot stop raving ... it's awesome, no, it's phenomenal, no, it's ... it's.......fantastic magical genius!!!

But did you like it?;-)

Perfect. :)

hmmm..... i'll have to think about it .... let me get back to you on this, ok, Bonnie?

*choo*

The Standing Ban on GIFs is still in force.

*choo*

there is a standing ban on gifs on your thread? or just feline ones? did i miss a post somewhere?

Garshk, I think that post was in 2008...I just reiterate it so much that I forgot I haven't done so in 2010.

***FANFARE FOR THE COMMON MAN***

Oyez, oyez, oyez, friends, Romanesques, and country bumpkins!

This here thread, and any and all others started by my Most Imperially Magnificent Pooh-Bahness, are herewith declared, now and for all time to come,

GIF-FREE ZONES

Because GIFs are bandwidth-eating excrescences from the Parallel Universe of Double-X Chromosome Awwwness, they are Not To Be Seen Here.

That is all. Resume normal non-GIF-related activities.

ahhh, point taken....... ok, no more gifs on your thread from me then.

Anybody else getting the urge to post a beautiful cutesy little kitten right now (glitter optional), just to see what happens?

Point taken....no narsty GIFs...but how about GIFTS? do you accept them?

re: TV....when the whole business went Digital i bowed out...no TV reception for me..i get the News (such as it is) from the Computer and NPR..and have a jumoungous DVD collection of oldies-and-goodies..i am happy..my cat is happy..and if peeps need their TV fix they can go to the local bar/tavern....'nuff said..

;-}

I do have to say that I live in a TV and movie addicted household. I do read a lot while watching TV though. I do have to slog through all the sports though. My partner cannot live without Michigan State basketball and football (And most Big Ten games in general), NFL (Browns, Lions, Redskins), NHL (Red Wings and Capitals), Soccer (Whatevers on), Baseball (Nationals, Tigers, Cubs (I do like the Nationals and Cardinals)), Tennis, Golf, etc. At least I do not have to watch NASCAR! I read while he is watching sports, but we have a tiny place and his yelling at the TV interrupts my concentration. And most of his teams lose! Ahhh.... The things I tolerate.

Jude - I think the same thing might be about to happen to us over here. Everything's about to go digital, which is very nice for everyone that actually lives somewhere with normal reception. I need a new TV anyway so that's not an issue, but even with an inbuilt Freeview box my mum's telly down in the main house only gets 4 channels, not even the full five that most terrestrial viewers get right now.

I must admit, TV and movies have been my downfall this Christmas. I had bookish plans (books that sound too brilliant and/or weepy to read between customers) and clearing-out and tidying-up plans (we might be moving house soon), and mostly what I did was watch movies on telly, telly on telly, movies on DVD... Ooops.

NetFlix is what has saved my household. We live out in the country and in order to receive any television we would have to purchase satellite TV cost about $50 a month. Or for $7 a month we can have NetFlix and watch whatever we want by downloading it onto the XBox 360.

I have the TV on 24/7. I pay attention if I am interested, and do other things if not. I live in a very noisy high traffic area, I would rather have TV than traffic noise and yelling.

I mostly have either the food network or the NFL network on. I switch for documentaries (NGeo, SCI, HI, Hi Int,...).

I also watch CSPAN 2 and 3 for Book TV and History TV, BBC in America for Top Gear, and Bravo for Top Chef and West Wing.

I have a DVD and lots of discs too and will watch them, and sometimes On Demand.

Hi Richard - coming out of the woodwork to say I starred you way back on Dec 15 but have been lurking just like I did last year. Happy New Year and wish you a great year of reading, writing etc etc.
I really liked your review of Everything ravaged, everything burned and I'll have to see if the book is available here.

TV - have it, watch it selectively. Love my dvds, hubby loves his English football, World Cup games etc etc.

Great review, Richard (1 of 75). Thanks for your help and comments to get me going! I look forward to following your thread.

Interesting talk, Richard. TV seems to be a thing of the past in this household. My teens 'download' everything or watch Utube versions. I don't think they have watched a TV program in years. I loved your review of Everything ravaged, everything burned and am seeking it out. Thanks.

Maybe I shouln't tell people this, but Everything Ravaged, Everything Burned is on this month's ER list. Just when I had about decided not to request anymore ER books.

Thanks for the heads up Donna. I was completely ignoring the ER list until now but how can I resist when it has rec'd such accolades. zoooom -->

Wow. I spend one day trying to write (unsuccessfully, pain got to me) and this place explodes! I am very happy that this is so. I love having each of you here because I never know what's gonna happen next! *contented sigh*

Gout is killing me. I can't sit still for more than 15min, then I have to get up and move around, lie down, or just beat the dog. (OBviously, that last is a joke.) This rots.

I hope everyone will ask for Everything Ravaged, Everything Burned from the ER. I predict it will not disappoint, except those resistant to the short story medium who should give it wide berth.

TV: Well, over-the-air service is pretty much a goner. Cable is shaky. It's likely that the Xbox/TiVo/Internet model will succeed because of its amazing flexiibility. Now...what will be on? And how will its production be financed? Look at the spat between Fox and TimeWarner. Fox wants a buck a subscription a month. That's what's colloquially known as a boatload o' bucks. If it wasn't Fox, with their horrible right-wing screamfest "news" programming, I'd be all for it. Fox, though, should have its crap taxed off the air just to make sure those kinds of people don't have any more red meat to incite them to stupidity.

Oh dear. I fear my virulent anti-conservative prejudices are in full cry.

Anyway. New review tonight or tomorrow morning. Stay tuned.

Stasia, the conservative, tiptoeing into Richard's thread - I hope the gout eases for you soon. I understand what chronic pain is like.

Hi Stasia! Thanks for the well-wishes...I'm doped to the back teeth now or I wouldn't be here today either. It's not a lot of fun, this. As I know you know!

No need to tiptoe. I needn't agree with you to value you and your delightful contributions to whatever place you're in. I don't like conservaTISM, not conservaTIVES. Love the sinner, hate the sin, yeah?

Yeah

Karen, the yellow-dog Democrat, stomping around on Richard's thread - Go Richard! Down with Fox! (a-hem)

I'm so sorry about the gout, Richard and glad for the drugs. I hope this attack relinquishes its hold on you sooner than soon.

I am, alas, one of those who are mostly "resistant to the short story medium." Berth, wide, given, aye-aye. (JD Salinger, O Henry, and Edith Wharton are among the exceptions to my don't particularly-like-short-stories rule.)

Karen, dearest, heart of my heart! Come to Papa for a good old liberal hug!

Seriously, I think you'd HATE this book. His narrators don't get too deep, and what I've observed of your taste leads me to believe that their ultimate absence of reflection would irk you mightily. Plus I haven't seen you say nice things about first-person present tense narration.

Hope you're 100% soon!

--another conservative who loves you :)

Hi Suse! I don't know...how is Bucharest's winter weather? I would expect cold, snowy and dank, but enlighten me. It's above freezing here, so I got no kick with the Weather Goddess today.

I've finished another Member Giveaway book that I liked a lot. I'm going back through it for review purposes. But you, Suse, will (I think) really respond to its history/modern-day/thriller combo! Shooting an Albatross ... check it out.

Richard, Papa! Hug accepted and returned with interest.

You understand me pretty well, I think! You're right - don't have much good to say about first person present tense. I had to look up a review just now because I knew I wrote something good about a first person tense book - it's from July (the review, that is) - The Rapture by Liz Jensen. Mostly they irritate me and I avoid them. I also usually avoid short stories - the last book of short stories I attempted was so depressing and had such eminently unlikable characters that I only skimmed the last half. It was an ARC and I felt a bit guilty about that, but sanity and good mental health trumped completeness. (One More Year: Stories by Sana Krasikov - blech, yuk). Gave that puppy away in one quick hurry. You do know that some books are evil? - either so bad or affect the reader in such a negative way that they must be gotten rid of as soon as possible to eliminate their awful miasma. OMY was one of those. The house even looked brighter once I got the book in a bubble envelope.

My leg and lower back are doing better today although I'll still use the vicodin tonight. Once again, hurray for drugs!

Oh, do I ever know what you mean about some books being evil!! I had a photo book...Evidence: NYPD Crime Scene Photographs...that some bizarre individual thought I would like (?!?). I opened it ONCE and the photo I saw was so horrifying, so extremely revolting to me, that I slammed it shut, wrapped it in tin foil, made my brother take it out of the house to someplace where I wouldn't know, and then smudged the house for a week.

I swear there was some malevolent intelligence in that photo, something that can't or won't let go of life, and it was still there reaching for the living. Horrible!

I had not heard about the FOX debacle, but I pretend like it (FOX) does not exist. What I am upset about is Comcast's attempt to buy NBC Universal. That just does not seem like a good idea. Particularly since Comcast is an evil cable company that charges way too much and has the worst customer service of all time. I can only imagine what would happen to my DirecTV bill if they bought NBC Universal. Let the monopoly begin.

Jenn...NBC Universal being owned by Comcast won't be materially different from the days Viacom owned CBS, ie today. It's all been consolidating since the conservative anti-government wack jobs took over Congress and thus the bureaucracy in 1994. Deregulation, more competition? Nuh-uh. Deregulation, more profits. Look at the balance sheets from old annual reports if you don't believe me.

I hate the greed and selfishness I see in this horrible, vile political movement. It appeals, in my observation, to the mean-spirited side of the human animal, present in all of us.

amen, rd...amen!

Oh, and btw.. I too avoid most short stories, the the only exception I can think of being Charles deLints Newford shorts. But since the characters all appear in full length ( or most of them ) and are connected .. its not really like reading short stories.

Yeah, I know...you're well advised to stay away from this book, too. Think you'd be ticked off by the second story.

I wonder if we could come up with a descriptive name for books that aren't really novels but whose stories interconnect in such a way as to make them *feel* like novels...I don't think "novel-in-stories" is appealing. Maybe "braided novel"? Any ideas?

Hi Richard, sorry to hear about your gout and pain. I hope its better soon.

Just thought I would pop by and let you know there was too much debauchery and the group has to be re-named, lawsuit threatens. I was going to blame you, but since your gout is acting up, I will have to find someone else :)

http://www.librarything.com/topic/81371

I am here: http://www.librarything.com/topic/79436

Who knows what we will end up being called.

#132 Hey Richard, what do you think of the "transitional novel"? Transitional meaning: a process or period in which something undergoes a change and passes from one state, stage, form, or activity to another. Just passing thru and thought I'd add my 2 cents.

Hi Richard,

Hope you feel better real soon. I'm glad you have some pharmaceuticals to help you along. I like Lynda's idea. Transitional novel exactly describes Olive Kitteridge IMHO.

I too hate to hear that you are suffering with this gout again. :(
sorry rdear

also, braided novel is good~

What is the second story about?

> Richard dear
I am sorry you are in pain, I had to look up gout (you added a new word to my English vocabulary, thanks).

re msg 129 Deregulation, more profits.
That is my thought in most cases it is, but in the political landscape here it was the magic word for the past decade and still is...

Started getting really cold and snowing when Buckaroux died a few weeks before Christmas. We finally figured out he mistook the forming ice and snow clinging to it in the pool for a solid surface. He jumped and did something fatal (broke his neck?). We found him face down in the pool but his tail was still dry and no water came out of his body. So he appears to have died instantly.

Anyway it kept snowing. We had a lovely white Christmas. Then it rained and washed most of the snow away. But the pool which became solid the day after Buck's demise remained frozen. Just 2 days ago it snowed again, so we have about 4" -- enough to be pretty but not enough to be a bother. If you go to my multiply site you can see pics of our first winter when we had 3' at once. Last year there was hardly any snow at all. So this year is a nice compromise between the two.

Richard

I'm so sorry to learn that the nasty gout is kicking in again...HUGS to you...soft ones.

Oh richard I'm a conservative who loves you too!! Darn it!! I hope the gout goes away soon--you had it before I remember--OUCH!! Take it easy.

>133 FicusFan: Hi Ficus...seems to me that these trolls have enough of a case to make it wise to cave early. But they're clearly still trolls.

>134 Carmenere:, 135...Lynda and Bonnie, I wonder if transitional doesn't give an erroneous impression that the book in question is about metamorphoses or something. Course the "braided novel" moniker could reasonably be applied to all those hairdresser mysteries out there, couldn't it?

>136 mckait: mckait, it's not so much what it's about as what it represents...the story is the story is the story, and that's never sat very well with you.

>137 FAMeulstee: Anita, may you never, ever have to use "gout" in a sentence! Ii certainly wish I didn't have to.

It's a mantra, "deregulation", all over the developed world because the almighty profit gods have sold the public a bill of goods (American idiom, means "misled with specious argument") that more profits = better world. I'd say the evidence is in, and that's just not true.

>138 suslyn: Suse my dear, I am always grieved to hear of your loss, and I know it's not likely to get easier to cope with soon. {{{Susan}}}

>139 Whisper1: Linda dearest, hugs won't hurt unless you're planning to hug my knees. Then we have a problem, actually on a lot of levels! xoxo

>140 momom248: Maureen, it's so good to see you here! Gout comes and goes on its own pernicious schedule. I am medicating it with more colchicine than usual, though only for a short time since side effects from that drug are getting worse. Close to 30yrs taking it makes for some long-term damage. Bleargh. Vicodin makes things easier.

Hi, I finally got caught up on your thread (yikes!). Profit gods and deregulation - you hit the nail on the head there. Way to much self-interest as well (don't get me started on CEO compensation). Sorry to hear about the gout. My dad suffered several bouts of it when he was in his 60's so I know it sucks.

>143 Copperskye: Hi Joanne! No, let's not discuss CEO compensation, it's too infuriating. I'm a lightweight compared to Stasia or Madeline, but this thread's gettin' some mileage, all righty. People just *show up* and these interesting conversations break out and well, if that's not the definition of fun, I don't know what is!

See, if you didn't ban gifs, I would have sent you a charming gif of a spider bringing a tray of meds, hot soup and a steaming mug of tea to you ... to help you feel better. But alas .... you'll just have to make do with me sending you healing waves through the frosty air.

>145 cameling: And I greatly prefer it this way, thank you very much!

My hands are very painful. Going offline now. xoxo

Review: 2 of 75

Title: Shooting An Albatross

Author: Steven R. Lundin

Rating: *** (three of five stars)

Actually, I'm being generous because it's a first novel and the story itself is really good.

All first novels are flawed. In fact, almost all anythings are flawed. It's not a reason to avoid a book, its being a first, or even because it's self-published (as this one is). Good stories come to writers, the writers write them, that's how this gig works.

Lundin tells a story of World War Two that I haven't heard before. It's not like other stories I've encountered from the Greatest Generation's hagiographers' pens and it's not like the stories they told themselves. It's a real, human, interesting story about cruel and vengeful and vain people manipulating those under them, using them as pawns in a power trip...on a golf course. The most ridiculous conceivable game used to even scores and count coup between the Army and the Navy during a cataclysmic war! I was almost more outraged by this than by any other thing that happened in the book!

This is, by the bye, a novel based on a true story, according to the author. I'd love to know how he knows that.

Oh well, on with the opining. I think Mr. Lundin is onto a gold mine here. It's a terrific tale of love, jealousy, obsession, and murder. It's got the requisite Beauty Wronged, the Beast Unmasked, and the Innocent Sacrifice. It's got the sins against the fathers being avenged. It's got a chilling little cast of pawns, and only one puppeteer: Fate. That's why the three star rating.

Now. The writing. Serviceable. Just about adequate to the task of conveying the information the author needs you to know. RIFE with missed opportunities! LOUSY with ungrasped brass rings! SEETHING with passionate, gorgeous scenes handled in 2-3 terse sentences (seventeen instances in the first eleven chapters, then I got discouraged and quit counting)!

I don't know Mr. Lundin. I don't have any idea if this book is the fruit of many years' thought, revision, agonized contemplation, or if it simply fell out of him one day and he set about making it into a readable text (which it is). But if I met Mr. Lundin, and he asked me what he could do to make his next novel better, I'd tell him to hie himself hence to a writing workshop containing the maximum possible number of nasty, bitter failures, and taught by a thriller writer. He needs to know twow things that really only become clear in that world: 1) he possesses something that can't be taught or bought, a storyteller's eye; and 2) he needs something that can be taught and bought, a dramatist's craft of construction.

Characters that do more than advance the plot. Descriptions that do more than set us mise en scene. Dialogue that reads like freshly thought up emotional confusion! This story, my god, this is a GIFT! It's delectable! And it's told, not lived, not wrenched from a cold and uncaring cosmos.

And I still gave it three stars. I'm a tough room. I think this is head and shoulders above much of the storytelling I see coming from Major Publishers, told in such a flat way that the editors couldn't see the lurking success in the book. And the hell of it is, I don't think any of y'all will see it either because you won't buy the book.

I wish some of you would. Mike, Sgt Big G, please--take a chance, this is a story MADE for you! usnmm, you'll appreciate so much about this book, please try it! cameling my beloved friend, you see so much more deeply than most, and feel so keenly the pleasure of justice deferred...just give it a shot!

Close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades, Mr. Lundin, so please...think about my suggestion above...I *want* you to succeed, and this effort, while praiseworthy, is not likely to bring you the success I can plainly see you can expect.

Bravo! That was an excellent and heartfelt review, Richard.

I hope that you're feeling better today.

Hi Richard- Good review, sir! Nice work! I hope you get some relief today! We are bracing for a snowstorm, starting tonight! Oh joy!

I've always been a lurker on your threads, Richard, but I have to say -- what a passionate, yet thorough review from a writing eye. As one writer to another, I really appreciate you looking at the book in this way! Wonderful! Hope you feel better soon :)

>147 richardderus: "all first novels are flawed"

Some first novels turn out to be the author's best work. (I'm referring to first published novel because most first novels are buried underneath a lot of stuff on the author's closet shelf.)

Another great review Richard; very insightful.

I was going to make another comment about Comcast/NBC Universal, Viacom/CBS, and Disney/ABC but the review calmed me down. I have found a respite from the seething anger I feel when I think about the capitalistic greed in our society. Thank you.

weather update. grey and gloomy (which fits my mood to a T) and just above freezing so the snow is melting...

I'm sorry you haven't been well, dear, and I hope you find some relief soon.

The bloody bedamned gout kept me awake until 5a. I got up at 9a to walk the dog. My knees are worse, if possible, than yesterday. If I don't feel much better soon, I'm going to the ER and letting them take care of me (read: document that my uric acid level was X), for future disability claim purposes.

I hate this.

Glad y'all enjoyed my review! I hope Mr. Lundin sees it.

Happy New Year! Hope you feel better soon. There, now this thread will show up on my Home Page list of threads. Cheers! Jerry

Please keep us posted regarding how you feel and if you go to the ER.

beaming energy and love your way

Hope you feel better soon. Living in pain sucks!

Lovely review. I thought it was particularly nice that you thought of people here who might like this subject matter. They will be forgiving, perhaps, and help a new writer out while also being able to give specific and useful reviews. Well done, as always.

My partner is a lab tech. Among many other things, she examines uric acid under a microscope. The crystals she sees look exactly like needles - how awful the things our bodies can do to us. I hope you feel much better very soon.

Really hope you have some relief soon!

--> 147

And the hell of it is, I don't think any of y'all will see it either because you won't buy the book.


I love your review, Richard. I'm with you. I want new authors to succeed if they have a good story to tell. I hope this author takes your advice, and I also hope some of our readers try his book.

Great review, Richard.

Gout! So sorry. That really hurts. Now you are in the same medical category as Henry V111

The ARC book Everything Ravaged, Everything Burned, is not available to Canadians - I guess news has spread about our postage service!

...and Fox TV??
- that channel manages to completely shock me most of the time, although I rarely ever watch it. Empire of Illusion - the End of Literacy and the Triumph of Spectacle is a really good look at the changing emphasis of American culture. I am only on the second chapter so I will have to reserve full judgement but it talks (and I quote) about 'the debauched revels of a dying culture", and Fox is one of his examples. Hedges is a Pulitizer prize winner.

>158 calm: Thanks, calm! I could use some of your trademark quality about now.

>159 nancyewhite: Hi Nancy! Has she ever showed one to you? They are really vicious looking little things! And imagine tens of thousands of them stabbing you all the time. I wonder sometimes how it is that I'm not a mass murderer....

Glad you liked the review! I wish I thought it was your sort of book, but I really really don't.

>160 dihiba: Diana, that's a lovely and thoughtful thing to say to me today, thank you!

>161 SqueakyChu: Madeline, from your mouth to God's ears. Again, I wish I thought you'd like the book, but I just don't. It's cruel, and neither you nor Nancy respond well to cruelty in your reads.

Ha - we posted at exactly the same time, Richard. Snap.

>162 kiwidoc: Karen, Hedges is the latest to tell us what we need to hear but can do nothing about. It's true, the American Empire is dying, as are all things that are not growing. Stasis does not exist in nature. Including human.

...??... The Canuckistani postal service has something against Wells Tower...? I am not understand.

I've posted my second review for "Books off the Shelf"...The Trapp Family on Wheels...in post #15.

What a difference half a century makes!

R - OK so being so very unobservant PLUS socially disconnected from popular culture - I need to have the obvious pointed out to me!! I see you know about Hedges, who is new to me.

Canadian post - ridiculously expensive and slow as a snail.

Well, Karen, I'm an old liberal-by-Sixties-standards curmudgeon. Hedges speaks directly to me. I know for certain that the empire is failing because, f/ex, I can learn a lot about the marital issues and sexual behavior of Tiger Woods from the MAJOR NATIONAL NEWS SOURCES IN ALL MEDIA.

Now really. Why should they devote more than a gossip-column inch to this insignificant little man who plays a boring sport increasingly poorly? Much the same question was once posed by a Byzantine chronicler regarding the doin's of a charioteer of the Blues faction one thousand two hundred years ago.

Speaking to the converted here, R.

I think a lot of the public know more about the waist-line of Oprah than international events. (all present here are excepted of course) I do like to chew the cud about such irrationalities/moral questions.

Interestingly enough, when I was in Dayton Ohio visiting my family before Christmas, there was a sign in one of the stores that said

"Can you name three supermodels?"
"Now, can you name three of your child's teachers?"

"Which is more important?"

Fox News: The Father of Irrationalities, for sure! *sigh* I know people of good will can, and do, disagree on fundamental things. We're all human, after all. But honestly, can you personally see any way to lipstick this pig of a world that conservatism rampant hath wrought and make it better FOR EVERYONE than the one the Great Society promised?

>170 Whisper1: No, I can't, I don't think...wait! Heidi Klum? That's one.

My daughter's kids' teachers could walk up to me in clown suits and throw pies in my face and I wouldn't know who they were. Hmmm.

>163 richardderus: Nope she never showed me the crystals, but I just looked at some on Google Image. That is just plain wrong.

>170 Whisper1: Linda, that is a great sign. I will try to remember that as Jack gets older because I have to confess I am a pop culture/gossip junkie. I don't buy tabloids though. I get it all online :-)

Waving from the floor where I have collapsed after TKD class...Do I get extra points if I know 3 supermodels and ALL (wait I am counting...) 19 of my 3 kids teachers?!

What if I don't know the names of 3 supermodels or have any kids or know any kids for that matter? I do catch a glimpse of children sometimes in the distance. I don't think there are any children in DC. Oh wait, I forgot about Congress.

LOL!

Review: 3 of 75

Title: THE DEVIL'S COMPANY

Author: David Liss

Rating: ***1/2 of 5 stars

Seriously ugly jacket.

Book is, well, book is...really well plotted, filled with characters whose ideas and motivations I get and even support, and told in a very engaging way.

Liss's trademark business angle is very much in evidence in this book. It's set partially within the confines of the East India Company, and quite a lot of the action takes place around the various business concerns of the characters; all handled in such a way as to make it clear that this story arises from those concerns, driving each actor to his or her next action. It's enviable, the way Liss can see the story in the business and not just the business in the story.

I like this book. I like the hero. I like the way early capitalist London is presented to our senses, and how the author brings us along in our readerly sense of how the sleuth is going to develop across the series.

So why a mingy three-and-a-half?

Because: 1) Several people die, one of whom I know to be a real blow to the future of the series, and in each case the event with its aftermath is curiously flat. The sleuth's response is well-enough drawn, but it's not...the stakes aren't *there* for the (or this) reader. And the quite, quite startling aftermath of one quite important death is announced and left for later, while some very exciting other plot stuff happens.

See? I shouldn't be able to type that sentence without the Nasty Fairy whackin' me a good one, sayin' "too far, boy!" But his whackin' wand is not raised.

2) A surprise reveal late in the chase portion of the story falls sort of flat as well, and a character whose character we are given no reason to admire is revealed to be so amoral as to have -- gasp, say it isn't so -- slept with men and women both, and for profit! Wouldn't even cause an eyeblink if this were not a) the only time this concept has ever been brought up in the series, and b) a trait presented as somehow amplifying the character's extant perceived vileness.

Full marks for fairness: Benjamin, the sleuth and a self-described vigorously straight man (yawn) does some surprising soul-searching about his sodomitical revulsion. The whorehouse madam makes a pretty good case for the sodomites she serves being pretty much just like the rest of the world. And in the end, a straight man who doesn't write pure scary-o-types when discussing the more fluid borders of sexuality is more to be praised than not. It just doesn't sit right in this case.

3) The Love Interest. Oh god. We now reach the portion of our series where the sleuth must Fall In Love, and with a worthy adversary. Just once, one lousy time, I'd like to see a likable hero like Benjamin Weaver make it through an entire series without a Love Interest. I know it's what the market likes, but yeesh. I content myself with observing that she's a interesting character in her own right.

I like the sleuth, I like the series, and I will buy the next one. You should too.

Recommended for Anglomanes, for business buffs, and for puzzle people; historical fanciers will hyperventilate at some of Liss's more atmospheric passages; and international intrigue fans...stay tuned....

I had A Conspiracy of Paper on request from PBS, but never received it. Looks like I am going to have to try again with the Benjamin Weaver series. Thanks for the reminder, Richard.

I listened to A Conspiracy of Paper and found the whole thing curiously flat and so have not pursued the series. Everything you wrote above makes me feel good about my decision.

RD- Good honest review! I really enjoyed A Conspiracy of Paper and would like to return to his work!

Another hot review for you!

I read, and loved,A Conspiracy of Paper..lo, these many years ago..met up with Mr Liss,for the second time...in the LT Group Read of The Coffee Trader..and was disappointed with that puppy...seems Liss has great ideas but can't seem to bring all of them off (ahem)....i don't mind characters what lack Likeability...i just wish they made sense continuously...in their actions.

thanks for the Heads-Up on this one..but i'm afraid i'll Pass

;-}

Mornin' Karen, I know what you mean...sometimes things just don't sit, and this series sounds like one of those for you. Glad you're staying happy with your decision, for Heaven Knows I would fain refrain from adding to your totteriing tower of TBR.

Heya Mark. If you liked "Conspiracy" then the series will continue to appeal to you.

LINDA! You don't mean it! Another one, and for this?! Thanks for letting me know.

>182 jdthloue: Jude, it's always good to know from your cultural sherpas which passes are best to avoid. Glad to have served, and glad to see you! Still snowed and frozen there in Nowhereland?

General Health Note: The gradual approach to increasing my colchicine dosage has paid off...pain from gout is lessened, and I don't have more than the usual side effects.

*strolls through.. *

*Snicker Snicker*

yep, it's colder than a............oops, i can't say that here....but it's cold....snow is relatively deep but i can get to the garage to fetch firewood...to the mailbox to fetch book deliveries..i am happy (but not sappy) here in Nowhereland.....i'm glad that your gout pain is lessening and i'm trying to send positive thoughts your way..but my Snarky Gene gets in the way...so accept the fact that i am thinking of you and wishing you some relief (from the Pain, not the Snark!)

be well. Friend
J

Oh ho, Kath, caughtcha! You said you'd never speak to me again after...wait...oh, that wasn't you. Sorry. Never mind. Carry on strolling.

Don't worry about me, Jude my dove, the Snarkinator Herself raised me. I am snarkproofed for life.

Methinks I shall pass on this series. Snarkproofed is good! Hoping the gout behaves.

>Kath

Awwwwww....how cute!

>Richard
Moi..a Dove? only if my talons are allowed to be sharp..and my Snark is only directed at people what deserve it...you??? hardly ever....be well.

;-}

Great review! I'll pass on this one, though.

So glad you're doing a bit better -- hope you continue to improve.

Oh dear, I have A Conspiracy of Paper by him. I hope it will be worthwhile.

Glad to hear your gout it getting better.

Got yourself another hot review Richard. Excellent!

Congrats on the Hot Review, richilito. You made me almost want to read this, but I remembers The Coffee Trader and my disgruntlement with his writing, so methinks I'll pass on this one. *whew....escapes by the skin of my teeth*

Sure it hot in here. Your ssssizzeling Richard!

So glad you are feeling better Richard.

#193> For what it's worth, my wife read A Conspiracy of Paper last year and liked it a lot.

Richard! I felt the need to march over here IMMEDIATELY and protest at the atrocious allegations levelled at me over on our fan page... *waves demo banner defiantly*

'LT deserteress', indeed... *stomps off in a girlie huff back to own thread*

HA! See?! I'm right...you had to "march over here," meaning you weren't here, so you are...

AN LT DESERTERESS

*tosses hair in complete vindication*

LOL.... unfortunately, richard got you on that one, Ellie. Too funny!

But...but... I've been reading the threads every day (including this one) and...and... I was only marching over from next door on my thread... :_(

*wistful violins begin to play*

Oh sniff boo hoo, little faithless one, waaah for gettin' caught out preferring OTHER sites to LT. *hmmmf*

xoxo, sweetness, you're always aces in my book, you know that.

Oh, ye of little faith! How could you accuse me of such a preference when LT is bookishness itself?!

Meanie. :-)

Perhaps our fan page will spread a little of the LT spirit into the Facebook ether... (she says, rather optimistically).

Okay...I'll bite. What fan page?

On Facebook:

http://www.facebook.com/#/pages/Bakewell-United-Kingdom/Book-End-Bakewell/272948...

Ah, thanks for the link. It looks great and I love the comments. I don't facebook (do you like how it has become a verb!), so I can't comment back, but I'll hijack Richard's site to tell Ellie that I wish your store was near me!

Thanks! :-)

Just found your thread! I wanted to stop by and say thanks for the steampunk recommendations. I appreciate it. =)

>209 tapestry100: Glad to have been of service. I am a big fan of alternate history novels and stories, which steampunk forms a strand of; someday go visit http://www.uchronia.com/ and view the motherlode of info on the alternate history universe.

PS--check out Swiftly for a really intriguing idea...suppose Gulliver's Travels had been fact...what an Industrial Revolution that would make....

Steampunk? as in The Steampunk Trilogy by Paul Di Filippo.....which i happen to like...and Richard thanks much for the link........;-)

Yes, thank you for the additional info!

I'm waving from the back of the room where my short little hands are in the air amid all the other members of the Richard fan club.

213 messages Richard! It is only January 12! What a popular fellow. Of course, I'm not surprised. You bring such delight and cheer to us with your intelligent, sparkling funny comments.

I sure do hope you are continuing to feel better.

>211 jdthloue: Jude! Imagine YOU liking steampunk. Somehow that seems wrong. Too smart, I would've thought.

;-P

>212 tapestry100: You're welcome, of course!

>213 Whisper1: Hi Linda, yeup feelin' better daily thank goodness *insert Mae West joke here* and I am but a grasshopper compared to the Giants like Stasia, Mark, and Madeline. But thanks, and I am really glad you're here.

#214: You left Darryl out of the Giants list - he has 2 threads already :)

Glad you are feeling better.

>215 alcottacre: Yeah, I know...Darryl just intimidates me, so I don't bring him up much...smart, successful, witty, well-read, one of the In Crowd, ya know what I mean, makes a schlub like me feel so small.

>216 jadebird: Many thanks!

#217: makes a schlub like me feel so small.

I feel the same way, Richard, positively unread compared to Darryl, Deborah (both of them - Cariola and arubabookwoman), Roni, Linda (all of them in any spelling) . . .

Madam, I snort in derision at this farrago!

Stasia, dearest Stasia, you exemplify many of the best traits possible to have. You're kind, you're smart, you're quite insightful, and you're inarguably one of LT's best, most widely, and most thoroughly read members. People rely on you to sherpa their reading, and your thumbs-down can crash a fad, or up can boost a title into great awareness among LT's multitudes.

Let's have no more of this unwarranted self-doubt. *briskly dusts hands*

I can argue about it because I know the truth: before LT I primarily read cozy mysteries, romance and romantic suspense, and a bit of history thrown in for variety's sake. When I look at some of the titles others in the group are reading, it makes me wonder how I let so many good books pass me by, wasting my time with brain candy (which I still enjoy *sigh*).

I do appreciate your kind words though, Richard, my friend.

Richard -- Where is or was your, uh, gout?

I've been having attacks of some sort of unpleasant swelling and pain in my toe and it has wondering....

I'll let you in on a secret...I have no, as in not one particle, of respect for the snotty-nosed poseurs who *only* read classics or avant-garde literature or {insert latest fad here}.

Reading, aside from its obvious joys, is meaningful as a means of entertainment because, like Protestant Christianity, it is an intimate, private, and completely personal relationship with a creator. WHAT is read is, frankly, unimportant. It is mind-to-mind communication. That, just think about it a minute!, THAT is an immense change in the nature of human intercourse. ALL OTHER FORMS OF ENTERTAINMENT require masses of people to realize, to execute.

That, all who listen, that is the most important thing I can think of.

The books you've read are things can never be taken away for you, and a wonderful paradox of reading in the books you read in the present can make the books you've already read BETTER by providing insight and context. HA!

I have no desire to be a snotty-nosed poseur and I can live with that. I simply want to be well-read.

I agree with you about the communication between reader and writer - and it will never be the same for any two readers and/or writers because the experiences taken into the book are not the same for any two people. Great point, Richard.

>221 gregtmills: Greg, mine is everywhere, but it ordinarily starts in the right great toe. The first attack is usually late at night, causes immense pain that wakes the person up, and results in dull red, puffy, and EXTREMELY tender skin.

"Gout is caused by elevated levels of uric acid in the blood that crystallizes and deposits in joints, tendons, and surrounding tissues. It affects 1% of Western populations at some point in their life... It is marked by recurrent attacks of acute inflammatory arthritis (red, tender, hot, swollen joint)."--Wikipedia entry.

A blood test is the only way to be sure it's gout, not some yucky-but-easy-to-fix infection. Hasten to the doc!

rd I agree with #222 completely!

Re: #222:

clap,clap,clap,clap,clap,clap,clap,clap,clap,clap!

(as in applause, not the other thing)

>226 mckait: I would expect so, dear Kath, since you're the least pretentious person I've ever met.

>227 tloeffler: LOL I like the distinction, Terri! I'll reassure Frank the Fireman and the Turkish Delight, so they may pass it on to their wives. (Delightful ladies, BTW, very amusing dinner companions!)

I can't resist posting this quote from Beasts of No Nation, a first novel I reviewed in my new Homeless Reviews thread in Club Read.

This moment is the narrator's first moment of joy:

"Nobody is seeing me as I am getting up and walking through the tree right to the road. I am feeling breezes to my back that is pushing me to walk far far away from here and I am moving quickly quickly onto the road where I am just walking walking walking to where the sun is setting. I am looking at it and wanting to catch it in my hand to be squeezing until the color are dripping out from it forever. That way everywhere it is always dark and nobody is ever having to see any of the terrible thing that is happening in this world." --p136

This author deserves your attention. Please read his work. It's not flawless, but it's head and shoulders above most things that clutter our shelves!

Strongly recommended.

218--Stasia--while I am deeply humbled and honored (at the same time, if that's possible) that you have included me in your list of "the well-read," I most heartily protest your (and Richard's) characterization of yourselves as reading "schlubs," (whatever that means).

I am constantly amazed at the breadth of your reading Stasia, and your insightful Sunday reviews. You have read so widely, and you are all over the threads providing guidance to those of us who are mere amateurs at reading compared to you.

And Richard, I follow your reading too, and always learn something from the books you read and your comments. You are one of the best writers I've read, and I don't just mean on LT, and I look forward to finding you everywhere on the threads, with something original, witty, pertinent, kind, and fun to say.

>229 richardderus: - Wow, Richard! Usually, I'm just a lurker, but your quote from Beasts of No Nation really caught my attention. Onto the TBR it goes. Thanks for the recommendation!

Beasts of No Nation sounds fascinating!

>230 arubabookwoman: Garshk, Deborah, you're bringing the blush to my cheek! I appreciate that very much.

>231 porch_reader: Disengage your cloaking device around here any time, glad to have you!

>232 Whisper1: Linda, you will hate reading this book, but you will love it once you're done.

Richard,

Thumbed your great review. I read Beasts of No Nation in 2008 and was absolutely stunned by the beauty of the narrative and the absolute terror of this child's life. And then to think that this is happening all over Africa--boy soldiers being trained to kill and losing their innocent childhoods...heartbreaking.

RD- Terrific review! Beautiful quote! I have wishlisted this baby!

((rd))

I read Beasts of No Nation a few years ago and have been recommending it ever since.

Richard, lovely review of Beasts of No Nation as usual. Thumbs up for you!

Richard, have you read A Long Way Gone by Ishmael Beah? It sounds similar to Beasts of No Nation. I actually heard it on CD told by the author and I found it very moving and saddened how these boys childhood and innocence is taken away from them.

I see your thread is topping out at over 240 posts ... by January 14. Now, what was it you were just saying to Stasia?

>238 avatiakh: It has that effect, Kerry, makes a reader want to find people and make them pay attention, no?

>239 alcottacre: Thanks, Stasia!

>240 Carmenere: LYNDA!! Bringing tempatation right into my own thread! Is there a serpent hanging over your shoulder?! *shuffles off to wishlist, muttering sulphrously*

>241 London_StJ: ...I said something to Stasia...?

Drats ... I came over for a little sit, and what happens? I find myself having to put my shoes on to run out to get a copy of Beasts of No Nation

>243 cameling: Oh yes yes please! Please get it now! You will *LOOOVE* it!!

> 242 - That she needed two threads for January. It looks like you're following in her footsteps!

>245 London_StJ: Que? Lo siento, senora, pero no hablo el ingles.

I'd respond to that but, well, the only other language I know is ASL.

Can you feel the signs?

>247 London_StJ: *scandalized squeal* You take that back this instant, young lady, and remember to respect your elders!

Elders, schmelders. You know you like the 'sass.

*chuckle*

Ya got me.

So where is your new thread, Richard? Huh? Made me do a new one and it looks like you have no room to talk!

At 252 posts, you're right...I need a new thread.

http://www.librarything.com/topic/82287