Weird_O Bill's Fourth: THE PIT OF HELL
Ceci est la suite du sujet Weird_O Bill's Third Vault of Heaven .
Discussions75 Books Challenge for 2020
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3weird_O
Covers of books read, Fall Season 2020
# 81.
# 80. 
# 79.
# 78. 
# 77. 
# 76. 
# 75.
# 74. 
# 73. 
# 72. 
# 71.
# 70. 
# 69. 
# 68. 
# 81.
# 80. 
# 79.
# 78. 
# 77. 
# 76. 
# 75.
# 74. 
# 73. 
# 72. 
# 71.
# 70. 
# 69. 
# 68. 
4weird_O
Books Read, Fall Season 2020
December (5 read)
81. Constitution Illustrated by R. Sikoryak (12/26/20)
80. Holidays on Ice by David Sedaris (12/24/20)
79. All the King's Men by Robert Penn Warren (12/20/20)
78. A Thief of Time by Tony Hillerman (12/17/20)
77. Target Practice by Rex Stout (12/7/20)
November (4 read)
76. Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbitt (11/29/20)
75. The Day of the Jackal by Frederick Forsyth (11/25/20)
74. The Colossus of New York by Colson Whitehead (11/9/20)
73. Exiles in the Garden by Ward Just (11/4/20)
October (5 read)
72. The Difference Engine by William Gibson and Bruce Sterling (10/29/20)
71. The Secret History of Wonder Woman by Jill Lepore (10/18/20)
70. Possible Side Effects by Augusten Burroughs (10/20)
69. Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal) by Christopher Moore (10/20)
68. Furious Hours by Casey Cep (10/1/20)
December (5 read)
81. Constitution Illustrated by R. Sikoryak (12/26/20)
80. Holidays on Ice by David Sedaris (12/24/20)
79. All the King's Men by Robert Penn Warren (12/20/20)
78. A Thief of Time by Tony Hillerman (12/17/20)
77. Target Practice by Rex Stout (12/7/20)
November (4 read)
76. Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbitt (11/29/20)
75. The Day of the Jackal by Frederick Forsyth (11/25/20)
74. The Colossus of New York by Colson Whitehead (11/9/20)
73. Exiles in the Garden by Ward Just (11/4/20)
October (5 read)
72. The Difference Engine by William Gibson and Bruce Sterling (10/29/20)
71. The Secret History of Wonder Woman by Jill Lepore (10/18/20)
70. Possible Side Effects by Augusten Burroughs (10/20)
69. Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal) by Christopher Moore (10/20)
68. Furious Hours by Casey Cep (10/1/20)
6weird_O
Books Read, Winter, Spring, and Summer Seasons 2020
September (7 read)
67. A Mind to Murder by P. D. James
66. Cover Her Face by P. D. James
65. An Unsuitable Job for a Woman by P. D. James (9/16/20)
64. Hazards of Time Travel by Joyce Carol Oates (9/12/20)
63. The Cheese Monkeys by Chip Kidd (9/8/20)
62. Book of the Dumb by John Scalzi (9/3/20)
61. The Best of the Rejection Collection by Matthew Diffee (9/2/20)
August (7 read)
60. I Only Read It for the Cartoons by Richard Gehr (8/30/20)
59. The Complete Cartoons of The New Yorker by Robert Mankoff (8/29/20)
58. The Doonesbury Chronicles by G. B. Trudeau (8/24/20)
57. The Emperor's Snuff Box by John Dickson Carr (8/12/20)
56. Man Ray by Alexander Games (8/5/20)
55. Three Men in a Boat by Jerome K. Jerome (8/5/20)
54. To Say Nothing of the Dog by Connie Willis (8/2/20)
July (8 read)
53. Killing Time by Caleb Carr (7/29/20)
52. The Memory of Old Jack by Wendell Berry AAC July (7/25/20)
51. Dark of the Moon by John Dickson Carr (7/24/20)
50. LEWSER! by Garry Trudeau (7/20/20)
49. The Learners by Chip Kidd (7/16/20)
48. Exit West by Mohsin Hamid (7/11/20)
47. Pale Horse, Pale Rider by Katherine Anne Porter (7/8/20)
46. Leave It to Psmith by P. G. Wodehouse (7/4/20)
June (4 read)
45. The Fire Next Time by James Baldwin (6/28/20)
44. The Paris Mysteries by Edgar Allan Poe (6/20/20)
43. Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell (6/18/20)
42. Stalin's Ghost by Martin Cruz Smith AAC Wild Card (6/5/20)
May (6 read)
41. Nemesis by Philip Roth (5/31/20)
40. The Overstory by Richard Powers 2019 Fiction Pulitzer (5/28/20)
39. Hombre by Elmore Leonard (5/24/20)
38. The Girl Who Drank the Moon by Kelly Barnhill (5/23/20)
37. The Demon in the Freezer by Richard Preston AAC Wild Card (5/8/20)
36. American Gods by Neil Gaiman (5/4/20)
April (9 read)
35. Winston Churchill by John Keegan (4/28/20)
34. Maus II: A Survivor's Tale: And Here My Troubles Began by Art Spiegelman (4/22/20)
33. Maus I: A Survivor's Tale: My Father Bleeds History by Art Spiegelman (4/21/20)
32. Native Tongue by Carl Hiaasen AAC Wild Card (4/18/20)
31. Long Day's Journey into Night by Eugene O'Neill 1957 Drama Pulitzer (4/15/20)
30. A Shilling for Candles by Josephine Tey (4/13/20)
29. Berlin Diary by William L. Shirer (4/11/20)
28. Death of a Doxy by Rex Stout (4/4/20)
27. A Little Yellow Dog by Walter Mosley (4/3/20)
March (9 read)
26. Towards Zero by Agatha Christie (3/31/20)
25. Thursday Next: First Among Sequels by Jasper Fforde (3/28/20)
24. Unnatural Death by Dorothy L. Sayers (3/26/20)
23. Lillian Boxfish Takes a Walk by Kathleen Rooney (3/25/20)
22. The Book Bag Treasury of Literary Quizzes by editors of WaPo's Book World (3/21/20)
21. The Reivers by William Faulkner 1963 Pulitzer (3/15/20)
20. The Johnstown Flood by David McCullough (3/9/20)
19. Of the Farm by John Updike (3/8/20)
18. Doomsday Book by Connie Willis (3/3/20)
February (9 read)
17. The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier (2/26/20)
16. The Road by Cormac McCarthy 2007 Pulitzer (2/24/20)
15. Second Foundation by Isaac Asimov (2/23/20)
14. Foundation and Empire by Isaac Asimov (2/20/20)
13. Quichotte by Salman Rushdie (2/18/20)
12. Midnight at the Bright Ideas Bookstore by Matthew Sullivan (2/11/20)
11. Night Boat to Tangier by Kevin Barry (2/9/20)
10. The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch by Philip K. Dick (2/5/20)
9. Agent Running in the Field by John Le Carré (2/2/20)
January (8 read)
8. The Neuroscientist Who Lost her Mind by Barbara K. Lipska (1/29/20)
7. Secondhand: Travels in the New Global Garage Sale by Adam Minter (1/28/20)
6. When the Women Come Out to Dance by Elmore Leonard (1/24/20)
5. Bearskin by James A. McLaughlin (1/23/20)
4. Masters of Death by Richard Rhodes (1/19/20)
3. Nova by Samuel R. Delany (1/13/20)
2. Eichmann in Jerusalem: A Report on the Banality of Evil by Hannah Arendt (1/8/20)
1. Foundation by Isaac Asimov (1/2/20)
September (7 read)
67. A Mind to Murder by P. D. James
66. Cover Her Face by P. D. James
65. An Unsuitable Job for a Woman by P. D. James (9/16/20)
64. Hazards of Time Travel by Joyce Carol Oates (9/12/20)
63. The Cheese Monkeys by Chip Kidd (9/8/20)
62. Book of the Dumb by John Scalzi (9/3/20)
61. The Best of the Rejection Collection by Matthew Diffee (9/2/20)
August (7 read)
60. I Only Read It for the Cartoons by Richard Gehr (8/30/20)
59. The Complete Cartoons of The New Yorker by Robert Mankoff (8/29/20)
58. The Doonesbury Chronicles by G. B. Trudeau (8/24/20)
57. The Emperor's Snuff Box by John Dickson Carr (8/12/20)
56. Man Ray by Alexander Games (8/5/20)
55. Three Men in a Boat by Jerome K. Jerome (8/5/20)
54. To Say Nothing of the Dog by Connie Willis (8/2/20)
July (8 read)
53. Killing Time by Caleb Carr (7/29/20)
52. The Memory of Old Jack by Wendell Berry AAC July (7/25/20)
51. Dark of the Moon by John Dickson Carr (7/24/20)
50. LEWSER! by Garry Trudeau (7/20/20)
49. The Learners by Chip Kidd (7/16/20)
48. Exit West by Mohsin Hamid (7/11/20)
47. Pale Horse, Pale Rider by Katherine Anne Porter (7/8/20)
46. Leave It to Psmith by P. G. Wodehouse (7/4/20)
June (4 read)
45. The Fire Next Time by James Baldwin (6/28/20)
44. The Paris Mysteries by Edgar Allan Poe (6/20/20)
43. Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell (6/18/20)
42. Stalin's Ghost by Martin Cruz Smith AAC Wild Card (6/5/20)
May (6 read)
41. Nemesis by Philip Roth (5/31/20)
40. The Overstory by Richard Powers 2019 Fiction Pulitzer (5/28/20)
39. Hombre by Elmore Leonard (5/24/20)
38. The Girl Who Drank the Moon by Kelly Barnhill (5/23/20)
37. The Demon in the Freezer by Richard Preston AAC Wild Card (5/8/20)
36. American Gods by Neil Gaiman (5/4/20)
April (9 read)
35. Winston Churchill by John Keegan (4/28/20)
34. Maus II: A Survivor's Tale: And Here My Troubles Began by Art Spiegelman (4/22/20)
33. Maus I: A Survivor's Tale: My Father Bleeds History by Art Spiegelman (4/21/20)
32. Native Tongue by Carl Hiaasen AAC Wild Card (4/18/20)
31. Long Day's Journey into Night by Eugene O'Neill 1957 Drama Pulitzer (4/15/20)
30. A Shilling for Candles by Josephine Tey (4/13/20)
29. Berlin Diary by William L. Shirer (4/11/20)
28. Death of a Doxy by Rex Stout (4/4/20)
27. A Little Yellow Dog by Walter Mosley (4/3/20)
March (9 read)
26. Towards Zero by Agatha Christie (3/31/20)
25. Thursday Next: First Among Sequels by Jasper Fforde (3/28/20)
24. Unnatural Death by Dorothy L. Sayers (3/26/20)
23. Lillian Boxfish Takes a Walk by Kathleen Rooney (3/25/20)
22. The Book Bag Treasury of Literary Quizzes by editors of WaPo's Book World (3/21/20)
21. The Reivers by William Faulkner 1963 Pulitzer (3/15/20)
20. The Johnstown Flood by David McCullough (3/9/20)
19. Of the Farm by John Updike (3/8/20)
18. Doomsday Book by Connie Willis (3/3/20)
February (9 read)
17. The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier (2/26/20)
16. The Road by Cormac McCarthy 2007 Pulitzer (2/24/20)
15. Second Foundation by Isaac Asimov (2/23/20)
14. Foundation and Empire by Isaac Asimov (2/20/20)
13. Quichotte by Salman Rushdie (2/18/20)
12. Midnight at the Bright Ideas Bookstore by Matthew Sullivan (2/11/20)
11. Night Boat to Tangier by Kevin Barry (2/9/20)
10. The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch by Philip K. Dick (2/5/20)
9. Agent Running in the Field by John Le Carré (2/2/20)
January (8 read)
8. The Neuroscientist Who Lost her Mind by Barbara K. Lipska (1/29/20)
7. Secondhand: Travels in the New Global Garage Sale by Adam Minter (1/28/20)
6. When the Women Come Out to Dance by Elmore Leonard (1/24/20)
5. Bearskin by James A. McLaughlin (1/23/20)
4. Masters of Death by Richard Rhodes (1/19/20)
3. Nova by Samuel R. Delany (1/13/20)
2. Eichmann in Jerusalem: A Report on the Banality of Evil by Hannah Arendt (1/8/20)
1. Foundation by Isaac Asimov (1/2/20)
10Whisper1
Happy New Thread. I've watched ABE all day and night. What an incredible experience. I a.m. and trying to get some sleep. I was up most of last night and sleep until noon today. How about you? How are you?
11jessibud2
Happy new thread, Bill. That >8 weird_O: is sure to scare Richard off, ;-). Heck, it very nearly scared ME off!
13karenmarie
Hi Bill, and happy new thread.
>1 weird_O: Exploding Head, totally appropriate.
You're very close to the big 75. Keep on Chooglin'.
>1 weird_O: Exploding Head, totally appropriate.
You're very close to the big 75. Keep on Chooglin'.
15msf59
Sweet Thursday, Bill. Happy New thread. I have been under the weather this week so I have not made it to the P.O. If you don't mind, I may wait until early next week. BTW- I did end up enjoying the new Watson, as my mini-review can attest to.
18richardderus
Hi Bill, happy new thread. Have you received your assigned Emotional Support Canadian yet? Twitter tells me my ESC is my friend Beau in Ontario.
One needs all the support one can get these dark days.
One needs all the support one can get these dark days.
20jessibud2
I have a new book about Haring, waiting for me to pick up at the library tomorrow. It's called Drawing on the Walls: A Story of Keith Haring
Touchstones don't appear to be working at the moment.
Touchstones don't appear to be working at the moment.
21figsfromthistle
Happy new one!
Great book covers.
Great book covers.
22weird_O
>9 quondame: Bugger those discombobulated links! On my MacAir with Chrome, I've got a couple of no-display author mugshots (Spiegelman and Sayers). The photos to which I linked were taken down in both instances. I'll probably get to fixing them, probably. If others are abgefuckt in Foxfire, Susan, well... I'm just a retiree, not a computer wizard.
>10 Whisper1: I know, I know. But it's clear that Joe will be 46. It'll take time, but he'll get honest, competent people for his cabinet. A competent team of scientific and medical experts will devise a plan for containing The Virus. And who knows? Both of Georgia's senate seats are slated for runoff elections in January. If the Dems take both, they take control of the Senate. I'm good with those odds, but fretting about Trump remaining in power until Jan 20, 2021.
>11 jessibud2: >12 katiekrug: >16 PaulCranswick:. It's my kind of cat, Shelley. It's my kind of cat, Katie. It's my kinda cat, Paul
>10 Whisper1: I know, I know. But it's clear that Joe will be 46. It'll take time, but he'll get honest, competent people for his cabinet. A competent team of scientific and medical experts will devise a plan for containing The Virus. And who knows? Both of Georgia's senate seats are slated for runoff elections in January. If the Dems take both, they take control of the Senate. I'm good with those odds, but fretting about Trump remaining in power until Jan 20, 2021.
>11 jessibud2: >12 katiekrug: >16 PaulCranswick:. It's my kind of cat, Shelley. It's my kind of cat, Katie. It's my kinda cat, Paul
23weird_O
>13 karenmarie: >14 FAMeulstee: Things seem to be settling down. Still, my head is a powder keg...
Not to worry. No Biden/Harris supporters were harmed, or even endangered, in the creation of this .gif
Not to worry. No Biden/Harris supporters were harmed, or even endangered, in the creation of this .gif
24jessibud2
>22 weird_O: - Maybe Dr. Fauci will actually have a role this time. A real role, and have real impact.
25weird_O
>23 weird_O: Absolutely, Shelley. I believe Joe said days ago that Dr. Fauci would be a key member of his—Joe's—Virus task force.
26weird_O
>15 msf59: Just chill, my friend. Get yourself well, then get on with the activities you enjoy (like birding, reading, and beering). I caught a cold about a month ago, and it lingered for a couple of weeks. Wasn't fun.
I ran some errands yesterday, and I intended to mail Furious Hours to my daughter while out and about. Bad timing; I got to the P.O. at lunchtime: lobby open, counter closed. Boo.
(I think the postal lady was out rounding up some of the 150,000 ballots that USPS failed to get processed before Election Day.)
Did who hear the story of the package USPS took 41 YEARS to move from Charleston, WV to Laurel, MD? https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/2020/10/31/postmark-1979-package-laurel...
>17 drneutron: :-)
I ran some errands yesterday, and I intended to mail Furious Hours to my daughter while out and about. Bad timing; I got to the P.O. at lunchtime: lobby open, counter closed. Boo.
(I think the postal lady was out rounding up some of the 150,000 ballots that USPS failed to get processed before Election Day.)
Did who hear the story of the package USPS took 41 YEARS to move from Charleston, WV to Laurel, MD? https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/2020/10/31/postmark-1979-package-laurel...
>17 drneutron: :-)
27weird_O
>19 charl08: >20 jessibud2: Love the Haring love. In the next day or so, I want to post a couple of snapshots taken when Keith's mother met with kids at our elementary school. She brought some of his childhood art. It was 10 years ago, and I believe she has since died.
>21 figsfromthistle: A book must have a great cover, don't you think? Unreadable if the cover's ugly.
Just kidding...
>21 figsfromthistle: A book must have a great cover, don't you think? Unreadable if the cover's ugly.
Just kidding...
28richardderus
I'll just leave this here.
30karenmarie
And thank you, Pennsylvania!
31weird_O
Thank you, Karen. 'Twas a group effort.
We were planning a Porch Meet in Easton for tomorrow. It'll be extra special now. Delivering a Birthday Bookcase for Claire, who will be coming home on the 20th. Holy mackerel! For a two-month-long semester break. The weather's been sunny and warm (70s) all week, so masked up and reasonably distanced on the porch will be fun.
We were planning a Porch Meet in Easton for tomorrow. It'll be extra special now. Delivering a Birthday Bookcase for Claire, who will be coming home on the 20th. Holy mackerel! For a two-month-long semester break. The weather's been sunny and warm (70s) all week, so masked up and reasonably distanced on the porch will be fun.
32richardderus
>31 weird_O: That will be the cherry on this gigantically relaxing release-of-stress day.
33benitastrnad
>31 weird_O:
We have 2 weeks left in the on-campus part of the semester. Then students are off until January 13 when the spring semester starts. We also still have a state wide mask mandate that was extended to December 11.
Here is Tuscaloosa the mask standards are very strict and as a result last week the university had the lowest total numbers of new cases we have recorded since September. Everybody else's numbers keep going up and ours flatlined and now have been dropping. The local hospital has the fewest number of in-hospital Covid patients it has had since June.
Even so, the paper reported this morning that some of the state legislators are going to file suit against our govenor because she has extended the face mask mandate every time it has gotten ready to expire since Jone 20. They say that is an abuse of her emergency powers.
What are they thinking? Masks work!
We have 2 weeks left in the on-campus part of the semester. Then students are off until January 13 when the spring semester starts. We also still have a state wide mask mandate that was extended to December 11.
Here is Tuscaloosa the mask standards are very strict and as a result last week the university had the lowest total numbers of new cases we have recorded since September. Everybody else's numbers keep going up and ours flatlined and now have been dropping. The local hospital has the fewest number of in-hospital Covid patients it has had since June.
Even so, the paper reported this morning that some of the state legislators are going to file suit against our govenor because she has extended the face mask mandate every time it has gotten ready to expire since Jone 20. They say that is an abuse of her emergency powers.
What are they thinking? Masks work!
34msf59
Happy Sunday, Bill. It is only 8am here in the Midwest but never to early to celebrate a victory, right?
>29 weird_O: LOVE!!
35Crazymamie
Happy newish thread, Bill! I did not know that you had moved into my neck of the woods, but the title of your thread makes it clear that you have moved to the Deep South. *blinks*
I have been very slowly reading All the King's Men since August. Well, I started it in August and then set it aside in September - you are reminding me that I need to get back to it. How are you liking it?
>28 richardderus: I love this, Richard!
I have been very slowly reading All the King's Men since August. Well, I started it in August and then set it aside in September - you are reminding me that I need to get back to it. How are you liking it?
>28 richardderus: I love this, Richard!
38weird_O
Deserter... Damn! Ya got me.
I did get your message, Mark. I'm going to have to visit the mailbox more frequently, like every day except Sunday.
What the HELL happened to my LT setup?! My routine here is now disrupted and I just don't want to try to figure out how to get back my home page arrangement. Just another paper cut. One or two more and I'm done. 2020 will be the death of me yet.
I did get your message, Mark. I'm going to have to visit the mailbox more frequently, like every day except Sunday.
What the HELL happened to my LT setup?! My routine here is now disrupted and I just don't want to try to figure out how to get back my home page arrangement. Just another paper cut. One or two more and I'm done. 2020 will be the death of me yet.
39benitastrnad
>38 weird_O:
I'm glad you can describe your tech woes as paper cuts. For the last week I have been dickering back and forth with the folks in our payroll office because I can't get into my time sheet. Turns out that about 140 library payroll people couldn't either and nobody knew about it because nobody said anything until it was Friday morning. The reason - those who do a biweekly payroll don't have to turn in their time sheets until noon on Friday. I am monthly so I don't have to turn my time sheet in until the 5th day of the month. I like to put my leave time in as soon after I take it as possible so I noticed on Tuesday that I couldn't get into it. I reported it to our payroll office. They sent back an e-mail asking me for my personal information. I replied that I didn't think we were supposed to do that. The payroll person got mad and told me that if I wanted my payroll stuff straightened out I needed to send her my information ASAP and that she was on-campus. I replied that since my personal information got hacked into from a company to which UA had outsourced some procedures I was being cautious. It isn't fun picking up the pieces and monitoring your information. By the time I got that done others had reported this morning that they were unable to get into their electronic time sheets, so it wasn't just me. I have not sent any further messages to our payroll office. I am going to let them straighten it out.
Another tech paper cut.
I'm glad you can describe your tech woes as paper cuts. For the last week I have been dickering back and forth with the folks in our payroll office because I can't get into my time sheet. Turns out that about 140 library payroll people couldn't either and nobody knew about it because nobody said anything until it was Friday morning. The reason - those who do a biweekly payroll don't have to turn in their time sheets until noon on Friday. I am monthly so I don't have to turn my time sheet in until the 5th day of the month. I like to put my leave time in as soon after I take it as possible so I noticed on Tuesday that I couldn't get into it. I reported it to our payroll office. They sent back an e-mail asking me for my personal information. I replied that I didn't think we were supposed to do that. The payroll person got mad and told me that if I wanted my payroll stuff straightened out I needed to send her my information ASAP and that she was on-campus. I replied that since my personal information got hacked into from a company to which UA had outsourced some procedures I was being cautious. It isn't fun picking up the pieces and monitoring your information. By the time I got that done others had reported this morning that they were unable to get into their electronic time sheets, so it wasn't just me. I have not sent any further messages to our payroll office. I am going to let them straighten it out.
Another tech paper cut.
41weird_O
I am seriously impressed by Dolly Parton. She donated One Million Dollars to COVID-19 vaccine research, and it is a gift that, it seems, will be giving to the entire world. It's not like she's the richest of the rich, or even the richest of rich entertainers. She's donating to help find solutions to immediate problems. A global pandemic is a bit of a problem, isn't it.
I already admired her for putting time and money into reading programs.
I already admired her for putting time and money into reading programs.
42richardderus
>41 weird_O: Agreed!
43benitastrnad
I recently read Loretta Lynn's book about her friendship with Patsy Cline and Dolly Parton's name came up often in that book. It makes me want to read Dolly Parton's new book about her life as a songwriter.
44weird_O
A copy of Obama's book awaits me at the local new/used bookstore. I'm thinking about setting aside The Day of the Jackal aside and taking up David Mitchell's Utopia Avenue. See if that grabs me and won't let go.
I gotta find shot somewhere, so I can resurrect at least three lamps we have that need some sort of new ballast in their bases. Each of them has a donut of some sort of plaster that's coated with plastic. It provides weight to stabilize the lamp. So the plastic is breaking, and the plaster, and the lamps are mighty flighty. I can make a wooden ring, but without a filling of shot (or something similar), it won't have enough weight. Hmmm.
I gotta find shot somewhere, so I can resurrect at least three lamps we have that need some sort of new ballast in their bases. Each of them has a donut of some sort of plaster that's coated with plastic. It provides weight to stabilize the lamp. So the plastic is breaking, and the plaster, and the lamps are mighty flighty. I can make a wooden ring, but without a filling of shot (or something similar), it won't have enough weight. Hmmm.
45jessibud2
I also have Obama's book waiting for me at the library. I have 5 more days to pick it up so I took home only one of the 2 that were waiting for me and hope to finish it by the weekend. That will buy me a few extra days for Barack, which I will pick up on Saturday or Monday. I know that there is likely a long list of people waiting for it so I will almost certainly not be able to renew it and knowing how I read (slowly), not a chance in hell I will finish over 700 pages in the 3-week loan but I still want to get a start on it. I would buy it but would rather wait for the paper edition. It's a doorstopper of a hard back.
46jnwelch
Hiya, Bill.
I agree with you about Dolly Parton. She won me over with the reading program, but that covid donation was a wonderful thing to do to help. Plus the more I read about her, the more I like her.
I hope Utopia Avenue works well for you. Day of the Jackal was a page-turner for me, but that was an awful lot of years ago. The one from that era that had me on the edge of my seat was Eye of the Needle by Ken Follett.
I agree with you about Dolly Parton. She won me over with the reading program, but that covid donation was a wonderful thing to do to help. Plus the more I read about her, the more I like her.
I hope Utopia Avenue works well for you. Day of the Jackal was a page-turner for me, but that was an awful lot of years ago. The one from that era that had me on the edge of my seat was Eye of the Needle by Ken Follett.
47benitastrnad
>46 jnwelch:
I am also a fan of the thrillers written by Ken Follett. I often take the pocket sized paperbacks with me when I fly or when I am in a doctor's office. They are a great way to relax and get sucked into some thrills and spills adventure, thereby taking your mind off of whatever anxious regimen you are being asked to do. Or endure.
I am also a fan of the thrillers written by Ken Follett. I often take the pocket sized paperbacks with me when I fly or when I am in a doctor's office. They are a great way to relax and get sucked into some thrills and spills adventure, thereby taking your mind off of whatever anxious regimen you are being asked to do. Or endure.
48weird_O
I copied the book/reading questionnaire that's appeared on several threads (Paul, Richard, and Karenmarie).Well, I always get carried away; more than you expected? Not from me, huh?
1. Name any book you read at any time that was published in the year you turned 18:
From my unpublished document, One Book for Each Year of My Life (so far), here's a list of books published in 1962; read 'em all, though not this year.
Ship of Fools by Katherine Anne Porter
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey
A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess
The Thin Red Line by James Jones
One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
2. Name a book you have on in your TBR pile that is over 500 pages long:
A foundational volume supporting my pile of 1,380 TBRs is The Executioner's Song by Norman Mailer, which totals 1,072 pages. But that's not really a book that has percolated to the upper reaches of the pile. Up there we find The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami, for example, at 607 pages. I want to read it this year.
3. What is the last book you read with a mostly blue cover?
The Hazards of Time Travel by Joyce Carol Oates
See? It's blue
4. What is the last book you didn’t finish (and why didn’t you finish it?)
So far this year, I have started but not finished (yet) the following books:
American Tabloid by James Ellroy#8212;I liked Ellroy's L. A. Quartet. Reading American Tabloid isn't as much fun; I found it repugnant and just turned away. But I'm a never say never guy. Maybe I'll go back to it. Pressure: I have the second book in the Underworld USA Trilogy, The Cold Six Thousand, on the TBR, yammering at me whenever I venture into the Bureau of To Be Read.
All the King's Men by Robert Penn Warren#8212;Wow! What a book. When I'm reading it, it is wonderful. The writing is so excellent. But I just don't feel the compulsion to keep at it. But I will finish it.
The Great Shame by Thomas Keneally#8212;I took up this book in January. It's so blasted long that I felt like I wouldn't get another book started, much less finished, before March.
The Hidden Life of Trees by Peter Wohlleben#8212;The concept is very appealing, but the reading of it is, well, boring. Attitudes change daily, however...
5. What is the last book that scared the bejeebers out of you?
Little Women by Louisa May Alcott. I couldn't get past the first chapter or two. But that was some other year, not 2020.
But seriously, The Demon in the Freezer by Richard Preston told a frightening story of plagues and viruses and the efforts to tame them. The really frightening part is the devious efforts by some to weaponize them.
6. Name the book that read either this year or last year that takes place geographically closest to where you live? How close would you estimate it was?
Of the Farm by John Updike
Google Maps estimates 45 miles from my house to Plowville, the location of Updike's mother's farm, which is the book's setting.
7.What were the topics of the last two nonfiction books you read?
The Secret History of Wonder Woman by Jill Lepore is largely a biography of William Moulton Marston, who, among other accomplishments, created the superhero Wonder Woman. Marston was a singular, very quirky man.
Furious Hours by Casey Cep is the story of Nelle Harper Lee's effort to write a true crime report. The criminal—and his attorney—deserved to be exposed in a book, but Harper Lee just could not get it written. Casey Cep did.
8. Name a recent book you read which could be considered a popular book?
The Overstory, published in 2018, winner of the Pulitzer Prize, read by me this year. There are 132 LT reviews, an average ranking of 4.09 stars.
9. What was the last book you gave a rating of 5-stars to? And when did you read it?
Stars? Shmars. I occasionally assign one or two thumbs up. Using that marker, the most recent two-thumb book was Native Tongue by Carl Hiaasen. Not going to revisit that.
10. Name a book you read that led you to specifically to read another book (and what was the other book, and what was the connection)
Three connected books here. I got To Say Nothing of the Dog, a time travel book by Connie Willis, from my 2019 LT Santee Gifteree. Reading the cover blurb about the story, I learned it was kind of a sequel to Willis' The Doomsday Book. So I got a copy of that and read it. That was in March. (Interestingly, the time-traveling aspect of the story transmigrated a young historical researcher into the time of the Bubonic Plague in England. And meanwhile, an unidentified virus is spreading across London and Oxford, the base of the time-travel operation. Willis explained how a society should respond to contain the spread while identifying the virus and developing a vaccine. Hmm. Timely.)
Anyway, having read the prequel, I ventured into To Say Nothing of the Dog, which was inspired by Three Men in a Boat by Jerome K. Jerome. I had read that novel several years ago. But I was moved to re-read it.
11. Name the author you have most recently become infatuated with.
Infatuate: to inspire with a foolish or extravagant love or admiration.
Carlos Ruiz Zafon: I read The Shadow of the Wind several years ago and really enjoyed it. Since, I've acquired the second and third books in his quartet, The Angel's Game and The Prisoner of Heaven. I don't know if I'm infatuated with the author, but the concept of the extended story is appealing, attractive, challenging, interesting.
P. G. Wodehouse: This is pretty much infatuation. I've read several Wodehouse books, but I intend to shop for more titles. Sort of ephemera, but entertaining, smile inducing.
12. What is the setting of the first novel you read this year?
Galaxy Empire is the setting for Isaac Asimov's Foundation Trilogy. The first book, Foundation, was the first book of my 2020 reading. Toward the end of February I read Foundation and Empire and Second Foundation} ( the 14th and 15th books read in 2020).
13. What is the last book you read, fiction or nonfiction, that featured a war in some way (and what war was it)?
Exiles in the Garden by Ward Just. The protagonist is a newspaper (WaPo) photographer who declines to cover the war in Vietnam. The refusal is reflective of who he is, and who he is drives the narrative, I think.
14. What was the last book you acquired or borrowed based on an LTer’s review or casual recommendation? And who was the LTer, if you care to say.
Hazards of Time Travel by Joyce Carol Oates. BB fired by DrNeutron, a.k.a. Jim.
15. What was the last book you read that involved the future in some way?
Hazards of Time Travel by Joyce Carol Oates. In a future society, those who persist in breaking the rules are transported to the past for cultural re-education. (I know. The one book that answers many questions.)
16. Name the last book you read that featured a body of water, river, marsh, or significant rainfall?
Three Men in a Boat by Jerome K. Jerome. Three men, not to mention their dog, sail up and down the Thames, ostensibly to record a guidebook.
Also American Gods, which features a town on a large lake in Wisconsin wherein the protagonist secludes himself (the town) and wherein young girls perish (the lake).
17. What is the last book you read by an author from the Southern Hemisphere?
My Invented Country by Peruvian author Isabel Allende. In August 2019.
18. What is the last book you read that you thought had a terrible cover?
Can't think of one, frankly.
19. Who was the most recent dead author you read? And what year did they die?
Ward Just died in December 2019 at the age of 84. I read his novel Exiles in the Garden at the beginning of this month.
20. What was the last children’s book (not YA) you read?
One Monday Morning by Uri Shulevitz. A short, simple storybook I read and passed along to my two youngest granddaughters.
21. What was the name of the detective or crime-solver in the most recent crime novel you read?
Adam Dalgliesh in Cover Her Face and A Mind to Murder, both by P. D. James.
22. What was the shortest book of any kind you’ve read so far this year?
Man Ray by Alexander Games. 80 pages.
23. Name the last book that you struggled with (and what do you think was behind the struggle?)
I think I've struggled with every damn book I read this year. I blame the Skunkster-in-Chief.
24. What is the most recent book you added to your library here on LT?
Utopia Avenue by David Mitchell.
25. Name a book you read this year that had a visual component (i.e. illustrations, photos, art, comics)
Man Ray. Brief text passages with a collection (and not a particularly good one) of the artist's photos.
Two Doonesbury books by Garry Trudeau—The Doonesbury Chronicles, the first collection, published in 1975, and LEWSER!, published just this year.
Also, I read three books focused on cartoons and cartoonists featured in The New Yorker.
The Complete Cartoons of The New Yorker, edited by Ro bert Mankoff
I Only Read It for the Cartoons by Richard Gehr
The Best of the Rejection Collection by Matthew Diffee
26. What is the title and year of the oldest book you have reviewed on LT in 2020?
Unnatural Death by Dorothy L. Sayers, first published in 1927.
1. Name any book you read at any time that was published in the year you turned 18:
From my unpublished document, One Book for Each Year of My Life (so far), here's a list of books published in 1962; read 'em all, though not this year.
Ship of Fools by Katherine Anne Porter
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey
A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess
The Thin Red Line by James Jones
One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
2. Name a book you have on in your TBR pile that is over 500 pages long:
A foundational volume supporting my pile of 1,380 TBRs is The Executioner's Song by Norman Mailer, which totals 1,072 pages. But that's not really a book that has percolated to the upper reaches of the pile. Up there we find The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami, for example, at 607 pages. I want to read it this year.
3. What is the last book you read with a mostly blue cover?
The Hazards of Time Travel by Joyce Carol Oates
See? It's blue4. What is the last book you didn’t finish (and why didn’t you finish it?)
So far this year, I have started but not finished (yet) the following books:
American Tabloid by James Ellroy#8212;I liked Ellroy's L. A. Quartet. Reading American Tabloid isn't as much fun; I found it repugnant and just turned away. But I'm a never say never guy. Maybe I'll go back to it. Pressure: I have the second book in the Underworld USA Trilogy, The Cold Six Thousand, on the TBR, yammering at me whenever I venture into the Bureau of To Be Read.
All the King's Men by Robert Penn Warren#8212;Wow! What a book. When I'm reading it, it is wonderful. The writing is so excellent. But I just don't feel the compulsion to keep at it. But I will finish it.
The Great Shame by Thomas Keneally#8212;I took up this book in January. It's so blasted long that I felt like I wouldn't get another book started, much less finished, before March.
The Hidden Life of Trees by Peter Wohlleben#8212;The concept is very appealing, but the reading of it is, well, boring. Attitudes change daily, however...
5. What is the last book that scared the bejeebers out of you?
Little Women by Louisa May Alcott. I couldn't get past the first chapter or two. But that was some other year, not 2020.
But seriously, The Demon in the Freezer by Richard Preston told a frightening story of plagues and viruses and the efforts to tame them. The really frightening part is the devious efforts by some to weaponize them.
6. Name the book that read either this year or last year that takes place geographically closest to where you live? How close would you estimate it was?
Of the Farm by John Updike
Google Maps estimates 45 miles from my house to Plowville, the location of Updike's mother's farm, which is the book's setting.
7.What were the topics of the last two nonfiction books you read?
The Secret History of Wonder Woman by Jill Lepore is largely a biography of William Moulton Marston, who, among other accomplishments, created the superhero Wonder Woman. Marston was a singular, very quirky man.
Furious Hours by Casey Cep is the story of Nelle Harper Lee's effort to write a true crime report. The criminal—and his attorney—deserved to be exposed in a book, but Harper Lee just could not get it written. Casey Cep did.
8. Name a recent book you read which could be considered a popular book?
The Overstory, published in 2018, winner of the Pulitzer Prize, read by me this year. There are 132 LT reviews, an average ranking of 4.09 stars.
9. What was the last book you gave a rating of 5-stars to? And when did you read it?
Stars? Shmars. I occasionally assign one or two thumbs up. Using that marker, the most recent two-thumb book was Native Tongue by Carl Hiaasen. Not going to revisit that.
10. Name a book you read that led you to specifically to read another book (and what was the other book, and what was the connection)
Three connected books here. I got To Say Nothing of the Dog, a time travel book by Connie Willis, from my 2019 LT Santee Gifteree. Reading the cover blurb about the story, I learned it was kind of a sequel to Willis' The Doomsday Book. So I got a copy of that and read it. That was in March. (Interestingly, the time-traveling aspect of the story transmigrated a young historical researcher into the time of the Bubonic Plague in England. And meanwhile, an unidentified virus is spreading across London and Oxford, the base of the time-travel operation. Willis explained how a society should respond to contain the spread while identifying the virus and developing a vaccine. Hmm. Timely.)
Anyway, having read the prequel, I ventured into To Say Nothing of the Dog, which was inspired by Three Men in a Boat by Jerome K. Jerome. I had read that novel several years ago. But I was moved to re-read it.
11. Name the author you have most recently become infatuated with.
Infatuate: to inspire with a foolish or extravagant love or admiration.
Carlos Ruiz Zafon: I read The Shadow of the Wind several years ago and really enjoyed it. Since, I've acquired the second and third books in his quartet, The Angel's Game and The Prisoner of Heaven. I don't know if I'm infatuated with the author, but the concept of the extended story is appealing, attractive, challenging, interesting.
P. G. Wodehouse: This is pretty much infatuation. I've read several Wodehouse books, but I intend to shop for more titles. Sort of ephemera, but entertaining, smile inducing.
12. What is the setting of the first novel you read this year?
Galaxy Empire is the setting for Isaac Asimov's Foundation Trilogy. The first book, Foundation, was the first book of my 2020 reading. Toward the end of February I read Foundation and Empire and Second Foundation} ( the 14th and 15th books read in 2020).
13. What is the last book you read, fiction or nonfiction, that featured a war in some way (and what war was it)?
Exiles in the Garden by Ward Just. The protagonist is a newspaper (WaPo) photographer who declines to cover the war in Vietnam. The refusal is reflective of who he is, and who he is drives the narrative, I think.
14. What was the last book you acquired or borrowed based on an LTer’s review or casual recommendation? And who was the LTer, if you care to say.
Hazards of Time Travel by Joyce Carol Oates. BB fired by DrNeutron, a.k.a. Jim.
15. What was the last book you read that involved the future in some way?
Hazards of Time Travel by Joyce Carol Oates. In a future society, those who persist in breaking the rules are transported to the past for cultural re-education. (I know. The one book that answers many questions.)
16. Name the last book you read that featured a body of water, river, marsh, or significant rainfall?
Three Men in a Boat by Jerome K. Jerome. Three men, not to mention their dog, sail up and down the Thames, ostensibly to record a guidebook.
Also American Gods, which features a town on a large lake in Wisconsin wherein the protagonist secludes himself (the town) and wherein young girls perish (the lake).
17. What is the last book you read by an author from the Southern Hemisphere?
My Invented Country by Peruvian author Isabel Allende. In August 2019.
18. What is the last book you read that you thought had a terrible cover?
Can't think of one, frankly.
19. Who was the most recent dead author you read? And what year did they die?
Ward Just died in December 2019 at the age of 84. I read his novel Exiles in the Garden at the beginning of this month.
20. What was the last children’s book (not YA) you read?
One Monday Morning by Uri Shulevitz. A short, simple storybook I read and passed along to my two youngest granddaughters.
21. What was the name of the detective or crime-solver in the most recent crime novel you read?
Adam Dalgliesh in Cover Her Face and A Mind to Murder, both by P. D. James.
22. What was the shortest book of any kind you’ve read so far this year?
Man Ray by Alexander Games. 80 pages.
23. Name the last book that you struggled with (and what do you think was behind the struggle?)
I think I've struggled with every damn book I read this year. I blame the Skunkster-in-Chief.
24. What is the most recent book you added to your library here on LT?
Utopia Avenue by David Mitchell.
25. Name a book you read this year that had a visual component (i.e. illustrations, photos, art, comics)
Man Ray. Brief text passages with a collection (and not a particularly good one) of the artist's photos.
Two Doonesbury books by Garry Trudeau—The Doonesbury Chronicles, the first collection, published in 1975, and LEWSER!, published just this year.
Also, I read three books focused on cartoons and cartoonists featured in The New Yorker.
The Complete Cartoons of The New Yorker, edited by Ro bert Mankoff
I Only Read It for the Cartoons by Richard Gehr
The Best of the Rejection Collection by Matthew Diffee
26. What is the title and year of the oldest book you have reviewed on LT in 2020?
Unnatural Death by Dorothy L. Sayers, first published in 1927.
50weird_O
>45 jessibud2: I will pick up Obama's book in the morning. I've been enjoying his promo appearances. I read on someone's thread that there is a group read of the book started. Guess I ought to look for it.
>46 jnwelch: I have a copy of Eye of the Needle, but I've seen the film with Donald Sutherland and knowing the end has put me off from reading the book. Sorry. The loss is mine. I'm going to stick with The Day of the Jackal, interspersing Rex Stout short stories from a collection I got called Target Practice. And Obama's new book will pass into my hands in the morning.
Riches. An embarrassment of riches.
I saw on your thread that your son is now a published poem, as is his wife. I knew she was a writer, but I didn't know both were poets.
>46 jnwelch: I have a copy of Eye of the Needle, but I've seen the film with Donald Sutherland and knowing the end has put me off from reading the book. Sorry. The loss is mine. I'm going to stick with The Day of the Jackal, interspersing Rex Stout short stories from a collection I got called Target Practice. And Obama's new book will pass into my hands in the morning.
Riches. An embarrassment of riches.
I saw on your thread that your son is now a published poem, as is his wife. I knew she was a writer, but I didn't know both were poets.
51weird_O
>49 richardderus: If you find a copy, I just hope you aren't disappointed. All in the illustrations. :-)
52Crazymamie
Morning, Bill! I liked your answers to that meme - had fun reading through them. And your comments on All the King's Men: "When I'm reading it, it is wonderful. The writing is so excellent. But I just don't feel the compulsion to keep at it. But I will finish it. " Me, too.
Here's hoping that your weekend is full of fabulous!
Here's hoping that your weekend is full of fabulous!
53richardderus
>51 weird_O: That ain't no lie, it's a hard to find title. Alibris, ABEBooks, all the Usual Suspects cocked their heads to the left and flopped their ears.
I am patient.
I am patient.
54benitastrnad
I went to the Used Bookstore today and walked out with 8 new titles and 2 I had been looking for to give to my young (elementary age) cousins. I felt good about my haul. Then I went into the public library and checked out 3 books to read! Go figure!
And yes - I am trying to make you jealous. As soon as I find my copy of All the King's Men I will have to read it. You have made me very curious about it.
And yes - I am trying to make you jealous. As soon as I find my copy of All the King's Men I will have to read it. You have made me very curious about it.
55msf59
Happy Sunday, Bill. After doing some birding this morning, I am now spending a lazy afternoon with the books. I just finished my story collection and now moving on to Shuggie Bain which has been getting some pretty good buzz.
I hope you are having a good day with the books too.
I hope you are having a good day with the books too.
56weird_O
>52 Crazymamie: Hmm. Your quoting of what I said about All the King's Men makes me want to read it. I should look for my copy.
We did have a reasonably good weekend. Thanks.
>53 richardderus: I found the copy I paged through at Goodwill. It's just a pamphlet. Good luck.
>54 benitastrnad: My jealousy does get inflamed from time to time. Right now, I'm less jealous of book buys than I am of reading completions. The Times published a compilation of the 10 Best Books of the Year, going back to 2004. So I checked the books I have read, but also noted the books I have but haven't read. Two dozen to read.
>55 msf59: Lemme know how much you love Shuggie Bain, Mark.
We did have a reasonably good weekend. Thanks.
>53 richardderus: I found the copy I paged through at Goodwill. It's just a pamphlet. Good luck.
>54 benitastrnad: My jealousy does get inflamed from time to time. Right now, I'm less jealous of book buys than I am of reading completions. The Times published a compilation of the 10 Best Books of the Year, going back to 2004. So I checked the books I have read, but also noted the books I have but haven't read. Two dozen to read.
>55 msf59: Lemme know how much you love Shuggie Bain, Mark.
58Crazymamie
>57 weird_O: Yes, please.
59weird_O
Be forewarned. I'm going to finish The Day of the Jackal. Maybe even today. That'll be 75.
Ah, giving thanks.
Y'all be happy.
Ah, giving thanks.
Y'all be happy.
60Crazymamie
I also hit 75 today, Bill! Wishing you happy, too.
64msf59
Hey, Bill! I hope you have a fantastic Thanksgiving. I am well into the second half of Shuggie Bain. It is shaping up to be an easy 5 star read and probably one of the top fiction titles, that I will read this year. I hope that is clear enough.
67quondame
>63 weird_O: I assume this means that congratulations for finishing 75 books are due. Congratulations, sir.
68weird_O
>65 charl08: >66 drneutron: >67 quondame: I did say SEVENTY-FIVE. Thank you, thank you. Good Lord, what a chore it seemed to be as the year dragged on and on and on and on... I was hoping, even expecting, to match 2019's total (109). But no. I won't bet on 85 for the year.
Shucks. But Yea!
Shucks. But Yea!
69Crazymamie
Congrats to you! I hear you, Bill. My 2019 total was just 84, so I might be matching that, but I was hoping to top 100, which is not going to happen. We will take what small victories we can get, eh?
72richardderus
>70 msf59: LOLOL
73weird_O
>64 msf59: It was worthy of meditation, Mark. Why would I dislike it? I like the background of the meme. It's the old Cincinnati Public Library, built it 1874, demolished in 1955.
Here's a link to a webpage with lots of photos : https://rarehistoricalphotos.com/the-old-cincinnati-library-demolition-1874-1955...
ETA: 'Sup with that bird? >70 msf59:
Here's a link to a webpage with lots of photos : https://rarehistoricalphotos.com/the-old-cincinnati-library-demolition-1874-1955...
ETA: 'Sup with that bird? >70 msf59:
74FAMeulstee
Congratulations on reaching 75, Bill!
75PaulCranswick
This Brit wishes to express his thanks for the warmth and friendship that has helped sustain him in this group, Bill.
76PaulCranswick
Well done on reaching 75 books, Bill.
77karenmarie
Hi Bill!
Congrats on #75, and thank you for the amazing photo of the Cincinnati Public Library AND the link to the photos. 200,000 books! A Welcome Booth! So many readers! Joy.
Congrats on #75, and thank you for the amazing photo of the Cincinnati Public Library AND the link to the photos. 200,000 books! A Welcome Booth! So many readers! Joy.
79weird_O
Friday morning. Not black here, but pretty darn grey. Gloomy.
Typically on Thanksgiving, we get the family together around the long table at our house. Daughter Becky comes from Boston to mix with Son the Younger (Ned) and his wife and their three girls and with Son the Elder (Jeremy) and his wife and their three girls. Gram and Gramps are there too, since it's their house. My brother Tom and his wife Frances come too. This year, the mixing transpired via Zoom. Each of the five sub-families had separate dinners. We expect to have a Zoomy Christmas. Maybe by summer we'll be able to actually have another in-person giving of thanks for NOT contracting The Virus, getting inoculations, and being able to have the full family gathering once again.
Reading? Not so much. A few chapters in The Hidden Life of Trees. Interesting facts but kinda dry.
Bookish things? Caught a BB while checking out a political blog I follow. Hogfather by Terry Pratchett, who I've never read. Checked the LT book page and was amused to find that reviewers here quoted the same passage—same starting point, same end point—that the blogger quoted. 'Sup with that? Anyway, I just may buy a used copy and read it around Christmas.
Also, I'm commencing to begin my stack of the years' reads. For a couple or three years, I'd line up the books on a shelf and photograph it. Last year's accumulation outstripped my longest shelf, so I stacked them.
All but six of the books I read in 2019, all in one stack. Taller than me!
I left the stack in place; no place to shelve them. One mid-summer day the top two-fifths unstacked themselves. Just restacked those books in front of the original stack's base. So far, I've collected my 2020 reads. And the 2019 stack will give way to the 2020 stack.
So much fun!
Typically on Thanksgiving, we get the family together around the long table at our house. Daughter Becky comes from Boston to mix with Son the Younger (Ned) and his wife and their three girls and with Son the Elder (Jeremy) and his wife and their three girls. Gram and Gramps are there too, since it's their house. My brother Tom and his wife Frances come too. This year, the mixing transpired via Zoom. Each of the five sub-families had separate dinners. We expect to have a Zoomy Christmas. Maybe by summer we'll be able to actually have another in-person giving of thanks for NOT contracting The Virus, getting inoculations, and being able to have the full family gathering once again.
Reading? Not so much. A few chapters in The Hidden Life of Trees. Interesting facts but kinda dry.
Bookish things? Caught a BB while checking out a political blog I follow. Hogfather by Terry Pratchett, who I've never read. Checked the LT book page and was amused to find that reviewers here quoted the same passage—same starting point, same end point—that the blogger quoted. 'Sup with that? Anyway, I just may buy a used copy and read it around Christmas.
Also, I'm commencing to begin my stack of the years' reads. For a couple or three years, I'd line up the books on a shelf and photograph it. Last year's accumulation outstripped my longest shelf, so I stacked them.
All but six of the books I read in 2019, all in one stack. Taller than me!
I left the stack in place; no place to shelve them. One mid-summer day the top two-fifths unstacked themselves. Just restacked those books in front of the original stack's base. So far, I've collected my 2020 reads. And the 2019 stack will give way to the 2020 stack.
So much fun!
80weird_O
From WaPo (emphasis mine):
A federal appeals court on Friday rejected President Trump’s request for an emergency injunction to overturn the certification of Pennsylvania’s election results.
The Third Circuit Court of Appeals said that the Trump campaign’s challenge of a U.S. district court’s decision had “no merit.”
The court’s sharply worded opinion was written by Judge Stephanos Bibas, who was appointed to the court by Trump.
“Charges of unfairness are serious. But calling an election unfair does not make it so. Charges require specific allegations and then proof. We have neither here,” Bibas wrote.
82benitastrnad
>79 weird_O:
You and I might be the only two people I know who stayed at home for Thanksgiving. I admit that I am miffed at all the people I know who clambered for the university to shut down back in October because it was too dangerous and they went and rented a condo on the coast for the week. A close friend of mine went to Birmingham to go shopping today. She said that she needed to support local small businesses.
I did go get groceries today.
You and I might be the only two people I know who stayed at home for Thanksgiving. I admit that I am miffed at all the people I know who clambered for the university to shut down back in October because it was too dangerous and they went and rented a condo on the coast for the week. A close friend of mine went to Birmingham to go shopping today. She said that she needed to support local small businesses.
I did go get groceries today.
83drneutron
Well, mrsdrneutron and I were another pair that stayed home. We’re obsessed with not passing this thing to her mother.
84karenmarie
5 sub-families had separate dinners. Like my 4 sub-families having 4 separate dinners, although Jenna’s was half a pizza instead of T-day fare. I hope you can all meet up again next summer.
I love your 2019 stack-o-books. Looking forward to 2020’s.
>80 weird_O: Forever and ever.
I love your 2019 stack-o-books. Looking forward to 2020’s.
>80 weird_O: Forever and ever.
85msf59
>80 weird_O: Love it!
Hey, Bill. I hope you had a good Sunday. My Bears got trounced...once again. Sighs...I did finish Shuggie Bain. It might be the best novel I have read this year, but it might get edged out by Hamnet.
Hey, Bill. I hope you had a good Sunday. My Bears got trounced...once again. Sighs...I did finish Shuggie Bain. It might be the best novel I have read this year, but it might get edged out by Hamnet.
86weird_O
Pokey Me...slow in replying to all the good wishes. I thank youse.
>69 Crazymamie: Yes yes. I'll take whatever victories come my way, no matter how meager.
That sheep could be Heidi, the ewe my wife had when I met her. Her pet. When we married, Heidi went back to the farm from whence she came. Judi was relieved to hear the farmer say that Heidi would make good babies, an indication that she wouldn't get butchered.
>71 jessibud2: Thank you, Shelley. Our Thanksgiving was ok (just not up to the standard of previous Thanksgivings).
>74 FAMeulstee: Thanks, Anita. Reaching 75 does feel like an achievement in this year of all years.
>76 PaulCranswick: I feel like getting to 75 was a struggle, Paul. Better luck anticipated for 2021.
>69 Crazymamie: Yes yes. I'll take whatever victories come my way, no matter how meager.
That sheep could be Heidi, the ewe my wife had when I met her. Her pet. When we married, Heidi went back to the farm from whence she came. Judi was relieved to hear the farmer say that Heidi would make good babies, an indication that she wouldn't get butchered.
>71 jessibud2: Thank you, Shelley. Our Thanksgiving was ok (just not up to the standard of previous Thanksgivings).
>74 FAMeulstee: Thanks, Anita. Reaching 75 does feel like an achievement in this year of all years.
>76 PaulCranswick: I feel like getting to 75 was a struggle, Paul. Better luck anticipated for 2021.
87weird_O
>77 karenmarie: Isn't that library amazing, Karen? It brings to my mind both the Trinity University Library in Dublin, Ireland, and an essay written by Nicholson Baker on the San Francisco Library about thirty years ago. The Trinity library has survived far longer than did that Cincinnati library, and even though it's an awesome tourist destination, its collection is still accessible to qualifying scholars. In San Francisco, on the contrary, some Lords of Tech oversaw the library's rape. A new building—with MORE volume but LESS shelf space—replaced the old, and hundreds of thousand volumes were hauled in dump trucks to a landfill.
>78 katiekrug: Fewer books read than in each of the previous three or four years, but getting to 75 feels like a greater achievement.
>81 figsfromthistle: Thanks, Anita. :-) That stack's been boxed and toted to "the stacks" and the new one, the books read for far in 2020, looks meager. Photos are at the processor's. I'll post a snap of the new stack shortly.
>78 katiekrug: Fewer books read than in each of the previous three or four years, but getting to 75 feels like a greater achievement.
>81 figsfromthistle: Thanks, Anita. :-) That stack's been boxed and toted to "the stacks" and the new one, the books read for far in 2020, looks meager. Photos are at the processor's. I'll post a snap of the new stack shortly.
88Whisper1
>44 weird_O: I wish there was a new/used bookstore near me. I miss the Bethlehem Library sales.
I hope your Thanksgiving was a good one.
I hope your Thanksgiving was a good one.
89weird_O
>82 benitastrnad: I'm pretty much with you, Benita. Groceries, meat from the butcher, eggs from a local farm, drugs, and (my two sins) a new-used bookstore in Kutztown and a Goodwill store. Twin granddaughters in two different colleges, both now home 'til end of January, both virus-free. My brother-in-law's granddaughter, a student at Penn State, dropped her guard, went to a party, brought home The Virus. BiL and wife declined an invite to T-day dinner.
How to deal with/coping with the Denial Deadenders? I don't know.
>83 drneutron: Stay safe, doctor and mrsdoctor. Hope your mother-in-law does well and that you all avoid burnout. My wife and I and our siblings are in the senior generation, so we're pretty much isolating.
>84 karenmarie: I'm hoping for an in-person hug fest before my next birthday (July), Karen. I'm hoping you'll be able to embrace Jenna soon. Well, pretty soon. Want it to be a safe hug.
Got the 2020 stack in place (see post somewhere below). Only a mid-rise this year.
>85 msf59: Pretty good Sunday, Mark. I have been avoiding football this season, for the most part. I check scores and such at ESPN.com, and I have watched snippets of games, but I haven't watched a game from kickoff to the final whistle.
Seems that Everybody Loves Shuggie. I did add some titles to my amazon wish list yesterday (maybe Saturday) for family. I don't think I added Shuggie, but if I get the chance, I'll read 'im.
>88 Whisper1: Good to hear from you, Linda. I'm such a tightwad, so I buy used books from the bookstore in Kutztown reluctantly. I've been spoiled by library book sales. I'm trying to avoid amazon and its spawn. Goodwill is a source, but the pickings have been thin this fall. My first good buy was just this weekend (see post below).
How to deal with/coping with the Denial Deadenders? I don't know.
>83 drneutron: Stay safe, doctor and mrsdoctor. Hope your mother-in-law does well and that you all avoid burnout. My wife and I and our siblings are in the senior generation, so we're pretty much isolating.
>84 karenmarie: I'm hoping for an in-person hug fest before my next birthday (July), Karen. I'm hoping you'll be able to embrace Jenna soon. Well, pretty soon. Want it to be a safe hug.
Got the 2020 stack in place (see post somewhere below). Only a mid-rise this year.
>85 msf59: Pretty good Sunday, Mark. I have been avoiding football this season, for the most part. I check scores and such at ESPN.com, and I have watched snippets of games, but I haven't watched a game from kickoff to the final whistle.
Seems that Everybody Loves Shuggie. I did add some titles to my amazon wish list yesterday (maybe Saturday) for family. I don't think I added Shuggie, but if I get the chance, I'll read 'im.
>88 Whisper1: Good to hear from you, Linda. I'm such a tightwad, so I buy used books from the bookstore in Kutztown reluctantly. I've been spoiled by library book sales. I'm trying to avoid amazon and its spawn. Goodwill is a source, but the pickings have been thin this fall. My first good buy was just this weekend (see post below).
90weird_O
One or two of y'all are awaiting a pic of the 2020 stack. So...
Left: 2019 reads in stacks, 2020 reads in the cartons. Originally put in a single ~7-foot-tall stack, the books at the top toppled, and I restacked the renegades as you see here. Right: Here's the 2020 reads (so far) in one stack.
Left: 2019 reads in stacks, 2020 reads in the cartons. Originally put in a single ~7-foot-tall stack, the books at the top toppled, and I restacked the renegades as you see here. Right: Here's the 2020 reads (so far) in one stack.
91weird_O
Here's my Feel Good post. Having been spoiled over the last two or three years by the reading bounty and low prices offered by library book sales, 2020 has been catastrophic. I hit five different Goodwill stores, two of which I never shopped before. Pickin's pretty slim. Saturday's excursion marked a turn in fortune for me. (Boy, have I missed posting photos like this.)
From the top down...
Freaky Science by Mark Frary (hc)
Hidden Figures by Margot Lee Shetterly (pbk)
The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein (pbk)
Builders of the Bay Colony by Samuel Eliot Morison (pbk)
Something I've Been Meaning to Tell You by Alice Munro (pbk)
Getting the Girl by Marcus Zusak (hc)
James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl (pbk)
Pax by Sara Pennypacker (hc)
Great Tales of Terror & the Supernatural, edited by Herbert A. Wise and Phyllis Fraser (hc)
America America by Ethan Canin (hc)
Playing to the Edge by Michael Hayden (hc)
Recursion by Blake Crouch (hc)
Portrait in Sepia by Isabel Allende (hc)
A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson (hc)
Not shown because I already read it and put it atop the 2020 Stack:
Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbett (mmp)
PS: Touchstones choked...again.
From the top down...
Freaky Science by Mark Frary (hc)
Hidden Figures by Margot Lee Shetterly (pbk)
The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein (pbk)
Builders of the Bay Colony by Samuel Eliot Morison (pbk)
Something I've Been Meaning to Tell You by Alice Munro (pbk)
Getting the Girl by Marcus Zusak (hc)
James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl (pbk)
Pax by Sara Pennypacker (hc)
Great Tales of Terror & the Supernatural, edited by Herbert A. Wise and Phyllis Fraser (hc)
America America by Ethan Canin (hc)
Playing to the Edge by Michael Hayden (hc)
Recursion by Blake Crouch (hc)
Portrait in Sepia by Isabel Allende (hc)
A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson (hc)
Not shown because I already read it and put it atop the 2020 Stack:
Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbett (mmp)
PS: Touchstones choked...again.
92karenmarie
Thank you for the photo of the 2020 stack, Bill! Looking at books is always fun.
93quondame
>90 weird_O: >92 karenmarie: Much prettier than my Kindle. My Oasis doesn't even have an interesting cover.
95benitastrnad
I listened to an NPR podcast on Covid deniers and a psychologist gave a good piece of advice on it. She said to put out a box of disposable face masks in a very visible place. When people come into the house ask them to put one on unless they are eating. She said that the reason that family gatherings are super spreader sites is because we trust our family. having the box out where people can see it reminds them as does the fact that you are wearing a mask. She said KEEP your mask on whenever there is somebody other than your immediate family in the house.
I took her advice and ordered two boxes of disposable face masks from Amazon (I know - but they deliver out there in a timely manner) and had them sent to my Mom's address. I will put them on the table by the door and wear my masks. If anybody asks or makes a statement I will tell them that I have to keep my job and will be tested so I am taking the proper precautions. For once I can use UA as the bad-guy and not believe it.
I took her advice and ordered two boxes of disposable face masks from Amazon (I know - but they deliver out there in a timely manner) and had them sent to my Mom's address. I will put them on the table by the door and wear my masks. If anybody asks or makes a statement I will tell them that I have to keep my job and will be tested so I am taking the proper precautions. For once I can use UA as the bad-guy and not believe it.
96weird_O
>92 karenmarie: >93 quondame: This is only the second time with the stack, but I'm fond of it already. Maybe by 2022 it'll be a tradition.
>94 richardderus: *happy sigh* Exactly. :-)
>95 benitastrnad: Good advice, Benita.
_________________
I was up kinda late—my wife was watching Colbert's interview with Obama. She came to bed and we turned out the light. My brain flooded me under that awful goo that it pukes up sometimes, so I could revel in pains and injustices that really are past, beyond remediation, yadah yahda. So after tossing and turning practically the whole night, I got up at 2 a.m. and read in All the King's Men until 4:30 a.m. Almost finished the chapter (a nearly 100-page chapter). Finished the last 20 pages this afternoon, placing me halfway through. The next chapter is barely more than 50 pages. 'Sup with that? RPW.
But this morning I signed on to the group read of President Obama's A Promised Land.
Just a thought, here. Shouldn't the primary Touchstone for "A Promised Land" be a book with that title, a book that's sold more than a million copies in a week or so, a book written by a U.S. President, a Nobelist, yahda yahda? Rather than Arab and Jew: Wounded Spirits in a Promised Land by David K. Shipler?
>94 richardderus: *happy sigh* Exactly. :-)
>95 benitastrnad: Good advice, Benita.
_________________
I was up kinda late—my wife was watching Colbert's interview with Obama. She came to bed and we turned out the light. My brain flooded me under that awful goo that it pukes up sometimes, so I could revel in pains and injustices that really are past, beyond remediation, yadah yahda. So after tossing and turning practically the whole night, I got up at 2 a.m. and read in All the King's Men until 4:30 a.m. Almost finished the chapter (a nearly 100-page chapter). Finished the last 20 pages this afternoon, placing me halfway through. The next chapter is barely more than 50 pages. 'Sup with that? RPW.
But this morning I signed on to the group read of President Obama's A Promised Land.
Just a thought, here. Shouldn't the primary Touchstone for "A Promised Land" be a book with that title, a book that's sold more than a million copies in a week or so, a book written by a U.S. President, a Nobelist, yahda yahda? Rather than Arab and Jew: Wounded Spirits in a Promised Land by David K. Shipler?
97Crazymamie
Hello, Bill! I have stalled on All the King's Men, but I will get back to it one of these days. You are right about the touchstones - I have no idea how they work, but weirdness reigns.
>90 weird_O: SO fun!
>91 weird_O: Nice haul.
>90 weird_O: SO fun!
>91 weird_O: Nice haul.
98laytonwoman3rd
>82 benitastrnad: Just the two of us at our Thanksgiving table.
>91 weird_O: Nice haul! Glad to see Canin in the stack; he's looking fair to make the cut for the 2021 AAC.
"Shouldn't the primary Touchstone for A Promised Land be a book with that title" Huh. Wouldn't that be useful...for many a title. It is at least the second title to come up now. Algorithms...who understands 'em?
>91 weird_O: Nice haul! Glad to see Canin in the stack; he's looking fair to make the cut for the 2021 AAC.
"Shouldn't the primary Touchstone for A Promised Land be a book with that title" Huh. Wouldn't that be useful...for many a title. It is at least the second title to come up now. Algorithms...who understands 'em?
99weird_O
Still here, still reading slowly. Tackled the 50+ page chapter VI of All the King's Men but it just ran over me. Truth be told: I fell asleep. When I awoke, I turned to Mr. Obama's book and read a chapter in it. Also read a short story in Target Practice, a collection of Rex Stout's early writing, I think before he discovered Nero Wolf. No dates or publication info provided.
>97 Crazymamie: I hear you, Mamie. I've been moving AtKM from the bench to the active lineup and back to the bench since August or September. I'm determined to finish it, particularly because my AAC reading's been so spotty this year. Ahh, you'll get it read.
>98 laytonwoman3rd: I picked up the Canin with the AAC in mind, Linda. I have the impression that America America was not as enthusiastically as his previous books. Guess I'll see. Never have read anything he's written.
Algorithms...who understands 'em? Exactly. That's why the term is so effect in establishing that fraud corrupted the recent election. "Oooo! They used algorithms. Booga booga!"
>97 Crazymamie: I hear you, Mamie. I've been moving AtKM from the bench to the active lineup and back to the bench since August or September. I'm determined to finish it, particularly because my AAC reading's been so spotty this year. Ahh, you'll get it read.
>98 laytonwoman3rd: I picked up the Canin with the AAC in mind, Linda. I have the impression that America America was not as enthusiastically as his previous books. Guess I'll see. Never have read anything he's written.
Algorithms...who understands 'em? Exactly. That's why the term is so effect in establishing that fraud corrupted the recent election. "Oooo! They used algorithms. Booga booga!"
100karenmarie
Hi Bill!
>96 weird_O: Sorry for the insomnia, glad that you were able to get some good reading in.
Touchstones got very weird some number of years ago – I don’t remember the reason why, but I rarely find the book I’ve actually got touchstoned show up first.
>96 weird_O: Sorry for the insomnia, glad that you were able to get some good reading in.
Touchstones got very weird some number of years ago – I don’t remember the reason why, but I rarely find the book I’ve actually got touchstoned show up first.
101msf59
Happy Friday, Bill. I am really enjoying Birdsong. If you have not read this WW1 tale, keep it in mind.
102Berly
>91 weird_O: Book haul!!! Hurray!! I am doing pretty well reading my current books, and I have mostly been adding Kindle and Audio to my collections. Not so much paper books. Ah 2020. Sorry about the insomnia. It happens. Wishing you a great weekend. And some weirdness. Because you deserve it. : )
103weird_O
>100 karenmarie: Currently, I'm getting the reading done in the darktime (my younger son, as a toddler, called night "dark time"). So dysfunctional of me. Tonight I'ma gonna try to finish chapter VI in AtKM by RPW.
Got Rex cataloged.
>101 msf59: I do have Birdsong on the TBR monolith, or more accurately in a carton in the furnace room pending the development of honest to god shelves. Wasn't Eddie Redmayne in a film of the book broadcast on PBS?
>102 Berly: I feel entirely "Hurray!!" about my $20 investment in those books. So far in this C-19 year, my cautious forays into Goodwill stores, since there are NO library sales, haven't been particularly Hurray!! inducing. So maybe the light at the end of the tunnel is just around the corner.
Got Rex cataloged.
>101 msf59: I do have Birdsong on the TBR monolith, or more accurately in a carton in the furnace room pending the development of honest to god shelves. Wasn't Eddie Redmayne in a film of the book broadcast on PBS?
>102 Berly: I feel entirely "Hurray!!" about my $20 investment in those books. So far in this C-19 year, my cautious forays into Goodwill stores, since there are NO library sales, haven't been particularly Hurray!! inducing. So maybe the light at the end of the tunnel is just around the corner.
104weird_O
Finally finished the last two stories in Target Practice, a collection of short stories, most set prior to World War I, that Rex Stout wrote and published in "All-Story Magazine". The collection was touted as "never before available in book form" when first published by Carroll & Graf. It's disappointing to me that the book doesn't have original pub dates of the stories.
On Sunday, I went shopping for a Tony Hillerman novel to read for the AAC. And also for gifts for my 75er Christmas giftee. Got a couple of books for the latter, and a copy of A Thief of Time. I want to finish All the King's Men before starting the Hillerman book. President Obama's memoir must be patient.
On Sunday, I went shopping for a Tony Hillerman novel to read for the AAC. And also for gifts for my 75er Christmas giftee. Got a couple of books for the latter, and a copy of A Thief of Time. I want to finish All the King's Men before starting the Hillerman book. President Obama's memoir must be patient.
106quondame
>105 weird_O: Exactly right, err I mean correct.
107jessibud2
>105 weird_O: - Go, Batman!
108richardderus
>105 weird_O: What we needed to've said in 2016.
109PaulCranswick
>105 weird_O: Hahaha, Bill. I do hope that he doesn't demean the office yet further and cause himself to be forcibly removed. I was heartened that the Supreme Court didn't even bother to give much thought to his latest nonsense appeal and dismissed it almost scornfully. He has at least ensured that the new administration comes into office with a great deal of good will.
110karenmarie
Hi Bill!
>104 weird_O: My copy of Target Practice is supposedly arriving Monday.
>105 weird_O: Yup. As I wrote on RD’s thread I won’t be truly happy until Biden is inaugurated on the 20th, but it is encouraging that even Republican judges and politicians are using the law instead of party/personal loyalty to render their verdicts and certify results.
>104 weird_O: My copy of Target Practice is supposedly arriving Monday.
>105 weird_O: Yup. As I wrote on RD’s thread I won’t be truly happy until Biden is inaugurated on the 20th, but it is encouraging that even Republican judges and politicians are using the law instead of party/personal loyalty to render their verdicts and certify results.
111Oberon
>104 weird_O: I loved Hillerman's books. Have you read A Thief of Time before? PBS did an adaptation of some of his work as part of their Masterpiece Theater show. I assume it is out there somewhere on line but I recall it being well done.
112benitastrnad
Tony Hillerman is a very good mystery author. I read the entire Leaphorn/Chee series and really liked it. It was a window into a culture. Hillerman's daughter continued the series only concentrating on Chee and his wife Bernadette I have not read any of those because I am not a fan of estates continuing author's series after the original author has died. I know that sometimes the authors picked to continue a series are very good, but it is just a thing I have about author's trying to interpret other author's minds and writing more of that character's adventures.
PBS did a very good adaptation of four of the Leaphorn/Chee novels. That was back when PBS had an American version of Masterpiece Mystery. I have seen them offered for sale from time-to-time on sites like Acorn. If you want to watch them you could consider getting them through Inter-Library Loan as public libraries still have them.
PBS did a very good adaptation of four of the Leaphorn/Chee novels. That was back when PBS had an American version of Masterpiece Mystery. I have seen them offered for sale from time-to-time on sites like Acorn. If you want to watch them you could consider getting them through Inter-Library Loan as public libraries still have them.
113karenmarie
Hiya Bill!
Looks like you're going to get walloped with snow - some today and more tonight. I'm worried - do you have enough books to keep you occupied until the snow plows come out?
Looks like you're going to get walloped with snow - some today and more tonight. I'm worried - do you have enough books to keep you occupied until the snow plows come out?
114weird_O
The data is plain: I'm not a good steward of my own thread. Here's to making 2021 different.
We did get a fair bit of snow overnight, but the township plows made regular passes last evening and early this morning. When I finally looked out, our driveway had already been plowed open. The guy didn't get to plow our drive even once last winter. An up-tick in his business; a boost to the economy!
Reading is proceeding slowly. Actively reading A Thief of Time. More than halfway. It's good. Other books, already started, await renewed attention.
My LT75er Santa has dispatched two packages to my house. One appears to hold two books, the second one book. I'm sure Santa chose wisely and I'm gonna be joyful come December 25.
Though it's kind of moot by this time...
>106 quondame: >107 jessibud2: Good to get the SuperHeros involved, ain't? (Good PA dutch idiom, ain't? Or, not? Or, say?)
>108 richardderus: Hasn't that been the Greek chorus of the Trump presidency, RD?
>109 PaulCranswick: He can't demean the office much more than he already has, Paul.
>110 karenmarie: Looking forward to Biden's inauguration. I note that his inaugural committee is discouraging people from even thinking about traveling to DC for the event.
>111 Oberon: I recall that my mother liked Hillerman's books, but I never sampled them. I'm glad AAC Linda goaded me into giving his work a try. A Thief of Time is good. I think a PBS Passport is in our immediate future, and we should be able to rummage through the Masterpiece vault, see if adaptions of Hillerman books are in there.
>112 benitastrnad: I am coopted, Benita. I'm in. Hillerman is good. And as said to Erik, I'll be investigating the availability of the adaptions through a PBS Passport. Wish me luck.
>113 karenmarie: Yeah, we got the snow, though from our windows it doesn't seem as over-ample as advertised. Happy about that.
We did get a fair bit of snow overnight, but the township plows made regular passes last evening and early this morning. When I finally looked out, our driveway had already been plowed open. The guy didn't get to plow our drive even once last winter. An up-tick in his business; a boost to the economy!
Reading is proceeding slowly. Actively reading A Thief of Time. More than halfway. It's good. Other books, already started, await renewed attention.
My LT75er Santa has dispatched two packages to my house. One appears to hold two books, the second one book. I'm sure Santa chose wisely and I'm gonna be joyful come December 25.
Though it's kind of moot by this time...
>106 quondame: >107 jessibud2: Good to get the SuperHeros involved, ain't? (Good PA dutch idiom, ain't? Or, not? Or, say?)
>108 richardderus: Hasn't that been the Greek chorus of the Trump presidency, RD?
>109 PaulCranswick: He can't demean the office much more than he already has, Paul.
>110 karenmarie: Looking forward to Biden's inauguration. I note that his inaugural committee is discouraging people from even thinking about traveling to DC for the event.
>111 Oberon: I recall that my mother liked Hillerman's books, but I never sampled them. I'm glad AAC Linda goaded me into giving his work a try. A Thief of Time is good. I think a PBS Passport is in our immediate future, and we should be able to rummage through the Masterpiece vault, see if adaptions of Hillerman books are in there.
>112 benitastrnad: I am coopted, Benita. I'm in. Hillerman is good. And as said to Erik, I'll be investigating the availability of the adaptions through a PBS Passport. Wish me luck.
>113 karenmarie: Yeah, we got the snow, though from our windows it doesn't seem as over-ample as advertised. Happy about that.
115msf59
>105 weird_O: This made my day!!
Hi, Bill. It sounded like you were in a bit of a book funk. I hope that is coming to an end. I am sure those books are piling up. I am not joining in on the AAC this month but I am a fan of Hillerman and have enjoyed several of his books.
How much snow did you get?
Hi, Bill. It sounded like you were in a bit of a book funk. I hope that is coming to an end. I am sure those books are piling up. I am not joining in on the AAC this month but I am a fan of Hillerman and have enjoyed several of his books.
How much snow did you get?
116quondame
>114 weird_O: It took a bit of reading past it, but when you first mentioned The Thief of Time I thought you meant Thief of Time since you had mentioned reading a Terry Pratchett book.
117weird_O
>115 msf59: Makes you smile, don't it? 
Truth is, I have been in a book funk. Maybe a breakthrough is coming. Down to the last 30 pages of A Thief of Time, and I won't turn out the light until I've finished them.
Where we are maybe a foot of snow. On the Tee Vee there's talk of our area having somewhat more than that, say 16 inches. But I know we've had bigger snows, just not in the last two years. No big deal. After all we've got nowhere to go.
>116 quondame: Ah yes. Terry Pratchett. That faded. At least for now, Susan. Thanks to a trio of LT75ers—notably Karen and Mark, not to mention a secret Santa—I have a surfeit of excellent books vying for my attention.
Truth is, I have been in a book funk. Maybe a breakthrough is coming. Down to the last 30 pages of A Thief of Time, and I won't turn out the light until I've finished them.
Where we are maybe a foot of snow. On the Tee Vee there's talk of our area having somewhat more than that, say 16 inches. But I know we've had bigger snows, just not in the last two years. No big deal. After all we've got nowhere to go.
>116 quondame: Ah yes. Terry Pratchett. That faded. At least for now, Susan. Thanks to a trio of LT75ers—notably Karen and Mark, not to mention a secret Santa—I have a surfeit of excellent books vying for my attention.
118weird_O
Snow Day!
Our collegiate granddaughters, with the help of at least three high school classmates, put together a snowman.
Our collegiate granddaughters, with the help of at least three high school classmates, put together a snowman.
119richardderus
>118 weird_O: So completely adorable I could plotz!
120jessibud2
>118 weird_O: - That is some snowman! They should have added a giant mask to its face! ;-)
121laytonwoman3rd
>114 weird_O: "I'm glad AAC Linda goaded me into giving his work a try. " Hmmm....I think you spelled "encouraged" wrong, there.
122Berly
>118 weird_O: It's Huge!!! Love it. Also Batman taking him down.
123karenmarie
Definitely an epic snowman. Thanks for sharing.
124Crazymamie
>118 weird_O: LOVE this!! Made me smile big, so thanks for that.
125msf59
>105 weird_O: Still loving that!
>118 weird_O: Loving this too!
Happy Sunday, Bill. Did you finally close the door on AtKM?
>118 weird_O: Loving this too!
Happy Sunday, Bill. Did you finally close the door on AtKM?
126ffortsa
Hi, Bill. I'm glad to come by and say hello to you before the year ends. Glad you enjoyed the Hillerman - his series with Leaphorn and Chee is really great. You have lots of happy reading ahead with those two.
127richardderus
Tachyon Publications, an SFF house, posted this on Twitter. Says it all, no?
129figsfromthistle
>118 weird_O: Wow! that's quite a snowman! How long did it take them to build?
Best wishes for a wonderful holiday!
Best wishes for a wonderful holiday!
130karenmarie
Hi Bill!
... and here's to a better 2021!
... and here's to a better 2021!
131SandDune
Or in other words, Happy Christmas! And have a great New Year as well. Here’s hoping 2021 is better than 2020.
132benitastrnad
I saw over on Mark's thread that you are reading Constitution Illustrated. It sounds a lot like the graphic novel history of the IWW I read several years ago. Wobblies: A Graphic History of the Industrial Workers of the World. It was edited by Paul Buhle and each chapter is done by a different graphic artist. It was a lengthy work for a graphic nonfiction (320 pages) but it was a book that I still remember about history that isn't well known.
Mark should consider reading it since he is reading Cold Millions. The lumbermen's strike in Idaho was one of the best run strikes that was organized by the IWW.
Mark should consider reading it since he is reading Cold Millions. The lumbermen's strike in Idaho was one of the best run strikes that was organized by the IWW.
133msf59
Merry Christmas, Bill! Have a great holiday and lets hope for a better 2021!
>132 benitastrnad: The Cold Millions has been excellent. Echoes of Steinbeck here.
134weird_O
I just realized. I am still here. What a relief!
I hear tell it is Christmas Eve. That is SO cool.
Our oldest stopped in with his wife and their three marvelous daughters. We all were masked and socially distanced. Yes, gifts were exchanged, and so were parting hugs. That was SO great, to give each of them a brief hug.
I hear tell it is Christmas Eve. That is SO cool.
Our oldest stopped in with his wife and their three marvelous daughters. We all were masked and socially distanced. Yes, gifts were exchanged, and so were parting hugs. That was SO great, to give each of them a brief hug.
135Berly
Bill--Wishing you and yours a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. So glad you got to see them today. : )
May 2021 bring you less need for masks, loads of peace and joy, good health and, of course, books!
137PaulCranswick
I hope you get some of those at least, Bill, as we all look forward to a better 2021.
138jnwelch
Happy Holidays, Bill!
I love the getting-Trump-out-of-there humor and the epic snowman.
I'm reading In the Shadow of the Mic by the son and his wife, and halfway through liking it a lot. (Thank goodness!) The F word is quite popular in Pittsburgh. (Both son and DIL's poems in the book use it a lot). It reminds me of an open mic we went to in Chicago where the son, then pretty young, was the featured poet. He performed a very blue spoofy one about his sexual magnetism, and an audience member jokingly said, what would your parents think of that. He answered, well, they're sitting back there (pointing). We stood up laughing, to some nice applause.
I love the getting-Trump-out-of-there humor and the epic snowman.
I'm reading In the Shadow of the Mic by the son and his wife, and halfway through liking it a lot. (Thank goodness!) The F word is quite popular in Pittsburgh. (Both son and DIL's poems in the book use it a lot). It reminds me of an open mic we went to in Chicago where the son, then pretty young, was the featured poet. He performed a very blue spoofy one about his sexual magnetism, and an audience member jokingly said, what would your parents think of that. He answered, well, they're sitting back there (pointing). We stood up laughing, to some nice applause.
139karenmarie
Hi Bill!
Glad the French Press is working out.
Happy reading.
Glad the French Press is working out.
Happy reading.
140weird_O
On the eve of New Year's Eve. I am ready. Ready to push ahead into 2021. Just cautiously close the door, abandoning the rubble. Take a long hot shower, put on fresh clothes—i got from nice shirts and trousers for Christmas—and step across that threshold in 2021. And don't look back.
I spent parts of two-three days concocting a revised reading log. Kept most of the same columns, reordered a few, and added two or three. I've even introduced my own rating nomenclature. I foresee using, if I can figure out how to do it, some of that cybermagic that'll tally some information.
While I'd like to add one more book to the 2020 reading tally, I doubt I'll succeed. Eight-one books for the year isn't the worst I've done since I started tracking my reading eleven years ago.
I spent parts of two-three days concocting a revised reading log. Kept most of the same columns, reordered a few, and added two or three. I've even introduced my own rating nomenclature. I foresee using, if I can figure out how to do it, some of that cybermagic that'll tally some information.
While I'd like to add one more book to the 2020 reading tally, I doubt I'll succeed. Eight-one books for the year isn't the worst I've done since I started tracking my reading eleven years ago.
2010: 78 books
2011: 74 books
2012: 68 books
2013: 90 books
2014: 80 books
2015: 102 books [Joined LT]
2016: 85 books
2017: 93 books
2018: 103 books
2019: 110 books
2020: 81 books
142SandyAMcPherson
Hi Bill, I snagged your "exploding head" image today to attach to my New Year's greetings. Stay masked, stay isolated. Seriously!
All the best for 2021.
All the best for 2021.
143Crazymamie
I am also ready, Bill. My final tally was 84 books read, and I am happy with that as it is more than I thought I would get.
"And don't look back." Gotcha.
"And don't look back." Gotcha.
144benitastrnad
I tallied up my books read in 2020 and I had my best year ever. I read 135. I have NEVER read that many. A little time at home translated to a lot of books read.
145Storeetllr
Happy New Year, Bill! And good riddance to 2020. Glad it's finally hindsight.
146PaulCranswick
Bill
As the year turns, friendship continues
