Jim (drneutron) Reads: Volume 5

I'm Jim, 59, husband of 36 years, father of a son in a PhD program in Comp Sci at Notre Dame, who reads pretty much anything. We're in central Maryland with roots in Louisiana. I like to read (obviously), cook, want to learn to fly fish, and trail bike riding/kayaking with mrsdrneutron. Of course, LT is a big time sink, but mrsdrneutron seems to have come to terms with my LT addiction...

Thanks for joining me in kicking 2020 to the curb!

1. Magpie Murders by Anthony Horowitz
2. In the Garden of Beasts by Erik Larson
3. The Twisted Ones by T Kingfisher
4. Atlas Obscura by Joshua Foer
5. Untraceable by Sergei Lebedev
6. Baptism of Fire by Andrzej Sapkowski
7. Velocity Weapon by Megan E. O'Keefe
8. The Lost Plot by Genevieve Cogman
9. Speculative Los Angeles edited by Denise Hamilton
10. Secret Service by Tom Bradby
11. Sutton by J. R. Moehringer
12. The Last Madam: A Life In The New Orleans Underworld by Chris Wiltz
13. Magicians Impossible by Brad Abraham
14. Pulp by Ed Brubaker
15. This is Shakespeare by Emma Smith

16. The Missing American by Kwei Quartey
17. Ghosts of Gold Mountain by Gordon H. Chang
18. Department of Truth, Vol 1 by James Tynion iV
19. The Russian Cage by Charlaine Harris
20. We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson
21. Come Closer by Sara Gran
22. A Promised Land by Barack Obama
23. Lady Mechanika, Volume 2 by M. M. Chen
24. The History of the Renaissance World by Susan Wise Bauer
25. Voyagers by Robert Silverberg
26. City of the Lost by Kelley Armstrong
27. Restless by William Boyd
28. Moonflower Murders by Anthony Horowitz
29. Lady Mechanika, Volume 3 by M. M Chen
30. Prodigal Son by Gregg Hurwitz
31. Gardens of the Moon by Steven Erickson
32. The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires by Grady Hendrix
33. Nobody's Child: A Tragedy, a Trial, and a History of the Insanity Defense by Susan Vinocour
34. The Floor of Heaven: A True Tale of the Last Frontier and the Yukon Gold by Howard Blum
35. A River Called Time by Courttia Newland
36. The Outsider by Stephen King

37. Firewatching by Russ Thomas
38. Lady Mechanika Volume 4: The Clockwork Assassin by Joe Benitez
39. Metropolis: A History of the City, Humankind's Greatest Invention by Ben Wilson
40. An Officer and a Spy by Robert Harris
41. Don’t Applaud. Either Laugh or Don’t. (At the Comedy Cellar.) by Andrew Hankinson
42. Nighthawking by Russ Thomas
43. A Master of Djinn by P. Djèlí Clark
44. The Fabric of Civilization: How Textiles Made the World by Virginia Postrel
45. The Eighth Detective by Alex Pavesi
46. Math Without Numbers by Milo Beckman
47. Disappearing Earth by Julia Philips
48. The Gray Man by Mark Greaney
49. Four Lost Cities: A Secret History of the Urban Age by Annalee Newitz
50. Himalaya by Ed Douglas
51. Things in Jars by Jess Kidd
52. Lady Mechanika Volume 5: La Belle Dame Sans Merci by M. M. Chen
53. Weight of Memory by Smucker

Total Books: 53

Author Gender
Male: 35 (66%)
Female: 18 (34%)

Author Status
Living: 52 (98%)
Dead: 1 (2%)

Publication Medium
Hardback: 7 (13%)
Trade: 12 (23%)
Mass Market: 0 (5%)
eBook: 33 (63%)

Category
Fiction: 38 (72%)
Nonfiction: 15 (28%)

Source
Library: 40 (75%)
Mine: 13 (25%)

ARC: 6
Re-Read: 0
Series: 18
Group Read: 4

Open for business!

Happy new one!

>7 katiekrug: Thanks!

Happy new thread, Jim!

Updating the latest three...



51. Things in Jars by Jess Kidd

A delightful Victorian-ish mystery with a bit of magical realism. Bridie Devine finds missing children, and when a baronet hires her to recover a daughter he's keep in secret from kidnappers, she finds out that sometimes children aren't what they seem. And that this particular kidnapping has ties back to her own childhood.



52. Lady Mechanika Volume 5: La Belle Dame Sans Merci by Joe Benitez

Another steampunk adventure as Lady Mechanika holds her search for her mysterious origins to help her partner who's fallen under the spell of a mysterious widow. Artwork still good - once again, Marcia Chen's stories are better than Benitez's. Still very enjoyable!



53. The Weight of Memory by Shawn Smucker

I really struggled with The Weight of Memory. The premise is certainly one with promise - a dying man returning to his hometown to look for a guardian for his granddaughter. And Smucker had a lot of potential with the more speculative aspects of his story. But I could never get into the characters, and I really didn't understand why he included some scenes that seemed unnecessary and out of context. Plus I hate first-person present tense narration...

Obviously some like it, so it works for some folks. Just not for me.

>9 scaifea: Thanks, Amber!

Happy New Thread! Thanks for keeping the Time Sink running smoothly!

>12 streamsong: Happy to do it!

I have Things in Jars waiting for me. I just have had other book distractions.

Happy new thread!

>14 benitastrnad: It's a good'un!

>15 quondame: Thanks, Susan!

Happy new thread, Jim!

LT is the best time sink :-)

Hiya howdy, doctor. Good to see you are purring right along.

>17 FAMeulstee: Thanks! That it is!

>18 weird_O: Thanks! Unfortunately, I’m slipping a bit this year. We’ll see where I end up count-wise.

Happy new one, Jim.

>20 PaulCranswick: Thanks, Paul!

Sweet Thursday, Jim. Happy New Thread. I hope those books are treating you fine.

>22 msf59: Thanks, Mark!

On your last thread >187 drneutron: you indicated you would add Women's Work to your list. I just started The Fabric of Civilization and the very first foot note is to Women's Work! Later Postrel quotes Elizabeth Wayland Barber about spindle whorls. I've gone to multiple talks by EWB and in addition to her fiber related expertise she has been a member of the English Country Dance community for years. Dance is another basic part of being human that doesn't always get much respect in academic quarters.

>24 quondame: Hadn't made the connection with Women's Work. I'll definitely need to check into it now! And the connection to Barber sounds fascinating.

Happy new thread, Jim!

Thanks!

Hi Jim.
I back in the land of reading and book talk. I even posted some reviews, albeit just a few one liners. Don't get your hopes up, I *still* haven't finished that Ben Macintyre (on Philby). Real life has been too full of drama to get a face full in my reading as well!

I do believe you winged me with Things in Jars. Sounds quite a different sort of mystery-drama-fantasy sort of story. I even popped over to Overdrive and lo and behold, it was available as an e-book.

Hi Jim, mate, Happy new thread dear friend.

>28 SandyAMcPherson: I get how real life is. Ours has been tipsy-turvy over the last couple of months. Hopefully, things will settle down for all of us!

Hope you like Things in Jars!

>29 johnsimpson: Thanks, John!

Update Time!



54. Fugitive Telemetry by Martha Wells

Murderbot - 'nuff said! This one is one of my faves, but I'm looking forward to more ART in the upcoming books.



55. Remote Control by Nnedi Okorafor

You may know Okorafor from the Binti series. Her Afrofuturistic style is one I really dig, and Remote Control is right up there with her best. Here we follow the story of a young girl who finds a mysterious seed from space that gives her a power that brings death to those around her. I devoured it in one sitting.



56. Palm Springs Noir edited by Barbara DeMarco-Barrett

Akashic’s noir series of short story collections just keeps getting better and better. In Palm Springs Noir, fourteen stories peel back the sunshine veneer of the desert resort to let us see grit and grime of human nature that noir does so well. Every single story works, and works well.

>31 drneutron: The Noir series has been hit or miss with me. I loved the Pittsburgh one, but I couldn't connect with the Amsterdam or Berlin that I got
thru ER. I guess it depends on knowing the area. The Palm Springs one sounds fun.

Yeah, that's probably true - and there's so many nobody could read them all. 😀

I have to say my favorite was Nairobi Noir!

Update Time!



56. Palm Springs Noir edited by Barbara DeMarco-Barrett

Akashic has published a ton of these short story collections - noir centered around specific locations - and this one is all about Palm Springs, California. Palm Springs brings to mind the playground of the 50s and 60s Hollywood set - especially the Rat Pack. These days, it's still a place with lots of money and glamour, but also a seedy side, and all of the stories in this collection dive deep into that seediness. Usually a collection like this is hit-or-miss for me, with some great and some not-so-great ones. Every one here worked for me!



57. Finna by Nino Cipri

Two workers in a Swedish furnishings store (no, not that one, but one very like it...) are sent into a wormhole to rescue a missing patron, even though they're exes with some significant baggage.

Cipri gives us a great breakup/regrets story, a criticism and mocking of capitalism, and a poke a gender conventions all wrapped up in a nice other-worlds adventure. Looking forward to the sequel!

Happy new one, Jim! Glad to see you liked Remote Control - Okorafor has a new book, Noor, due out in November and I'll be looking to get my hands on it soon thereafter.

Oooh, that’ll be one to look for!

>34 drneutron: A lot of those Akashic noir anthologies are currently priced at $1.99 for ebook versions. I grabbed a bunch of them, but don't know when I'll get around to, you know, *reading* them.

Loved Finna! I have Defekt on Kobo, but don't know when, yadda yadda.

>37 swynn: Yup, *when* is definitely my problem... 😀 I've got a new Kate Summerscale narrative nonfiction going, and once that's done, I'm gonna reserve Defekt, so hopefully get to it this month.

Happy new one!

Defekt hit my Kindle when K.J. Charles, one of my fave-rave MM writers, praised it to the skies. Then, of course, I found out that LitenVärld was a series...*sigh*

>39 figsfromthistle: Thanks!

>40 richardderus: Yup. But fortunately, the first is pretty short. Novella, really, so you could knock it out in an afternoon. So why haven’t you? 😁

>41 drneutron: ...I thought scientists were supposed to be forces for good...

>42 richardderus: But I’ve always wanted to be a Bond villain. They have the coolest lairs! 😀

>42 richardderus: Except when they're not.
Remember that disaffected scientist (Maryland, wasn't it?) who released anthrax through the USPS?

Edited to add, it was Bruce Edwards Ivins, according to Wikipedia.

Yup - Fort Detrick, where he worked, is about 30 miles away from my house.

I'm picking up ideas for Morgan's future reading from your thread!

>46 ursula: Great!

Happy new thread, Doc!

>10 drneutron: (51) and >34 drneutron: (57?) Oh, go on then. *trundles off to hunt through Overdrive*

>48 humouress: 😀 I'm not sorry...

But I did fix number 57!

I was at our country fair last night and watched a magician put on a good show. The number 42 came up when he asked the audience for a number and the guy said 42. The magician immediately asked if there was a reason why he chose 42. The audience member said no - its just a number. The magician said that it was the answer to everything. A few of us in the audience laughed. Then he asked how many people in the audience had read Hitchhiker's Guide and went on to recommend to the audience that they read that book as it was really funny and had the answer to everything. Goes to show that good ole' Douglas Adams shows up in unexpected places.

Heh - that's pretty funny!

I should read the sequels to Hitchhiker's Guide haven't done that yet. I did order the fourth book in the Bobiverse series and it should be waiting for me when I get back to Alabama.

Haven’t gotten to the new Bobiverse - definitely on my list, though!

>49 drneutron: *sigh* Such behaviour from our overlord! They're both on hold for me. One of them says I'm number 2 in the queue for 0 copies ... I'm hoping the queue will prompt them to put it on the 'shelves' sooner.

>50 benitastrnad: :0) Hitchhiker's Guide is one I've been meaning to get around to. I did pick up the omnibus edition fairly recently, so there's no reason not to, I suppose.

>54 humouress: 😀 I hope so too!

Hi Jim and a very belated happy new thread to you.

>31 drneutron: I have Miami Noir: The Classics and New Orleans Noir on my shelves, just waiting for the right time. It is not yet the right time for some reason. The ER gods are going to get angry with me, because Miami Noir:The Classics is way past due to be read and reviewed. Touchstone isn't going to the correct Miami Noir...

I've been known to hang on to some of the ERs longer than I should too! I may look into the New Orleans one - that one ought to be good.

Update Time!



58. The Hour of Fate: Theodore Roosevelt, J.P. Morgan, and the Battle to Transform American Capitalism by Susan Berfield

Yep, Teddy R had his flaws - he was a man of his time, after all. But this book is a perfect picture of why he's one of my favorite US Presidents. It was a time of railroad barons and steel barons and J. P. Morgan who ran Wall Street with an iron fist. It was also a time of workers trying to organize and break the stranglehold of the rich. And in the middle of it all stepped in TR, who took on the biggest monopoly of its day and won, beating Morgan at his own game to break apart the railroad conglomerate he'd been quietly building.

Berfield occasionally gets bogged down in events, but overall this is a nice history of Teddy's first term and his attempt to bring som fairness to American capitalism.



59. The Haunting of Alma Fielding: A True Ghost Story by Kate Summerscale

Nandor Fodor was a Hungarian expat living in London, working as the lead investigator and director for the International Institute for Psychical Research, one of the organizations leading the investigation of paranormal phenomena in the late 1930s as the world approached another war. He desperately needs to find an interesting case to bring interest in and donations to the Institute, when along comes Alma Fielding, a housewife who's plagued by a poltergeist. A match made in heaven? Or an attempt to fool Fodor and the world?

I loved Summerscale's other well-known book, The Suspicions of Mr Whicher, so had high hopes for this one. Wasn't disappointed!



60. The Searcher by Tana French

A retired Chicago cop moves to rural western Ireland to get some peace and quiet - and stumbles into investigating the disappearance of a local young man, in spite of the pressure from old timers to leave things alone.

Best way to describe this one is Irish noir!

>58 drneutron: Two...two!...book-bullets! Your aim is getting sharper, Jim.

But... But... Which two?

Ain't tellin'

😀

Once again Ive been peppered with BBs. It happens frequently when I visit your place, doc. You find the most intriguing books. Gotta update the *Want!* list. Thanks for sure.

😀 You've returned the favor plenty of times...

>58 drneutron: "Irish noir" is a great way to describe The Searcher, Jim. I like Tana French's novels and that one did not disappoint.

>58 drneutron: Argh... a BB winged me.

Keeping below the hail, for now. When RD weighs in I'll have to duck again I suspect.

>58 drneutron: Hi, Jim! You got me with 2 BBs -- The Searcher was already on my radar, but I hadn't heard about The Haunting of Alma Fielding.

Morning, Jim!

I *need* to get round to Tana French. Soon.

Happy Friday, Jim. I was thinking of T.R. the other day and the fact that I had not read anything about him in awhile. The Hour of Fate would fit that bill. I have begun to tire of Tana French. Her last few books have been a chore to finish, despite some fine writing. Glad to hear you enjoyed her latest.

>65 lauralkeet: Glad you like it!

>66 SandyAMcPherson: Heh. Not sorry. 😀

>67 quondame: Yeah, probably. His thread is always a danger zone for me.

>68 tymfos: Alma Fielding was fun for me. Lots of spiritualism, Freudian psychoanalysis, a dash of is she or isn't she experiencing these things...

>69 scaifea: Yup!

>70 msf59: I think you'd like this one on TR and Morgan. They're definitely some interesting characters!

Sorry French hasn't been as good for you lately. So many other good books out there, don't spend time on something that's a chore!

Happy weekend! And newish thread. Irish Noir...sounds like fun. ; ). And Bobiverse never disappoints. I just read the first in his new series, Quantum Earth. Review on my thread--loved it!

Oooo, new series! Gotta check that out.

Hi Jim!

>58 drneutron: I, too, loved Summerscale’s The Suspicions of Mr. Whicher and have added this one to my wish list. And although I abandoned French’s The Wych Elm and have only read the first in the Dublin Murder Squad, I’ve also added The Searcher to my wish list.

Awesome! I hope you like them!

>70 msf59: My wife liked Tana French's initial books, but like you, Mark, she got tired of her and stopped reading them. So I've got six on the shelf, none read, and no particular plan to sample. The Searcher is not one of the BBs I took here.

>76 weird_O: I tired of Tana French as well. She crafted some really good segments in the one novel I've read, In the Woods but then as the story progressed (and I said in my review), it was a case of ‘away with the fairies’.

However, I was intrigued by Jim's review at >58 drneutron:, so I did add it to my holds request. I'm willing to give TF another chance. Fortunately, The Searcher looks like a stand alone. I'm #6 in the e-book queue and the PL system shows 25 copies in the system, although I'm not sure how many of those are e-books.

I was kind of hoping it might be an airplane ride book, but I think I'll suspend the hold until I return home. It's a chunkster (anything over 400-p is to me, too long for trip-reads) and I'm likely to want a 3-F book on the 'plane (you know? Fun-Fast-Finished?).

>76 weird_O:, >77 SandyAMcPherson:

It’s interesting to see the reactions to French’s books - I can see how the Dublin Murder Squad series could get that way, especially if read close together. This one’s definitely stand-alone, with an entirely different location and characters, so hopefully, Sandy, it’ll be a bit fresher!

Update Time!



61. Defekt by Nino Cipri

Remember that big box Swedish furniture store (not that one!) from Finna? Well it turns out that the space-warping geometry of the store layout that creates black holes also animates some of the furniture, making defekts. Derek - *that* guy, the innocuous one that somehow gets on everyone's nerves, who is always early for his shift and puts in way too many hours for no reason - is assigned to work with a special inventory team to clean up the mess created by Finna's fallout. Satire ensues.

I *love* these books!



62. To Green Angel Tower, Part 1 by Tad Williams

Working more on my reread of the Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn series. Long, but wonderful, visit with these old friends.



63. The Yellow Peril: Dr. Fu Manchu and the Rise of Chinaphobia by Christopher Frayling

Saw this on Overdrive and mentioned it to Steve (swynn) as he's doing a (re?)read of the Sax Rohmer Fu Manchu books. He had decent things to say about it, so I thought I'd give it a go. It's an interesting, though occasionally dry, discussion/history of cultural representations of Chinese specifically, and Asians in general, in British and American music, plays, art, novels, etc, as well as a dive into Rohmer's life and career. The part that interested me most was how Fu Manchu bled into the James Bond movies and books, starting with Dr No and continuing with other Bond villains that weren't specifically Asian. Hadn't really thought about it before, and it was a fascinating connection.

From Dr. NO to Oddjob Ian Flemings demonizatiom of Asians is worth a book in itself

Remember reading and liking Mr. Witcher a lot

>79 drneutron: #61

>80 magicians_nephew: Yep, I'd read that!

>81 richardderus: 😂😂

>79 drneutron: Glad you found it interesting! Yes, it wasn't exciting reading but very interesting. Having (nope, not re-, in this case never re-) read all the Fu Manchu books helped, but I don't recommend that project.

Also, I need to get to Defekt.

>83 swynn: 😀 I don't think it was a re-read, but wasn't sure...

So I've been groovin' on Trombone Shorty the last few days while writing. Spotify then suggested a band called Bonerama, who have an album of Led Zeppelin covers - mind you, this is a trombone band with tuba and drums, a little guitar. Holy moly, this works!

>85 drneutron: Ha! That sounds kind of amazing. I'll have to check it out.

>85 drneutron: One more reason for the HomeOffice - I'm listening to the record right now while working - I love it!
If you want to hear trombones in unusual settings, Lars von Licht - Trombohemian might be something for you. I got that tip -of course- from a book.

Something similar was done by Apocalyptica - 4 Finns playing Metallica on 4 cellos.

>87 SirThomas: Unfortunately, Spotify doesn't have Trombohemian, but does have a couple of extended singles by Lars von Licht. They're really good! I'll have to hit up Amazon Music to see if I can find the other.

I found it on youtube....

Cool! I'll check it out.

Ok, that was seriously cool. I love how he was able to turn the trombones into a percussive element.

Hi Jim!

>88 drneutron: I’m listening to Trombohemian right now and have forwarded the YouTube link to my daughter – a trombone player although her instruments are here and she’s in Asheville.

Aaaaahhhh. Another bullet. At least it isn't a book.

:-)

>92 karenmarie: Great! I hope she likes it - from one trombonist to anther!

>93 weird_O: 😀 Well, it *is* time for another update...

Morning, Jim!

Charlie's good friend plays trombone and sits behind Charlie (saxophone) in band class. They're both goofily happy about that. Ha!

>94 drneutron: Oh my, oh my. I'm in the process of compiling a WANT! List in Google Docs, so I can purge both the list here on LT and Amazon. It is awfully long. Have you no decency?

Update on Trombohemian. Not for me. Now Trombone Shorty, that's good. I heard TS interviewed on NPR several years ago. He's the youngest in a musical family, and all his siblings had dibs on an instrument. He was stuck with the trombone. When he started playing, he was so small he had to work the slide with his foot. Well, that's what he said. :-)

>96 weird_O: Here's a pic of Trombone Shorty at age 5 playing with the Carlsberg Brass Band in New Orleans at a festival. Apparently he started playing when he was 4!

Yeah!

Hey, Jim. I know you are a Jeff Guinn fan. I just started The Vagabonds: The Story of Henry Ford and Thomas Edison's Ten-Year Road Trip and I think you will like this one. Have you read his book on Manson? That one is on my radar too.

>99 msf59: Oh, that one looks good! Haven't read the Manson one either. Guinn's never let me down, so I expect it'll be good.

Update Time:


64. Curious Toys by Elizabeth Hand

Pin is a young girl pretending to be a boy in 1915 Chicago, mostly hanging around a big amusement park picking up odd jobs to survive. Pin's quiet, and blends into the background, and one day sees a man take a young girl into a ride, but leaving without her. Finding the girl's body, Pin decides she's going to catch the killer.

Hand writes great scary stories, and there's always some twistedness about them. This one's no different - good stuff!


65. Son of the Storm by Suyi Davies Okungbowa

Really good first volume in a new fantasy trilogy from this Nigerian author who's spent a lot of time studying creative writing in the US. Want an engrossing story that isn't Tolkien done again or faux European Medieval? This is it!


66. Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir

What if you woke up on a spaceship not knowing why you're there or even who you are? And relatively quickly figured out that you're in a different star system on a mission to save all life on Earth?

I mean, really, is anybody surprised I loved this one? There's math. And sciencing the sh*t out of it. My kinda thing for sure.

>101 drneutron: All good reading...that I own and/or have read. My *favorite* kind of post!

>102 richardderus: 😀 I’ll try harder next time…

>101 drneutron: Son of the Storm looks like something I have a chance of liking. It seems to have collected a fair number of holds at my local libraries.

>101 drneutron: It was dicey, but I escaped without a mark, Jim.

>104 quondame: I loved it - definitely worth a look.

>105 weird_O: 😀 I’ll try harder next time for you too.

Morning, Jim!

>101 drneutron: Curious Toys sounds really good, and I need to get round to more Weir.

>107 scaifea: Don't know if Tomm read The Martian, but if so, and he enjoyed it, he'd probably like this one too!

>108 drneutron: We both read it and loved it - and the movie, too!

I took a BB for Son of the Storm. Likely the library did as well. ( I do the book selection>)

Those Nigerian authors are hot right now! Lots of good stuff coming from these writers.

>110 benitastrnad: Great! And yep, I’ve been reading some good things from Nigerian authors lately.

Normally I am a person who Knows My Own Mind. Startling, I realize, for you to hear this...as I've always been such a soft-spoken crowd-goer-alonger.

Stop laughing.

Anyway. I need help. The wisdom of the crowd is sought to help be decide between two equally strong contenders for Read of the Month. I am simply incapable to unparalyzing myself from the FOMO I get thinking about this problem.

Please vote on the poll or you will be directly responsible for my re-admission to the Goofy Garage this birthmonth.

Aaaaand done!

Ping Ping Ping! says Ricochet Rabbit.

Curious Toys jumped up on the table and nabbed me

Happy Friday, Jim. I hope you have a nice holiday weekend planned. I will have to get to Hail Mary. It has been on the list.

>114 magicians_nephew: Cool! Looking forward to your thoughts on it.

>115 msf59: Oh, I bet you’ll like it. 😀

I assiduously avoided book bullets (although yeah, Curious Toys, but no). Had a few moments of nostalgia seeing ol' Tad Williams' name up there, however.

Hi, Jim. Good to see your enthusiastic thumb up for Project Hail Mary. I thought Artemis was okay, but wondered about trying this one.

>117 SandyAMcPherson: Yeah, I’ve been enjoying the blast from the past!

>118 jnwelch: He’s returned to something more like The Martian with this latest - science/engineering based problem solving. Definitely my kinda thing, but maybe not for everyone.

Went to visit The Son over the holiday weekend, so had lots of car time for reading. So it’s Update Time!



67. Cemetery Dance by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child

Ninth in the Agent Pendergast series, Preston and Child hold true to form with a fun story of zombies (the voodoo kind, not the virus kind) in New York. You gotta read the whole series, though, if you want enjoy it to the max.

68. Animal Wrongs by Stephen Spotte

Spotte’s retelling of Medieval ecclesiastic trials of animals could have been an absurd, biting satire, especially given the political world today. Unfortunately, it just wasn’t. After some good parts early on, the humor died, the satire became irrelevant. In the end, what could have been fun was just meh

>101 drneutron: Book bullet on Project Hail Mary!! Always love me some sci-fi. : ) I enjoyed Outland (🎧10.5 hours) by Dennis E Taylor last month, he of Bobiverse Fame. Just saying...

Ok, *that* one rocketed onto the list. 😀

>121 drneutron: I guess a book by a marine biologist from that noted coastal destination, West Virginia, was destined to disappoint.

>124 richardderus: 😂

Just felt the need to put this here...

That’s awesome.

>126 drneutron: HA!!

Pleasant snicker, AND no bbs. Good visit.

>126 drneutron: Big grin!

>128 richardderus:, >129 weird_O:, >130 Berly: 😀

>124 richardderus: ^^^ what Richard said ~ ha! 😄

>126 drneutron: *Grins* I needed something superbly funny today. Thanks for sharing :)

>132 SandyAMcPherson: 😀

>133 figsfromthistle: Gave me a giggle!

Update Time! Yeah, I went political this time...



69. The Delusions Of Crowds: Why People Go Mad in Groups by William J. Bernstein

You may have heard of (or even read!) Charles Mackay’s Memoirs of Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds. Bernstein studies the same two things - group mania in economics and religion - as an update to Mackay's work and a way to examine the psychology and sociology of how and why these manias happen. It's a fascinating work, though he can be pretty dismissively caustic with folks who get caught up in the groupthink at times.



70. Strongmen: Mussolini to the Present by Ruth Ben-Ghiat

Written in 2020, before the election, Ben-Ghiat's study of how authoritarian leaders gain, maintain, and lose power is both fascinating and repelling at the same time. Fascinating because how people (men here, but not overall exclusively so) like this think is so different from my way of thinking. Repelling because each and every one has caused massive suffering by the people they rule over. Ben-Ghiat's study is a well thought out, well written expose of these authoritarians. And yes, it's targeted at our previous president.

Hi Jim.

Just passing through. I really need to get back to the Pendergast series...

Stop by any time! Door’s always open.

I’m still enjoying Pendergast, but taking them slow - don’t want to burn out. 😀

>135 drneutron: Wow...some heavy hitting reads there, Spacedoc. All sound interesting but I'm more delicate than usual. I'll pass but will pass them on to others in more robust fettle.

>138 richardderus: Yeah, both were pretty heavy subjects. I'm reading a spooky Seanan McGuire to cleanse the palate. 😀

Hi Jim, just checking in. No book bullets for me this time around (I've already read Project Hail Mary), but glad to see you're enjoying your recent reads.

>139 drneutron: That's the proper response...AVOID AVOID AVOID

>140 bell7: Yep, I've had good ones lately!

>141 richardderus: 😀

>142 drneutron: Do you know Travis S. Taylor? Huntsville rocket scientist-cum-sf writer? He collaborates with Les Johnson, also Huntsville-based propulsion expert/physicist...well, I reviewed two of their Golden-Agey stories. I liked 'em.

Unfortunately, I haven’t met either, but I’ll look for their stories. Will also keep my eyes out for them next time I’m at Marshall SFC

Cool! I'm always amazed when guys in jobs like that can also be writers.

David Brin, of Startide Rising and Sundiver, was on the Parker Solar Probe science team until he stepped down a few years ago. Neat guy!

>146 drneutron: Dr Brin is A Thinker, though, politics and futurism and, oh yeah, serious SF as well. These two dudebros write (plausible) shoot-'em-ups!

I love me a good shoot-‘em-up!

>135 drneutron: Yup, heavy hitting reads.
I had to set Indian in the Cabinet aside for a few days.
Might pick it up again after *Monday*.

>139 drneutron: I've only read one Seanan McGuire (Every Heart a Doorway) and it was certainly in the noir category for me.

>149 SandyAMcPherson: I’m reading Middlegame, a fantasy/horrorish story of alchemists and trying to become a god. Pretty good so far!

Friday night firepit and reading!

I’ve been a reading funk lately, but tonight seemed to have snapped it. We got a fire going in the back yard, I had me a great rum and coke, and got about 100 pages into The Lost Village before it got too dark to read the hard copy. Switching over to Middlegame on the iPad after breezing through LT.

This gave me a chuckle - for just $2.5M, a great house is available!

https://www.realtor.com/addamsfamily2/

>152 drneutron: Ha! Maybe we can pool our resources and make it the new LT retirement home. I'm in, as long as I don't have to live in the dungeon or the bottomless pit.

>152 drneutron: *SNORK!*

If you factor the bottomless pit into the square footage, that price is a bargain!

>153 kidzdoc: I'm in!

>152 drneutron: 😀

>152 drneutron: *shudder*

>156 SandyAMcPherson: 😀

>152 drneutron: If we could pool resources Jim (and I mean more than just the two of us!) then surely this one would be the one!

Ottery St. Mary in RD's favourite UK destination of Devon. Housing also Samuel Taylor Coleridge's Library. Quite the place for an LT retreat.

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/107980793#/?channel=RES_BUY

Oh, wow. That’s a heckuva place! And a heckuva library. 😀

>159 drneutron: I spotted it a while ago but unfortunately, Jim, I don't have £6 million spare to buy it!

>160 PaulCranswick: By the way, Jim, well done in already passing 1000 posts on your threads again in 2021.

>160 PaulCranswick: Me neither, but we can dream…

>161 PaulCranswick: wow! Didn’t realize I had that many!

>162 drneutron: Including this post, Jim, you currently have 1,008 posts to your threads this year and occupy 20th spot.

>162 drneutron: To be fair Jim, you have consistently passed 1,000 posts with the last time you weren't able to being a near miss in 2015. Your stats:

2020 : 1,114 posts : 29th place
2019 : 1,238 posts : 24th place
2018 : 1,684 posts : 21st place
2017 : 2,222 posts : 17th place
2016 : 1,147 posts : 36th place
2015 : 967 posts : 44th place

Huh. Well, at least I'm reasonably consistent! 😀 2017 and 2018 were the run-up to the Parker launch, and I remember posting a lot about that.

Happy Wednesday, Jim. How are tricks? Are you a Mary Roach fan? I thought I remembered you enjoying Packing For Mars. I am starting her new one Fuzz: When Nature Breaks the Law.

>166 msf59: Didn't realize she has a new one out. I'll add it to the list... I've enjoyed all of them so far, except that I haven't gotten to Gulp yet.

Hi Jim!

>137 drneutron: I just read Pendergast 3 and 4, and, having unintentionally read #5 first, am waiting on #6 from the Library. They are just so darned good!

Yep! I can attest that they hold up through t least number 9.

EVERYONE should check this "What Hubble Saw on Your Birthday!" link: https://www.nasa.gov/content/goddard/what-did-hubble-see-on-your-birthday
On my birthday in 2005, Hubble saw:

It's called the "Great Observatories Origins Deep Survey", South Field. In case you was wonderin'.

Cool! Mine is Jupiter!

>101 drneutron: Thank you for the BB Project Hail Mary - I enjoyed reading it very much
>170 richardderus:, >171 drneutron: what a great Idea!
Mine is "BLACK HOLE ESO 243-49 HLX-1"

>172 SirThomas: Glad you liked it!

And that’s a gorgeous picture!

>172 SirThomas:, >171 drneutron: If NASA decided it wanted to front for the NSA, it picked the right bait!

Yup! And with Webb launching soon, we’ll hopefully have more really cool stuff to see.

Very cool NASA link, Richard - thanks.

>176 blackdogbooks: My pleasure...I hope you'll lose as much time to enjoy it as much as I have.

>175 drneutron: Is it for real this time? No more nasty tech glitches or software bombs or political kerfuffle? Next month is for sure? It's only a couple decades late, you'll have to forgive me skepticism.

Stopping by to say "Hello," Jim. I am never going to catch up, so I am not even going to try.

Have a wonderful Sunday!

>177 richardderus: I have a friend down at the launch site for a couple of months and they’re shipping it down now. Plus, the NASA Deep Space Network is telling us we’re not going to get all the telecomm hours we want so they can support the launch. So it’s realer than it’s ever been!

>178 alcottacre: No worries, just glad you’re back amongst us!

>179 drneutron: Thanks again, Jim. I will try and keep up better in future.

September wasn't a good reading month for me - was in a bit of a funk and had a hard time concentrating on books. But I shook it off and finished a couple last week, so...

Update Time!



71. Middlegame by Seanan McGuire

Roger and Dodger aren't normal children - instead, they were created by an amoral alchemist to embody the motivating principle of the Universe to allow him to control the ultimate power to shape reality. Except Roger and Dodger don't really *want* to play along...

McQuire's envisioning of an alchemy in the modern world that lives alongside science is a fun one, and I love the way she plays with time and space in this world. Roger's and Dodger's relationship is an interesting one, but one that wasn't quite believable some times.

At any rate, a fun read that snapped me out of my reading funk and kicked off my scary-read season!



72. The Lost Village by Camilla Sten

Alice has grown up listening to stories from her grandmother of her village in northern Sweden that one day just disappeared. Everybody gone, no bodies found - except for a woman stoned to death in the middle of the village square and a baby left behind to be rescued by the police. The story so captures Alice that she's raised a little money to make a documentary, and is leading a small team to scout the village ruins. But things in the village quickly go south, and making a documentary becomes the least of their problems.

Sten's story has a Blair Witch vibe on one hand and a Midsommer feel at times. Combine this with some good writing and translating, and you've got a decent horror story that'll make a fun movie someday!

>181 drneutron: #72 is waiting for me to review it this Spooktober...I like her Sandhamn series a lot. I enjoyed Midsommar, too, so this bids fair to be a quality read.

Happy new week's reads!

>182 richardderus: Great! I'll look for your review. I definitely enjoyed it.

I hope you're eagerly lapping up The Body Scout, Jim...it's some good, grim chuckling material.

Oh, that one looks good! Onto the list it goes...

I've got Middlemarch coming up on a list for me - I'm glad you liked it!

>186 scaifea: Middlemarch? Eliot?

This one was nowhere near as much a classic. 😀

>181 drneutron: Oo, my local library has The Lost Village. I will have to check it out. Thanks for the recommendation, Jim!

>187 drneutron: *snork!* My fingers misspoke! I meant the McGuire.

>188 alcottacre: any time!

>189 scaifea: 😂

The Lord Darcy books Too Many Magicians for one were delightful in creating a world based on Magic where "science" was the hidden oft discredited "black art".

worth a look from you if you haven't read any of them

>191 magicians_nephew: I've heard of them, but never read any. Will see if I can find them!

Baen reissued all the novels and all the short stories in one book (Lord Darcy)...it was a while ago, though (2004), no idea if it's still available (other than in used book stores). I _love_ Lord Darcy and his world. The Kurland sequels are good books, but do _not_ capture the flavor of Garrett's books.

I should be able to stir them up, then!

Update Time - and an achieving of the goal!



73. Double Threat by F. Paul Wilson

Yup, another Secret History of the World book by Wilson! Unfortunately, no Repairman Jack - this one's the start of a stand-alone series that's linked to the greater story arch. A decent place to start with Wilson's books, but really, is missing the spark from the early books with Jack. It'll be interesting to see if he turns up the tension in the rest of the books featuring what could be a pretty interesting lead.



74. Lady Mechanika, volume 6 by Joe Benitez

The Lady Mechanika comics are some of the most interesting artwork I've enjoyed lately, and the stories continue to capture me. It's steampunk the way it should be - with a healthy dose of punk. This one got a bit heat handed with its morality, but still pretty good, especially as we learn more about this unique character.



75. Karen Memory by Elizabeth Bear

Now this is some steampunk! Great characters, great world-building, over-the-top plot, all mixed well with some great storytelling to give a mix of dime novel and fantastical sf that owes more than a little to the Wild Wild West tv series and Jules Verne. This was a good one to bring me across the goal line.

Congrats on hitting the magic number, Jim!

Thanks, Katie!

>195 drneutron:
Bravo for getting across the line with such a good read! I'm fond of Author EBear's steampunk stuff.

Have yourself a merry little Moon's Day, Jim. I'm not hearing "scrub the launch" rumbles from out here in the weeds...I really, really, really, really hope JWST goes to L2 next month.

Congratulations on reaching the magic number, Jim!

>198 richardderus: Thanks! This was a good one, just in case you haven't read it yet...

>199 SirThomas: Thanks, Thomas!

>195 drneutron: Being a fan of Wilson's Repairman Jack series, I will have to give the new series a shot too. Thanks for the mention, Jim. Lady Mechanika and Karen Memory also sound very much up my alley.




Congratulations!!

>201 alcottacre: Oh, I think you'll like all of them!

>202 drneutron: Good to know. I am ordering the first of the Lady Mechanika volumes from Amazon as I have no hope at all of my local library ever getting them. Currently it does not have either of the others, but I at least have a prayer there.

I've been collecting up all the Repairman Jack books, including back to the earlier Adversary Cycle for a complete read through - not there yet. I'm kind of glad he's moving on to a new series so I can stop chasing!!!

>203 alcottacre: I found the Lady Mechanika volumes on Hoopla, which fortunately, my library offers. It's better than Overdrive for graphic novels and comics.

>204 blackdogbooks: Well, this one is part of the Secret History, just a side story. So if you want to be a completist... 😀

>205 drneutron: I am not familiar with Hoopla. My local library only offers Overdrive as far as I know and I do not like to use it.

Killin' me, Smalls.

>207 alcottacre: Ah. Well, I'm glad you're able to get them!

>208 blackdogbooks: Not sorry.

Congratulations on reading 75!

Congratulations on the big 75.

Thanks, Susan and Arlie!

Congrats on 75, Jim!!

Thanks, Amber!

Hi Jim!

>181 drneutron: I’m sorry you were in a reading funk in September, glad you’ve snapped out of it with Middlegame.

>195 drneutron: Congrats on reaching 75!!

>215 drneutron: 👍

Thanks! I’m glad I busted the funk too.

Congrats on reading 75 books!

Thanks!

Congrats on reaching 75 books read for the years so far Jim.

Thanks, John!

>215 drneutron: Check...check...check...check...check...check...check...check...check...check...uh oh

Congrats on hitting 75, Jim. Our magic number. I have not read a steampunk book in years. I may have to keep Karen Memory in mind.

>222 richardderus: 😀 I really want that second hovel in France.

>223 msf59: Thanks!

>215 drneutron: Cute, very cute!

Congratulations on 75!



... er, I mean, 75 books.

>215 drneutron: *sigh* I can relate.

>225 alcottacre: 😀

>226 humouress: Thanks!

And after yesterday's sub-orbital flight....

LOL. He was so emotional after he landed. Very glad he got the opportunity. : )

And congrats on hitting the big 75!

Thanks!

How rude was Bezos to talk over him?!

Yup. Typical Bezos. But I’m really glad Shatner got to go. It was really something for him.

It would be amazing for anyone! I'm glad he got to go, too, and it makes me happy that he was *giddy* with delight. How often does a 90-year-old sound like he's fifteen again?

I know I’d go in a heartbeat!

Right behind ya.

We'll have to arm wrestle for the privilege!! Or maybe rock paper scissors!

Well, if we’re going that direction, clearly…

Slightly belated with the 75 book congrats Jim but well done.

Is Camilla Sten and Viveca Sten one and the same or are they different authors? RD put me on to the latter but you may be turning me towards the former.

Well done Captain Kirk. Would have been great to have seen him in his gold uniform though!

Just checked Jim and it seems that Camilla Sten is the daughter of Viveca.

>234 drneutron: >235 richardderus: >236 Berly: Can I get in line too?

>238 PaulCranswick:, >239 PaulCranswick: Hadn’t made the connection, but a quick Google says yes. I don’t think I’ve read any of Viveca’s books - adding her to the list!

>240 alcottacre: Meetup in space!

Happy Friday, Jim. I am enjoying Tears of the Trufflepig. Keep this one in mind.

Will do. Looks great!

>237 drneutron: Ah; paper, rock, scissors, Jim, but not as we know it. Captain. (Lizard beats Spock?)

To quote Sheldon on Big Bang Theory:

"Scissors cuts paper, paper covers rock, rock crushes lizard, lizard poisons Spock, Spock smashes scissors, scissors decapitates lizard, lizard eats paper, paper disproves Spock, Spock vaporizes rock, and as it always has, rock crushes scissors."

>241 drneutron: A meet up in space works for me!

>245 drneutron: "...Spock vaporizes rock..."

Genius.

>195 drneutron: Belated congratulations on reaching 75, Jim!

Thanks!

New thread time!

Hi Jim. I'm hoping you can help me. Thanks in advance. I have no idea how it happened, but the font is small. How can I adjust it to large? Thanks as always.

Linda

>245 drneutron: I love that so much!! LOL

>251 Whisper1: I'm guessing that would be your screen settings rather than LibraryThing settings?

Actually, could be both. As part of the latest update, they added the ability to choose between a few styles - go to the bottom of a Talk page and click “Change Styles”. Style A is the biggest font.