Book Excerpt for the Day

    “Do you remember playing that game with the blindfold?” Valens asked.  “You know, the one where you blindfold someone and tell him to find certain people in the room, but everybody keeps tiptoeing about from place to place, so that no matter how hard he tries, he never finds them unless they want him to?”

    “No,” said Ruso, trying to picture Valens as a child.

    “Really?”  His friend sounded genuinely surprised.  “Of course, it was much more fun when there were girls playing.”

    “I can imagine.”

    “And plenty of wine.”

    (from Tabula Rasa, by Ruth Downie)

     8½*/10.  The full review is here.

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Friday Night Philosophy

    It's been that kind of week.  But the weekend is here, and it's time for glasses.

Just an idea...

    I support this.

Reading is Fun Wednesday

E-Card Tuesday. Winter Edition

    Here in Phoenix, we don't even know the meaning of the word Snow.

Quote for the Day

   It's true.  There is no reason for Genius and Crazy to be mutually exclusive.

Therapy

    This is why I don't go to Therapy.  It would seriously impact my Time-Travel adventures.

Book Excerpt for the Day

    She smiled.  “I never took you for the martyr type.”

    “You mean there’s a martyr type?  Who the hell would want to be a martyr?”

    “More than you’d think.  In the right setting it can be a form of celebrity.”

    “I guess so.   Who was it who said that some people climb onto the cross merely to be seen from a greater distance?”

    “Camus, I believe.”

    Patrick was startled – happily.  “You’ve read Camus?”

f

    (from Sims, by F. Paul Wilson)

     8*/10.  The full review is here.

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Back to school

    Yay for me!!  I'm going back to school!  Well, it's Traffic School, but that still counts, doesn't it?

Go Seahawks!

    I've never been a fan of the New England Patriots, although I'd cheer for them if they were playing the Dallas Cowboys.  I'm not a big Seattle Seahawks fan either, but I will definitely be cheering for them in the Super Bowl.

Grammar Nazis and Commas

    I've been reading up on the proper use of commas.  Cuz Beta-Readers have got to be punctuation pros.

Kale

    Kale,  Yuck.  But maybe I haven't been eating it the right way.

Book Excerpt for the Day

    “All we wanted to know was, are we on the right road for the Hundred Acre Wood?”

    Julian nodded.  “Follow your nose as far as the next clearing but one and wait for a dramatic plot reversal,” he sighed.  “There’s usually one along every ten minutes or so.”

    “Many thanks,” the intruder said.  “If it’s any consolation, the river of predestination has many bends but few bridges.”

    “I’ll bear that in mind,” Julian assured him.  “And now, if you don’t mind -“

    “Carry on,” replied the intruder.  ”Be seeing you.  Strive to be at peace.”

    “Same to you with knobs on.”

    (from Snow White and the Seven Samurai by Tom Holt)

  8*/10.  The complete review is here.

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FaceBook Warning

    I adjusted my FaceBook settings to eliminate the Apocalypse threat.  The Universe sleeps a little safer tonight.

E-Card Friday

    Awww.  Ain't love a marvelous thing?

RIF Thursday

    Reading Is Fun.  One learns from every book one reads.

Antisocial Support Groups

    That is an inherent weakness of Antisocial Support groups.

Philosophy Tuesday

    Words to live by.

Book Excerpt for the Day

    “So what?”

    “So this,” Leopard’s finger stabbed out again.  “These legends were created by a group of ex-Nazis right after World War Two.  They were brought over by the OSS and given the job of creating legends for agents who were then inserted inside the USSR.  They called themselves the Norns, the weavers of fate from Wagner’s Ring Cycle opera.”

    “How do you know all that?”

    “The Internet, dude.  How else?”

    (from Father Night by Eric Van Lustbader)

    6½*/10.  The complete review is here.

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Dylan Sunday

Saturday Zen

RIF Friday

    And I for one appreciate that information.

Why do we call it Finland?

    Germany calls itself Deutschland.  Spain calls itself Espana.  And Finland calls itself Suomi.  So why don't we call these countries what they call themselves?

    This question was posed to me a couple days ago, and I still don't have an answer for it.

Book Excerpt for the Day

    “This is a terrible idea,” Carveth said.  “I mean, haven’t you noticed that we’re actually going towards the enemy?  Four people can’t defeat six divisions, especially if a quarter of them are hiding.  It’s like mooning people at light speed: it just won’t work.  At a guess.”

    (from God Emperor of Didcot by Toby Frost)

    8½*/10.  The full review is here.

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Frasier

    Is it just me, or did Frasier have the best scriptwriters in Hollywood?

Today's Drabble

   I can empathize with Ralph.  I've had this nightmare as well.

Squirrel Jam

  I always love a well-constructed pun.

Cursive

    Ah, Cursive.  You gave me so many bad "Handwriting Grades" in elementary school.  Cute girls got assigned to try and help me, but in those days they had Cooties.  I was very happy when I made it to Junior High and my sloppy handwriting no longer got graded.

    Now of course, we "write" everything with a computer, tablet, cell phone, or e-mail carrier.  And even my signature is usually digitally affixed.

    So up yours, Cursive! I outlasted you.

Irregardless

    We post far too few SMBC cartoons here.

Book Excerpt for the Day

    “You are an … interesting man, Elend Venture,” Yomen finally said.

    “I’m a bastard,” Elend said.

    Yomen raised an eyebrow.

    “In composition, not in temperament or by birth,” Elend said with a smile.  “I’m an amalgamation of what I’ve needed to be.  Part scholar, part rebel, part nobleman, part Mistborn, and part soldier.  Sometimes, I don’t even know myself.  I had a devil of a time getting all those pieces to work together.  And, just when I’m starting to get it figured out, the world up and ends on me.”

    (from The Hero of Ages by Brandon Sanderson)

    9*/10.  The complete review is here.