Thought for the Day

Book Excerpt for the Day

    “Fine.  Cast aspersions on my manhood if you will, but I’ll not protect you when the French arrive.  They’re unnaturally fond of public snogging and they smell of snails and cheese.  I will laugh – ha! – as you both are mercilessly cheese-snogged by froggy marauders.”

    “Don’t really sound that bad to me,” said Squeak.

 

    (from Fool by Christopher Moore)

 

    9*/10.  The complete review is here.

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Thought for the Day

RIF (Reading is Fun)

    I've read three of these: 1984, The Handmaid's Tale, and The Hobbit.  And The Odyssey is on my TBR shelf.

Positivity Friday

Book Excerpt for the Day

    “How’re you feeling?”  (…)

    Cris said in a quiet voice, since loud sounds made funny white stars shoot across his vision.  “Day I mustered out of the Army, I downed a bottle of swill bourbon.  Woke up the next morning in underwear not my own, hugging a balsam on a Christmas tree farm.  This isn’t so bad.  Thanks for getting me back here.”

    “I knew you’d rather throw up at home,” Dria deadpanned.

    (from Pulp Reality 2 published by Charles Millhouse)

 

    8½*/10.  The complete review is here.

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Music Lyrics Tuesday

Art Appreciation Monday

Book Excerpt for the Day

    [“…And then you, Commander Liao… Captain of the ship you call the Beijing, will die.  You will be the last human alive; you will witness the end of your people…  And in those moments, the final few seconds when you alone stand as an example of your species, you will realize that it was you that bought {sic} humanity to destruction.  That everything that happened to your people was your fault.  This will be your dying thought, as I drive my blade through your heart.”]

    Rowe, somehow managing a weak smile, called out to Liao.  “He sure loves to talk, doesn’t he?”

    (from Lacuna: Demons of the Void by David Adams)

 

    6*/10.  The complete review is here.

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Pride and Prejudice

Delusional Friday

Book Excerpt for the Day

    Beeton was a small man, which fit his occupation, but not twisted and gnarled, as Mycroft had expected him to be, and as long-time chimney sweeps often were.  Instead, he seemed boneless.

    If one were to pluck a turtle out of its shell, he thought, paint him a mottled orange and wrap him in an ill-made suit, that would be Beeton.

    And, if a turtle could speak, and if its larynx had been shoved deep inside its long, wrinkled throat so that every word emerged in a hiss, it might match Beeton’s voice.

    (from Mycroft and Sherlock by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Anna Waterhouse)

 

    8*/10.  The full review is here.

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How to tell a real guitarist

    LOLZ.  Such a natural talent.

Message Taking

    I gotta try this.

Sunday Funny

 

Saturday Illusion

Book Excerpt for the Day

    The stock market of the 1920s was very different from the stock market of today.  Back then, the market was infested by greed-crazed slimeballs, get-rich-quick speculators with the ethical standards of tapeworms, who shrieked “buy” and “sell” orders into the telephone with no concern whatsoever for the nation’s long-term financial well-being.  Whereas today they use computers.

    (from Dave Barry Slept Here by Dave Barry)

 

    7½*/10.  The complete review is here.

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Context Appreciation Wednesday

Mine

Book Excerpt for the Day

    “What’s bothering you now?”

    “I wonder if I might speak with you about some of the circumstances surrounding Mr. Zimmerman’s death?”

    “What sort of circumstances, doctor?”

    “I’d prefer not to speak on the phone.”

    The detective laughed briefly, as if amused.  “That sounds terribly melodramatic, doctor.  But sure.  You want to come here?”

    “I presume there’s a location there where we can speak privately?”

    “Of course.  We have a nasty little interview room where we extract confessions from various criminal suspects.  More or less the same thing you do in your office, just a little less civilized and a lot more rapid…”

    (from The Analyst by John Katzenbach)

 

    9*/10.  The complete review is here.

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They sure do

Friday Punnery

Vaccines Work!

    It's so nice to have a president who wants to solve the Covid problem, instead of one who wants to see how many rounds of golf he can play at taxpayers' expense.

History

    History is written by the winners of wars.

Book Excerpt for the Day

    He tried to see through the simmering twilight, not certain where he was, or why, for that matter?  What was happening?  The nasty blow to his head was to blame.  Or maybe the rest of the fighting.  Insane that he was still alive, plain insane, but maybe he wasn’t.  Maybe he died already, and it was only his spirit that floated around, refusing to leave.  People’s spirits were in no hurry to do that at times, were they?

    (from Shadow on the Sun by Zoe Saadia)

 

    8*/10.  The complete review is here.

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Monstrous Monday

CDC Update

    This is fantastic news!

Teacher Evaluations

    Why I never even considered becoming a teacher.

Book Excerpt for the Day

Some questions for you to ponder:

 

    1. What was the original name of the corporation known as Bank of America?

 

    153. If you count the playoffs, how many points did basketball legend Kareen Abdul-Jabbar score in his professional basketball career?

 

    171. What is the nickname of the bell in the clock tower of the London House of Parliament?

 

    180. What is the performing name of Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta?

 

    301. Who was the arch-enemy of Corgi-Boy in print ads?

    From The Trivia Quiz Book, Volume 1 by Rich Meyer.  Answers in the Comments section.

    7*/10.  The complete review is here.

Thursday Punnery

     Groan.  Awesome.

Conversational Spanish Wednesday

    It's always wise to learn the nasty words in any language one is studying. 

Condescending

    Sign me up!

Book Excerpt for the Day

    The gist of quantum physics is that matter’s sense of self is all a bit wobbly when you get right down to it.  Things aren’t really at places, there are only places that they might be (which is the reason you can never find your keys when you are late for work).  So long as no one has thought to look, you might be sitting in your chair at home or you might be at work, or you might be somewhere else entirely – say, Albany.  Some things are so hard to look at that they are really nowhere at all.  This is called the uncertainty principle.

    (from You Are Dead (Sign Here Please) by Andrew Stanek)

 

    7*/10.  The complete review is here.

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Niagara Falls long ago

   The year was 1908.

Legal Advice

    Good to know.

Book Greetings

Book Excerpt for the Day

    “Could you possibly slow our speed to a point where we are not actually burning up in the atmosphere?”

    The ship disdained to reply.  There was no sense of deceleration, but quite abruptly the ocean and cloud-banks below stopped flashing past and assumed a more stately progression.  Slowly the glow in the air around and the rock behind faded.

    “Mach 5,” announced the ship, in a satisfied tone.

    “Good for you,” said Lamont.  “Do you have any capacity to, perhaps, steer?”

    “I am reluctant to attempt it,” said the ship.  “I would prefer to attempt a controlled landing.”

    “I think I could live with that,” said Lamont.

    “Ah,” said the ship, sounding imposed upon.  “You require a landing that is not just controlled but survivable.”

    (from Newton’s Wake by Ken MacLeod)

 

    6*/10.  The full review is here.

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Art Appreciation Monday

    "Mother Nature" by Jim Warren.  Awesome.  Just awesome.

Social Distancing

Supervillain Saturday