Viking Virus

    Sounds good to me.

Reading Music

    Yabba dabba doo!

Book Excerpt for the Day

    I had changed from my county-issued orange jump suit to a navy blue suit, starched white shirt, conservative tie and shined shoes.  My entire ensemble was set off by a pair of nicely buffed steel handcuffs which the prosecuting attorneys insisted I wore.  I didn’t know them well enough, but it seemed to suggest they might be kinky.

    “Look, relax, it’s just a ploy, courtroom theatrics at your bail hearing.  I’ve been up against these two before,” Louie whispered.

    “Did you win?”

    “Sometimes,” he replied, a little too offhandedly for my tastes.

    (from Bite Me by Mike Faricy)

 

    7½*/10.  The complete review is here.

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Thought for the day

French 101

    LMAO.

Floor Tiles

Book Excerpt for the Day

    “You and I are prisoners together.”

    “Prisoners,” Isana whispered.  Her voice came out in a croak, and she had to cough painfully.  “Prisoners where?  What’s wrong with my legs?”

    “Kordholt, I think they called it,” Odiana said.  “You’re experiencing crafting sickness.  When Kord found you by the banks of the flood, your head was broken.  They made me mend it.”

    “You?” Isana asked.  “But you were trying to hurt Tavi.”

    “The pretty boy?” Odiana asked.  “I wasn’t hurting him.  I was killing him.  There’s a difference.”

    (from Furies of Calderon by Jim Butcher)

 

    8½*/10.  The complete review is here.

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Tuesday writing tip

Fantastic Album Cover Monday

    Band  :  Incredible String Band

    Album  :  The 5000 Spirits or the Layers of the Onion

    Year  :  1967

Book Excerpt for the Day

    Ragnar and Dirk were hurrying toward the paddock, but Olaf Far-traveler beat them to it.  He leaped the fence, grappled Starkad by the waist, and threw him into the water-trough.  Otkel snatched his axe from where it rested on his shoulder, while Starkad spluttered in the water.

    “Haw!” Olaf bellowed.  “If that water’s for horses, it should do for an ass!”

    (from Secret Murder: Who Shall Judge? by Ellen Kuhfeld)

 

    4½*/10.  The complete review is here.

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Where the Sidewalk Ends

   My favorite book of poetry, courtesy of Shel Silverstein.

Borrowing Books

    Back in my college days, I knew a guy who would make you sign a form if you borrowed one of his books.  He was kind of a dork.

Books and Germs

   Really hoping to start going to both places again soon.

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!