Ace of Spades HQ

October 21, 2012

Sunday Morning Book Thread 10-21-2012: Leftovers [OregonMuse]
— Open Blogger

Meh. I've Seen Worse

Good morning morons and moronettes and welcome to the stale, funny-smelling, dubious-looking, too-long-in-the-back-of-the-refrigerator, yet maybe still tasty Sunday Morning Book Thread.

Odds & Ends From Last Week

In last week's book thread, which was a fun thread, I made a couple of egregious errors that I think deserve a revisit.

First, I said this:

There are two kinds of men in this world, poker players and chess players. Bush, according to those who knew him during his college years, was an excellent poker player and he won like crazy. Now, on the other hand, I can't imagine RN sitting down at the table with the boys for an evening of Texas Hold 'Em. But I think he'd have been a frightfully good chess player.

This howler prompted responses from at least half a dozen morons who informed me that no, actually, Richard Nixon played quite a lot of poker when he was in the Navy, and in fact did so well at it that he financed the down payment on a house with his winnings. So there. I obviously need to hire a fact-checker. I wonder if Mary Mapes still needs work?

I think my point about men being either chess players or poker players still stands, though. Me, I'm a chess player. Don't like poker, never have. I'd make a lousy president, or for that matter, a lousy CEO or other big-time decision-maker. I think the environment in which executives have to live and move and have their being can be more successfully negotiated by poker players.

And then later, I observed that the last American President to write a serious policy book was Jimmy Carter. But moron commenter Sawbuck refuted that:

Check out "A World Transformed" by George H.W. Bush and Brent Scowcroft about the diplomatic issues and opportunities with the collapse of the Soviet Union. A pretty good read

You can check out the Kindle edition here. It actually looks like it would be worth checking out.

Oh, and I almost forgot Grant's Memoirs. I didn't list every book by every president in last week's thread, but it seems I left off an important one. Leaving this one off the list last week was a colossal mistake. I did not know this, but apparently Grant's Memoirs are one of the best damn ass-kicking memoirs in the history of memoirs. Or ass-kickery. Seriously, if you only read the memoirs of only one president, Ulysses S. Grant's are the ones you want to read. And the Kindle edition is only 99 cents, so even cheap bastards like me have no excuse. And I haven't checked, but Project Gutenberg probably has it for free.

What I'm Reading

I've just finished Chicken Every Sunday: My Life With Mother's Boarders a few days ago. It's a reminiscence written in the 1940s about the funny, unique, and even crazy people whom the author's mother took in as boarders for extra income in Tuscon, Arizona around the turn of the (20th) century. It's in turns touching and hilarious, and I especially enjoyed it as a "slice of life" glimpse into the early days of Tucson, back when it was in the process of growing from a smallish town into a large, bustling city. [Update: I have been advised in the comments that Tucson is not, in fact, a 'large bustling city', but rather, a dump. I deeply regret this error.] A very fun read. I would like to read more books of this type, that tell of earlier times in America.

Boarding houses. Do they even have boarding houses any more?

Books By Morons For Morons

AoSHQ reader Michael Banzet, known on the internet for writing 'Why I Quit' after he retired from the Air Force after 22 years of service, has published a book about his experiences in Iraq, 'A Flowershop in Baghdad'. It's available on Kindle and at the createspace site. In his email, Mike says that he's "really hoping this book explodes, not only because I make a couple bucks, but I think that it may nudge people in the election, IÂ’m not kindly to Democrats."

From the Mailbag

Thanks to those of you who have sent horror suggestions for the upcoming Halloween-themed book thread, which will be next week. And it's not too late for contributions, so if you could send me your favorite zombie/horror books, whether written by you or someone else, I'll see if I can incorporate it into or at least mention it on the thread.

Moron Scott writes in to ask:

Heyo,
Do you think those who have published books (hardcopy or e-copy) would mind sharing how well their sales are doing? Something like number of copies all-time, per month, against price per copy, etc.
It would be inspiring to the rest of us aspiring literamorons.

I've often wondered this myself. Any words on this in the comments from you moron authors would be greatly appreciated.

As always, book thread tips may be sent to aoshqbookthread@gmail.com

So what have you all been reading this week?

Posted by: Open Blogger at 06:50 AM | Comments (127)
Post contains 828 words, total size 6 kb.

1 Finished Guns of The South and have moved on to old John Ringo stuff on the Kindle.

Posted by: Vic at October 21, 2012 06:56 AM (YdQQY)

2 That refrigerator is too neat.

Posted by: Vic at October 21, 2012 06:58 AM (YdQQY)

3 Third?

Posted by: Natasha at October 21, 2012 06:59 AM (pyYXJ)

4 Sort of Book Thready......

I read the monthly publication from Hillsdale College called Imprimus.

It's usually excellent and sometimes fantastic.

https://www.hillsdale.edu/news/imprimis.asp

Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at October 21, 2012 07:05 AM (2b4yb)

5 Finished Sabrina Chase's A Long Way Home and promptly bought and read the other two books in the trilogy. They were all very good and at ($3.99?) inexpensive. If you see this Ms. Chase, what is the cost of dead tree copies? I'm thinking my kids might like to read the series as well.

Posted by: Polliwogette, Teahada hobbit who wants some R&R at October 21, 2012 07:07 AM (NYki8)

6 All my books have been colored in, so...

The Grant memoir was written at the encouragement of Sam Clemens as a benefit to the former Presidents' estate; he was in the late stages of (throat?) cancer when Clemens pushed him, and aided him, to write his history.

I second the request for information on e-book sales, etc.

Many thanks for the thread. And the needles.

Posted by: Dan Patterson at October 21, 2012 07:09 AM (tWWc3)

7 Strip poker is my game

Posted by: Sandra Fluke at October 21, 2012 07:09 AM (Y//vu)

8 4 CBD, for some reason they send my in-laws 4 copies of that a month. No one knows who gave Hillsdale their name so it's kind of strange. I agree that the articles are very good though.

Posted by: Polliwogette, Teahada hobbit who wants some R&R at October 21, 2012 07:09 AM (NYki8)

9 I finished Currency Wars and finishing The Twilight War. No, it's not about homo vampires. It's about the 30 year covert Iran/US war beginning with the embassy takeover. Both are recent and well worth reading.

Posted by: Mr. Dave in SPI at October 21, 2012 07:11 AM (OBDWE)

10 I think something doesn't add up. I mean, who the hell has time to read any books when we're always here posting?

Posted by: J.J. Sefton at October 21, 2012 07:11 AM (+tqYo)

11 7 Strip poker is my game
--- Thought it was strip Poke-Her

Posted by: buzzsaw90 at October 21, 2012 07:11 AM (kzejo)

12 E-book recommendations: Zero Sum and Zero Sight. Both written by a medical student but very well done. Fantasy, magic stuff with solid characters and engaging story line.

Posted by: Natasha at October 21, 2012 07:12 AM (pyYXJ)

13 Just finished Shutter Island by Dennis Lehane. Good psycho-thriller, recommended. Scorsese flick of the seem name is also pretty good. Also, I read Grant's memoirs as the second half of a back-to-back with Lee's memoirs. Don't want to get into a whole Civil War thing this early in the morning, but Lee's were much better. Grant sounded defensive throughout, and endlessly sniped about the vanquished Lee, which made him look small in my opinion.

Posted by: Blacksheep at October 21, 2012 07:13 AM (nvV9F)

14 I don't know about right now, but when I was a co-op student in the mid-80s working in Richmond VA, I lived in a boarding house on North Boulevard.

Posted by: Nancy at October 21, 2012 07:13 AM (CH3mr)

15 Mention of Twain above reminds me: If you only read one book about Joan of Arc in your life, read Twain's.

Posted by: Mr. Dave in SPI at October 21, 2012 07:14 AM (OBDWE)

16 Well, I made a BIG BIG find in the local used bool store. Shelby Foote's "The Civil War" 3 volumes in hardback, like new, for $7 each. And boy, is it a good read.

Posted by: TANSTAAFL at October 21, 2012 07:15 AM (52QEX)

17 Just started The Lost Heir by G.A. Henty the author mentioned in the Louis L'Amour post as having greatly influenced L'Amour as a child. So far, so good. There's a lot of "the N word" though due to the age of the book. Also started Lauren Willig's The Orchid Affair, which I purchased a while ago. Willig's Pink Carnation series is a guilty pleasure of mine and this one looks like it will be as good as the others I've read.

Posted by: Polliwogette, Teahada hobbit who wants some R&R at October 21, 2012 07:17 AM (NYki8)

18 ...Shelby Foote's "The Civil War"3 volumes in hardback,like new, for $7 each. And boy, is it a good read. Indeed.

Posted by: Blacksheep at October 21, 2012 07:18 AM (nvV9F)

19 unreal. on abc this morning,
rahm gets 8 minutes, rubio gets 4.
pathetic fraud.

Posted by: AHFF at October 21, 2012 07:18 AM (Co70e)

20 Finishing up "Spies of the Balkans," another Alan Furst novel, this one set mostly in Greece in 1940 and 1941. Touches on many things of interest. How the Greeks fought the Italians to a stalemate in the mountains to the north of Greece, the massing of at least 60 Wehrmacht divisions to the north of that, getting ready for a spring jump across the Danube, the Greeks getting their minds ready for a defeat and occupation, and lots more. Reading it, I know what is coming, and it ain't pretty. In another novel, "Captain Corelli's Mandolin," the story is set toward the end of the war and after, and describes what the SS did to the Italian occupiers in Greece. In other news, the NYT and NBC all breathless about Iran wanting to talk. They ought to read about the run up to WWII, and how the Nazis thought about their enemies.

Posted by: The littl shyning man at October 21, 2012 07:19 AM (PH+2B)

21 Finally finished "I the Supreme" by Augusto Roa Bastos. After all is said and done, even though it was a tour de force of wordsmanship, I'm not sure it was entirely worth the time I spent on it. I felt the same way about Don Quixote so maybe I'm just too impatient.

Am now reading "The Encyclopedia of the Dead" by Danilo Kis, which is made up of a bunch of Borges-ian tales with a unique Eastern European tinge to them.

Posted by: Captain Hate (more dagny and less curious) at October 21, 2012 07:19 AM (eOtsQ)

22 Saw the trailer for the Tom Cruise as Jack Reacher movie over at Breitbart's Big Hollywood. I'm not a fan of Cruise but this looks good and more to the point, somehow I've not read any of the Lee Child books.

So I downloaded the book the movie is based on "One Shot", from google play and am reading it. So far so good. I may have to thank a Cruise movie for getting me to read a new-to-me author that I like. wow.

Posted by: Yip at October 21, 2012 07:24 AM (Mrdk1)

23 Just out, and ordered a hardback, Nelson DeMille's latest, "The Panther." Starts off in Yemen. Also ordered, should ship next week, Tom Wolfe's latest, two-word title I can't remember, one of the words "Blood." Set in Miami and thereabouts, billionaires and the art world. I read everything DeMille and Wolfe write. Wolfe was so entertaining with the one set in a fictional university just like Duke.

Posted by: The littl shyning man at October 21, 2012 07:24 AM (PH+2B)

24 Boarders? That's from a time when you could do what you wanted to do in your own house. Try doing that today - what town "allows" boarders?

Better Living Through Big Brother

Posted by: RobM1981 at October 21, 2012 07:25 AM (+oEXY)

25 There's a lot of "the N word" though due to the age of the book.

Try reading some Zane Grey. He was about as racist as they come. You can get them for the Kindle free.

Posted by: Vic at October 21, 2012 07:27 AM (YdQQY)

26 10 -

I was wondering the same thing. Between all the other stuff I am forced to read, and this place, right now I don't have time for books.

As for the chess vs. poker thing, I don't get that at all. I don't have the patience to play either. As a metaphor, I suppose I'm more of a chess player, but not if it includes sitting around in a park somewhere with old foops. I have other things I need to be doing.

Posted by: BurtTC at October 21, 2012 07:28 AM (BeSEI)

AHFF

Its worse than that. Not to step on the book thread, but I can't resist.

I never watch Sunday talk shows normally, but by happenstance I caught bits of three today, and regarding the Benghazi debacle: Obama lied; The Press Complied...

ABC: Rahm Emmanuel talking about Darrel Issa, releasing the names of Libyans working with the U.S. in Libya is unconscionable..

Fox News: Dick(less) Durbin Darrel talking about Issa releasing the names of Libyans woring the with U.S. in Libya is reprehensible

NBC David Gregory: David Axelrat talking about Issa releasing the names of Libyans working with the U.S. is despicable

Un-be-fucking-lievable!!

If they could simply apply this level of coordination to managing the national security of the United States..our ambassador and those who died with him in Libya might still be alive...

Posted by: King Ding Dong at October 21, 2012 07:30 AM (EFl3q)

28 alright look morons. i've read since ace started this fookin thing and comment rarely. if you haven't read 'lonesome dove' what you think doesn't matter.

Posted by: whiskey tango at October 21, 2012 07:30 AM (JvP2I)

29 I have read the book and have the Blu-Ray. Great book and great movie.

Posted by: Vic at October 21, 2012 07:31 AM (YdQQY)

30 I know I rec these from time to time but it can't be overstated: if you want a concise, apolitical overview of pretty much anything important from the dawn of man through the French Revolution, try The Story of Civilization by Will Durant. Simply an amazing compilation and explanation of human history.

Posted by: Blacksheep at October 21, 2012 07:31 AM (nvV9F)

31 Arthur Jeffery, "the Foreign Vocabulary of the Qur'an". Out of date in parts (qasr, furqan) but amazing for 1938. Elsewhere it looks like the Qur'an was written by Arabs a generation out of savagery, who borrowed their religious (and financial) vocabulary mainly from Syria. Mythological, luxury and military terms were Persian. Some south Arabian / Ethiopic here and there.

Posted by: boulder hobo at October 21, 2012 07:31 AM (iP4V7)

32 23 Just out, and ordered a hardback, Nelson DeMille's latest, "The Panther." Starts off in Yemen.

Also ordered, should ship next week, Tom Wolfe's latest, two-word title I can't remember, one of the words "Blood." Set in Miami and thereabouts, billionaires and the art world.

I read everything DeMille and Wolfe write. Wolfe was so entertaining with the one set in a fictional university just like Duke.

Posted by: The littl shyning man at October 21, 2012 11:24 AM (PH+2B)

I've read every DeMille book. Didn't know he had a new one. Thanks!

Posted by: Tami at October 21, 2012 07:32 AM (X6akg)

33 'Back to Blood' it's a very jaundiced look at the city I once lived in, his main source was a fmr Herald reporter with a spitzer problem, who drove four good reporters out of the paper's main edition, for the 'crime' of having freelanced for Radio Marti,

Posted by: archie goodwin at October 21, 2012 07:33 AM (ctjsq)

34 Just watched the Jack Reacher trailer at Brietbart. Tom Cruise as Jack Reacher just won't work. Sorry Hollywood. Reacher's the size of an NFL middle linebacker. Neck, shoulders, upper arms, chest, and hands all big. Really big. Voice to match. Doing Reacher with Cruise is a joke. Don't care how many boxes they stand him on. No matter how he is photographed, no matter how his voice is mic'd, he comes across as a weenie. A little weenie. You are a casting agent. Who, today, do you select to pitch for Jack Reacher? It has to be today. You can't say, well, Russell Crowe could have done it back in the day. Has to be somebody now.

Posted by: The littl shyning man at October 21, 2012 07:37 AM (PH+2B)

35 reading Life and Fate by Vasily Grossman. Staingrad-based epic in the spirit of War and Peace - and just as thick

Posted by: uterus cannon at October 21, 2012 07:38 AM (RLTt1)

36
Elmer Kelton

Posted by: Sphynx at October 21, 2012 07:40 AM (j2McS)

37 35 reading Life and Fate by Vasily Grossman. Staingrad-based epic in the spirit of War and Peace - and just as thick
Posted by: uterus cannon

Wasn't he the USSR's primary propagandist during WWII? (For those of you who aren't sure what U.C. is talking about, add an "L" after "Sta" above.)

Posted by: SFGoth at October 21, 2012 07:43 AM (U0kfD)

38 5 Polliwogette:
The Sequoyah trilogy in paper is $9 apiece. I would have liked to make it cheaper but Createspace being what it is, I didn't have much choice. I make *much* more profit on the ebooks, and only did print versions as a fan service, really.

Speaking of profits...
Indie ebook authors tend to be very generous about sharing sales data. One good blog for that is <a href ="http://jakonrath.blogspot.com/">J. Konrath</a>, also <a href="http://www.thepassivevoice.com/">Passive Voice</a>. Search the archives, I know Passive Voice had a very good post inviting people to share their numbers not too long ago. Sales very, very much depends on genre. People who write thrillers (like Konrath) and romance/erotica get to tack on a few extra zeroes to their monthly sales figures. (The bastards. No, really, I'm happy for them. sniffle).

Seriously, I can't complain. I have 5 books and 3 short stories out. On Amazon alone, where I do the bulk of my sales, I sold 1,617 books last month and cleared over 3K. But that was a really good month for mysterious reasons, and October is not nearly as juicy. Other authors have also seen a slowdown, and one speculated it might be everyone hanging tight to their wallets until the election is over.

One thing I have noticed is the more books I put up for sale (I almost wrote "put out" but remembered where I was *just* in time), it helps the sales of ALL my books. Exponential growth, for you math geeks out there. Some authors put one book up and then try to promote it to success. Rarely works. More books = more addicted readers (like the intelligent and classy Polliwogette) = everybody wins.

Any authors or writing-curious Morons have questions, feel free to email me.

Posted by: Sabrina Chase at October 21, 2012 07:44 AM (wfSF5)

39 Just over at Nate Silver. Does anyone realize that he has been adjusting polls for "house effect" the entire time? He comes out and says it today. And this guy is taken seriously?

Posted by: Interested Party at October 21, 2012 07:44 AM (RE+1w)

40 What? There is only 1 beer in that fridge!

Posted by: Ozzie at October 21, 2012 07:44 AM (bx8t7)

41 I can play poker, but it's boring. I can play chess, but to me it's like the hard sciences -- I could always keep up, but I realized I'd never be more than a hack; hence I went into law. I'd rather play instruments. Speaking of which, I have a new keyboard to go mess with. (That and a cannabrownie makes for a wonderful morning.)

Posted by: SFGoth at October 21, 2012 07:44 AM (U0kfD)

42 37 - do not know. I know the book itself was 'arrested' meaning they seized even the typewriter ribbons but left him be.

Posted by: uterus cannon at October 21, 2012 07:46 AM (RLTt1)

43 Interested Party, please explian 'House effect'.

Posted by: perdogg at October 21, 2012 07:47 AM (Ttf/I)

44 Obama is a stuttering clusterf*ck of a miserable failure.

Posted by: steevy at October 21, 2012 07:47 AM (6o4Fb)

45 I won 2,250,000 fake dollars on the internetz playing fake poker with fake people--until I fake quit.

Too much spare time, I had. Never played fake chess.

Posted by: Major _____ de Coverly at October 21, 2012 07:48 AM (Dll6b)

46 #34 Chris Hemsworth?

Posted by: Supercore23 at October 21, 2012 07:49 AM (SgVUM)

B'Gal gave me a copy of The Litigators by John Grisham for my birthday last weekend. I'll be reading a lot until I can get my laptop fixed.

I should also note that The Litigators would be a great name for a band of off-duty lawyers. There's already been a band down here called "Sons of Doctors." We're inventive like that.

Posted by: BackwardsBoy, stealing time on B'Gal's computer at October 21, 2012 07:49 AM (lOmbq)

48 My husband classifies the two kinds of men as "chess club or team sports."
34 Chris Hemsworth is 6'3". He would have been a better choice. He is a bit on the young side though.

Posted by: no good deed at October 21, 2012 07:49 AM (mjR67)

49 Just finished In the Shadow of Her Hem by Edward C. Patterson. It's the final book in a wonderful fantasy/adventure/time travel series set in America and China.

Current reads:
The Walking Dead Compendium - in "real" book form
The Twelve (Book 2 of The Passage by Justin Cronin - on Kindle for iPhone
A Game of Thrones: A Song of Ice and Fire: Book One by George R.R. Martin (30% done) on Kindle

My biggest problem is that I have so many books to read...I pick up at least three free ones for Kindle a day. It's hard to choose what to read next. Sometimes I wish the Kindle had a randomizer which would just randomly pick the next book for you to read.

Posted by: DangerGirl (@deadlyestrogen) at October 21, 2012 07:49 AM (GrtrJ)

50 Russell Crowe drank the Obama kool-aid and was posting some creepy "Vote for Obama because he's the light and the way" stuff on Twitter last night. Also, he has a huge ego and can't stand when people call him on his stupid comments.

Posted by: FPW at October 21, 2012 07:50 AM (BDNF5)

51 "The Spartacus War" by Barry Strauss in which is stated (page 25 hardcover) that the word "leno" means pimp in Latin. Figures...

Posted by: Libra at October 21, 2012 07:50 AM (kd8U8)

52 50 Russell Crowe drank

Posted by: FPW

Fixed

Posted by: SFGoth at October 21, 2012 07:50 AM (U0kfD)

53 and if you're looking for books about Lincoln, caveat emptor . In the early 1900s, after the centenary of his birth in 1909, many people wrote books about Lincoln to 'cash in'.

Posted by: Major _____ de Coverly at October 21, 2012 07:51 AM (Dll6b)

54 Reading John Ringo's "Citadel", the second book in his Troy Rising series. It's every bit as good as the first book. I also read Ayn Rand's "Anthem" earlier in the week. Superb. Ranks with "1984" IMHO.

Posted by: BornLib at October 21, 2012 07:53 AM (zpNwC)

55 Just finished rereading a few Elmore Leonards. Same story over and over but damned if he doesn't make it interesting every time. Just started Gaiman's American Gods yesterday. Good to see DeMille with another book out. The folks at Breitbart just had an interview up a few days ago. Re: Grant's memoirs, I actually have a first edition in great shape. A gift from my uncle. He'd scalp me if I actually read it, so I'll need to get an ebook copy.

Posted by: IllTemperedCur at October 21, 2012 07:53 AM (Rhie+)

56 52 haha Twitchy just posted about it.

Posted by: FPW at October 21, 2012 07:53 AM (BDNF5)

57 Life and Fate is among the top ten or twenty novels of the 20th century.

Posted by: somebody else, not me at October 21, 2012 07:53 AM (nZvGM)

58 34 You are a casting agent. Who, today, do you select to pitch for Jack Reacher?

--------

Brian Dennehy?

Posted by: Anachronda at October 21, 2012 07:53 AM (1c58W)

59 I always thought Adam Baldwin would be a perfect Reacher. Tom Cruise? WTF?

Anywho, speaking of horror-themed books, I just finished John Dies at the Endand This Book is Full of Spiders - Seriously, Dude, Don't Touch It by David Wong, recs received right here in the good ol' SMBT, so thank you to that moron!

Hilarious and gory and suspenseful, with infrequent but spot-on analyses of humanity that made me wonder-struck for a few seconds while reading.

And I love Imprimus. My BIL, a libertarian, signed us up for it many years ago and we still get it. Props to Hillsdale.

Posted by: Gem at October 21, 2012 07:54 AM (zw+pb)

60 please explian 'House effect' According to Silver, the term house effect should not be confused with bias, but rather the tendency or certain polls to consistently lean one way or another with a magnitude not reflected in other polls. He suggests a Ras poll that show R+1 might be equal to a different poll that shows D+3 b/c Ras consistently tilts GOP. Never mind that Ras was closer than anyone else last time around.

Posted by: Blacksheep at October 21, 2012 07:55 AM (nvV9F)

61 "reading Life and Fate by Vasily Grossman. Staingrad-based epic in the spirit of War and Peace - and just as thick

Posted by: uterus cannon

Wasn't he the USSR's primary propagandist during WWII? (For those of you who aren't sure what U.C. is talking about, add an "L" after "Sta" above.)"

no, he was not, and his book is one of the most anti-stalinist books written, in fact it was so dangerous to the regime that they burned all the manuscripts, copies of manuscripts and even destroyed the typewriter ribbon; luckily some copies survived

Posted by: runner at October 21, 2012 07:56 AM (WR5xI)

62 tendency of certain polls

Posted by: Blacksheep at October 21, 2012 07:56 AM (nvV9F)

63 Just re-read Clancy's Debt of Honor and a typo that I had read over many times before leaped out and smacked me. "taxied into the runway." That must have been painful.

Posted by: Anna Puma (+SmuD) at October 21, 2012 07:57 AM (sNrwv)

64 57 - seems to be, only just started it and its very good. Comparisons of Soviets to Nazis is profound.

Posted by: uterus cannon at October 21, 2012 07:57 AM (RLTt1)

65 Jayne could be Jack Reacher, as mentioned above.

Posted by: eman at October 21, 2012 07:58 AM (+XD7n)

66 50 His wife just left him. She must have had the patience of a saint to put up with him for so long.

Posted by: Tuna at October 21, 2012 07:59 AM (M/TDA)

67 eman, if you can keep Jayne away from the con attending Fluke wanna-bes.

Posted by: Anna Puma (+SmuD) at October 21, 2012 07:59 AM (sNrwv)

68 My biggest problem is that I have so many books to read...I pick up at least three free ones for Kindle a day. It's hard to choose what to read next. Sometimes I wish the Kindle had a randomizer which would just randomly pick the next book for you to read.

Posted by: DangerGirl (@deadlyestrogen) at October 21, 2012 11:49 AM (GrtrJ)

how do you find so many free contemporary books?

Posted by: redclay at October 21, 2012 08:00 AM (xatoT)

69 Just started Gaiman's American Gods yesterday.

by: IllTemperedCur at October 21, 2012 11:53 AM

This is my favorite Neil Gaiman book. And Cruise is a foot too short to play Jack Reacher.

Posted by: huerfano at October 21, 2012 08:01 AM (bAGA/)

70 You are a casting agent. Who, today, do you select to pitch for Jack Reacher? An unconventional choice, but what about Kenneth Johnson, who played Lem on The Shield? Big guy, and his last season before Lem gets blown up by Shane showed that he has the acting chops.

Posted by: IllTemperedCur at October 21, 2012 08:03 AM (Rhie+)

71 Was grocery shopping yesterday. Saw on a shelf Bumble Bee tuna. Luckily no one else was in the aisle or I might have made a production of "Its made of people!"

So one of the signs of the SMOD failed to materialize.

Posted by: Anna Puma (+SmuD) at October 21, 2012 08:03 AM (sNrwv)

72 I like poker....it's never boring if you're playing with a good group of guys, and/or gals. You're there not to cut each other's throats, but to have a good time, and if fate smiles on you, walk away with some of their money, (which usually results in you picking up the tab for beer and snacks for the next game).

As far as books go....disposable income this week is close to zero, so I'm hitting the always excellent choices available on the Baen Free Library.

Posted by: Sticky Wicket at October 21, 2012 08:03 AM (L7hol)

73 If you enjoyed the slice of life in "Chicken Every Sunday", check out "40 Acres and No Mule" about an educated novelist who marries into a "hilltopper" family and moves with him to his neck of the woods circa 1950. Fascinating and not at all condenscending look at Appalachian life before the Borg of TV made the US a lot more homogenous.

Posted by: Stephen at October 21, 2012 08:05 AM (2HzUl)

Grants memoir is available at Gutenberg.

http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/4367

Posted by: OutOfControl at October 21, 2012 08:07 AM (igjoW)

75 Title of the pic above: Crouching Beans, Hidden Beer.

Posted by: BackwardsBoy, stealing time on B'Gal's computer at October 21, 2012 08:07 AM (lOmbq)

76 Let me mention it again: "The Dancer in the Dark," by Thomas E. Fuller and Brad Strickland. Available for Kindle and other e-book formats. (No, it's not about that Scandinavian singer. North Georgia in the Twenties. An archaeological dig at a mysteriously-untouched Indian mound complex. Shocking mutilations of animals in the night, the victims getting bigger and bigger until -- )

Posted by: RNB at October 21, 2012 08:08 AM (WkjqG)

77 I read my Sandman trades every couple years or so. I really like Gaiman's Neverwhere, too.

Posted by: Gem at October 21, 2012 08:08 AM (zw+pb)

78 Oh, and my email is firstnameDOTlastnameATgmail.com. Forgot that bit.

Posted by: Sabrina Chase at October 21, 2012 08:08 AM (wfSF5)

79 Posted by: Vic at October 21, 2012 11:31 AM (YdQQY)

Is this a guessing game?

Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at October 21, 2012 08:10 AM (2b4yb)

80 Nice Elmer Kelton shoutout... could be the best Western writer ever. Sorry l'Amour and Grey fans. Bad Religion (newish)- Russ Douthat Voltaire's Bastards (oldish) - John Raulston Saul

Posted by: Odie1941 at October 21, 2012 08:14 AM (90D9N)

81 It is a reply to 28.

Posted by: Vic at October 21, 2012 08:14 AM (YdQQY)

82 54 --"I also read Ayn Rand's "Anthem" earlier in the week. Superb. " Incredibly, my son was assigned Anthem, along w/ 1984 and Brave New World, in his AP English class. (This is truly amazing since this is a semi-liberal Catholic school and Rand is persona non grata to both lefties and Catholics.) So I snagged his copy a couple of weeks ago and read it. Having read Atlas Shrugged, I was of the opinion that Rand was one of the worst fiction-writers ever born, but Anthem changed my mind. The book is artistically very well done and I share your high opinion of it. Highly recommended to others. (And BTW, it's short.) I also took the opportunity to re-read BNW, which I hadn't read since high school.

Posted by: Margarita DeVille at October 21, 2012 08:15 AM (C8mVl)

^{OK, 'ron'a 'n 'ettes, I gotta go get ready for my gig at The Cabbage Patch on the last day of Biketoberfest. This is the place where marginally nubile and dressed biker babes 'rassle each other in a kiddie pool full of coleslaw for the benefit of the adoring crowd.}

^{Wish me luck...}

Posted by: BackwardsBoy, stealing time on B'Gal's computer at October 21, 2012 08:15 AM (lOmbq)

84 Maybe OB should try not shooting from the hip anymore...like stereotyping guys like Nixon based on some feelings he pulled out of his ass. You really don't know those old guys until you, uh, know them.

And there are boarding houses: underwater McMansions full of extended families who can't afford to live on their own.

Posted by: Jeanne at October 21, 2012 08:16 AM (lbVJT)

85 Louis L'Amour is the best Western writer of all time. No one else compares.

Posted by: Vic at October 21, 2012 08:16 AM (YdQQY)

86 What? Tucson is still a smallish town and it's opportunity to become a bustling city was killed in the 1980's when the leftist professoriate elected to town government tried to extort IBM and drove them from town....It now resembles Detroit in most respects.

Posted by: crd at October 21, 2012 08:19 AM (cgtB3)

87 Reading "The Passport in America: The History of a Document" by Craig Robertson. It sounds painfully dry but its actually a pretty fascinating subject. It does touch on, for instance, certain cultural objections for things like a national ID. I hadn't known that 19th century travelers usually didn't bother with passports (relying on their class statuses to get them through) or that even customs officials used their judgment to decide who needed a passport to enter the US...typically undesirables did, while the upper crust didn't. I also didn't know that early passports had family photos instead of individual photos...respectable women wouldn't be traveling without their husbands, after all....

Posted by: JohnTant at October 21, 2012 08:19 AM (kAfbq)

88 ...I especially enjoyed it as a "slice of life" glimpse into the early days of Tucson, back when it was in the process of growing from a smallish town into a large, bustling city. Tucson, AKA North Nogales, is STILL not a "bustling city". Last year marked the acquisition of the second horse they had been saving up for all of those years. It's a huge blue electoral splotch on the AZ map whose citizens consider Clarence Dupnik to be the second coming of Wyatt Earp and that commie, Raul Grijalva to be the panacea of political progressiveness. They've requested in the past to be able to secede from the state and I, for one, would happily support them in their efforts. Build the border fence starting just south of Casa Grande and let Mexico swallow up those useful idiots. It would raise the IQ of both countries (granted Mexico would see the least amount of improvement)...

Posted by: ASU Fan - Fork Tucson at October 21, 2012 08:19 AM (gIEdm)

89 Books? Y'all know books are a helluva a lot like binders. Binders of women, the elderly, or even binders of distinguished veterans like Chuck here. Stand up Chuck! Up Chuck, that's a big fucking joke if I do say so myself. Any veterans of the war in Iran here today? No? That's probably because the Republicans have gon don put all dem vet'rans back in chains!

Posted by: Jackanape Joe Biden at October 21, 2012 08:20 AM (sOtz/)

90 For those interested in learning about other cultures, Fosco Maraini's "Meeting With Japan" is pretty darn good. http://tinyurl.com/9c87ay6

Maraini's was an Italian professor who was teaching in Japan before and during WWII. Until Italy switched sides and his whole family was interred. The book traces his journey of rediscovering Japan in the early 1950s in a travelog style. Covers a lot of Japan's history like why all foreigners save the Dutch were expelled- can thank a Spanish galleon captain in 1596 explaining to a Japanese baron that Philip II gained control of so many countries by sending missionaries and then landing troops to help the converted conquer the country. Naturally Hideyoshi did not like that, so all foreigners were kicked out until Perry forced open the door. Also talks of festivals and belief systems. Plenty of pictures including those showing Japan transforming into a semi-Western style culture.

Posted by: Anna Puma (+SmuD) at October 21, 2012 08:22 AM (sNrwv)

Isn't it neat to know that Obama is taking all of the Bush Middle East successes and turning them into shit.

Posted by: Fresh at October 21, 2012 08:24 AM (O7ksG)

92 hahaha tucson.....was down there last weekend....my oldest is at asu my second wanted to check out u of a and since her younger sister was down there for a band competition we made the trip.....oh man....what a dump that city is....what a sad sad place.....my oldest started laughing and my daughter said...never mind...

Posted by: phoenixgirl, team dagny, ROMNEY/RYAN 2012 at October 21, 2012 08:25 AM (Ho2rs)

93 I was reading about the Moore/Kutchner divorce. Both are worth over a hundred million. In CA, your earnings are community property and get split. He made more the last year of their marriage but doesn't want to give her money. It seems chintzy of him because one, he is the one who cheated, two, he is making so much money and what ever she is asking for won't make a dent in his net worth, and three, it is community property. Just give it to her and be done with it all.

Posted by: Redd at October 21, 2012 08:26 AM (RoEtU)

94 how do you find so many free contemporary books?

Posted by: redclay at October 21, 2012 12:00 PM (xatoT)

Three ways.
I go to the Kindle ebooks page on Amazon and on the right side of the page is a list of "Top 100 Best Sellers" with a link underneath to see all the top Best Sellers. On that page they'll have a list of 100 of the pay books and also a list of the top 100 free books. Most of them are contemporary.

You can also use this link, which does a custom amazon search for books in the $0 to $0 price range and excludes public domain books. http://tinyurl.com/8f67tos

Last but not least, I use a message board called Kindleboards (http://kindleboards.com) where there is a section called The Book Bazaar. There are two threads in there that list free books and authors also post threads in there that state when they are offering their books for free. You do not need to be a member or register to read this board.

Hope this helps!

Posted by: DangerGirl (@deadlyestrogen) at October 21, 2012 08:27 AM (GrtrJ)

95 94 how do you find so many free contemporary books?

Posted by: redclay at October 21, 2012 12:00 PM (xatoT)
Three ways.
I go to the Kindle ebooks page on Amazon and on the right side of the page is a list of "Top 100 Best Sellers" with a link underneath to see all the top Best Sellers. On that page they'll have a list of 100 of the pay books and also a list of the top 100 free books. Most of them are contemporary.
You can also use this link, which does a custom amazon search for books in the $0 to $0 price range and excludes public domain books. http://tinyurl.com/8f67tos
Last but not least, I use a message board called Kindleboards (http://kindleboards.com) where there is a section called The Book Bazaar. There are two threads in there that list free books and authors also post threads in there that state when they are offering their books for free. You do not need to be a member or register to read this board.
Hope this helps!

Posted by: DangerGirl (@deadlyestrogen) at October 21, 2012 12:27 PM (GrtrJ)

thanks.

Posted by: redclay at October 21, 2012 08:28 AM (xatoT)

96 @85 Love L'Amour... but honestly - Kelton is better IMHO . He intertwines actual history - namely due to his father and grandfather owning ranches during the mid to late 1800's - and accounts are verbatim from "real cowboys" HIs John Wesley Harding book was ahead of its time and put the guy on the historical western map.

Posted by: Odie1941 at October 21, 2012 08:30 AM (90D9N)

Daniel Greenfield is great at putting things in a different perspective and in sharp focus. I hope he's right on this: http://tinyurl.com/8lhtpju

Posted by: HtP at October 21, 2012 08:30 AM (jx2j9)

98 I am currently reading Gabriel Garcia Marquez's Love in the Time of Cholera. Terrific, as all of his works are. As for the man himself, I would like to see him contract penile cancer, hemorrhagic fever, and leprosy, all of which should be treated with a daily dose of thalium. I will never forget the memorable passage in the memoirs of the Cuban writer Reinaldo Arenas (Before Night Falls) where he describes Garcia visiting Cuba for an "artists' conference", swilling champagne with the Castros, and singing the praises of the Revolution --- all while Arenas and other writers are fighting for life in the hellhole of El Morro prison.

Posted by: Margarita DeVille at October 21, 2012 08:34 AM (C8mVl)

99 Been continuing my 'Halloween theme' reading, as I do every October leading up to the big night. Currently re-reading "A Hairy Chest, A Big Dick, and a Harley" by Lucy Taylor. Good stories by a former Stoker award winner. The same book is available in Kindle format for five bucks if anyone's looking for a horror/eroticism/sci-fi type book. It's listed under it's alternate title "The Silence Between The Screams" on amazon.

Posted by: JMKN1 at October 21, 2012 08:35 AM (JMKN1)

100 Posted by: JMKN1 at October 21, 2012 12:35 PM (JMKN1)

Sounds like porno.

Posted by: Vic at October 21, 2012 08:36 AM (YdQQY)

101 Sounds like porno.
Posted by: Vic

No, it really isn't. But the lady doesn't back off when it comes to descriptions. The 'big dick' title was her preference and that was done as a signed limited edition. The publisher thought there might be a problem getting it on store shelves with that title and published 'the silence between the screams' in a trade edition to make it more acceptable to the masses.

Posted by: JMKN1 at October 21, 2012 08:44 AM (JMKN1)

102 @phoenixgirl - Years ago when the D-Backs were first established in Phoenix Jerry Colangelo wanted to refurb the rail line between Tucson & Phoenix to transport fans to and from the BOB. It turns out the rails were only rated for cargo/freight transport - at which point I felt it would have been most advantageous for Phoenix to study the use of the southbound spur to send the waste products from the Palo Verde Nuclear Reactor to a newly designed dumping ground at I-19 & Valencia - we could have called it the Sonoran Superfund Site and it would have had little to no effect on the current population. Hell, they wouldn't even have to buy those keen enviro light bulbs anymore...

Posted by: ASU Fan - Fork Tucson at October 21, 2012 08:44 AM (gIEdm)

103

Poker players, to be successful, have to make the right decisions on limited information. While these decisions can be statistically validated, they include a high variance. Siting at a table with several other players, the ability to analyze their play by observation is critical to winning.

In chess there is much more information available, less variance involved, and less need to anyalze your opponents play, and there is of course only one of them.

Backgammon, offers a bit of mix of both, due to the random factor of the dice.

'A World Transformed' is an excellent read, worth a re-read also, IMHO.

As for eBook sales, I offer several of them, all online.

The Texas Holdem Poker Dynamic Point Count Super Strategy has been the most popular of the 'How to' category ebooks I have online, and to see how I sell it you need to go here:

http://tinyurl.com/DoverPro

It does pretty well, as long as I keep promoting it.

Posted by: DoverPro at October 21, 2012 08:48 AM (wN82N)

104 Louis L'Amour is the best Western writer of all time. No one else compares.
Posted by: Vic at October 21, 2012 12:16 PM

@85 Love L'Amour... but honestly - Kelton is better IMHO . He intertwines actual history - namely due to his father and grandfather owning ranches during the mid to late 1800's - and accounts are verbatim from "real cowboys"

HIs John Wesley Harding book was ahead of its time and put the guy on the historical western map.
Posted by: Odie1941 at October 21, 2012 12:30 PM

My dad, who is a western reading kinda guy who grew up in New Mexico in the 30s and 40s, says Elmer Kelton is the best he's read because he gets the people, places and the action right.

Posted by: huerfano at October 21, 2012 08:58 AM (bAGA/)

105 In answer to your question if there are still boarding houses, yes there are...but usually it's a house that is partitioned off into different rooms with common areas (like the kitchen and bathroom), and the owner is not on premises. Basically like a mini-flat.

Posted by: cheshirecat at October 21, 2012 09:04 AM (uZWQk)

106 I'm reading The Innocents Abroad by Mark Twain, and Freedom Betrayed by Herbert Hoover, edited by George Nash. Both of those were recommended on this thread. I'm a little dismayed by the Hoover book. The "editors introduction" ends on page cxx which, unless I've forgotten how to do Roman numerals, means that the wordy bastard goes on about the book for more than 100 pages before allowing us to actually READ the book. I'm also reading Queen of Chaos and you should, too. As for dealing with the high cost of books, I would be willing to bet that most of you leave in places that have lending libraries. The Harris County (Texas) Public Library has a Web site that allows me to request books currently at any branch to be transferred for pickup at my nearest branch. I usually request the books that are recommended here, although I did read two that I found browsing the shelves: Churchill's history of WWII, and a book called The Utility of Force by General Sir Bernard Smith. Here in Houston, we also have "book swap" meetings, where we talk about what we're reading and loan the books out. We've made Pat Briggs some money that way, and I'll have to score a dead tree version of the first Sequoyah book and see if anybody bites. Oh, and a bit of advice for all you budding science fiction authors out there: If you think you're going to write a novel and then sell it at a convention by purchasing a table among the dealers, I can't imagine a larger waste of time.

Posted by: JonathanG at October 21, 2012 09:21 AM (aYOnh)

107 A book series written at the turn of the century is all about a boarding house and its resident smart-aleck tenant known only as "The Idiot". He drives the other boarders up a wall with his snarky witticisms. It is highly entertaining! It's available at gutenberg.org. First book in the series is "The Idiot" by John Kendrick Bangs.

I see it's also an audiobook at librivox.org.

Posted by: microcosme at October 21, 2012 09:22 AM (Cp9Sv)

108 After finishing another Ringo book I moved on to Wards of Faerie, the new Terry Brooks book. I am glad I got it from the library and did not buy it.

How many times is he going to re-write the Elfstones of Shannara? Time to return this to the library.

Posted by: Vic at October 21, 2012 09:24 AM (YdQQY)

109 I often regard with skepticism any wild enthusiasm by the cultural critics for any book. However, I have discovered that I was wrong to greet with disdain the coverage of "Cold Mountain" by Chas. Frazier. Wonderful book. Has not permitted me to do anything else this weekend. To be fair, however, I am generally disinclined to be too busy on the weekend, anyway...but it is still amazing.

Posted by: Bingo at October 21, 2012 09:32 AM (YrSL3)

110 [107] Oops, regarding "The Idiot" by John Kendrick Bangs, the first book in the series is "Coffee and Repartee". The Idiot is book 2. Sorry!

Posted by: microcosme at October 21, 2012 09:34 AM (Cp9Sv)

111 Slight OT, my wife and I went to see "Argo" last night. For the most part, good; and some of it is very good. Terrific performances from John Goodman and Alan Arkin as the Hollywood guys enlisted as cover for the fake movie. The movie also does a very good job of recreating the world 1980.
However, almost the entire effect of the movie is spoiled by a voice-over at the end of the credits from that self-righteous prick, Jimmy Carter, which liberally mixes smarm and untruth.

Posted by: Brown Line at October 21, 2012 09:38 AM (AGUDW)

112 Renting out a room in the house seems very popular in the South. Those people know how to live frugally. I don't know if renting out one room makes it a boarding house but I has a boarder in SC. And there are boarding houses in Jersey...

Posted by: Lynne at October 21, 2012 10:21 AM (coNWF)

113

Posted by: Sabrina Chase at October 21, 2012 11:44 AM (wfSF5)

Thanks, I'll have to think about that since the books are *very* good. If I do go dead-tree do I order them from your website?

Posted by: Polliwogette, teahada hobbbit who wants some R & R at October 21, 2012 10:25 AM (NYki8)

114 I'm reading Eclipse of the Sun by Michael O'Brien. It's the second in a trilogy... In an apocalyptic novel set in the near future, depicting a Catholic family and their friends in conflict with a new totalitarian government on the rise in North America (in Canada). The first book in the trilogy really dragged. The pace of this one is much better.

Posted by: Lynne at October 21, 2012 10:32 AM (coNWF)

115 On presidential reads:
Theodore Roosevelt, The Naval War of 1812; or, the History of the United States Navy, published in 1882, when Teddy was 23 years old. Hugely influential then, and perhaps still so.

Posted by: captain geoffrey spaulding at October 21, 2012 10:55 AM (h92el)

116 I'm reading three books right now.

Finding Time by Steve Poling - pretty good, I'm only in the first/second chapters. Time travel's my favorite genre and so far, it's keeping me interested. Best explanation of Schrodinger's Cat I've read.

The Fuller Memorandum by Charles Stross. Again, just finished the first chapter. Going well so far. This would be the Halloween read of the list.

Darkfever by Karen Marie Moning. This was a recommendation and quite frankly, I'm hating it. I guess it's supposed to be some sort of romance (strike one) with Irish fae. I hate Irish/Celtic stuff, so strike two. The writing style? Oh, goodness. Horrifying. Library book, so I'm debating finishing it or just taking it back right now.

On a recent trip, we listened to The Cold Dish (Longmire #1) by Craig Johnson. Can't finish it, the narrator makes me fall asleep. Nothing has happened and I think we're halfway through the book. Snoozer. Would be better in print format (skip over the unnecessary descriptions and social minutiae), but good luck finding an affordable version. The library has me on a hold list 10 people long.

Posted by: soulpile is... expendable at October 21, 2012 11:07 AM (NJpM7)

117 Oh, I also wanted to mention that ( as far as my ungrammatical self can tell) the editing in Chase's books is outstanding. At no time in the entire trilogy did I find one of those glaring spelling or grammar errors that positively *fill* many current books (and not just self-published either).

Posted by: Polliwogette, teahada hobbbit who wants some R & R at October 21, 2012 11:14 AM (NYki8)

118

"I am currently reading Gabriel Garcia Marquez's Love in the Time of Cholera. Terrific, as all of his works are. As for the man himself, I would like to see him contract penile cancer, hemorrhagic fever, and leprosy, all of which should be treated with a daily dose of thalium."

I agree with both statements, Margarita. I stopped reading biographies of writers and artists years ago. It was too depressing to find out what pricks so many of them are - both politically and in their personal lives.

The English historian Paul Johnson said in one of his books that it is a wonder that so many writers, who tend to live very disorganized lives, tend to fall for statist regulation. I think it's because they're imaginative, not practical. They can imagine a world where socialism works, so they keep believing in it, despite all the evidence to the contrary. Also despite the fact that writers are prime targets in any totalitarian regime - as Havel tried to tell them.

Posted by: Donna V. at October 21, 2012 11:17 AM (dcIHW)

119 Polliwogette: Dead tree version only available via Amazon. You have to search for my name and then select "Book" vs Kindle because the server gnomes haven't figured out the two versions are really the same. Sigh. Wall-to-wall counseling has been scheduled.

Thank you for the kind words re: editing. For that I credit my superb editor, AND! Our own Anachronda, proofreader and Moron. Truly the Horde contains marvels.

Posted by: Sabrina Chase at October 21, 2012 11:37 AM (wfSF5)

120 Hey now, Tucson is home to Davis Monthan AFB, has some gorgeous sunsets, and has always been very supportive to the military community. It's not the prettiest place, but fuck it, growing up here made me believe in America and the American dream. Trust me, it's not that bad. Besides the best thing to come out of Phoenix was the I-10

Posted by: Danny at October 21, 2012 12:01 PM (mMclX)

121 No matter how you argue it, Tucson's a liberal infested hole in the desert.

Hell, Phoenix isn't much better, but there's no where else to go and at least the Republicans are maintaining footholds up here.

California's rotting from the inside out and disgorging it's liberals upon everyone else, adding to Arizona's problems.

If you want a place in AZ that's tolerable, despite being filled with liberals, Flagstaff's the place. It's a podunk town, but it's pretty and the people are nice, as long as you don't hang around downtown for extended periods of time.

Posted by: soulpile is... expendable at October 21, 2012 12:08 PM (NJpM7)

122 "Cultural Amnesia" by Clive James brilliantly demonstrates the failure of progressivisms intellectual icons to cash the checks their mouths wrote in the face of WWII.

From "Dawn to Decadence," Jacques Barzun. Wonderful introduction to the arc of western civilization.

Posted by: richard mcenroe at October 21, 2012 12:16 PM (qvify)

123 40 What? There is only 1 beer in that fridge!
.
.
This!
Way too much food, not enough beer

Posted by: Yes I Am at October 21, 2012 12:42 PM (oc9hK)

124 Fair enough, but stay outdoors in downtown Flag long enough and you might as well light up a joint. Then again for those of you who fall under "a libertarian is a republican who smokes week", you can't do better than Flag

Posted by: Danny at October 21, 2012 01:31 PM (mMclX)

125 Finished the holy trinity of teen angst: Speak, Looking For Alaska and The Perks of Being a Wallflower. Picked up Hemingway's A Moveable Feast this morning. Ready to dive into the Little House series for winter reading curled by a fire. Bingo, couldn't agree more about Cold Mountain. Fabulous book. Gorgeous place.

Posted by: NCKate at October 21, 2012 01:32 PM (4jvw7)

126 To call Tucson a dump is really unfair to Apache Junction...literally

Posted by: ASU Fan - Fork Tucson at October 21, 2012 09:36 PM (gIEdm)

127 My ex was from Tucson, and I visited it in June of '85.

Hellishly hot and dusty. Beautiful scenery, but I'll never go there in any month but January again.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius at October 22, 2012 05:35 AM (BDU/a)

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