All things Books and Reading thread - 2017

[Mother Dragon]

Our local library was badly flooded by Harvey, as was the attached branch of The Houston Museum of Fine arts. The first floor of the library was mostly children' books and I don't now if they were able to move them upstairs. This library is mostly computers now and not many books compared to the libraries I used to love. I can get a book from the entire library system, but it often takes some time.

I don't like e-readers. I love the feel of the book in my hand. Plus, if you drop a book in water, you just dry it out. If you drop an e-reader in water, you're out of luck.

I like the Tamar Meyers books that aren't the Pennsylvania Dutch series. I also like Diane Mott Davidson. I love almost all of the cookbook mysteries. And I get a giggle out of Joan Hess.

I spent too many years researching a five-foot high series of constantly-changing manuals. I want nothing but light stuff now.

 

[Margret]

Mamanyt1953 , I think perhaps you want some of Lydia Adamson's earlier books. Those actually had quite a bit about Alice's cats, and the cats in the mysteries seemed to appear at greater length. I suspect that she's worried about repeating herself about Alice's cats, and she may be running out of good cat mysteries.

I heard an interview with Sue Grafton the other day, promoting her new book Y is for Yesterday. Now there's a woman who could easily be forgiven for running out of good plots! (Not claiming she has, just marveling at the length of the Kinsey Milhone series.) She's thinking in terms of retiring, finally, as soon as she finishes Z is for Zero. What's it about? Well, other than the fact that it's a Kinsey Milhone mystery and the end of the alphabet she hasn't figured that out yet. It seems to me that it takes a rare sort of self-confidence to commit to writing a 26 volume mystery series. I can't imagine being able to come up with that many decent plots.

Well, I finished Saint Camber this morning and have now begun Camber the Heretic. When I finish it I think I'll probably start "The Heirs of Saint Camber" trilogy, about King Cinhil's sons.

Margret

 

[Mamanyt1953]

I'll give one of the early ones a try, and if I like that, I'll start at the beginning, and quit when she gets to the point where she is now, then.

Mother Dragon , I'm with you on the "real" book thing. I want to hold them, and turn the page, and hug them to me, and fall asleep with a favorite opened on my chest. I glory in the weight and heft of them. SIGH...it's at odds with my concern about paper and trees, but I keep books for years, and read them until they fall into tatters in my hands. And I'm with you on Meyers, Davidson and Hess.

I'm currently reading B. B. Haywood's "Candy Holliday" series. I have the first four, and am on #2 now. Fun, light mysteries with good recipes. Now, if only Candy would get a cat instead of those dratted bantam hens, I'd be set!

 

[Margret]

I was in Joann's Monday where (presumably in keeping with the Halloween spirit) I saw a sale on rubbery animal skeletons for 40% off. One of them looked a heck of a lot like the Grim Squeaker, needing only a hooded black robe and a small scythe. A bit large for the part, though; I would estimate that it's 10 to 12 inches tall. I checked the price tag, which said $30; at 40% off that would come to $18. I've no idea whether this is at all stores or just the one, or whether the sale is still on, but given the number of Terry Pratchett fans here I thought I ought to mention it.

And on a sadder note, Rest in Peace, Jerry Pournelle, August 7, 1933 – September 8, 2017.
Passings…. – Chaos Manor – Jerry Pournelle
Jerry Pournelle - Wikipedia

Margret

 

[Margret]

In September of 1992, in Aboriginal Science Fiction (an unfortunately short-lived magazine) there appeared a hilarious story by Richard K. Lyon named "The Secret Identity Diet." In the spring of 1996, in the same magazine, a sequel was published: "The Chocolate Chip Cookie Conspiracy." The hero of these stories is an overweight man named (unfortunately, from his viewpoint) Charles Kent who does something heroic late one night and, through no fault of his own, is mistaken for a brand new superhero who is named by a little girl "Lightningman."

Charles is terrified that people will find out that he's Lightningman (the only thing worse than a fat guy pretending to be a superhero is if the fat guy has a name that's close to "Clark Kent"), and goes to great lengths to protect his identity, but he's in a bit of a bind. He has to go jogging, on doctor's orders, and the only time when he can go jogging is the middle of the night. In New York City's Central Park. So he keeps encountering muggers, and as a person with a conscience he can't just let them get away with it. And the legend of Lightningman just grows, and grows.

Before his death in November of 2008, Richard K. Lyon wrote two more Lightningman stories in collaboration with Andrew J. Offut (who also collaborated on the first two but was never credited). The third Lightningman story, "Diet Another Day," was published online at Pulp and Dagger, but the fourth was never published. When Mr. Lyon died his collaborator had custody of it, and by the time my filk group and I found out about it Mr. Offut had also passed away.

These are fairly long stories, novellas, I believe; the four of them together would make a wonderful book, and my filk group is trying to make that happen. And I just received word today that one of our members has managed to get in touch with Chris Offut, the son of Andrew J. Offut and a writer in his own right, who remembers seeing the fourth Lightningman story among his father's papers and is going to look for it for us.

So, these stories are going to need some editing before publication, and I'm the logical person to do that. But I think I'll need some advice. For starters, the time frame of these stories is already in the past, and the future didn't turn out quite the way the authors expected. In this version of the "future" cell phones haven't been invented and pay phones are still common. Worse, a pay phone is a key clue in the first story, so we can't just write them out.

If anyone has suggestions (beyond the most obvious -- just make it an alternate universe, which may be the way to go) please speak up. And if anyone wants copies of the stories we already have access to for the purpose of assisting in the effort to get them published, leave me a PM with your email address and I'll be happy to send them to you (and yes, I do have the legal right to do that -- we got permission from Mr. Lyon before his death).

Margret

 

[Delany]

Could there be a historical village that still has payphones? Do the payphones need to be working in the future part? Do you mean that the "future" part is meant to be the current/present day? Or could someone have put the payphone into their house or a local history museum as a novelty or to show the past? In our local museum, it's inside but they have a "historical" street, so it's like walking in the past. I don't know, just what came to me. It sounds like a fun endeavor though!

 

[Margret]

Could there be a historical village that still has payphones? Do the payphones need to be working in the future part? Do you mean that the "future" part is meant to be the current/present day? Or could someone have put the payphone into their house or a local history museum as a novelty or to show the past? In our local museum, it's inside but they have a "historical" street, so it's like walking in the past. I don't know, just what came to me. It sounds like a fun endeavor though!

Nope. Our hero needs a cab home from Central Park because he's just been injured, so he goes to a pay phone to call for one. (Note: No Uber. No Lyft. And no cell phones, without which you really can't have Uber or Lyft.) But in the story, pay phones no longer accept coins; they require credit cards, and for some reason the phone is unable to read his card (this being the important plot point -- the card's magnetic strip has been wiped by coming in contact with a very strong magnet -- note that even credit cards have changed since the stories were written ).

We may just put a notice at the beginning saying that the stories were written in the 1990s and should be read as the classics that they are; that would probably be the right way to do it. And I think we'll need a new illustrator; the first two stories were published with illustrations that looked (intentionally) as if they'd been taken from a comic book, which was perfect for these stories, but having the rights to the stories doesn't mean we have the rights to the illustrations, and the third and fourth stories don't have illustrations anyway.

The whole story line is presumably in the future; these were published as science fiction, not fantasy, and all of the science in the stories (as far as I've been able to check) is legit. But they were in the near future, and we've passed that time now.

I remember as a child being totally mesmerized by a book named, as I recall, Springboard to Venus, which assumed that Venus is a water world (the best guess we had at the time). I'd love to read it again, if I could find it (an internet search has turned up nothing and I don't remember the author's name) but regardless of the actual nature of Venus, it was a great adventure story, with engaging characters. And I'm pretty sure that if I were able to find it and re-read it I'd find that it was set very early in the 21st century, i.e. it also would be set in a time that is now in the past. These things keep happening to S.F. stories and books -- the real future catches up with the fictional future.

Margret

 

[Mamanyt1953]

I actually like the idea of the notice at the beginning. The stories are older, classic SciFi, and should be celebrated as such. But that's just me. And I want to purchase when they are available. Let me know.

I just discovered the Aunt Dimity books, and I'm having more fun with them! Love a good mystery with a paranormal bent, especially if there's a bit of humor in it, as well!

 

[Margret]

I actually like the idea of the notice at the beginning. The stories are older, classic SciFi, and should be celebrated as such. But that's just me. And I want to purchase when they are available. Let me know.

I just discovered the Aunt Dimity books, and I'm having more fun with them! Love a good mystery with a paranormal bent, especially if there's a bit of humor in it, as well!

I'll let everyone here know, quite happily. It will be a while, of course. We still haven't even seen the fourth story, and I've no idea what we're going to do about illustrations and cover art.

I've loved Aunt Dimity for years, but I'm afraid I've missed a lot of the series.

I'm still working on Camber the Heretic, but it's tough going. It's just so painful, all the prejudice and cruelty returning, and people trying to stem the tide, and knowing that they're doomed no matter what. I may just bookmark my place, skim the rest, and move on to the next book in the series, or skip to King Kelson's reign. Or maybe I'll give up on fiction for a little while. I have a couple of books that I seriously need to study; perhaps I should be concentrating on those.

Margret

 

[Mamanyt1953]

I have finished the second of the two that I was sent (THANK YOU, foxxycat !), and am now re-reading Charles de Lint. I have been in love with his writing since the mid-1980s. I had lost my book collection, and only had one of his on my shelves, but another friend is downsizing, moving to ebooks, and sent me 5-6 of them last week. Right now, I'm reading "The Ivory and the Horn." If you love fantasy and urban fairy tales, and haven't run across de Lint, I highly recommend him.

 

[foxxycat]

I am still reading that one by Mary Alice Monroe part of the summer girls series-book 2. I am about half way through. Keep forgetting to read at night instead of watching tv. bad girl.

 

[Mamanyt1953]

One of the reasons I take baths instead of showers...you can't watch tv in the bathroom (or most of us can't), and you can't read in the shower.

 

[foxxycat]

nope I hate baths. yuck. Too cold!! LOL. I got a very small water heater-they installed a garden tub in my home but only 40 gallon water heater which only fills it halfway. I tried boiling water on the stovetop..too much of a hassle..I never liked baths..then book gets wet and water makes my skin itch if I am in it more than 10 minutes...nope!!

 

[Mamanyt1953]

Under those circumstances, I wouldn't either. Luckily, I can fill my tub with water so warm that I come out looking like a large, overcooked shrimp (with glasses and book in hand).

 

[rubysmama]

I am still reading that one by Mary Alice Monroe part of the summer girls series-book 2. I am about half way through. Keep forgetting to read at night instead of watching tv. bad girl.

Every summer I decide to read that series, but there's always holds on them, so I don't get to them. Maybe I'll have to read them in a season other than summer. LOL.

I started "Into the Wild" a while back, but didn't get far. Not that it wasn't interesting, but I'm just out of the reading habit.

 

[Mia6]

I finishing re-reading The Shining last week and am now reading The Stand.
They are both as scary now as they were when I first read them.

 

[Mia6]

I finishing re-reading The Shining last week and am now reading The Stand.
They are both as scary now as they were when I first read them.

 

[catspaw66]

I finishing re-reading The Shining last week and am now reading The Stand.
They are both as scary now as they were when I first read them.

I read The Stand about a month ago. Next for me is It. I have The Shining queued on my Fire.

 

[Margret]

Oh, frabjous day! Last year there was a store called Trade Smart next to the Pet Smart store that sold (among other things) used books and DVDs, but it closed several months ago. A new store has opened in the space, named 2nd & Charles, which sounds to me like a high end men's clothing store, though I don't know why a store like that would open in a strip mall. But today when I was visiting Pet Smart to get Jasmine some more kibble I noticed some discount book racks outside the front door of 2nd & Charles (carefully placed under an overhang, because we've had fairly steady rain for the last two days, which we desperately need), so I thought I should check it out.

Inside, 2nd & Charles looks like a clone of Trade Smart. The employee I spoke with says that the two companies are competitors. I went through the used books inside and found the entire Keeper series by Tanya Huff for less than $8, and one of the newer "Bahzell Bahnakson" books by David Weber, which I've also been looking for. I'm just finishing off The Harrowing of Gwynedd (volume 1 of The Heirs of Saint Camber) and am about to start on King Javan's Year (volume 2). Once I finish this trilogy I intend to indulge myself with a veritable orgy of Tanya Huff, then re-read the original Bahzell Bahnakson trilogy before I start on the new one.

Margret

 

[raysmyheart]

I finishing re-reading The Shining last week and am now reading The Stand.
They are both as scary now as they were when I first read them.

I read The Shining many years ago and remember how very scary it was while reading. One of my favorites.

I have just purchased a nook and am enjoying it immensely. I had given up reading for years because of trouble with my eyes, but now I am reading with no problem.