#Tom Hillenbrand

[plantdad-dante]

Intermission - Hologrammatica by Tom Hillenbrand

(because sometimes I consume other things. sometimes I even have shit to say about these things. sometimes, like in this case, these are books other people lend to me because they want me to have opinions at them. thusly, blame my friend.)

First - Medium amount of potential, with its mix of utopian and dystopian ideas, its dabbeling in climate fiction, its allusions to gender...... Umsetzung mangelhaft. You do not use your sequel hook to smash and undermine every single theme you have ever even casually winked at. That's not- that's not how it works. You dingus.

Second - That being said, I was kinda surprised that this... wasn't bad? (which - my fault. I kinda avoid German literature. Idk, is it weird to kinda dislike your first language? Who's to say.) The plot was a bit by-the-numbers and it ended up saying absolutely fucking nothing, but otherwise... Enjoyable. Functioning. Quite alright, really. Galahad was a bit of a dick, but he's a P.I., so that's to be expected. And I mean, his love interest did quite predictably turn out to be a cop (derogatory) and had their potential character arc walk into a brick wall in the end... but otherwise? Yeah. It was fine.

Third - To be honest, the best part of this was probably live-messaging my friend with my reactions (or yelling "Aliens?!" at her when I saw her in person - yeah, this book goes places).

Fourth - I really hate the epilogue. I really, really do. How can you do something like this to your story?? It's just... ugh-

Example: The book, in its world-building, poses an interesting question: What if humanity could actually recognize and work to remedy its mistakes? What if there actually was a canary-point, when the metaphorical bird would fall from its perch and, for once, humanity would watch it drop and realize that things have gone too far, and, crucially, fucking act. What if, what if... ... well, the book kinda answered that one in the epilogue. And the answer was "like fuck there is".

Look, I'm sorry? I know how I sound, yes? I'm really trying to remember the good bits. I know they existed! I had fun reading and theorizing!

The whole holo thing was.... well, I hope intentionally fucked-up. Because painting over mold is not a solution, honey. No, not even if you do it with holograms. (What's the power consumtion on that thing, anyway) Also, it must have led to some really shitty accidents, right? Hiding storm drains, adding decorative fixtures on walls - indistinguishable-from-physical-reality holograms must have led to some really embarassing misadventures, right? Right?

Also, the idea that humanity would just abandon the paranoia that led to our current trend towards the Gläserner Mensch.... I doubt it. Very much. I mean, it needs to be the case for plot's sake, but it also broke my suspension of disbelief. Meh.

Yeah so anyway. Nice book, that I ended up bitching about a lot, whoops. The epilogue is my nemesis, but before that it was... okay? Okay, yeah. Let's go with okay.

[monkeyjaw]

Year in Review (by way of books) 2023

Books and Comics/Graphic Novels 2023

January

The Doubtful Guest – Edward Gorey (illustrated book/graphic novel)

The Promised Neverland: Volume 6 – Kaiu Shirai, Posuka Demizu(manga)

The City and the City – China Mieville

Sandman Volume 6: Fables and Reflections – Neil Gaiman, various artists (graphic novel)

Sandman Volume 7: Brief Lives – Neil Gaiman, Jill Thompson, Vince Locke (graphic novel)

The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglas – Frederick Douglas, read by Charles Turner

The Sandman Volume 8: World’s End – Neil Gaiman, various artists (graphic novel)

The Bartimaeus Trilogy 2: The Golem’s Eye – Jonathan Stroud

The Man Who Fell To Earth – Dan Watters, Dev Pramanik (graphic novel)

The Carpet People – Terry Pratchett, read by Stephen Briggs

Hikaru no Go Volume 15: Sayanara – Takeshi Obata, Yumi Hotta (manga)

Hikaru no Go Volume 16: The Chinese Go Association – Takeshi Obata, Yumi Hotta (manga)

Witch Hat Atelier Volume 1 – Kamome Shirahama (manga)

February

The Sandman Volume 9: The Kindly Ones – Neil Gaiman, Marc Hemple, various artists (graphic novel)

Titus Groan – Mervyn Peake, read by Simon Vance

Paper Girls Volume 3 – Brian K. Vaughan, Cliff Chiang (graphic novel)

Beastars Volume 1 – Paru Itagaki (manga)

Revenge of the Librarians – Tom Gauld (graphic novel)

Lucifer Volume 1: Devil in the Gateway – Mike Carey, Peter Gross (graphic novel)

Saint Young Men Volume 1 – Hikaru Nakamura (manga)

The Sandman Volume 10: The Wake – Neil Gaiman, Michael Zulli, Jon Muth, Charles Vess (graphic novel)

Hikaru no Go Volume 17: A Familiar Face – Takeshi Obata, Yumi Hotta (manga)

Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand – Helen Simonson

Beastars Volume 2 – Paru Itagaki (manga)

Woman World – Aminder Dhaliwal (graphic novel)

Black Paradox – Junji Ito (manga)

Beastars Volume 3 – Paru Itagaki (manga)

March

Lucifer Volume 2: Children & Monsters – Mike Carey, Peter Gross, Ryan Kelly (graphic novel)

Doomsday Book – Connie Willis, read by Jenny Sterlin

Moonshadow – J.M. DeMatteis, Jon J. Muth, Kent Williams (graphic novel)

The Magic Fish – Trung Le Nguyen (graphic novel)

Sleepless Volume 2 – Sarah Vaughn, Leila Del Luca (graphic novel)

The Monkey Prince Volume 1: Enter the Monkey – Gene Luen Yang, Bernard Chang (graphic novel)

Unbroken – Lauren Hillenbrand, read by Edward Hermann

Thrawn: Ascendancy 2: The Greater Good – Timothy Zahn, read by Marc Thompson

Thud! – Terry Pratchett, read by Stephen Briggs

April

Operation Mincemeat – Ben McIntyre

Beastars Volume 4 – Paru Itagaki (manga)

Parasyte Volume 2 – Hitoshi Iwaaki (manga)

Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand – Helen Simonson

The Promised Neverland Volume 7 – Kaiu Shirai, Posuka Demizu (manga)

Parasyte Volume 3 – Hitoshi Iwaaki (manga)

The Wheel of Time Bk 4: The Shadow Rising – Robert Jordan

Twig – Skottie Young, Skyle Strahm (graphic novel)

Spring Rain: a graphic memoir – Andy Warner (graphic novel)

The Multiversity – Grant Morrison, various artists (graphic novel)

The Promised Neverland Volume 8 – Kaiu Shirai, Posuka Demizu (manga)

Goldie Vance Volume 2 – Hope Larson, Jackie Ball, Brittney Williams (graphic novel)

Team of Rivals (Abridged) – Doris Kearns Goodwin, read by Richard Thomas

Stretching the Heavens – Terry L. Givens

May

The Promised Neverland Volume 9 – Kaiu Shirai, Posuka Demizu (manga)

Parasyte Volume 4 – Hitoshi Iwaaki (manga)

Parasyte Volume 5 – Hitoshi Iwaaki (manga)

Conan Volume 1 – Robert E. Howard, L. Sprage De Camp, Lin Carter

Parasyte Volume 6 – Hitoshi Iwaaki (manga)

The Promised Neverland Volume 10 – Kaiu Shirai, Posuka Demizu (manga)

Penric’s Demon – Lois McMaster Bujold, read by Grove Gardner

Kamen Rider: The Classic Manga Collection - Shōtarō Ishinomori, translated by Kumar Sivasubramanian (manga)

 Parasyte Volume 7 – Hitoshi Iwaaki (manga)

Shuna’s Journey – Hayao Miyazaki, translated by Alex Dudok de Wit (manga)

Parasyte Volume 8 – Hitoshi Iwaaki (manga)

Maggy Garrison – Lewis Trondheim, Stephane Oiry (graphic novel)

Double Cross – Ben McIntyre

The Promised Neverland Volume 11 – Kaiu Shirai, Posuka Demizu (manga)

June

The Promised Neverland Volume 12 – Kaiu Shirai, Posuka Demizu (manga)

The Promised Neverland Volume 13 – Kaiu Shirai, Posuka Demizu (manga)

My Hero Academia Volume 1 – Kohei Horikoshi (manga)

Think Again – Adam Grant

Adventure Game Comics Volume 1: Leviathan – Jason Shiga (graphic novel)

Ranma ½ Volume 35 – Rumiko Takahashi (manga)

Ranma ½ Volume 36 – Rumiko Takahashi (manga)

The Promised Neverland Volume 14 – Kaiu Shirai, Posuka Demizu (manga)

Thrawn Ascendancy Volume 3: Lesser Evil – Timothy Zahn, read by Marc Thompson

Leviathan Wakes �� James S.A. Corey

The Man Without Talent – Yoshitsaru Tsuge (manga)

July

A Bride’s Story Volume 3 – Kaoru Mori (manga)

The Promised Neverland Volume 15 – Kaiu Shirai, Posuka Demizu (manga)

The Promised Neverland Volume 16 – Kaiu Shirai, Posuka Demizu (manga)

Almost American Girl – Robin Ha (graphic novel)

The Woman Who Smashed Codes – Jason Fagone

The Swamp – Yoshiharu Tsuge (manga)

The Wheel of Time Book 5: The Fires of Heaven – Robert Jordan

A Bride’s Story Volume 4 – Kaoru Mori (manga)

Pulp – Ed Brubaker, Sean Phillips (graphic novel)

Locke & Key: Small World – Joe Hill, Gabriel Rodriguez (graphic novel)

Breaking Cat News – Georgia Dunn (graphic novel)

August

Labyrinth Coronation Vol 1 – Ryan Ferrier, Simon Spurrier, Daniel Bayliss (graphic novel)

A Bride’s Story Volume 5 – Kaoru Mori (manga)

Worst Journey In the World Volume 1 – Sara Airress (graphic novel)

Best American Comics 2016 – various artists, writers, edited by Roz Chast (graphic novel)

Labyrinth Coronation Volume 2 – Ryan Ferrier, Simon Spurrier, Daniel Bayliss (graphic novel)

Hikaru no Go Volume 19: One Step Forward! – Takeshi Obata, Yumi Hotta (manga)

Hikaru no Go Volume 20: The Young Lions – Takeshi Obata, Yumi Hotta (manga)

Thirsty Mermaids – Kat Leyh (graphic novel)

Criminal: Coward – Ed Brubaker, Sean Phillips (graphic novel)

Parable of the Sower – Octavia E. Butler, read by Lynne Thigpen

Hikaru no Go Volume 21: Great Expectations – Takeshi Obata, Yumi Hotta (manga)

Hikaru no Go Volume 22: China vs. Japan – Takeshi Obata, Yumi Hotta (manga)

Hikaru no Go Volume 23: Endgame – Takeshi Obata, Yumi Hotta (manga)

Dead Boy Detectives Vol. 1: Schoolboy Terrors – Toby Litt, Mark Buckingham, Gary Erskine (graphic novel)

Dead Boy Detectives Vol 2: Ghost Snow – Toby Litt, Mark Buckingham, Gary Erskine (graphic novel)

Seek You – Kristen Radtke (graphic novel)

John Constantinte Hellblazer Volume 2: The Devil You Know – Jamie Delano, David Lloyd, Richard Piers Rayner (graphic novel)

September

Once & Future Volume 5: The Wasteland – Kieron Gillen, Dan Mora (graphic novel)

The Once and Future Witches – Alix Harrow

The Sandman Presents: The Deadboy Detectives – Ed Brubaker, Bryan Talbot, Steve Leialoha (graphic novel)

Batman: The Doom That Came To Gotham – Mike Mignola, Richard Pace, Troy Nixey, Dennis Janke (graphic novel)

Free Country: A Tale of the Children’s Crusade – Neil Gaiman, various writers, artists (graphic novel)

Man’s Search For Meaning – Victor E. Frankl, read by Simon Vance

John Constantine Hellblazer Volume 1: Original Sins – Jamie Delano, Mark Buckingham, Richard Piers Rayner (graphic novel)

Can’t We Talk About Something More Pleasant? – Roz Chast (graphic novel)

Edge of Spider-Verse – Dan Slott, Jason Latour, various artists/writers (graphic novel)

Spider-Gwen Volume 1: Greater Power – Jason Latour, Robbi Rodriguez (graphic novel)

John Constatine Hellblazer Volume 3: The Fear Machine – Jamie Delano, Alfredo Alcala, Mark Buckingham, Mike Hoffman (graphic novel)

Cosmic Odyssey – Jim Starlin, Mike Mignola, Carlos Garzon (graphic novel)

October

The Autobiography of Martin Luther King, Jr. –edited by Clayborne Carson, read by LeVar Burton

Spider-Women – Robbie Thompson, Jason Latour, various artists (graphic novel)

Spider-Gwen Volume 2: Weapon of Choice – Jason Latour, Robbi Rodriguez (graphic novel)

Gender Queer – Maia Kubata (graphic novel)

Black Orchid Book 1 – Neil Gaiman, Dave McKean (graphic novel)

Black Orchid Book 2 – Neil Gaiman, Dave McKean (graphic novel)

Black Orchid Book 3 – Neil Gaiman, Dave McKean (graphic novel)

Tombs – Junji Ito (manga)

Locke & Key: The Golden Age – Joe Hill, Gabriel Rodriguez (graphic novel)

Wraith – Joe Hill, Charles Paul Wilson III (graphic novel)

A Great and Terrible King – Marc Morris, read by Ralph Lister

The Birds and Don’t Look Now – Daphne du Maurier, read by Peter Capaldi

My Lesbian Experience With Loneliness – Nagata Kabi (manga)

Spider-Gwen Volume 3: Long-Distance – Jason Latour, Robbi Rodriguez (graphic novel)

The Birds & Other Stories – Daphne du Maurier

November

John Constantine Hellblazer Volume 4: The Family Man – Jamie Delano, Grant Morrison, various artists (graphic novel)

The Feng Shui Detective Agency – Nury Vittachi

Delicious in Dungeon Volume 1 – Ryoko Kui (manga)

The Saga of Swamp Thing Volume 1 – Alan Moore, Stephen Bisette, John Totleben (graphic novel)

Spider-Verse – Dan Slott, various writers/artists (graphic novel)

Breakfast With Socrates – Robert Rowland Smith

Harleen – Stjepan Sejic (graphic novel)

Spider-Gwen Volume 4: Predators – Jason Latour, Robbi Rodriguez (graphic novel)

Spider-Gwen Volume 5: Gwenom – Jason Latour, Robbi Rodriguez (graphic novel)

Flipped – Wendelin Van Draanen

American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer – Kai Bird, Martin J. Sherwin, read by Jeff Cummings

Spider-Man, Spider-Gwen: Sitting in a Tree – Brian Michael Bendis, Jason Latour, Sara Pichelli, Robbi Rodriguez (graphic novel)

December

John Constantine Hellblazer Volume 5: Dangerous Habits – Garth Ennis, Jamie Delano, various artists (graphic novel)

My Solo Exchange Diary Volume 1 – Nagata Kabi (manga)

Birds of Prey Volume 1 – Chuck Dixon, Jordan B. Gorfinkel, various artists (graphic novel)

My Solo Exchange Diary Volume 2 – Nagata Kabi (manga)

Shuna’s Journey – Hayao Miyazaki, translated by Alex Dudok de Wit (manga)

When Stars Are Scattered – Victoria Jemison, Omar Mohamed (graphic novel)

My Alcoholic Escape From Reality – Nagata Kabi (manga)

Dune Messiah – Frank Herbert, read by Simon Vance, Euan Morton, Scott Brick, Katherine Kellgren

Smoke Bitten (Mercy Thompson #12)  - Patricia Briggs

Lore Olympus Volume 1 – Rachel Smythe (graphic novel)

Diary of a Young Girl – Anne Frank, read by Selma Blair

Lore Olympus Volume 2 – Rachel Smythe (graphic novel)

Spider-Gwen Volume 6: The Life of Gwen Stacy – Jason Latour, Robbi Rodriguez (graphic novel)

Hungry Ghosts – Anthony Bourdain, Joel Rose, various artists (graphic novel)

I read 156 books and graphic novels in 2023. 119 graphic novels, 37 books. 25 non-fiction, 131 fiction. 69 graphic novels, 50 graphic mangas. 15 re-reads.

Starting in March with Unbroken, I started reading a number of books about World War II. I think I had, as ever a goal to read more non-fiction and since there are so many books on the 2 World Wars, they are often the ones that I’m able to check out from the library without a super long wait list. Then Oppenheimer came out this summer so I was more intrigued and decided to read the basis for the film (which is atypical for me outside of comics). Following Unbroken I read a few spy books, Operation Mincemeat and Double Cross in May by Ben McIntyre that were super interesting.

I had previously read The Confidence Men about 2 British POWs from WWI who escaped a Turkish POW camp by (among other things) a Ouija board. I had started reading The Diary of Anne Frank/Diary of a Young Girl sometime this past year I think and finally finished it near the end of the year and Victor Frankl’s Man’s Search For Meaning in October. I started listening to The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich in November or December and read for my family’s book club The Woman Who Smashed Codes about Elizabeth Friedman and her husband who developed cryptology in the US between World War I and II and was treated pretty wretchedly by the US government for her efforts. This was in no small part due to J. Edgar Hoover, who seems to be more and more a villain every time I have the misfortune of encountering him in books and other media.

A manga series I had started last year, The Promised Neverland, I’m close to finishing (I believe there are 20 volumes, which isn’t super long for a manga series. Full Metal Alchemist is 20-something volumes if I remember correctly) and I finally finished Hikaru no Go about a teenager who accidentally finds himself competing in the Japanese game Go due to a haunted Go board in his grandfather’s attic. A web comic that my wife got me interested in, Lore Olympus, retells the story of Persephone and Hades with a combination of contemporary and antiquity culture. The comic is broken up into “seasons” and the second season was recently finished so I wanted to read up to that point while waiting for the end of the third season. Unfortunately, it was long enough ago that I had read up to the end of the first season I ended up having to start over. But this was good as there were a number of things I caught the second time through and appreciated more on a re-read.

      I also read the 4th and 5th Wheel of Time books for the second time this past year, which was an interesting experience. There were a lot of things I remembered incorrectly because of the 25ish years since I read them initially. I don’t think I’m going to read the entire series all the way through again, but I might read book 6. I finished re-reading The Sandman (partly due to the release of the Netflix series) and went on a kick of other Vertigo (an imprint of DC Comics that focused on non-superhero books, more adult and more creator-controlled that is now largely if not entirely defunct) titles (the Dead Boy Detectives, Hellblazer, Swamp Thing). Don’t know where I’ll go with that. Also read a decent amount of Spider-Verse comics (mostly Spider-Gwen but one big crossover book that was sort of the culmination of the Spider-Verse storylines (I think?)) that was interesting. Spider-Gwen is a great comic that has yet to lead to the frustration I felt with the later Miles Morales books.

      Nagata Kabi’s memoirs about self-esteem, her fraught relationship with her parents, alcoholism and eating problems is both interesting and very frustrating. I am very lucky to not have hardly any of her emotional, mental and health issues that are wound up together but reading her mangas it is hard not to want to shake her when she seems to recover from one life-threatening catastrophe only to work herself into another. I’m morbidly curious about her later volumes about pancreatitis.

      Lastly, there were some books on Arthur and some non-fiction or books by African-American authors that I had intended to start or finish that I’m dragging my heels on. We’ll see what happens in the next year with that.   

[sparecrew]

The 2024 Book List

Fighting for Your Marriage (Howard J. Markman, Scott M. Stanley & Susan L. Blumberg)

Soldier's Heart (Gary Paulsen)

Let Us Now Praise Famous Men (James Agee & Walker Evans) - 1K List: 1/year, 139/total

A Matter of Principle (Susan Beth Pfeffer)

5 Miraculous Muslims Touched by God (Author Unknown - Presumably Some Christian Organization)

The Woman in Me (Britney Spears)

Cold-Case Christianity (J. Warner Wallace)

Romney: A Reckoning (McKay Coppins) *

Sense and Sensibility (Jane Austen) ; 1K List: 2/year, 140/total

[Audiobook] The Underground Railroad (Colson Whitehead); 1K List: 3/year, 142 total

Opportunity Knocks (Tim Scott)

Why Marriages Succeed or Fail (John Gottman)

How to Know a Person (David Brooks) *

Killing Floor (Lee Child)

They Called Us "Lucky" (Ruben Gallego) *

Acquitted (Kyle Rittenhouse)

Profiles in Courage (John F. Kennedy)

The Case Against the Sexual Revolution (Louise Perry) *

The Things We Cannot Say (Kelly Rimmer) *

Who Killed These Girls? (Beverly Lowry)

Endgame (Omid Scobie)

[Textbook] AHA Heartsaver - First Aid (2021 Student Edition/Workbook)

[Textbook] AHA Heartsaver - First Aid, CPR, AED (2021 Student Edition/Workbook)

[Textbook] AHA BLS Instructor Manual

House of Leaves (Mark Z. Danielewski)

Pride and Prejudice (Jane Austen) ; 1K List: 4/year, 143 total

Social Justice Fallacies (Thomas Sowell)

The Canceling of the American Mind (Greg Lukianoff & Rikki Schlott) *

Lost in Trans Nation (Miriam Grossman, MD)

Bad Therapy (Abigail Shrier) *

Hitler's Pawn (Stephen Koch) *

Rule Number Two (Dr. Heidi Squier Kraft) *

The Exchange (John Grisham)

[Audiobook] Zero Days (Ruth Ware)

Jesus Calling (Sarah Young)

Partners in Power (Roger Morris)

The Iliad (Homer - translated by Emily Wilson) - 1K List: 5/year, 144 total

[Audiobook] The It Girl (Ruth Ware)

In the Country of Men (Hisham Matar)

Get It Together (Jesse Watters)

Say More (Jen Psaki)

The Bible in 52 Weeks (Kimberly D. Moore)

White Rural Rage (Tom Schaller & Paul Waldman)

Prequel (Rachel Maddow)

Mansfield Park (Jane Austen) - 1K List: 6/year, 145 total

Morning After the Revolution (Nellie Bowles)

[Textbook] How to Write Anything - Third Edition (John J. Ruszkiewicz & Jay T. Dolmage)

I Swear (Katie Porter)

[Textbook] Emergency Care and Transportation of the Sick and Injured - Twelfth Edition (Andrew Pollack, series editor)

What the Dead Know (Barbara Butcher)

Unbroken (Laura Hillenbrand)

The Situation Room (George Stephanopoulos)

King (Jonathan Eig) *

The Making of a King (Robert Hardman)

Troubled (Rob Henderson) *

If You Didn't Write It Down, It Never Happened! (Paul Serino)

Emma (Jane Austen) - 1K List: 7/year, 146 total

Elon Musk (Walter Isaacson)

The Fred Factor (Mark Sanborn)

A Coffin For Dimitrios (Eric Ambler) - 1K List: 8/year, 147 total

Privacy Is Power (Carissa Veliz)

[Textbook] Foundations of Education - Third Edition (NAEMSE)

Effective Difficult Conversations (Catherine Soehner & Ann Darling)

Foundation (Isaac Asimov) - 1K List: 9/year, 148 total

[Audiobook] Foundation and Empire (Isaac Asimov) - 1K List: 10/year, 149 total

Book Club Reboot (Sarah Ostman & Stephanie Saba)

Emotional Intelligence 2.0 (Travis Bradberry & Jean Greaves)

Kissing Girls On Shabbat (Sara Glass)

Lucky Jim (Kingsley Amis) - 11/y, 150/t

The Power of TED (David Emerald)

Fight Like A Girl (Kate Germano)

[martinmurray]

BOOKS READ, in order…

2023:

Fall Guy - Archer Mayor

Racing the Light - Robert Crais (1.16.23)

A Dangerous Man - Robert Crais (1.24.23)

The Naming of the Dead - Ian Rankin (2.7.23)

Before the Coffee Gets Cold - Toshikazu Kawaguchi (2.9.23)

Unnatural History- Jonathan Kellerman (2.27.23)

Breathless - Amy McCulloch (3.14.23)

Fleshmarket Alley - Ian Rankin (4.10.23)

Red Winter - Tom Clancy/ Marc Cameron (5.5.23)

Desert Star - Michael Connelly (5.20.23)

Dark Angel - John Sandford (6.2.23)

No Plan B - Lee Child (6.8.23)

Unbroken - Laura Hillenbrand (6.16.23)

The Thursday Murder Club - Richard Osman (6.26.23)

Newcomer - Keigo Higashino (7.7.23)

A Death in Tokyo - Keigo Higashino (7.13.23)

City of Dreams - Don Winslow (7.20.23)

A Song for the Dark Times - Ian Rankin (8.6.23)

Standing in Another Man’s Grave - Ian Rankin (8.15.23)

The Devotion of Suspect X - Keigo Higashino (8.20.23)

Saints of the Shadow Bible - Ian Rankin (9.1.23)

The Lockup - John Banville (9.3.23)

Rather Be The Devil - Ian Rankin (9.11.23)

The Best Strangers in the World - Ari Shapiro (9.21.23)

Killers of the Flower Moon - David Grann (10.4.23)

Judgment Day - John Sandford (10.15.23)

The Complaints - Ian Rankin (10.30.23)

In A House of Lies - Ian Rankin (11.19.23)

Holly - Stephen King (11.20.23)

The Impossible Dead - Ian Rankin (12.6.23)

Knots and Crosses - Ian Rankin (12.11.23)

The Secret - Lee Child (12.22.23)

[brookston]

Holidays 4.13

Holidays

Aerosmith Day (Massachusetts)

American Elephant Day

Auslan Day (Australia)

Beauty Peace Day

Celebrate Teen Literature Day

Day of the Dead (Elder Scrolls)

Environmental Protection Day

Feast of Rotten Endings

413 Day (Arkansas)

Functional Neurological Disorder (FND) International Awareness Day

Homestuck Day

Huguenot Day (France)

Ides of April (Ancient Rome)

International Campus & Community Day

International Creativity & Innovation Day

International Day of the Kiss

International Functional Neurological Disorder Awareness Day

International Imposter Syndrome Awareness Day

International Jaat Day (India)

International Plant Appreciation Day

International Rock & Roll Day

International Special Librarian’s Day

John Hanson Day (Maryland)

Katyn Memorial Day (Poland)

National Boot Day

National Borinqueneers Day

National Hippy Day

National Japanese Spitz Day

National Kiss Your Homies Day

National PhiliShui Day

National Silly Earring Day

National Sticker Day

National Theresa Day

Neil Banging Out the Tunes Day

Scrabble Day

Silent Spring Day

Sinhala & Tamil New Year’s Eve (Sri Lanka)

Songkran (Thailand) [thru 4.15] (a.k.a. …

Bangla New Year

Bisket Jatra (Bangladesh, Cambodia, India, Laos, Myanmar, Nepal, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand)

Chiang Mai Songkran

Tamil New Year

Thai New Year

Sterile Packaging Day

Swiftie Day

Teacher’s Day (Ecuador)

Thomas Jefferson Day

Unfairly Prosecuted Persons Day (Slovakia)

Western Mass Day (Massachusetts)

World Microscope Day

World Sarcoidosis Day

World’s Day of Remembrance for Victims of Katyn Massacre

Food & Drink Celebrations

Day to Give Thanks for Fish and Seafood

National Make Lunch Count Day

National Peach Cobbler Day

2nd Thursday in April

Global Remanufacturing Day [2nd Thursday]

World Civility Day [2nd Thursday]

Independence Days

Adammia (Declared; 2013) [unrecognized]

Mensa Ann (Declared; 2019) [unrecognized]

Varnland (Declared; 1991) [unrecognized]

Winterspell (Declared; 2017) [unrecognized]

Feast Days

Alfarbot: Alfheim Day (Pagan)

Believe in Fairies Day (Pastafarian)

Bill Hicks Day (Church of the SubGenius; Saint)

Caradoc (Christian; Saint)

Elizablecccch Arden (Muppetism)

Festival of Jupiter Victor (Ancient Rome)

Festival of Libertas (Ancient Roman personification of freedom and political liberty)

Guinoch of Scotland (Christian; Saint)

Hermenegild (Christian; Saint)

Ida of Louvain (Christian; Saint)

James Ensor (Artology)

Libertas (Old Roman Goddess of Liberty)

Martin I, Pope (Christian; Saint)

Poshui Jie begins (Water Splashing Festival; China)

Ptolemy (Positivist; Saint)

Thomas Lawrence (Artology)

Vaisakhi (Sikh spring grain harvest festival)

Vishnu (Pondicherry, India; Hindu)

Yayoi Matsuri (Nikko, Japan; 5-Day Spring Festival)

Lucky & Unlucky Days

Prime Number Day: 103 [27 of 72]

Shakku (赤口 Japan) [Bad luck all day, except at noon.]

Premieres

Aladdin Sane, by David Bowie (Album; 1973)

Bedeviled Rabbit (WB Cartoon; 1957)

The Big Bad Wolf (Disney Cartoon; 1934)

Black Rose, by Thin Lizzy (Album; 1979)

Bridget Jones’s Diary (Film; 2001)

Brown Sugar, by The Rolling Stones (Song; 1971)

Bulldog Drummond (Radio Series; 1941)

Casino Royale, by Ian Fleming (Novel; 1953) [James Bond #1]

Catch a Fire, by Bob Marley (Album; 1973)

Critic’s Choice (Film; 1963)

Daltrey, by Roger Daltrey (Album; 1973)

Echo, by Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers (Album; 1999)

Messiah, by George Frederic Handel (Oratorio; 1742)

Mickey’s Kangaroo (Disney Cartoon; 1935)

The One Minute Manager, by Kennth Blanchard and Spencer Johnson (Book; 1983)

Rampage (Film; 2018)

Rising Sun, by Michael Crichton (Novel; 1992)

Safe at Home! (Film; 1962)

Swing Shift (Film; 1984)

Tango in the Night, by Fleetwood Mac (Album; 1987)

12 Angry Men (Film; 1957)

Unbroken, by Laura Hillenbrand (Historic Novel; 2012)

Today’s Name Days

Hermenegild, Ida, Martin (Austria)

Ida, Martin (Croatia)

Aleš (Czech Republic)

Justinus (Denmark)

Tarvi, Tarvo (Estonia)

Tellervo (Finland)

Ida (France)

Hermenegil, Ida, Gilda, Martin (Germany)

Gerontios (Greece)

Ida (Hungary)

Ermenegildo, Martino (Italy)

Egils, Jagailis, Justins, Justs, Nauris (Latvia)

Algaudė, Ida, Mingaudas (Lithuania)

Asta, Astrid (Norway)

Hermenegild, Hermenegilda, Ida, Jan, Justyn, Małgorzata, Przemysł, Przemysław (Poland)

Artemon (Romania)

Aleš (Slovakia)

Hermenegildo, Martín (Spain)

Artur, Douglas (Sweden)

Slavka, Yaroslava (Ukraine)

Thom, Thomas, Thomasina, Thompson, Tom, Tomas, Tommie, Tommy, Twain (USA)

Today is Also…

Day of Year: Day 103 of 2024; 262 days remaining in the year

ISO: Day 4 of week 15 of 2023

Celtic Tree Calendar: Fearn (Alder) [Day 26 of 28]

Chinese: Second Month 2 (Gui-Mao), Day 23 (Xin-Chou)

Chinese Year of the: Rabbit 4721 (until February 10, 2024)

Hebrew: 22 Nisan 5783

Islamic: 22 Ramadan 1444

J Cal: 12 Aqua; Fiveday [12 of 30]

Julian: 31 March 2023

Moon: 46%: Waning Crescent

Positivist: 19 Archimedes (4th Month) [Ptolemy]

Runic Half Month: Man (Human Being) [Day 4 of 15]

Season: Spring (Day 25 of 90)

Zodiac: Aries (Day 24 of 30)

[brookstonalmanac]

Holidays 4.13

Holidays

Aerosmith Day (Massachusetts)

American Elephant Day

Auslan Day (Australia)

Beauty Peace Day

Celebrate Teen Literature Day

Day of the Dead (Elder Scrolls)

Environmental Protection Day

Feast of Rotten Endings

413 Day (Arkansas)

Functional Neurological Disorder (FND) International Awareness Day

Homestuck Day

Huguenot Day (France)

Ides of April (Ancient Rome)

International Campus & Community Day

International Creativity & Innovation Day

International Day of the Kiss

International Functional Neurological Disorder Awareness Day

International Imposter Syndrome Awareness Day

International Jaat Day (India)

International Plant Appreciation Day

International Rock & Roll Day

International Special Librarian’s Day

John Hanson Day (Maryland)

Katyn Memorial Day (Poland)

National Boot Day

National Borinqueneers Day

National Hippy Day

National Japanese Spitz Day

National Kiss Your Homies Day

National PhiliShui Day

National Silly Earring Day

National Sticker Day

National Theresa Day

Neil Banging Out the Tunes Day

Scrabble Day

Silent Spring Day

Sinhala & Tamil New Year’s Eve (Sri Lanka)

Songkran (Thailand) [thru 4.15] (a.k.a. …

Bangla New Year

Bisket Jatra (Bangladesh, Cambodia, India, Laos, Myanmar, Nepal, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand)

Chiang Mai Songkran

Tamil New Year

Thai New Year

Sterile Packaging Day

Swiftie Day

Teacher’s Day (Ecuador)

Thomas Jefferson Day

Unfairly Prosecuted Persons Day (Slovakia)

Western Mass Day (Massachusetts)

World Microscope Day

World Sarcoidosis Day

World’s Day of Remembrance for Victims of Katyn Massacre

Food & Drink Celebrations

Day to Give Thanks for Fish and Seafood

National Make Lunch Count Day

National Peach Cobbler Day

2nd Thursday in April

Global Remanufacturing Day [2nd Thursday]

World Civility Day [2nd Thursday]

Independence Days

Adammia (Declared; 2013) [unrecognized]

Mensa Ann (Declared; 2019) [unrecognized]

Varnland (Declared; 1991) [unrecognized]

Winterspell (Declared; 2017) [unrecognized]

Feast Days

Alfarbot: Alfheim Day (Pagan)

Believe in Fairies Day (Pastafarian)

Bill Hicks Day (Church of the SubGenius; Saint)

Caradoc (Christian; Saint)

Elizablecccch Arden (Muppetism)

Festival of Jupiter Victor (Ancient Rome)

Festival of Libertas (Ancient Roman personification of freedom and political liberty)

Guinoch of Scotland (Christian; Saint)

Hermenegild (Christian; Saint)

Ida of Louvain (Christian; Saint)

James Ensor (Artology)

Libertas (Old Roman Goddess of Liberty)

Martin I, Pope (Christian; Saint)

Poshui Jie begins (Water Splashing Festival; China)

Ptolemy (Positivist; Saint)

Thomas Lawrence (Artology)

Vaisakhi (Sikh spring grain harvest festival)

Vishnu (Pondicherry, India; Hindu)

Yayoi Matsuri (Nikko, Japan; 5-Day Spring Festival)

Lucky & Unlucky Days

Prime Number Day: 103 [27 of 72]

Shakku (赤口 Japan) [Bad luck all day, except at noon.]

Premieres

Aladdin Sane, by David Bowie (Album; 1973)

Bedeviled Rabbit (WB Cartoon; 1957)

The Big Bad Wolf (Disney Cartoon; 1934)

Black Rose, by Thin Lizzy (Album; 1979)

Bridget Jones’s Diary (Film; 2001)

Brown Sugar, by The Rolling Stones (Song; 1971)

Bulldog Drummond (Radio Series; 1941)

Casino Royale, by Ian Fleming (Novel; 1953) [James Bond #1]

Catch a Fire, by Bob Marley (Album; 1973)

Critic’s Choice (Film; 1963)

Daltrey, by Roger Daltrey (Album; 1973)

Echo, by Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers (Album; 1999)

Messiah, by George Frederic Handel (Oratorio; 1742)

Mickey’s Kangaroo (Disney Cartoon; 1935)

The One Minute Manager, by Kennth Blanchard and Spencer Johnson (Book; 1983)

Rampage (Film; 2018)

Rising Sun, by Michael Crichton (Novel; 1992)

Safe at Home! (Film; 1962)

Swing Shift (Film; 1984)

Tango in the Night, by Fleetwood Mac (Album; 1987)

12 Angry Men (Film; 1957)

Unbroken, by Laura Hillenbrand (Historic Novel; 2012)

Today’s Name Days

Hermenegild, Ida, Martin (Austria)

Ida, Martin (Croatia)

Aleš (Czech Republic)

Justinus (Denmark)

Tarvi, Tarvo (Estonia)

Tellervo (Finland)

Ida (France)

Hermenegil, Ida, Gilda, Martin (Germany)

Gerontios (Greece)

Ida (Hungary)

Ermenegildo, Martino (Italy)

Egils, Jagailis, Justins, Justs, Nauris (Latvia)

Algaudė, Ida, Mingaudas (Lithuania)

Asta, Astrid (Norway)

Hermenegild, Hermenegilda, Ida, Jan, Justyn, Małgorzata, Przemysł, Przemysław (Poland)

Artemon (Romania)

Aleš (Slovakia)

Hermenegildo, Martín (Spain)

Artur, Douglas (Sweden)

Slavka, Yaroslava (Ukraine)

Thom, Thomas, Thomasina, Thompson, Tom, Tomas, Tommie, Tommy, Twain (USA)

Today is Also…

Day of Year: Day 103 of 2024; 262 days remaining in the year

ISO: Day 4 of week 15 of 2023

Celtic Tree Calendar: Fearn (Alder) [Day 26 of 28]

Chinese: Second Month 2 (Gui-Mao), Day 23 (Xin-Chou)

Chinese Year of the: Rabbit 4721 (until February 10, 2024)

Hebrew: 22 Nisan 5783

Islamic: 22 Ramadan 1444

J Cal: 12 Aqua; Fiveday [12 of 30]

Julian: 31 March 2023

Moon: 46%: Waning Crescent

Positivist: 19 Archimedes (4th Month) [Ptolemy]

Runic Half Month: Man (Human Being) [Day 4 of 15]

Season: Spring (Day 25 of 90)

Zodiac: Aries (Day 24 of 30)

[popmovie888]

Seabiscuit ซีบิสกิต ม้าพิชิตโลก (2003) พากย์ไทย

ตัวอย่างภาพยนตร์ Seabiscuit ซีบิสกิต ม้าพิชิตโลก (2003)  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-8_widchA6A เรื่องย่อ ซีบิสกิต ม้าพิชิตโลก (2003) ผู้กำกับ: แกรี่ รอสส์ นำแสดงโดย:โทบี้ แม็กไกวร์/เจฟฟ์ บริดเจส/คริส คูเปอร์/เอลิซาเบธ แบงค์ส/ แกรี่ สตีเวนส์/วิลเลียม เอช. เมซี วันที่วางจำหน่าย:25 July 2003 เวลาทำงาน: 141 นาที ประเภท:หนังฝรั่ง, Biography ชีวิตจริง, Drama ชีวิต, History ประวัติศาสตร์, Sport กีฬา ม้าพิชิตโลกเป็นภาพยนตร์ชีวประวัติกีฬาอเมริกันที่สร้างจากเรื่องจริงของม้าแข่งชื่อ ม้าพิชิตโลก กำกับการแสดงโดย Gary Ross นำแสดงโดย Tobey Maguire, Jeff Bridges และ Chris Cooper ภาพยนตร์เรื่องนี้สร้างจากหนังสือ "ม้าพิชิตโลก: An American Legend" โดย Laura Hillenbrand เรื่องราวของซีบิสกิตเป็นหนึ่งในความมุ่งมั่น ความอุตสาหะ และชัยชนะของผู้แพ้ ม้าพิชิตโลก เกิดในปี 1933 และถูกมองว่าตัวเล็กและกระท่อนกระแท่นเกินกว่าจะเป็นม้าแข่งได้ อย่างไรก็ตาม ด้วยความช่วยเหลือจากเทรนเนอร์ Tom Smith และ Red Pollard นักขี่��้าของเขา ม้าพิชิตโลก ได้กลายเป็นหนึ่งในม้าแข่งที่ประสบความสำเร็จมากที่สุดตลอดกาล ภาพยนตร์บันทึกเรื่องราวการโด่งดังของ ม้าพิชิตโลก ในช่วงภาวะเศรษฐกิจตกต่ำครั้งใหญ่ ซึ่งเป็นช่วงเวลาที่ประเทศต้องการฮีโร่อย่างสิ้นหวัง ชัยชนะของ ม้าพิชิตโลก ต่อม้าแข่งชั้นนำอื่นๆ เช่น War Admiral ดึงดูดความสนใจของประเทศและทำให้ผู้คนมีความหวังในช่วงเวลาที่ยากลำบากหัวใจของภาพยนตร์เรื่องนี้คือความสัมพันธ์ระหว่างซีบิสกิตกับนักจัดรายการของเขา เรด พอลลาร์ด ซึ่งกำลังดิ้นรนเพื่อสร้างชื่อให้ตัวเอง ม้าพิชิตโลกและ Pollard ร่วมกันเอาชนะอุปสรรคตามลำดับและกลายเป็นแชมป์ ดูหนังออนไลน์ Read the full article

[outside-of-a-dog]

Soon to be a major motion picture!

Devotion: An Epic Story of Heroism and Friendship by Adam Makos. Delacorte Press, 2022. 9780593481455

This young adult version of Makos’s 2016 book tells the story of naval Lieutenant Tom Hudner, who tried heroically to rescue fellow pilot Jesse Brown after the latter man’s plane crashed behind enemy lines during the Korean War.

The twist here is that Brown was the first African-American aviator to complete the U.S. Navy's basic flight training program and had recently been the subject of a Life magazine feature. Tragically, Brown did not survive the crash while Hudner (who was White) later received the Medal of Honor, the U.S. government's highest and most prestigious military decoration. Makos tells the story as a docudrama, relying on interviews with Hudner, Jesse’s wife Daisy, and members of their squadron, and recreating the men’s dialogue, feelings, and actions. He briefly outlines Hudner and Brown’s formative years and then moves quickly to the action in Korea, building toward the bloody battle of the Chosin Reservoir. Although he does supply historic context for the war, he prefers to emphasize the excitement and dread the young men felt as they sailed to the Korean peninsula and their mixed feelings over the violence of war. Makos also makes some effort to explain the impact that both Jim Crow and systemic racism had on Jesse’s life before and during his naval career. Clear headings with month, day, and year will help young readers keep track of where they are in the timeline. Also included are a map of Korea, an assortment of black-and-white photos, updates on the men’s later lives, and a facsimile of Jesse’s final letter to his wife. This fast-paced and dramatic story may have special appeal for reluctant readers. Teens interested in war narratives such as The Cloudbuster Nine: The Untold Story of Ted Williams and the Baseball Team That Helped Win World War II by Anne R. Keene or the YA version of Unbroken: An Olympian's Journey from Airman to Castaway to Captive by Laura Hillenbrand would like this book.

[abmgw]

ABMGW 188 Freie Geister vs Montecrypto

ABMGW 188 Freie Geister vs Montecrypto

Thema der Woche: Politische SF! Und da fangen wir an mit “Freie Geister” von Ursula LeGuin, auch bekannt als “Planet der Habenichtse” oder “The Dispossessed”. Was wir hier bekommen: eine klassische Utopie, in diesem Fall: eine anarchistische. Eine Gesellschaft die jegliche Art von Herrschaft ablehnt. Eine interresante Idee, aber reicht es auch zu einem guten Buch? Actionreicher geht es in…

[bookish-thinking]

Rezension: “Drohnenland” von Tom Hillenbrand

Dieser futuristische Krimi beschreibt eine unheimliche, aber durchaus realistische Zukunft voller Technologie mit all ihren Vorteilen und Nachteilen. Überwachung ist praktisch und hilft bei der polizeilichen Ermittlung, aber sie schränkt eben auch die Privatsphäre ein - und wenn Computer beginnen, präventive Führungszeugnisse auszurechnen, wird die Sache weniger schön. Es ist ein unglaublich gutes Buch, sehr spannend und generell eine tolle Idee. Vom Klimawandel zum Atomkrieg zur europäischen Einheit inklusiver Rückkehr zum individuellen Nationalstolz und Brexit - Tom Hillenbrand hat den richtigen Ton getroffen, um seine Zukunftsvision zu beschreiben. Manchmal war die Exposition ein wenig zu offensichtlich, die Romanze konnte ich schon eine Meile gegen den Wind riechen, und das Ende war mir dann doch etwas zu vage und unklar. Aber davon abgesehen: Ich will mehr von diesem Protagonisten, mehr von diesem Autor, mehr von dieser Welt!

[claudia1829things]

Movies Set During Depression Era U.S.

Below is list of movies set during the Great Depression here in the U.S.  The list is in chronological order and . . . you might find them interesting:

MOVIES SET DURING DEPRESSION ERA U.S.

1.  “The Group” (1933) - This movie is an adaptation of Mary McCarthy’s novel about a group of friends and Vassar College graduates between 1933 and 1940.   Sidney Lumet directed.

2.  “Bonnie and Clyde” (1967) - Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway starred in this biopic about the infamous Depression-era bank robbers, Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow.  Arthur Penn directed.

3.  “Sounder” (1972) - Martin Ritt directed this adaptation of William H. Armstrong’s 1969 novel about the struggles of an African American sharecropper family in the Deep South, during the Depression.  Paul Winfield, Cicely Tyson and Kevin Hooks starred.

4.  “Paper Moon” (1973) - Ryan and Tatum O’Neal starred in this comedy-drama about a pair of grifters on a road trip in the Midwest, during the Depression.  Peter Bogdanovich directed.

5.  “The Sting” (1973) - Paul Newman and Robert Redford starred in this Best Picture winner about a group of grifters who set up a major con against a crime lord responsible for the death of a friend.  George Roy Hill directed.

6.  “The Untouchables” (1987) - Brian De Palma directed this account of U.S. Treasury Agent Elliot Ness’ investigation into crime lord Al Capone’s bootlegging operation in Chicago, during the last years of Prohibition.  Kevin Costner, Sean Connery, Charles Martin Smith, Andy Garcia and Robert De Niro starred.

7.  “O Brother, Where Art Thou?” (2000) - Joel and Ethan Coen wrote and directed this satire set prison escapees in 1937 Mississippi, which was loosely based on Homer’s poem, “The Odyssey”.  George Clooney, John Tuturro and Tim Blake Nelson starred.

8.  “Road to Perdition” (2002) - Sam Mendes directed this adaptation of Max Allen Collins’ 1998 graphic novel about a mob enforcer, who seeks vengeance for the deaths of his wife and younger son, while protecting his older son, a murder witness.  Set in 1931 Illinois, the movie starred Tom Hanks, Tyler Hoechlin, Jude Law and Paul Newman.

9.  “Seabiscuit” (2003) - Gary Ross starred in this adaptation of Laura Hillenbrand’s 1999 book about the famous California racehorse from the late 1930s.  Tobey Maguire, Jeff Bridges, Chris Cooper and Elizabeth Banks starred.

10. “Cinderella Man” (2005) - Russell Crowe starred in this biopic about boxer James J. Braddock and his struggles to survive the Depression via the sport.  Directed by Ron Howard, the movie co-starred Renee Zellweger and Paul Giamatti.

11.  “Public Enemies” (2009) - Johnny Depp and Christian Bale starred in this biopic about the exploits of Depression-era gangster John Dillinger and the efforts of F.B.I. Special Agent Melvin Purvis to capture him.  Michael Mann directed.

[foreverlostinliterature]

10/26 Book Deals

Good morning, everyone! I hope you are all having a great week so far. :) Apologies that this is up a bit later than usual, I had to drop my husband off at the dentist, and even though it may only be 2.8 miles away, these LA streets are kind to no one... but anyway! How are you all doing?? I hope the week has been kind to you thus far. I am certainly enjoying October and the weather has been so beautifully fall, how has it been for you guys? I’m really wishing you all the best. :)

In regards to books on sale--there are a ton! Some Garth Nix, Katherine Arden, Neil Gaiman, Victor LaValle, Harlan Ellison, China Mieville, and a bunch more, so definitely have a look if you’re in need of some new reading material for this week! :) And some great Halloween picks, too! I personally loved Night Film, The Graveyard Book, and I’ve been really dying to read quite a few of these. 

Anyway, I hope you all have a truly marvelous day/week, and happy reading to all! :) 

Today’s Deals:

Sabriel by Garth Nix - https://amzn.to/3Bnf4h2

Uglies by Scott Westerfeld - https://amzn.to/3pBVKKD

Pretties by Scott Westerfeld - https://amzn.to/3bdYDsI

Specials by Scott Westerfeld - https://amzn.to/3ChxS2p

Extras by Scott Westerfeld - https://amzn.to/3bhx9Cc

Small Spaces by Katherine Arden - https://amzn.to/3vLJMiw

Dead Voices by Katherine Arden - https://amzn.to/3vLYZQx

The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman - https://amzn.to/2ZuQYnu

The Ballad of Black Tom by Victor LaValle - https://amzn.to/3mehNEY

Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark by Alvin Schwartz & Stephen Gammell - https://amzn.to/3CjnoiS

The Ghost Bride by Yangsze Choo - https://amzn.to/2XKTjd1

Night Film by Marisha Pessl - https://amzn.to/3mi3OxO

Warriors: The Broken Code #1: Lost Stars by Erin Hunter - https://amzn.to/3ExUNaz

The Abominable by Dan Simmons - https://amzn.to/3vZoXAt

Encyclopedia of 5,000 Spells by Judika Illes - https://amzn.to/3jD6QeG

Jackaby by William Ritter - https://amzn.to/3CcrMAh

Little Darlings by Melanie Golding - https://amzn.to/30XbDRn

Bunny by Mona Awad - https://amzn.to/3Gs8sSi

Shutter Island by Dennis Lehane - https://amzn.to/2ZoJcM5

Your Republic Is Calling You by Young-ha Kim & Chi-Young Kim - https://amzn.to/3Go5pdH

I Have No Mouth & I Must Scream: Stories by Harlan Ellison - https://amzn.to/30RWxfZ

Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand - https://amzn.to/30XHZLT

Second Nature: A Gardener's Education by Michael Pollan - https://amzn.to/3BaSJmA

The Wolf by Leo Carew - https://amzn.to/3Ejchaw

The Absolutist by John Boyne - https://amzn.to/3jD5HUq

The Queen by Josh Levin - https://amzn.to/3mdrDai

October: The Story of the Russian Revolution by China Mieville - https://amzn.to/2XMKyzb

The Lost by Jack Ketchum - https://amzn.to/3jEHaya

White Hot Kiss by Jennifer L. Armentrout - https://amzn.to/3vJIvbP

Starvation Heights: A True Story of Murder and Malice in the Woods of the Pacific Northwest by Gregg Olson - https://amzn.to/3BbnHLv

NOTE:  I am categorizing these book deals posts under the tag #bookdeals, so if you don’t want to see them then just block that tag and you should be good. I am an Amazon affiliate and will receive a small (but very much needed!)  commission on any purchase made through these links.

[secondlife]

The #SecondLife #BookClub with Draxtor airs on Wednesday, September 29th at 12pm PT. He’ll be speaking with author Tom Hillenbrand.

Tom’s brand new thriller "Montecrypto" takes place in the world of cryptocurrency with a digital currency not dissimilar to the Linden $ at the center of the story.

Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/mlsGo1ZNMdY

Or in Second Life: https://second.life/bookclub

[jkottke]

Meet the Long-Haulers, Whose Covid-19 Symptoms Last For Months

In the Atlantic, Ed Yong checks back in with the long-haulers, people who are still experiencing Covid-19 symptoms months after their initial infection. (Read his previous article from early June.)

Lauren Nichols has been sick with COVID-19 since March 10, shortly before Tom Hanks announced his diagnosis and the NBA temporarily canceled its season. She has lived through one month of hand tremors, three of fever, and four of night sweats. When we spoke on day 150, she was on her fifth month of gastrointestinal problems and severe morning nausea. She still has extreme fatigue, bulging veins, excessive bruising, an erratic heartbeat, short-term memory loss, gynecological problems, sensitivity to light and sounds, and brain fog. Even writing an email can be hard, she told me, "because the words I think I'm writing are not the words coming out." She wakes up gasping for air twice a month. It still hurts to inhale.

As Yong says in a thread about the article: "The pandemic is going to create a large wave of chronically disabled people." Once again for the people in the back: this is not just the flu. The flu does not incapacitate otherwise healthy people like this. I know at least two long-haulers personally and am astounded on a daily basis by how casually some Americans continue to regard Covid-19.

More than 90 percent of long-haulers whom Putrino has worked with also have "post-exertional malaise," in which even mild bouts of physical or mental exertion can trigger a severe physiological crash. "We're talking about walking up a flight of stairs and being out of commission for two days," Putrino said. This is the defining symptom of myalgic encephalomyelitis, or chronic fatigue syndrome. For decades, people with ME/CFS have endured the same gendered gaslighting that long-haulers are now experiencing. They're painfully familiar with both medical neglect and a perplexing portfolio of symptoms.

You can read Seabiscuit author Laura Hillenbrand's excellent article on her chronic fatigue syndrome diagnosis and how difficult it is for people with chronic conditions like this to get the right diagnosis and to get family and friends to believe what's going on.

Also, Yong should win all the awards this year for his pandemic coverage. It has been simply outstanding.

[fletchermarple]

A Case of Reasonable Doubt

During the whole day of November 8, 1983, David Hendricks tried to reach his family back home in Bloomington, Illinois, without success. He had left the previous night on a business trip to Wisconsin, and it wasn’t like his wife Susan to not answer phone calls. When she failed to make it to a family dinner that night, and after David contacted police at least twice, presuming she’d been in a car accident, cops did a welfare check on her and was met with a horrific scene.

Susan Hendricks (30) and her three children --Rebekah (9), Grace (7) and Benjamin (5)-- were lying dead in their beds in the middle of a gory scene. They had been all savagely hacked with an axe and a butcher knife; both weapons were found at the crime scene. There were no signs of struggle, so police theorized they’d been attacked in their sleep, and there were no signs of forced entry either, although the back door was found unlocked.

When David Hendricks arrived back home that same night, he immediately became the main suspect of the detectives in charge. They thought he looked too calm and resigned to the news his family had been murdered, and they didn’t like how he told the press that it had apparently being a burglary gone wrong, because he hadn’t even gone inside the house. Hendricks would later say that’s what someone who’d been there had told him.

Hendricks was 29 at the time, and a very successful businessman. He’d created and patented a popular orthopedic back brace and was making a lot of money with it, that’s why he occasionally left town for business trips and, according to his assistant, it wasn’t unusual for him to leave in the middle of the night. It also required him to meet with several models that were photographed wearing custom-made braces in medical brochures.

He was also a conservative Christian, part of a branch known as the Plymouth Brethen, which was strongly against divorce. After Hendricks was arrested on December 5, 1983, the prosecution came up with the theory that he wanted to pursue other sexual relationships, but because he didn’t want to lose his stand with his community by divorcing or cheating on his wife, he’d decided to kill his family instead. At one point they also pushed forward a more frankly absurd version of this, claiming that David had seen the “temptations of the world” and wanted to protect his family from them, so he’d chosen to “send them to Heaven”.

Needless to say, David Hendricks denied any involvement with the murders and, as you can see in the picture above, he looked appropriately devastated in their funerals. He told authorities that on November 7, 1983, Susan had gone to a baby shower on a nearby town and he’d taken the kids to a Chuck E’ Cheese, where they had eaten vegetarian pizza and played until around 7:30 pm. Afterwards, they’d gone to a bookmobile, where the kids had returned some books and borrowed new ones. A witness confirmed seeing them there at 8 pm.

David said he’d then gone back home and put the kids to bed at around 9:30 pm. Susan had arrived around 10:30 pm, and they’d talked for a while before he left for his trip some time after 11 pm, while everyone was still alive and safe.

During trial, David’s account of the events were put in doubt by the prosecution experts. One of them testified that, after analyzing the children’s stomach contents and finding undigested vegetables from the pizza they’d eaten, their estimated time of death was 9:30 pm, while David was still in the house, meaning he had to be the killer.

However, this evidence had its problems as well. First, with the advance of science we now know that using stomach contents to pinpoint time of death is not as accurate as we used to think, because there’s many factors that play into digestion, including the person’s age and health, among others. Leaving that aside, witnesses at the babyshower claim Susan didn’t leave before 9:40 pm, meaning she would have arrived home after her kids were murdered. Since she was a devoted mother, it’s hard to believe she wouldn’t have gone to check on them when she got home, but she was found murdered in her bed, after getting settled to sleep, which implies she either didn’t see her kids or checked on them and found nothing wrong.

Since they didn’t have any other evidence linking David to the crime, not even in the murder weapons, prosecution put most of the focus of the case in establishing motive. They called more than thirteen models who had worked with Hendricks and tried to show an “escalation of sexual aggression” in his behavior towards them, although they didn’t call them in the correct order they had actually modeled for him. Most of the statements from the models showed David was a bit of a creep, asking them for unnecessary nudity and doing some awkward groping while trying on the braces. One of them testified she believed David wanted to kiss her, and another that he had asked her to show her around town and had attempted to kiss her on the cheek during said “date”. However, models also said that Hendricks never restrained them by force and that he always backed off when they let him know they were uncomfortable. (You can read a summary of the models’ testimonies here).

The defense claimed that the stomach content analysis was dubious, since one of them even showed rests of a vegetable the child hated and wouldn’t eat, suggesting the lab had some mix-up. They also presented an expert who said that blood spatter at the crime scene suggested two killers instead of one.

Eventually, the jury found David Hendricks guilty of the murders. Although a case of this nature would have guaranteed the death penalty, Judge Richard Baner, who presided over the trial. refused to apply it and gave him four consecutive life sentences instead. He explained his reasoning, saying that, although he thought that Hendricks “probably did commit” the murders, he wasn’t convinced of his guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

Hendricks appealed, and although at first the court affirmed his conviction, in 1991 the Illinois Supreme Court overturned it and granted him a new trial. This time they didn’t allow the models’ testimonies of David’s flirting, because it was considered by the court that they were more prejudicial than probative. Without the means to back their motive for the crime, the prosecution was forced to rely only on the actual evidence of the murders, and since it was so weak, the jury ended up acquitting Hendricks and he was released from prison after spending 7 years behind bars.

In one of his court filings, David Hendricks said he believed his brother in law John Lewis, who was at the time married to one of Susan’s sisters, had committed the murders. When that couple separated, Lewis’ ex wife said publicly she thought David had hired John to kill his family. Police claimed they ruled him out as a suspect after he passed a polygraph.

The rest of Susan’s family, including her parents, have always remained on David’s side and believe him to be innocent. Some, however, still think he did it and got away with a very light sentence.

Hendricks now lives in Florida with his fourth wife. He wrote a book called Tom Henry: Confession of a Killer, which tells the story of his cell mate Henry Hillenbrand, who murdered his wife and her lover.

[dunkelgrauesgefuehlschamaeleon]

Leseliste

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Bernemann, Dirk: Vogelstimmen; Vom Aushalten ausfallender Umarmungen; Ich hab die Unschuld kotzen sehen

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