Chapter 35, Borders We Cross by Brad Parks

 I believe in Occam's Razor, which states that the simpler of two solutions is usually correct.

DIRTY METAL by Allison LaMothe

I smile. "I was just wondering," I say, my eyes still on the paper in my hands, "where do they put reporters past their prime?"

"PR agencies, I think."

p. 108, Chapter 9: A little bit of insurance . . .

THE BIG MYTH by Naomi Oreskes & Erik M. Conway

 . . . view of the world at first seems Hobbesian: nasty and brutish, full of fame and disease.

p. 177

Foundation, season 3

Been listening to the Bald Move podcast on Foundation (https://baldmove.com/category/foundation/). I was going to email them my thoughts on the third season, but they'd probably delete it, since I seem to be in the minority of not digging this season. Bit of a bummer because I binged the first two seasons in about two weeks when I was recovering from gall bladder surgery.

Where to start? I guess The Mule. Even though he was really only in one scene in the second season, I liked the original actor. Too bad he got fired. His understudy just isn't menacing. He's more of a laughable comic book villain. And that's my problem with the character altogether. The Mule is like something out a Marvel or DC Comics series, and I'm so bored with those brands.

What I loved about the first two seasons was the Game of Thrones vibe, where it was more about the politics of dying empire instead of superheroes and villains.

Another thing: Jared Harris is hardly in this season. He's such a great actor, he pretty much carried the first two seasons, along with Lee Pace. Now the Foundation relies on Lou Llobell as Gaal Dornick, and she may be a pretty face, but her acting talent is limited. She's no Sonequa Martin-Green . . . that actress probably wouldn't have wanted to do Foundation after starring in Star Trek: Discovery. What acting great wants two sci-fi shows on their resume?

I'll probably finish watching the third season, but it's been a slog. Definitely not watching the fourth season.

HERE ONE MOMENT by Liane Moriarty

 Marriage is a mysterious instituion, even from the inside.

Sometimes it can feel like a softly furnished minimum-security prison.

That was my experience anyway.

Chapter 77, p. 274

fiction was "the lie through which we tell the truth" (she was quoting Albert Camus)

Chapter 109, p. 437

"fate won't be fought"

Chapter 122, p. 479

THE PRINCESS OF LAS VEGAS by Chris Bohjalian

We'd never been the sort of sisters who spoke or texted all he time, and now the less contact we had, the better. It would have been a failed charade if we had tried to feign closeness.

Chapter One, p. 27

ELEVEN PERCENT by Maren Uthaug

 "Unhappy people mostly think about themselves,"

p.66

RABBIT MOON by Jennifer Haigh

In her view, the Disney franchise is yet another toxic American export, like carbon emissions or troop deployments or fast food or nuclear waste. . . . .  Claire found the cartoons insipid and weirdly moralistic. . . . .  She drew the line, however, at theme parks.  Each time they visited [[her husband's]] mother in Florida, [[their daughter]] clamored to go to Disney World.  Claire's answer, always, was a resounding "No."

p. 43

DIFFICULT MEN by Brett Martin

Under George W. Bush, matters of politics had a way of becoming referenda on the nation's masculinity: were we a nation of men (decisive, single-minded, unafraid to use force and to dominate) or girls (deliberative, empathetic, given to compromise)?

PROLOGUE, p. 13

Above all, no genre suited the baby boomers' dueling impulses of attractions and guilt toward American capitalism as well as the Mob drama. The notion that the American dream might at its core be a criminal enterprise lay at the center of the era's signature works. . . .

FIVE, "Difficult Men", p. 84

MY FATHER THE PORNOGRAPHER by Chris Offutt

The majority of Americans grow up in cities and suburbs and are afraid of the woods. Horror movies exploit this fear: the person alone in the forest, the sounds of unknown nocturnal animals, the sheer panic of being lost at night.

Chapter Fourteen, p. 99

STALIN: TRIUMPH & TRAGEDY by Dmitri Volkogonov

in the modern world, conflict is almost bound to end in stalemate. This shown in Korea, in Vietnam and in Afghanistan.

"Icy Winds", p. 541

A Short Walk Through a Wide World by Douglas Westerbeke

I got a lot of books on reserve at the library, so I put this book on my B&N wishlist.

https://ivereadthis.com/2024/07/09/book-review-a-short-walk-through-a-wide-world-by-douglas-westerbeke/

C.J. Tudor's THE GATHERING

It was no surprise that drug addicts and alcoholics found God during their recovery. They had to replace one addiction with another.

p. 262, chapter 48

BLUE LARD by Vladimir Sorokin

Looks like it's on order at library. I'll reserve later, since I currently have 10 reserves. Thanks, Publishers Weekly!

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/25/books/review/vladimir-sorokin-blue-lard.html

King Nyx by Kirsten Bakis

I put Lives of the Monster Dogs on my B&N wishlist after reading a review of her latest novel, King Nyx.

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/27/books/review/king-nyx-kirsten-bakis.html

THE ANTIQUE HUNTER'S GUIDE TO MURDER by C.L. Miller

https://ivereadthis.com/2024/02/20/book-review-the-antique-hunters-guide-to-murder-by-c-l-miller/

CLOISTERED: MY YEARS AS A NUN by Catherine Coldstream

 

★ Cloistered: My Years as a Nun

Catherine Coldstream. St. Martin’s, $30 (352p) ISBN 978-1-250-32351-4

In this penetrating debut memoir, former nun Coldstream describes her 12 years in an English priory and the circumstances that led to her eventual departure. Raised in an emotionally chilly family, Coldstream became bereft at age 24 when her elderly father died. After involving herself with various religious groups in an effort to aid her "long passage… across [the] unfamiliar landscape" of grief, Coldstream found comfort in silent prayer at northern England’s Akenside Priory. Inspired by the discipline and ritual she encountered there, Coldstream joined the mostly silent nuns’ ranks. As time wore on, however, her "hospital for wounded souls" turned icy and toxic, with infighting, big egos, and power struggles troubling the waters in which Coldstream initially found solace. After her conflicts with her fellow nuns reached a fever pitch over the course of a decade, the author fled the cloister in the middle of the night. In lyrical, evocative prose ("Time passes in the monastery like ghosts that move through walls; it seeps through cell doors and stony archways, through bone and marrow, imprinting patience and endurance at every touch"), Coldstream opens a window into a reclusive culture, resolutely exposing its problems without losing sight of its virtues. The results will fascinate believers and non-believers alike. Agent: Patrick Walsh, PEW Literary. (Mar.)

GOODBYE GLOBALIZATION by Elisabeth Braw

Saw this in today's New York Times Book Review in the Newly Published section on page four, which isn't online: "A senior fellow at the Atlantic Council interviews policymakers and business leaders to maintain that globalization's decline will dramatically reshape our world."

CASCADE FAILURE by L.M. Sagas

Not at library (yet), so I put on my B&N wishlist. May not get the novel because it's part of the series, with the second entry dropping later this year.

Cascade Failure

L.M. Sagas. Tor, $17.99 trade paper (416p) ISBN 978-1-250-87125-1

Sagas debuts with a fun romp through a faraway galaxy where three political powers’ jittery coexistence is threatened when a mysterious disaster strikes a terraformed planet. Trust wields corporate power, Union controls the labor necessary to exploit new worlds, and the paramilitary Guild tries to keep both factions honest. Former Guild ranger Jal Red, suspected of desertion, is lured aboard the old spacer Ambit, joining three other entertaining misfits: philosophical AI Captain Eoan; Nash, an augmented doctor-engineer who knits; and Saint, Ambit’s XO and Jal’s grumpy former battle buddy, who has plenty of unresolved issues with Jal. Answering an SOS from a planet stricken by a mysterious weapon, the crew brings aboard Anke, the lone survivor and a whiz-kid programmer who wants to stop what he calls the “Deadworld Code,” a high-tech, planet-destroying weapon developed by forces preferring profit to people. Rapid-fire adventures spiked with army jargon and balanced with touching resolutions of personal conflicts keep the pages turning. Add in a charming found family—and even a space-faring cat—and this spirited space opera is a resounding success. (Mar.)

LOST MAN'S LANE by Scott Carson

B&N reserve, for now.

★ Lost Man’s Lane

Scott Carson. Atria/Bestler, $28.99 (448p) ISBN 978-1-9821-9145-0

Carson (Where They Wait) evokes the best of Stephen King in this exceptional coming-of-age tale about a young man confronting the supernatural menace that’s taken root in his hometown. In 1999 Bloomington, Ind., 16-year-old Marshall Miller gets pulled over by a cop on the same day he gets his driver’s license. While he’s waiting for a ticket, he notices a frightened teenage girl in the backseat of the officer’s car. Weeks later, Marshall spots the girl’s face on a missing person poster: her name is Meredith Sullivan, and she disappeared on the same day that Marshall was pulled over. He reports his encounter to law enforcement and discovers that the man who ticketed him was only impersonating a police officer. Determined to help find her, Marshall seeks out Noah Storm, the PI attached to Meredith’s case, who’s so impressed with the boy’s attention to detail that he offers Marshall an informal internship as his assistant. During their search, Marshall experiences strange recurring dreams, frequent snake sightings, and other seemingly unexplainable phenomena. The episodes gradually lead him to believe something ghostly has come to Bloomington, and it may be his job to stop it. Carson masterfully weaves threads about Marshall’s home and school life into the tantalizing central mystery, and populates the narrative’s margins with fully realized characters who help bring the setting to vivid life. This unique and intelligent crowd-pleaser is not to be missed. Agent: Richard Pine, InkWell Management. (Mar.)