Terrific job of recreating the dreamlike quality of Phillip Marlowe novels

“If you want to know what God thinks of money, just look at the people he gave it to.” Happy Birthday Dorothy Parker. Born August 22, 1893, Long Branch, NJ

Interesting noir reimagining of Shakespeare‘s Macbeth. Set in Scotland in the 1970‘s.

“My Dad liked you. Apparently. And Mum never told him we‘d split, because he wasn‘t up to it and...oh, I don‘t know. I don‘t really understand it, and I can‘t be bothered to argue. I think she thinks he‘ll be able to see what‘s going on. It‘s like...” She makes a strange noise which I realize is a manic giggle. “Her attitude is that he‘s been through so much, what with dying and everything...”

When they‘re gone, I get out quickly, and hail a black cab. It‘s brilliant, being depressed; you can behave as badly as you like.

“Manners are not like bonbons, Nina. You may not choose the ones that suit you best; and you certainly cannot put the half-bitten ones back in the box...”

Meditations upon mortality become cheap stuff and offer little succor when it comes to dealing with evil. The latter is not an abstraction, and ignoring it is to become its victim. The earth abides forever, but so does the canker inside the rose, and the canker never sleeps.

While I gazed through my window at the wonderful green streetcar wobbling down the tracks on the neutral ground, the river fog puffing out of the live oak trees, the pink and purple neon on the Katz & Besthoff drugstore as effervescent as tentacles of smoke twirling from marker grenades, I knew with a sinking heart that what I was seeing was an illusion...

Walking into a steamy diner during a Chicago winter is like going from Alaska to a tropical country where the president is a giant onion ring who smothers you with greasy bear hugs while chain-smoking.

Love this front cover

Going through old books after painting the house. Found an early edition (1930‘s?) of Charles and Mary Lamb‘s “Tales from Shakespeare”. Front cover included list of “Books Every Child Should Own”.

The music of the spheres is right outside your window. It just gets packaged on a weird CD sometimes.

This is not okay. I do not consent. I do not consider the intrusion legitimate, and I do not accept the argument that it is in the interest of the nation as a whole, nor that If it were in the nation‘s interest that would make what is happening to me acceptable. Just because something is done according to the law does not mean that it is lawful.

But she will want something green tonight. Green means health. Hannah wants them both to live forever, or at least until flaky parts of them start to drop off.

I do not know how long I sat there. I was sweating inside my hat. I set it crown-down on the bleacher seat and propped my hands on my knees and lowered my head and shut my eyes. There was a red glow inside my eyelids, a warm finger of sunlight on the back of my neck. I could smell a drowsy odor on the wind.

If anyone tells you he‘s from New Orleans and doesn‘t drink, he‘s probably not from New Orleans. Louisiana is not a state; it‘s an outdoor mental asylum in which millions of people stay bombed most of their lives. That‘s not an exaggeration. Cirrhosis is a family heirloom.

Story starts traditionally but takes some unexpected and delightful turns. Loved the descriptions of places and characters. Very glad I picked this one up.

No-one speaks. No-one moves, save Richard as he rows. We glide, softly, in silence, into our dark and separate hells.

I just want to say James Lee Burke is amazing. Robicheaux is one of his best and he‘s 81.

It was a mighty queer thing to see a piano in the half-true desert.
Hey, John Cole, what in the name of tarnation that piano doing there in the dust?
Must be looking for a saloon, he says.

never rely on prayer when effort might suffice

When the week was up each man had gate money and a manila folder tucked under his arm filled with everything the Mississippi Department of Corrections believed he needed to become a functioning member of society.

I don‘t know quite how you play Venezuelans and Martians, but I think you spend most of your time arguing about socialism and the lack of oxygen.

I‘ve been really lucky to get a string of books that I really like at the end of this year. This one was charming and lovely. Great characters that take turns in different chapters to tell their story and their interactions with Weylen Grey - the boy who lived with a wolf pack after his parents died.

Not my usual genre but just a great story. Raced through it. Looking forward to rest of trilogy. Includes short glossary at end of Book which is helpful.

Happy Thanksgiving to all the readers! I‘m all prepped and friends and family aren‘t coming till 5 so it‘s time for reading!

Octavia Butler with good political advice.

“I️ was modeling sunglasses for a while, but that got kind of shady.”

Library on-hold wonderfulness.

Really fun novel. Death, a Love Story. Mere mortal Milo falls for the immortal Death (who wants to be called Suzie). Milo is trapped between his love for Suzie and a looming threat of eternal nothingness as he reaches his allotted 10,000 reincarnations. It's definitely silly but the silliness carried me through easily to the end.

Line of cars in #Atlanta dropping off private donations (bottled water, canned food, medicine) for #PuertoRicoRelief is incredible. #proud of #ATL. We ❤️#PuertoRico. The devastation on all the islands breaks my heart. Do what you can.

My favorite dystopian novel is "The Lathe of Heaven" by Ursula K LeGuin. Dream generated dystopia. Be careful of the world you imagine. @franzencomesalive @littlebrownbooks #iwantthepower

Visiting Seattle and went to Elliott Bay Books. Huge bookstore. Funky and friendly neighborhood. Picked up "Smoke" for plane ride back to Georgia.

Some books in the bookstore are picked up more than others

I find my way into the old Caribbean joint. It's smaller than I remember. Half of it's been transformed into a bare-bones grocery, all essentials, no luxuries. What remains is fragrant with allspice and roast chicken, a heady chiaroscuro of flavors and memories, enough to make a dead man's mouth water.

'Cause even her smile looks like a sign
She's seen her share of devils in this angel mine
Everything's gonna be all right
Rock-to-pi rock-to-pi
A good sci-fi thriller break from threat of nuclear war and Nazis marching in the streets of US. A mining company is digging in an isolated mountain range in Utah. But something is waiting for them besides platinum ore.

Sunday morning sci-fi

Library book haul today

"Setting up a laboratory is an intimidating experience, especially the first time you do it, even more so when you're doing it in an unfamiliar environment." #24in48 switched to my science story. Interesting tale of how we're able to figure out % of Neanderthal DNA in modern people. Picture is Institute of Zoology in Munich where author's first lab was setup.

Good first book for #24in48! Getting morning reading in. Victor Lavalle is such a fun form of creepy writing. And this is a good book for readers.

Really enjoying this novel about a family of psychics. One of my very favorites of this year.

Definitely the oddest book I ever saw for sale at a Lebanese restaurant.

Picked up yesterday and raced through the stories. Always fun.

Another real good techno-thriller from Daniel Suarez. Good for readers who liked Michael Chrichton. Technology pushed past it's current state but not so far as to making it unimaginable.

Women's prison ghost story. Even outside of that narrow category a great story. Really enjoyed this one. My second read from this author after "Girl with all the Gifts".

The girl was a labyrinth to him; only by chance and error did he ever stumble blindly into her heart.

In children's drawings, all houses have chimneys, all monkeys eat bananas, and every rocket is a V-2.

"The election of a black president brought a boom in TV reality shows featuring feisty rednecks, and talent scouts began scouring the Dixie belt in a fevered search for the next Duck Dynasty franchise"

Gotta love Carl Hiaasen

It's relatively easy to agree that only Homo Sapiens can speak about things that don't really exist, and believe six impossible things before breakfast. You could never convince a monkey to give you a banana by promising him limitless bananas after death in monkey heaven.

Since survival in snowy forests of northern Europe required different traits than those needed to stay alive in Indonesia's steaming jungles, human populations evolved in different directions. The result was several distinct species, to each of which scientists have assigned a pompous Latin name.