I read that ages ago but isn’t it his bread and butter to rub everyone’s nose in it? Not saying you have to like it but I am saying he wasn’t on the DL about it.

Yeah, sure. I knew what I was getting into.
Still, this whole schtick can be fine when it's just one or two smug quotes you read somewhere. But at a higher density it gets a bit tedious and often quite noticeable that it isn't as clever as it wants to be. I have this issue with a lot of humorous literature though, for example the Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy series.

That’s a left field comparison but it makes sense.

https://i.ibb.co/Qfy4Fs8/71-Yxz-PUl-H4-L-1.jpg

Kurt Vonnegut - Breakfast of champions

Re-reading some of Vonnegut's best of.

Finished A Tale of Two Cities. As our friend Hawk would say, unassailable: both the most famous and powerful opening and closing lines in any book ever. Superb. The way he came down neither on the side of the aristocrats nor the poor who almost became them, the reflection at the end, the casual cruelty of Monsignor, so many Jacques - words can't describe. Edging close to my favourite Dickens now.

Began Little Dorrit yesterday; great description of Marseilles sweltering in the summer sun already and some dark comedy by one of the (so far) main characters.

Edit: Great to see you back grindy, even if it's only now and then. You bookworm. ;)

The Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes

The themes here about memory, perception, and aging are handled really excellently, but the story arc was underwhelming and the style was straight up dull. Crafts an unreliable narrator well but not in a way that stands out. I feel like this could've been a powerful essay instead.

Yeah. I kinda skimmed the end where they gave updates on where the six survivors were at the time the book was written. Great first half though.

https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/com...400_SS400_.jpg

My favorite non fiction author. Breezed through 100 pages last night. Now I can REALLY talk about cancel culture with the old farts that come into the shop.

Fiction: Little Dorrit (Charles Dickens)

Non-Fiction: Corporal Hitler and the Great War 1914-1918 (John F. Williams)
Herman Goering - Fighter Ace: The World War I Career of Germany's Most Infamous Airman (Peter Kilduff)
Heinrich Himmler: A Life (Peter Lungerich)

A holy grail - mine at last!

Pictured is the November 1956 Vol 4, No 5. issue of the pulp zine, Science Fiction Quarterly, noteworthy for being the first-ever publication of Isaac Asimov's story, "The Last Question." It was Asimov's favorite short story of his own authorship and the first science fiction tale I read as a young man which directly inspired a life-long love of the genre. It remains my favorite short story to this day and for years I've wished I could have a copy of my own.

I'm so happy to finally claim this beloved treasure for my library!

https://i.imgur.com/OWmyXI1l.jpg

I'm about 2 chapters in. The first one details how the brain responds to a stroke and it's one of the more frightening things I've read in awhile.