Books Do Furnish A Room

People say that life is the thing, but I prefer reading -Logan Pearsall Smith

This list has the Lord Peter stories in order, with my ratings.  This list is just because I have a tendency to forget which ones I liked best.  5 is the most satisfying with 1 being I wish I hadn’t read it.

1923 Whose Body? 4
1926 Clouds of Witness 5
1927 Unnatural Death 4
1928 The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club 4
1931 Strong Poison 4
1931 The Five Red Herrings 5
1932 Have His Carcase 4
1933 Murder Must Advertise 4
1934 The Nine Tailors 4
1935 Gaudy Night 3-
1937 Busman’s Honeymoon 4
1972 Lord Peter (short stories) 1-5

While on leave I read (and reread) quite a few Perry Mason stories by Erle Stanley Gardner.  I did this during my last leave two years ago as well, and kept a list of how satisfying I found each, on a scale of 1 to 5.  Here is the list.  No number means I haven’t read it yet.  5 means I found it very satisfying with a good twist; 1 means it was a tedious read.

1933 The Case of the Velvet Claws  
1933 The Case of the Sulky Girl  3
1934 The Case of the Lucky Legs  
1934 The Case of the Howling Dog  
1934 The Case of the Curious Bride  4
1935 The Case of the Counterfeit Eye  4
1935 The Case of the Caretaker’s Cat  
1936 The Case of the Sleepwalker’s Niece  3
1936 The Case of the Stuttering Bishop  
1937 The Case of the Dangerous Dowager  
1937 The Case of the Lame Canary  
1938 The Case of the Substitute Face  
1938 The Case of the Shoplifter’s Shoe  
1939 The Case of the Perjured Parrot  5
1939 The Case of the Rolling Bones  2
1940 The Case of the Baited Hook  
1940 The Case of the Silent Partner  2
1941 The Case of the Haunted Husband  
1941 The Case of the Turning Tide  
1941 The Case of the Empty Tin  4
1942 The Case of the Drowning Duck  
1942 The Case of the Careless Kitten  
1943 The Case of the Buried Clock  3
1943 The Case of the Drowsy Mosquito  1
1944 The Case of the Crooked Candle  2
1944 The Case of the Black-Eyed Blonde  
1945 The Case of the Golddigger’s Purse  3
1945 The Case of the Half-Wakened Wife  4
1946 The Case of the Borrowed Brunette  3
1947 The Case of the Fan-Dancer’s Horse  
1947 The Case of the Lazy Lover  3
1948 The Case of the Lonely Heiress  4
1948 The Case of the Vagabond Virgin  5
1949 The Case of the Dubious Bridegroom  3
1949 The Case of the Cautious Coquette  4
1950 The Case of the Negligent Nymph  4
1950 The Case of the One-Eyed Witness  5
1951 The Case of the Fiery Fingers  4
1951 The Case of the Angry Mourner  
1952 The Case of the Moth-Eaten Mink  2
1952 The Case of the Grinning Gorilla  
1953 The Case of the Hesitant Hostess  3
1954 The Case of the Fugitive Nurse  
1954 The Case of the Runaway Corpse  5
1954 The Case of the Restless Redhead  
1955 The Case of the Glamorous Ghost  5
1955 The Case of the Sun Bather’s Diary  
1955 The Case of the Nervous Accomplice  
1956 The Case of the Terrified Typist  5
1956 The Case of the Demure Defendant  4
1956 The Case of the Gilded Lily  2
1957 The Case of the Lucky Loser  2
1957 The Case of the Screaming Woman  4
1957 The Case of the Daring Decoy  3
1958 The Case of the Long Legged Models  3
1958 The Case of the Foot-Loose Doll  5
1958 The Case of the Calendar Girl  4
1959 The Case of the Deadly Toy  4
1959 The Case of the Mythical Monkeys  4
1959 The Case of the Singing Skirt  2
1960 The Case of the Waylaid Wolf  2
1960 The Case of the Duplicate Daughter  
1960 The Case of the Shapely Shadow  3
1961 The Case of the Spurious Spinster  
1961 The Case of the Bigamous Spouse  5
1962 The Case of the Reluctant Model  
1962 The Case of the Blonde Bonanza  3
1962 The Case of the Ice-Cold Hands  
1963 The Case of the Mischievous Doll  3
1963 The Case of the Stepdaughter’s Secret  
1963 The Case of the Amorous Aunt  5
1964 The Case of the Daring Divorcee  
1964 The Case of the Phantom Fortune  
1964 The Case of the Horrified Heirs  3
1965 The Case of the Troubled Trustee  2
1965 The Case of the Beautiful Beggar  3
1966 The Case of the Worried Waitress  5
1967 The Case of the Queenly Contestant  2
1968 The Case of the Careless Cupid  4
1969 The Case of the Fabulous Fake  3
1972 The Case of the Fenced-In Woman  4
1973 The Case of the Postponed Murder  
1947 Novelette: The Case of the Crying Swallow  3
1948 Novelette: The Case of the Crimson Kiss  4
1953 Short Stories: The Case of the Irate Witness  2-4

Hello world!

Posted by joshua under Uncategorized

Welcome to WordPress. This is your first post. Edit or delete it, then start blogging!

Collaborative Fiction

Posted by joshua under Uncategorized

The Eyre Affair

Posted by debbie under Uncategorized

Several people as well as Amazon.com have told me that if I like Terry Pratchett, I will like the time-travelling Thursday Next series that begins with The Eyre Affair.

So I read The Eyre Affair, and while it was enjoyable I had the impression it was trying too hard to jam in “subtle” (not) references to how different everyday life was in this alternate universe. Also, the pace was a bit too frenetic for my liking.

I may return to this series later, but for right now I am glad this was a library checkout rather than a purchase. If someone were to ask me for a time-travel book recommendation I would suggest Connie Willis’ To Say Nothing of the Dog over this one.

Black Books - The Complete First Series


Not a book, but a British TV series about a book-store, so close enough.

The funniest show I’ve seen in years, Black Books is about a small London bookshop run by the misanthropic drunkard Bernard Black, assisted by Manny Bianco…a former accountant who mistakenly thinks that working in a bookshop for Bernard would be, you know, mellow, and with frequent visits from Fran, the owner of the next-door shop (which sells “a lot of wank”). How much do I like this series? So much that if you’re reading this, I’ve probably already made you watch at least the first two episodes. I’ve seen them six or seven times now with various sets of my friends, and they’re funny every time. I even went to the trouble of buying the first two seasons, rather than having them block my Netflix queue permanently until I was sure that every friend I have has seen them. So if you haven’t seen them, tell me, so I can make you watch them.

A typical exchange runs along the following lines (Bernard has realized that he can postpone doing his taxes if he’s seriously injured):

(customer hands Bernard a book)
Bernard: Oh we’ve got a special offer on this one.
Customer: Really?
Bernard: Yes, it’s free if you break my legs.
Customer: Fair enough.
Bernard: Great! I’ll just get the hobbling post.
Customer: Wait. I’ve read this one. That’s the problem with Wodehouse.
Bernard: Yes it’s terrible now hurry up and break my legs.
Customer: But I’ve already read it! I’m sorry, I’ve got to go!

How Tradition Works: A Meme-Based Cultural Poetics of the Anglo-Saxon Tenth Century (Medieval and Renaissance Texts and Studies)


My mom gave this to me for my birthday (from my amazon wishlist My Amazon.com Wish List
My Amazon.com Wish List), and though I haven’t had time to read more than the introduction yet, it looks fascinating. I’ll update this with an actual review when I have time to read it.

Arrived in the Mail

Posted by joshua under Uncategorized

Yay!

(Cross-posted to LJ and Amused In Review)

I've recently been reading A Theory of Fun for Game Design, which I mentioned ordering recently, and was struck by the following passage:

Fun is all about our brains feeling good–the release of endorphins into our system. The various cocktails of chemicals released in different ways are basically all the same. Science has shown that the pleasurable chills that we get down the spine after exceptionally powerful music or a really great book are caused by the same sorts of chemicals we get when we have cocaine, an orgasm, or chocolate. Basically, our brains are on drugs pretty much all the time. - Raph Koster, A Theory of Fun

Which brings me to the most recent time I've gotten those pleasurable chills from reading: the opening sentences of Nabokov's autobiography, Speak Memory:

The cradle rocks above an abyss, and common sense tells us that our existence is a brief crack of light between two eternities of darkness. Although the two are identical twins, man, as a rule, views the prenatal abyss with more calm than the one he is heading for (at some forty-five hundred heartbeats an hour).

For an Epicurean like me, the shock of recognition of the symmetry argument still induces those pleasurable chills, even on retyping it the next day. Or, to lift a line Norma from Victor, Victoria, with Nabokov it's like… pow, pow, pow, like the Fourth of July, every time!

Btw, Amazon is selling the hardback version of Speak, Memory that I spent $19 on at Borders for only $12.35; I really should remember to check them first for stuff like this. Mass-market paperbacks are generally full price, but the discounts on other items can be substantial.

Recently ordered

Posted by joshua under Uncategorized

Based on David Morgan-Mar's recommendation (in the annotations of today's Irregular Webcomic), I've ordered a copy of A Theory of Fun for Game Design, by Ralph Koster. I'll update this later to let you know what I think.