WALDORF SALAD, from 1979, is from the British sitcom Fawlty Towers, a short series that split its twelve total episodes between two seasons in 1975 and '79. It's about an small town/countryside English inn owned and run by the married couple Basil and Sybil Fawlty, played by Monty Python star John Cleese and Prunella Scales. Basil is a self-important, arrogant man who acts as if those around him...including the hotel's guests...are beneath his station in life. Like other great comedic characters (the Honeymooners' Ralph Kramden comes to mind) he is always looking to game the system, usually with disastrous results. Sybil for her part does little actual work in maintaining the place and is usually seen reading or chatting with others...when she isn't bluntly standing in the way of her husband's chronic foolishness. The rest of the core cast consists of Polly, a competent young waitress and Juan, an all-around worker there from Spain who barely understands English. The episode I'm discussing today is my favorite of the series. It's nine at night as the inn's dining section is closing down seating people and Basil, Polly and Juan are frantically running around serving customers while Sybil just stands there talking to a guest. The orders are late and botched, while Basil makes a show of his general contempt toward both guests and colleagues. Into the hotel walks a new couple, a tough-talking American and his English wife, and they expect to be fed even though the diner has just closed. The man slips Basil some money to pay his chef to stay overtime to cook for them, but Basil secretly pockets it and sends his employee home instead. The rest of the episode is about Basil's subterfuge of pretending the chef's still out in the kitchen while he finds himself clueless about preparing the couple's orders...including their drinks (Screwdrivers) and, of course, a Waldorf salad. The American, played by Bruce Boa, gets more and more antagonistic with Basil, and their interaction should go down in history as one of the funniest ever in television. And the episode's ending, with Basil proudly invoking British patriotism against his American adversary, is unforgettable...
Sunday, February 28, 2021
Saturday, February 27, 2021
Just Finished Reading Flat Stanley by Jeff Brown
One of the things I like about the trivia game show Jeopardy! is that it sometimes gives me reading suggestions...children's book author Roald Dahl was a recent category that sent me in his direction. But I had no similar expectation with the show preceding it, Wheel of Fortune, until the other night when the solution turned out to be "Flat Stanley"...making me scratch my head in puzzlement, although everyone in the studio seemed to know of this book, also for children. So I looked it up and yes, Flat Stanley is not only a famous book first published by Jeff Brown in 1964, but years later he turned it into a series of books based on the Lambchop family, headlined of course by Stanley himself. It starts out one morning when Stanley's brother Arthur goes into his room and discovers a big bulletin board has fallen off the wall and flattened him. Stanley feels fine, but he's now thin enough to slide under a door, through a drainage grate, into an envelope...or even serve as a pretty awesome kite. The story's premise is of course ridiculous, but like the more serious story Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka, the absurdity of Stanley's condition is dwarfed by that of how the people around him react to it. I checked it out of my library using the Libby service to download it onto my Kindle...it took just a few minutes to read. The reading level reminded me of books I'd read around the first or second grade...makes me wonder whether I might have come across it way back when it first came out and just forgot I had read it. In any event I got a big kick out of it, although I'm not sure I'll read any of its sequels...and that maybe the author ripped off that scene at the end of the Disney movie Pinocchio when Jiminy Cricket mails himself to a prime vacation spot...
Friday, February 26, 2021
Quote of the Week...from Mark Mellman
A future president need only consider whether he has 35 partisan defenders in the Senate to embark on whatever course he or she deems fit, regardless of its democratic propriety. ---Mark Mellman
The above quote by Mark Mellman, head of the Mellman Group...a business and political consulting organization, appeared in The Hill recently and made it to my computer's MSN newsfeed. It directly refers to last month's Senate impeachment vote about former president Donald Trump and the fact that 43 of the 50 seated Republicans from his own party voted for acquittal, despite the enormous amount of evidence pointing to conviction and that the senators themselves were directly threatened by the January 6th invasion of the Capitol building...where they were convened to count and confirmed the electoral college votes for the 2020 presidential election...by fascist thugs spurred on by Trump's encouragement. I think he should have been convicted, but sadly a large swath of the American population seems to be under his spell, having made him into an idol and believing and acting on every lying word coming from his mouth. And since they have the numbers within the Republican party to "primary" any sitting politician of theirs out of office with a candidate more to their cult leader's liking, senators and representatives...within some remarkable exceptions...are too scared to openly defy Herr Trump in anything. The situation is so extreme that Republican caucuses of different state legislatures are routinely holding censure votes against national legislators voting against their fascist supreme leader. So I get what Mellman is saying here. But as I like to say about politics, what goes around comes around. And the "flaw" in our system that allows only 34 senators to protect a president who has seriously abused his or her office against our Constitution also protects a sitting, possibly controversial president who has done nothing wrong but has a vengeful opposition party with a majority in Congress. The Republicans while Obama was president were adept at turning anything hinting of controversy into a scandal requiring extensive hearings and the fascist-leaning talk radio and TV hosts have been there to whip up the loyal extremist sector of the population into pressuring them to take the most punitive actions possible. So if you're a Democrat and wish impeachment convictions were attainable with only a majority Senate vote instead of the two-thirds as the U.S. Constitution mandates, think again and thank your lucky stars that it is this difficult...
Thursday, February 25, 2021
Just Finished Reading The Ringworld Engineers by Larry Niven
When I read Ringworld, the first book in science fiction writer Larry Niven's self-titled series a few days ago, I thought that he had a very innovative idea with a fully habitable, massive constructed ring with familiar surface features like oceans, forests, deserts, mountains, and plains going around a Sol-like star at about the location of Earth's orbit: the possibilities were indeed intriguing. Add to that his presentation of the interesting main characters Louis Wu, Speaker-to-Animals, Teela...and the most interesting, the bizarre-looking puppeteer creature Nessus, and you had the makings of an unforgettable reading adventure. But as I wrote in my review of it, Niven allowed himself to get bogged down in the technicalities of his created scenario, making reading through much of the text awfully tedious. In his 1978 follow-up book, The Ringworld Engineers...which I just finished reading...the author gets even worse in this regard as he tries to rectify "errors" concerning Ringworld's orbital stability from the first book that were brought out by some university geek students with apparently nothing better to do than to nitpick about the "science" in already clearly outlandish fiction. Besides the overbearing technical mumbo jumbo throughout this second book, the characters were dispersed and less effective: no Teela until the very end, Louis Wu and Chmeee (the cat-like kzin formerly known as Speaker-to-Animals) are split apart for much of the novel, as well as Nessus' replacement puppeteer Hindmost, who had kidnapped Wu and Chmeee to discover for his race what he believed to be the secret of transmutation hidden somewhere on Ringworld. Wu has a different agenda, which is to prevent the unstable Ringworld from going into its sun...to accomplish this he is on a quest to find the ring's repair center, where its original builders, the Pak Protectors, may have provided the answer of how to replenish its stabilizing rockets (which a later race had cannibalized for their own spaceship parts). One aspect of the story I did find intriguing was that the Ringworld's designers had imprinted true scale-sized "maps' of various worlds on it, including those of Earth, Mars, and the kzin's home planet. Overall, though, I was greatly disappointed in this sequel and don't yet know whether I'll ever be ready to go to the next volume in this series...
Wednesday, February 24, 2021
Weekly Short Stories: 1968 Science Fiction, Part 3
Tuesday, February 23, 2021
Game of the Week: Hanabi
Although its name is Japanese, meaning "fireworks", Hanabi is the creation of a Frenchman in 2010. It is either a card or tile game, depending on which version you possess, that is themed upon the cooperation among its players, which can number from 2 to 5. Melissa introduced it to me as during her lunch breaks at work some of her colleagues have played it with her. The cards (or tiles), each of which depicts a specified number of fireworks from 1 to 5 in one of five different colors, are shuffled and then dealt out with each player holding five of them...but facing outward so that no player can view their own hand. Then, when it is a player's turn they can either inform one of the others about the nature of their hand or play one of their own cards to build each color of fireworks, starting from those with numbers 1 progressively onward to 5. The object is, through cooperation and intelligent questioning among the participants, to successfully complete all five colors of fireworks 1-5. It's a fun game in our household...you should try it for yourself if you're into board or card games. The above photo is of a tile version of Hanabi in progress with two players, namely Melissa and me...
Monday, February 22, 2021
List of Books I've Read & Discussed on This Blog
Abercrombie, Joe BEFORE
THEY ARE HANGED 9-22-18
Abercrombie, Joe THE
LAST ARGUMENT OF KINGS 12-20-18
Abraham, Daniel THE
DRAGON’S PATH 10-30-14
Abraham, Daniel THE
KING’S BLOOD 2-7-15
Abraham, Daniel THE
TYRANT’S LAW 3-7-15
Abraham, Daniel THE
WIDOW’S HOUSE 3-27-15
Abraham, Daniel THE
SPIDER’S WAR 4-23-16
Abrahams, Peter BULLET
POINT 6-4-19
Acuff, Jon FINISH 6-11-21
Acuff, Jon START 6-24-21
Acuff, Jon DO OVER 7-3-21
Adams, Richard WATERSHIP
DOWN 2-19-18
Alcott, Louisa May LITTLE
WOMEN 6-4-17
Alexie, Sherman THE
ABSOLUTELY TRUE DIARY OF A PART-TIME INDIAN 1-12-19
Asimov, Isaac THE
STARS, LIKE DUST 1-28-14
Asimov, Isaac PEBBLE
IN THE SKY 2-3-14
Asimov, Isaac FOUNDATION 8-19-15*
Asimov, Isaac FOUNDATION
AND EMPIRE 8-29-15*
Asimov, Isaac SECOND
FOUNDATION 9-11-15*
Asimov, Isaac PRELUDE
TO FOUNDATION 9-19-15
Asimov, Isaac FOUNDATION’S
EDGE 10-5—15*
Asimov, Isaac FOUNDATION
AND EARTH 10-18-15*
Asimov, Isaac NEMESIS
1-7-18
Asimov, Isaac THE
END OF ETERNITY 7-2-19
Asimov, Isaac FORWARD
THE FOUNDATION 7-18-19
Asimov, Isaac THE
GODS THEMSELVES 5-23-20
Austen, Jane PRIDE
AND PREJUDICE 12-6-14
Austen, Jane EMMA 6-25-16
Baldacci, David DIVINE
JUSTICE 12-27-13
Baldacci, David THE
COLLECTORS 1-11-14
Baldacci, David ONE
SUMMER 6-4-18
Baldacci, David DELIVER
US FROM EVIL 8-4-18
Baldwin, James IF BEALE STREET COULD TALK 5-20-21
Bardugo, Leigh NINTH
HOUSE 12-14-19
Barry, Kevin BEATLEBONE
1-11-19
Baum, L. Frank THE
WONDERFUL WIZARD OF OZ 10-8-18
Baum, L. Frank THE
MARVELOUS LAND OF OZ 1-18-19
Baum, L. Frank OZMA
OF OZ 2-11-19
Baum, L. Frank DOROTHY
AND THE WIZARD IN OZ 2-11-19
Baum, L. Frank THE
ROAD TO OZ 3-12-19
Baum, L. Frank THE
EMERALD CITY OF OZ 3-12-19
Beaton, M.C. DEATH
OF A BORE 1-19-14
Bellow, Saul HERZOG 10-16-15
Bellow, Saul THE
ADVENTURES OF AUGIE MARCH 8-12-17
Bellow, Saul HUMBOLDT’S
GIFT 8-28-17
Berendt, John MIDNIGHT
IN THE GARDEN OF GOOD AND EVIL 2-26-19
Berg, Elizabeth TAPESTRY
OF FORTUNES 5-22-17
Blish, James VOR 8-7-17
Boehner, John ON THE HOUSE 6-14-21
Bowman, Akemi Dawn SUMMER BIRD BLUE 4-24-21
Bradbury, Ray FAREWELL
SUMMER 11-16-14
Bronte, Charlotte JANE
EYRE 9-24-16
Bronte, Emily WUTHERING
HEIGHTS 11-19-14
Brooks, Terry THE
SWORD OF SHANNARA 12-18-18
Brooks, Terry THE
ELFSTONES OF SHANNARA 1-3-19
Brooks, Terry THE
WISHSONG OF SHANNARA 1-19-19
Brown, Eleanor THE
LIGHT OF PARIS 3-10-18
Brown, Jeff FLAT STANLEY 2-27-21
Buck, Pearl S. THE
GOOD EARTH 4-4-15
Butcher, Jim FURIES
OF CALDERON 1-7-20
Butcher, Jim ACADEM’S
FURY 1-21-20
Butcher, Jim CURSOR’S
FURY 2-6-20
Butcher, Jim CAPTAIN’S
FURY 3-1-20
Butcher, Jim THE
PRINCEP’S FURY 3-28-20
Butcher, Jim FIRST
LORD’S FURY 4-16-20
Card, Orson Scott ENDER’S
GAME 8-20-16
Carr, Caleb THE ALIENIST 6-21-21
Cather, Willa MY
ANTONIA 8-27-18
Cervantes, Miguel de DON
QUIXOTE 2-29-16
Chesterton, G.K. THE
MAN WHO WAS THURSDAY: A NIGHTMARE 7-23-18
Chilton, Ski THE
REWIRED BRAIN 9-15-20
Christie, Agatha DEATH
IN THE CLOUDS 6-23-18
Christie, Agatha SAD
CYPRESS 4-25-19
Christie, Agatha MURDER
ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS 7-30-19
Christie, Agatha THE
SECRET ADVERSARY 8-6-19
Christie, Agatha MURDER
ON THE LINKS 8-20-19
Christie, Agatha THE
MYSTERY OF THE BLUE TRAIN 9-28-19
Christie, Agatha THEY DO IT WITH MIRRORS 3-15-21
Christie, Agatha AND THEN THERE WERE NONE 6-7--21
Clare, Cassandra CITY
OF BONES 4-13-19
Clare, Cassandra CITY
OF ASHES 4-22-19
Clare, Cassandra CITY
OF GLASS 5-6-19
Clark, Mary Higgins NIGHTTIME
IS MY TIME 3-26-08
Clark, Mary Higgins A
CRY IN THE NIGHT 1-6-19
Clark, Mary Higgins THE
MELODY LINGERS ON 2-13-21
Clark, Mary Higgins JUST TAKE MY HEART 7-5-21
Clarke, Arthur C. & Pohl, Frederick THE LAST THEOREM 12-26-15
Clarke, Suzanna JONATHAN
STRANGE AND MR. NORRELL 5-11-15
Coelho, Paulo THE ALCHEMIST 5-7-21
Colfer, Eoin ARTEMIS
FOWL (1st 3 books) 2-12-18*
Collins, Suzanne THE
HUNGER GAMES 5-27-14
Collins, Suzanne CATCHING
FIRE 6-24-14
Collins, Suzanne MOCKINGJAY 7-3-14
Collins, Suzanne THE
BALLAD OF SONGBIRDS AND SNAKES 11-8-20
Collins, Suzanne GREGOR
THE OVERLANDER 11-21-20
Collins, Suzanne GREGOR
AND THE PROPHECY OF BANE 12-15-20
Collins, Suzanne GREGOR
AND THE CURSE OF THE WARMBLOODS 2-12-21
Collins, Suzanne GREGOR AND THE MARKS OF SECRET 3-13-21
Collins, Suzanne GREGOR AND THE CODE OF CLAW 3-22-21
Collins, Wilkie THE
WOMAN IN WHITE 12-18-16
Condie, Ally ATLANTIA 4-10-17
Connelly, Michael THE
LINCOLN LAWYER 1-24-14
Conrad, Joseph HEART
OF DARKNESS 3-5-15
Cook, Robin PANDEMIC
4-21-20
Cornwell, Patricia AT
RISK 5-9-14
Coulter, Catherine THE
COVE 9-12-14
Coulter, Catherine THE
MAZE 9-12-14
Craig, Erin A. HOUSE
OF SALT AND SORROWS 11-1-20
Crichton, Michael STATE
OF FEAR 3-22-09
Dahl, Roald CHARLIE
AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY 9-5-20
Dahl, Roald JAMES
AND THE GIANT PEACH 9-12-20
Dahl, Roald THE
BFG 9-20-20
Dahl, Roald DANNY,
THE CHAMPION OF THE WORLD 10-12-20
Dahl, Roald MATILDA
11-10-20
Dahl, Roald THE WITCHES 7-19-21
Dashner, James THE
MAZE RUNNER 12-3-17
Dashner, James THE
SCORCH TRIALS 1-20-18
Dashner, James THE
DEATH CURE 1-20-18
Davis, Lindsey THE
SILVER PIGS 8-10-20
DeStefano, Lauren WITHER 6-27-17
Dick, Philip K. UBIK
10-24-20
Dick, Philip K. MARTIAN
TIME-SLIP 11-19-20
Dick, Philip K. SOLAR
LOTTERY 12-13-20
Dick, Philip K. VOICES FROM THE STREET 11-15-09
Dick, Philip K. THE
COSMIC PUPPETS 12-17-09
Dick, Philip K. THE
WORLD JONES MADE 12-1-09
Dick, Philip K. PUTTERING
ABOUT IN A SMALL LAND 1-2-10
Dick, Philip K. TIME
OUT OF JOINT 12-10-09
Dick, Philip K. IN
MILTON LUMPKY TERRITORY 11-25-09
Dick, Philip K. HUMPTY
DUMPTY IN OAKLAND 10-25-09
Dick, Philip K. THE
MAN IN THE HIGH CASTLE 1-16-10
Dick, Philip K. THE
THREE STIGMATA OF PALMER ELDRITCH
2-10-10
Dick, Philip K. FLOW
MY TEARS, THE POLICEMAN SAID 10-30-09
Dickens, Charles GREAT
EXPECTATIONS 1-9-14
Dickens, Charles BARNABY
RUDGE 2-1-17
Dickens, Charles OLIVER
TWIST 6-16-18
Doerr, Anthony ALL
THE LIGHT WE CANNOT SEE 9-21-19
Donoghue, Emma ROOM
2-4-20
Dostoevsky, Fyodor CRIME
AND PUNISHMENT 6-5-14
Dostoevsky, Fyodor THE
BROTHERS KARAMAZOV 9-6-14
Dostoevsky, Fyodor THE
IDIOT 5-9-15
Dumas, Alexandre THE
BLACK TULIP 7-2-18
Dumas, Alexandre THE THREE MUSKETEERS 10-15-18
Eco, Umberto THE
PRAGUE CEMETARY 12-17-17
Eliot, George MIDDLEMARCH
8-25-18
Erskine Kathryn THE ABSOLUTE VALUE OF MIKE 4-28-18
Evanovich, Jan ONE
FOR THE MONEY 4-5-17
Evanovich, Janet TWO
FOR THE DOUGH 7-8-17
Evanovich, Janet THREE
TO GET DEADLY 7-8-17
Evanovich, Janet FOUR
TO SCORE 7-15-17
Faulkner, William AS
I LAY DYING 10-9-14
Faulkner, William INTRUDER
IN THE DUST 2-24-18
Faulkner, William LIGHT
IN AUGUST 8-4-20
Faulkner, William THE SOUND AND THE FURY 3-8-21
Federle, Tim THE
GREAT AMERICAN WHATEVEVER 4-2-18
Fitzgerald, F. Scott THE
GREAT GATSBY 5-26-15*
Fitzgerald, F. Scott THIS
SIDE OF PARADISE 3-30-19
Fleming, Ian CASINO
ROYALE 7-4-19
Follett, Ken CODE
TO ZERO 10-1-14
Follett, Ken FALL
OF GIANTS 12-8-20
Forsyth, Frederick THE
COBRA 8-19-17
Francis, Felix GAMBLE 5-14-17
French, Tana IN
THE WOODS 12-1-19
Gabaldon, Diana OUTLANDER
4-7-19
Gaiman, Neil NEVERWHERE 6-27-15
Gaiman, Neil THE
OCEAN AT THE END 5-20-16
Gaiman, Neil AMERICAN
GODS 6-6-16
Gaiman, Neil STARDUST 6-14-16
Gaiman, Neil CORALINE 6-16-16
Gaiman, Neil ODD
AND THE FROST GIANTS 1-30-21
Gaiman, Neil NORSE
MYTHOLOGY 2-11-21
Gaiman, Neil & Pratchett, Terry GOOD OMENS 8-4-15
Gaiman, Neil & Reaves, Michael & Mallory THE INTERWORLD TRILOGY 5-22-16
Gaiman, Neil THE GRAVEYARD BOOK 12-10-18
Garber, Stephanie CARAVAL
3-18-18
Gardner, Erle Stanley THE CASE OF THE FABULOUS FAKE 6-19-21
Gladwell, Malcolm THE TIPPING POINT 7-8-21
Gladwell, Malcolm BLINK 7-24-21
Golding, William LORD
OF THE FLIES 5-1-17
Goodkind, Terry WIZARD’S
FIRST RULE 8-26-13
Goodkind, Terry STONE
OF TEARS 11-13-13
Goodkind, Terry BLOOD
OF THE FOLD 11-16-13
Goodkind, Terry SOUL
OF THE FIRE 1-16-14
Goodkind, Terry FAITH
OF THE FALLEN 2-7-14
Goodkind, Terry THE
PILLARS OF CREATION 3-16-14
Goodkind, Terry NAKED
EMPIRE 4-1-14
Goodkind, Terry CHAINFIRE 4-13-14
Goodkind, Terry PHANTOM 5-3-14
Goodkind, Terry CONFESSOR 5-11-14
Gore, Al AN
INCONVENIENT SEQUEL: TRUTH TO POWER 10-8-19
Grafton, Sue “M”
IS FOR MALICE 11-17-13
Grafton, Sue “I”
IS FOR INNOCENT 1-9-15
Grafton, Sue “A”
IS FOR ALIBI 3-2-15*
Grafton, Sue "B" IS FOR BURGLAR 3-4-21*
Grafton, Sue “C”
IS FOR CORPSE 5-1-15*
Grafton, Sue “D”
IS FOR DEADBEAT 5-14-15
Grafton, Sue “E”
IS FOR EVIDENCE 5-14-15
Grafton, Sue “F”
IS FOR FUGITIVE 5-14-15
Grafton, Sue “G”
IS FOR GUMSHOE 5-28-15*
Grafton, Sue “H” IS FOR HOMICIDE 5-28-15
Grafton, Sue “J”
IS FOR JUDGEMENT 6-12-15*
Grafton, Sue “K”
IS FOR KILLER 6-12-15*
Grafton, Sue “L”
IS FOR LAWLESS 7-11-15*
Grafton, Sue “M”
IS FOR MALICE 7-11-15*
Grafton, Sue “N”
IS FOR NOOSE 7-11-15
Grafton, Sue “O”
IS FOR OUTLAW 7-27-15
Grafton, Sue “P”
IS FOR PERIL 8-26-15
Grafton, Sue “Q”
IS FOR QUARRY 8-26-15
Grafton, Sue “R”
IS FOR RICOCHET 9-4-15
Grafton, Sue “S”
IS FOR SILENCE 9-4-15
Grafton, Sue “T”
IS FOR TRESPASS 10-21-15
Grafton, Sue “U”
IS FOR UNDERTOW 11-4-15
Grafton, Sue “V”
IS FOR VENGEANCE 11-17-15
Grafton, Sue “W”
IS FOR WASTED 12-19-15
Grafton, Sue “X” 1-8-16
Grafton, Sue “Y”
IS FOR YESTERDAY 1-8-18
Grass, Günter THE TIN DRUM 4-29-21
Green, John LOOKING
FOR ALASKA 10-25-16
Green, John TURTLES
ALL THE WAY DOWN 8-24-19
Grippando, James GONE
AGAIN 4-22-17
Grisham, John THE
APPEAL 3-28-14
Grisham, John THE
BRETHREN 9-6-15
Grisham, John A
PAINTED HOUSE 10-24-15
Grisham, John GRAY
MOUNTAIN 10-29-16
Grisham, John ROGUE
LAWYER 3-13-17
Grisham, John CALICO
JOE 8-26-17
Grisham, John THE
LITIGATORS 9-15-18
Grisham, John CAMINO
ISLAND 3-19-19
Grisham, John THE RACKETEER 12-10-18
Grisham, John THE ROOSTER BAR 11-19-18
Grisham, John THE RUNAWAY JURY 11-4-18
Grisham, John THE WHISTLER 11-10-18
Grossman, Lev THE
MAGICIAN’S LAND 11-13-14
Grossman, Lev MAGICIANS
trilogy 5-12-16**
Grossman, Lev THE
MAGICIAN KING 8-29-11
Gundry, Dr. Steven
THE IMMORTALITY PARADOX 6-16-20
Gutfeld, Greg NOT
COOL! 5-7-14
Hallberg, Garth Risk CITY
ON FIRE 5-1-16
Hamilton, Lyn THE
CELTIC RIDDLE 7-15-15
Hannah, Kristin THE
NIGHTINGALE 11-1-15
Harris, Robert THE
FEAR INDEX 3-4-18
Harris, Robert THE
SECOND SLEEP 8-8-20
Hart, John THE
LAST CHILD 3-26-16
Hart, John THE
HUSH 8-2-19
Hart, John DOWN
RIVER 9-3-19
Hawkins, Paula THE
GIRL ON THE TRAIN 11-21-15
Hawkins, Paula INTO
THE WATER 9-14-19
Heinlein, Robert STRANGER
IN A STRANGE LAND 8-26-14
Heinlein, Robert THE
MOON IS A HARSH MISTRESS 10-12-14
Heinlein, Robert THE
PUPPET MASTERS 5-24-15
Heinlein, Robert THE
DOOR INTO SUMMER 10-6-18
Heinlein, Robert PODKAYNE
OF MARS 1-24-19
Heinlein, Robert METHUSELAH’S
CHILDREN 3-8-20
Heinlein, Robert GLORY
ROAD 12-22-20
Heller, Joseph CATCH-22 11-5-14
Hemingway, Ernest A
FAREWELL TO ARMS 11-11-13
Hemingway, Ernest THE
SUN ALSO RISES 10-1-18
Herbert, Brian & Anderson, Kevin HUNTERS OF DUNE 5-28-18
Herbert, Brian & Anderson, Kevin SANDWORMS OF DUNE 6-2-18
Herbert, Frank DUNE
MESSIAH 3-18-18
Herbert, Frank CHILDREN
OF DUNE 4-9-18
Herbert, Frank GOD
EMPEROR OF DUNE 4-23-18
Herbert, Frank HERETICS
OF DUNE 5-12-18
Herbert, Frank CHAPTERHOUSE:
DUNE 5-20-18
Hesse, Hermann STEPPENWOLF 3-21-15
Hiaasen, Carl BAD
MONKEY 3-16-18
Hicks, Deron THE
VAN GOGH DECEPTION 3-21-20
Highsmith, Patricia STRANGERS
ON A TRAIN 4-25-20
Hill, Joe FULL
THROTTLE (collection) 11-16-19
Hill, Susan THE
MAN IN THE PICTURE 3-29-15
Homer THE
ODYSSEY 3-7-19
Hosseini, Khaled THE
KITE RUNNER 11-19-16
Hugo, Victor LES
MISERABLES 5-26-18
Huxley, Aldous BRAVE
NEW WORLD 5-30-15
Irving, John LAST
NIGHT IN TWISTED RIVER 4-18-15
Jackson, Shirley THE
HAUNTING OF HILL HOUSE 10-11-20
Johnson, Spencer WHO
MOVED MY CHEESE? 11-14-14
Jordan, Robert THE
EYE OF THE WORLD 4-9-14
Jordan, Robert THE
GREAT HUNT 4-25-14
Jordan, Robert THE
DRAGON REBORN 5-15-14
Jordan, Robert THE
SHADOW RISING 6-16-14
Jordan, Robert THE
FIRES OF HEAVEN 7-22-14
Jordan, Robert LORD
OF CHAOS 9-23-14
Jordan, Robert A
CROWN OF SWORDS 1-2-15
Jordan, Robert THE
PATH OF DAGGERS 2-19-15
Jordan, Robert WINTER’S
HEART 3-14-15
Jordan, Robert CROSSROADS
OF TWILIGHT 4-16-15
Jordan, Robert KNIFE
OF DREAMS 6-14-15
Jordan, Robert & Sanderson, Brandon THE GATHERING STORM 7-3-15
Jordan, Robert & Sanderson, Brandon TOWERS OF MIDNIGHT 7-24-15
Jordan, Robert & Sanderson, Brandon A MEMORY OF LIGHT 8-16-15
Joyce, James ULYSSES
6-20-19
Kafka, Franz METAMORPHOSIS 1-30-15
Karnazes, Dean ULTRA
MARATHON MAN: CONFESSIONS OF AN ALL NIGHT RUNNER 2-23-10
Kearsely, Susanna THE
WINTER SEA 6-11-17
Kellerman, Jonathan MYSTERY 7-31-15
Kerouac, Jack ON
THE ROAD 6-23-19
King, Gilbert DEVIL
IN THE GROVE 8-29-20
King, Laurie R. THE
PIRATE KING 2-10-18
King, Stephen JOYLAND 11-7-13
King, Stephen DOCTOR
SLEEP 10-17-13
King, Stephen MR.
MERCEDES 7-15-14
King, Stephen REVIVAL 1-4-15
King, Stephen FINDERS
KEEPERS 8-21-15
King, Stephen THE
BAZAAR OF BAD DREAMS (collection) 1-14-16
King, Stephen THE
SUN DOG 3-14-16
King, Stephen END
OF WATCH 8-23-16
King, Stephen NEEDFUL
THINGS 10-16-16*
King, Stephen SALEM’S
LOT 9-3-17*
King, Stephen INSOMNIA
9-10-17*
King, Stephen SECRET
WINDOW, SECRET GARDEN 9-18-17
King, Stephen FIRESTARTER 10-1-17
King, Stephen THE
DEAD ZONE 10-14-17*
King, Stephen ON
WRITING 10-22-17*
King, Stephen UNDER
THE DOME 10-30-17
King, Stephen BAG
OF BONES 11-11-17*
King, Stephen THE
TOMMYKNOCKERS 11-20-17*
King, Stephen THE
OUTSIDER 6-25-18
King, Stephen ELEVATION
1-15-19
King, Stephen THE INSTITUTE 1-2-20
King, Stephen IF
IT BLEEDS (4 novellas) 5-14-20
King, Stephen 11/22/63
9-24-17* 9-24-19** 9-6-20*** 4-16-21****
King, Stephen LISEY’S
STORY 9-27-08 4-11-19*
King, Stephen CHRISTINE
3-2-09
King, Stephen JUST
AFTER SUNSET (collection) 1-17-09
King, Stephen FULL
DARK, NO STARS (4 novellas) 2-17-11
King, Stephen THE
WIND THROUGH THE KEYHOLE 8-14-12
King, Stephen LATER 4-3-21
King, Stephen & King, Owen SLEEPING BEAUTIES 12-4-17
King, Stephen & Straub, Peter THE TALISMAN 12-23-17*
Kline, Daniel THE
HISTORY OF NOW 3-21-16
Knowles, John A
SEPARATE PEACE 5-23-19
Konar, Affinity MISCHLING
10-7-17
Koontz, Dean SHATTERED
3-26-08
Koontz, Dean INTENSITY
10-21-10
Koontz, Dean MIDNIGHT
9-21-10
Koontz, Dean WATCHERS 12-11-13
Koontz, Dean BY
THE LIGHT OF THE MOON 12-25-13
Koontz, Dean THE
HOUSE OF THUNDER 3-21-14
Koontz, Dean THE
DARKEST EVENING OF THE YEAR 4-7-18
Koontz, Dean THE
GOOD GUY 2-15-21
Kuttner, Henry CLASH
BY NIGHT 6-28-16
L’Amour, Louis LONELY
ON THE MOUNTAIN 12-30-13
L’Engle, Madeleine A
WRINKLE IN TIME 6-3-15
L’Engle, Madeleine A
WIND IN THE DOOR 6-19-15
L’Engle, Madeleine A
SWIFTLY TILTING PLANET 9-1-15
Larrson, Stieg THE
GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO 1-26-14
Larrson, Stieg THE
GIRL WHO PLAYED WITH FIRE 2-15-14
Larrson, Stieg THE
GIRL WHO KICKED THE HORNET’S NEST 2-26-14
Le Guin, Ursula K. A
WIZARD OF EARTHSEA 9-13-16
Le Guin, Ursula K. THE
TOMBS OF ATUAN 9-16-16
Le Guin, Ursula K. THE
FARTHEST SHORE 9-26-16
Le Guin, Ursula K. SQ 7-4-18
Lee, Harper TO
KILL A MOCKINGBIRD 10-28-15
Lee, Harper GO
SET A WATCHMAN 1-21-16
Legrand, Claire FURYBORN 12-3-18
Lehane, Dennis LIVE
BY NIGHT 9-16-17
Lennon, John IN
HIS OWN WRITE 7-14-19
Lewis, C.S. THE
MAGICIAN’S NEPHEW 2-17-14*
Lewis, C.S. THE
LION, THE WITCH, AND THE WARDROBE 2-24-14*
Lewis, C.S. THE
HORSE AND HIS BOY 3-25-14*
Lewis, C.S. PRINCE
CASPIAN 4-3-19*
Lewis, C.S. THE
VOYAGE OF THE DAWN TREADER 4-15-14*
Lewis, C.S. THE
SILVER CHAIR 4-23-14*
Lewis, C.S. THE
LAST BATTLE 5-5-14*
Liss, David THE
ETHICAL ASSASSIN 2-11-17
Lotz, Sarah MISSING
PERSON 5-2-20
Lowry, Lois THE
GIVER 6-2-20
Lowry, Lois GATHERING
BLUE 6-6-20
Lowry, Lois MESSENGER
6-9-20
Lowry, Lois SON
6-13-20
Lu, Marie WARCROSS
5-6-18
Ludlum, Robert THE
BOURNE IDENTITY 10-17-13 4-10-21*
Ludlum, Robert THE BOURNE SUPREMACY 5-17-21
Mack, Katie THE
END OF EVERYTHING (ASTROPHYSICALLY SPEAKING) 9-3-20
Mandel, Emily St. John THE
GLASS HOTEL 5-19-20
Mangan, Catherine TANGERINE 5-8-21
Martel, Yann LIFE
OF PI 3-9-14
Martel, Yann THE
HIGH MOUNTAINS OF PORTUGAL 11-7-19
Martin, George R.R. A
GAME OF THRONES 7-27-13
Martin, George R.R. A
CLASH OF KINGS 9-25-13
Martin, George R.R. A
STORM OF SWORDS 12-8-13
Martin, George R.R. A
DANCE WITH DRAGONS 2-10-14
Martin, George R.R. FIRE
AND BLOOD 1-14-21
Martin, George R.R. A
SONG OF ICE AND FIRE (1st 5 books) 1-23-21*
Maugham, W. Somerset THE
MAGICIAN 4-4-16
Maugham, W. Somerset THE
RAZOR’S EDGE 1-1-17
Melville, Herman MOBY
DICK 1-17-16
Meyer, Stephenie TWILIGHT
12-25-08, 3-11-21*
Meyer, Stephenie NEW MOON 3-11-21*
Meyer, Stephenie ECLIPSE 3-11-21*
Meyer, Stephenie BREAKING
DAWN 8-23-11, 3-11-21*
Michener, James A. SPACE
10-12-19
Michener, James A. CENTENNIAL
10-31-19
Michener, James A. POLAND
11-19-19
Michener, James A. ALASKA
12-10-19
Michener, James A. THE
SOURCE 1-25-21
Michener, James A. MEXICO 2-6-21
Mitchard, Jacquelyn TWO
IF BY SEA 12-19-19
Mitchell, David CLOUD
ATLAS 3-30-13
Mitchell, David THE
THOUSAND AUTUMNS OF JACOB DE ZOET 1-29-18
Mitchell, David SLADE
HOUSE 11-3-19
Moretti, Kate THE
VANISHING YEAR 10-16-17
Morgenstern, Erin THE
NIGHT CIRCUS 2-22-17
Mukherjee, Siddartha THE
GENE: AN INTIMATE HISTORY 8-13-16
Ng, Celeste LITTLE
FIRES EVERYWHERE 8-27-19
Niven, Larry RINGWORLD
2-2-21
Niven, Larry THE RINGWORLD ENGINEERS 2-25-21
Niven, Larry & Pournelle, Jerry & Flynn, Michael FALLEN ANGELS 6-18-17
Norman, Andy MENTAL IMMUNITY 8-2-21
Oates, Joyce Carol HAZARDS
OF TIME TRAVEL 9-8-19
Olsson, Linda ASTRID
AND VERONIKA 10-28-17
Orwell, George 1984 12-4-14
Orwell, George ANIMAL
FARM 7-8-15
Paolini, Christopher ERAGON 5-21-14*
Paolini, Christopher ELDEST 5-26-14*
Paolini, Christopher BRISINGR 6-20-14
Paolini, Christopher INHERITANCE 7-1-14
Patterson, James THE
THOMAS BARRYMAN NUMBER 1-24-16
Patterson, James ALONG
CAME A SPIDER 1-19-16
Patterson, James SEASON
OF THE MACHETE 2-5-1
Patterson, James MAXIMUM
RIDE: THE ANGEL EXPERIMENT 3-8-16
Patterson, James 1ST
TO DIE 3-19-16
Patterson, James 2ND
CHANCE 5-14-16
Patterson, James 3rd
DEGREE 6-9-16
Patterson, James & Paetro, Maxine 4TH OF JULY 3-4-21*
Patterson, James & Paetro, Maxine THE 5TH HORSEMAN 8-1-16
Patterson, James & Paetro, Maxine THE 6TH TARGET 9-8-16
Patterson, James & Paetro, Maxine 7TH HEAVEN 10-11-16
Patterson, James & Paetro, Maxine THE 8TH CONFESSION 11-9-16
Patterson, James & Paetro, Maxine THE 9TH JUDGMENT 12-9-16
Patterson, James & Paetro, Maxine 10TH ANNIVERSARY 1-14-17
Patterson, James & Paetro, Maxine 11TH HOUR 2-7-17
Patterson, James & Paetro, Maxine THE 12TH OF NEVER 4-16-17
Pavone, Chris THE
TRAVELERS 7-7-18
Peet, Mal TAMAR
12-4-17
Percy, Benjamin RED
MOON 3-28-17
Peretti, Frank THE
OATH 3-4-17
Peters, Elizabeth A
RIVER IN THE SKY 12-13-18
Philbrick, Nathaniel THE
LAST STAND 6-24-17
Powell, John HOW MUSIC WORKS 7-22-21
Pullman, Philip HIS
DARK MATERIALS trilogy 10-18-15*
Pullman, Philip HIS
DARK MATERIALS trilogy 6-26-09
Pynchon, Thomas GRAVITY’S
RAINBOW 7-29-17
Quinn, Spencer THE
RIGHT SIDE 7-21-18
Rand, Ayn ATLAS
SHRUGGED 2-3-18
Remarque, Erich Maria ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT 5-22-21
Rendell, Ruth PORTOBELLO 9-2-16
Rendell, Ruth THE
CROCODILE BIRD 9-10-16
Rendell, Ruth FROM
DOON WITH DEATH 9-22-16
Rendell, Ruth GALLOWGLASS 10-1-16
Rendell, Ruth SINS
OF THE FATHER 10-8-16
Rendell, Ruth 13
STEPS DOWN 10-19-16
Rendell, Ruth WOLF
TO THE SLAUGHTER 10-22-16
Rendell, Ruth THE
BEST MAN TO DIE 11-12-16
Rendell, Ruth MASTER
OF THE MOOR 3-10-20
Rendell, Ruth A
GUILTY THING SURPRISED 3-14-20
Rendell, Ruth THE GIRL NEXT DOOR 3-29-21
Richards, Keith LIFE 11-24-13
Riordan, Rick PERCY
JACKSON AND THE OLYMPIANS: THE LIGHTNING THIEF 2-26-10
Robb, JD (Nora Roberts) THANKLESS
IN DEATH 12-9-14
Robinson, Marilynne GILEAD
6-8-19
Rooney, Kathleen LILLIAN
BOXFISH TAKES A WALK 8-3-17
Roth, Philip EXIT
GHOST 9-9-15
Roth, Philip INDIGNATION
8-12-18
Roth, Veronica DIVERGENT 2-19-14
Roth, Veronica INSURGENT 3-2-14
Roth, Veronica ALLEGIANT 3-12-14
Rowling, J.K. THE
CASUAL VACANCY 12-2-17
Rowling, J.K. THE
CUCKOO’S CALLING 12-16-17
Rowling, J.K., Thorne, Jack & Tiffany, John HARRY POTTER AND THE CURSED
CHILD 8-28-16
Saint-Exupéry, Antoine de THE LITTLE PRINCE 6-3-21
Sanderson, Brandon MISTBORN:
THE FINAL EMPIRE 7-18-14
Sanderson, Brandon THE
WELL OF ASCENSION 8-21-14
Sanderson, Brandon THE
HERO OF AGES 10-4-14
Sanderson, Brandon THE
ALLOY OF LAW 11-11-14
Sanderson, Brandon THE
WAY OF KINGS 10-9-15
Sanderson, Brandon WORDS
OF RADIANCE 12-12-15
Sanderson, Brandon SHADOWS
OF SELF 7-26-18
Sanderson, Brandon THE
BANDS OF MOURNING 8-18-18
Sanderson, Brandon THE
RITHMATIST 9-3-18
Sanderson, Brandon OATHBRINGER
11-10-18
Sandford, John GATHERING
PREY 1-10-17
Sandra Brown MEAN
STREAK 8-6-18
Scott, Sir Walter IVANHOE 10-11-15
Semple, Maria TODAY
WILL BE DIFFERENT 2-27-17
Shaffer, Andrew HOPE
NEVER DIES 9-17-19
Shakespeare, William HAMLET
7-11-20
Silva, Daniel PORTRAIT
OF A SPY 3-7-17
Simak, Clifford CITY
3-24-18
Simak, Clifford WAY
STATION 2-18-20
Simak, Clifford OUT
OF THEIR MINDS 2-23-20
Simak, Clifford EMPIRE
12-29-20
Simmons, Dan DROOD 12-3-16
Simmons, Dan HYPERION 12-21-16
Simmons, Dan THE
FALL OF HYPERION 2-18-17
Simmons, Dan ENDYMION 4-2-17
Simmons, Dan THE
RISE OF ENDYMION 5-7-17
Simmons, Dan THE TERROR 6-26-21
Steinbeck, John OF
MICE AND MEN 8-23-15
Steinbeck, John THE
GRAPES OF WRATH 7-2-20
Steinbeck, John CANNERY
ROW 7-4-20
Steinbeck, John THE
PEARL 7-7-20*
Steinbeck, John EAST
OF EDEN 8-30-20
Stevens, Courtney C. FOUR
THREE TWO ONE 6-29-19
Stewart, Ian LETTERS
TO A YOUNG MATHEMATICIAN 7-21-15
Sturgeon, Theodore THE
DREAMING JEWELS 10-15-19
Swift, Jonathan GULLIVER’S
TRAVELS 4-25-15
Tartt, Donna THE
GOLDFINCH 5-1-14
Tartt, Donna THE
LITTLE FRIEND 1-18-20
Thackeray, William Makepeace VANITY
FAIR 7-30-16
Thomas, Matthew WE
ARE NOT OURSELVES 9-24-18
Tolstoy, Leo WAR
AND PEACE 8-14-14
Tolstoy, Leo ANNA
KARENINA 10-26-14
Tremblay, Paul G. A
HEAD FULL OF GHOSTS 6-10-19
Twain, Mark A
CONNECTICUT YANKEE IN KING ARTHUR’S COURT 2-2-19
Twain, Mark THE
ADVENTURES OF TOM SAWYER 2-7-19
Twain, Mark THE ADVENTURES OF HUCKLEBERRY
FINN 2-23-19
Tyson, Neil deGrasse ASTROPHYSICS
FOR PEOPLE IN A HURRY 10-3-17
Tyson, Neil deGrasse & Trefil, James COSMIC QUERIES 7-29-21
Updike, John RABBIT,
RUN 9-22-15
Van Allsburg, Chris JUMANJI 4-13-21
Verne, Jules THE
MYSTERIOUS ISLAND 6-24-15
Vinge, Vernor A
FIRE UPON THE DEEP 9-16-15
Voltaire CANDIDE 6-21-15
Vonnegut, Kurt SLAUGHTERHOUSE-FIVE 7-22-17
Vonnegut, Kurt BREAKFAST
OF CHAMPIONS 6-10-18
Vonnegut, Kurt CAT’S
CRADLE 9-27-20
Vonnegut, Kurt WELCOME
TO THE MONKEY HOUSE (collection) 10-4-20
Walker, Karen Thompson THE
AGE OF MIRACLES 8-5-17
Weeks, Brent THE
BLACK PRISM 9-9-18
Weeks, Brent THE
BLINDING KNIFE 9-29-18
Wells, H.G. THE
INVISIBLE MAN 6-7-15
Wharton, Edith ETHAN
FROMME 4-29-15
Wilde, Oscar THE
PICTURE OF DORIAN GRAY 10-5-16
Wilhelm, Kate WHERE LATE THE SWEET BIRDS SANG 7-15-21
Williams, Beatriz & Willig, Lauren & White, Karen THE GLASS OCEAN 11-23-19
Williams, Tad SHADOWPLAY 12-18-14
Williams, Tad
SHADOWRISE 1-28-15
Williams, Tad SHADOWHEART 2-28-15
Williams, Tad OTHERLAND:
CITY OF GOLDEN SHADOW 12-4-17*
Williams, Tad OTHERLAND:
RIVER OF BLUE FIRE 1-13-18
Williams, Tad OTHERLAND:
MOUNTAIN OF BLACK GLASS 2-17-18*
Williams, Tad OTHERLAND:
SEA OF SILVER LIGHT 2-17-18*
Wolfe, Tom THE
BONFIRE OF THE VANITIES 2-16
Woodward, Bob FEAR
5-16-19
Wyndham, John THE
DAY OF THE TRIFFIDS 7-2-17
Young, William P. THE
SHACK 12-12-08
Zusak, Markus THE
BOOK THIEF 7-19-20