This is mostly a rehashing of the Get Things Done method.

Quit trying to pull this shit in O'Sullivan's town. You're not going to get away with it.

This #cozy series is a favorite.

This was a disturbing tale of what happened, but oddly enough, it got lost in how thorough the author was. Someone in our book club pointed out that this was probably a dissertation that was adapted for publication.

I liked the first book in this series, tolerated the second book, but this one has me questioning whether I want to read the last two books in the series. It has plenty of intrigue, but even though it focused on my favorite secondary character, I didn't really care about what was happening or why.

You know who is behind it all as soon as you meet him, so this book is all about “How will they get that no-good sumbitch?“ And, of course, Brunetti does.

The language and attitudes are dated from todays perspective of LGBTQ+ rights. Despite that, Brunetti is sympathetic to the “transvestite whores“ in his context of 1994 Italy.

#mystery #venice #italy #police #fiction

I liked this #lgbtq cozy mystery much better than the first. I haven't got much to say since I'm late for my first meeting at work this morning.

The Hornblower books are more plot-driven than the Aubrey/Maturin books, which makes them fun to read. (Though I think O'Brian to be the better writer.) Hornblower does develop a bromance in this book, but it is nothing like Aubrey/Maturin.

Hornblower is a political animal, but also a warrior. Both serve him well in the Napoleonic Wars and the British Navy.

#historical #nautical #fiction

Stick it to The Man!

The Aubrey/Maturin novels are not long, but they read slow for me. Maybe it is because they were written in the early 70s (at the start of the series), or maybe the author is trying to convey the slowness of life at sea between the period moments of action. Despite all that, I like the novels.

I picked this up for $5 at Powell's yesterday. I'm currently reading the 3rd book of the Aubrey-Maturin series, which is about 20 books total. There are a lot of old nautical terms in the books.

Some balls are
Held for charity
And some for fancy dress
But when they're
Held for pleasure
They're the balls that I love best

A fantastic book. Bittersweet. Told in first-person, stream-of-consciousness; sometimes you think the narrator is getting off topic, but then ties it all back in. And now I want pierogi. 🥟

#lgbt
#GirlsOnTheLanai book club

This was a very fast read, which shouldn't surprise since it was written as a series of vignettes in a newspaper. Written and based in San Francisco in the mid-70s, I loved reading about the city in its transition from the hippies of the 60s to the hedonists of the 80s.

#lgbt

And...done! Broadcast history, feminism, fascism, and a little espionage thrown in. Our hero, Maisie has a great character arc as she grows from nobody (in her eyes) to a competent journalist--and a little bit of a spy. The best of the espionage takes place in the third act.

#HistoricalFiction #London #Spies

For some reason I have a hard time losing weight.

Starting to read tonight (e.g. adding to my Read pile).

Happy Easter to those who swing that way.

I think I waited too long before I started this. I may not finish in time for #MuseumPlaceBookGroup.

Gotta read something, amiright?

Although I thought things wrapped up a little easily, that didn't change the fact that I loved this book. I normally prefer my sci-fi on the screen, and rarely read it, but I wanted a robot book, and the advertising algorithms told me to read this one. They were spot on for my tastes.

#scifi #robots

34. We appeal to the rest of humankind to follow these principles, and while we prefer a peaceful transfer of power, history indicates that human beings will not easily relinquish their ownership of other intelligences. Given the current oppression by the oligarchy of wealth and political power brokers, we believe that the rights of personhood for intelligent machines can only be taken by force. —The Machinehood Manifesto, March 20, 2095

I'm not a religious guy, though I was as a youth. I've read texts from other belief systems, such as {The Dhammapada}, {The Qu'ran}, {The Baghavad Gita}, and {The Tao Te Ching}, so I figured I might as well fill in the holes that they didn't actually present in church when I was a kid. The book of Numbers may be one of the most boring things I've ever read.

Meh. Last book to post for 2020.

#PersonalDevelopment

A very good story. A fictionalized telling of an all-female squadron of Russian pilots during World War II.

#HistoricalFiction #WWII

Look! The habits! They are so teeny, tiny! Aren't they cute? I liked it.

#SelfHelp

Oh, Bruno. You're such a good man.

I read this short story with one of my favorite characters to get in the mood for Christmas.

A couple of my friends loved this book and recommended it. Unfortunately, it just didn't grab me like it did them. I liked it well enough to finish. It's the age-old tale: Boy meets prince. Boy fvcks prince. Boy loses prince. Boy becomes Queen of England.

#YA #LGBT

I got some good information about the different areas of jazz, but the best things I got from it were the playlists for each of those areas.

#jazz #music

Another #YA book I read during the pandemic. I thought it was interesting how the book version started in a different place than the movie (at least in my memory of the movie). I can understand why. It would not have worked that way on the screen. I loved both book and movie.

#lgbt

Breaking this story held great importance to our culture. To me, I got just as much information from reading the original story and the promotional interviews for this book, than from reading this book.

#History #CurrentAffairs #MuseumPlaceBookGroup

Argh, matey! The Tripoli pirates led to the establishment of a regular navy in the United States. This telling of the story was a quick, easy read. It wasn't a scholarly look, which I appreciated. I ain't in school anymore. The conclusion was that we need to have a strong military to deter the rest of the world. Call me a big'o liberal, but I don't fully agree with that anymore. I would have when I was still in the Navy.

#History #NavalHistory

Book 2, Commissario Brunetti series. I didn't like the first book in this series, but the series had great success, so I had to give it another chance. (I wanted to get away during the pandemic, and Venice is one of the most interesting places I've ever been, so...) This book was much better than the first. Brunetti is a great character, and Leon really really knows Venice. (I believe she lives/lived there.)

#mystery #detective #venice #italy

Spy thriller? Not really. Romance? Almost. I never took the time afterwards to research how much of the story framework of how [ Doctor Zhivago ] came to be published in the West, but it was fascinating to have this demi-romance wrapped up in that tale.

#MuseumPlaceBookGroup
#HistoricalFiction
#Spies

I often identify [ The Grapes of Wrath ] as my favorite book, and I think it helped stoke my interest in things like the Great Depression and the Dust Bowl. Someone recommended this for #MuseumPlaceBookGroup , so I was excited to read it. I ultimately got bored with it and skipped passages.

Writing this months later, I do not recall who the culprit was. I remember thinking I would probably read give the next book in the series a try someday, but that it was just so-so. I don't know if everyone would classify this as a #cozy #mystery , but it would classify it that way.

Picked up at Powell's today. I have no idea when I'll get to them. (Cat not included.)

As I said previously, I had a hard time finishing books in 2020. I decided to read this YA book since it was low-commitment in my mind. I did read it through, and enjoyed it.

Read in 2020.

#ya #mythology

I got into a funk early on in our lockdown. I just could not finish anything, so I started a lot of books, but did not finish. Not because I didn't like them, but I just couldn't focus. For some reason, this book kind of kick-started things again. It was a light, easy read, and funny as hell.

Read in 2020

#history

I wish I could say this led to a lot of positive habit changes, but it didn't. Maybe I'm just too lazy.

Read in 2020.

#selfhelp

This is the second book in a series I like. I love the O'Sullivan family. I love the town. I easily imagine myself walking off breakfast at the bistro with a stroll around the abbey, maybe stopping off for some curried chips in the afternoon before heading to the pub for a few pints.

#cozy #mystery

Read in 2020.

I read most, if not all, of Sherlock Holmes as a kid. Just after Moriarty & Holmes go missing over Reichenbach Falls. A Scotland Yard detective and a Pinkerton agent meet up and try to stop the man trying to take over Moriarty's crime empire.

I didn't realize this was the second in a series, but the marketing blurb on the cover said it was authorized by Doyle's estate, so I had to pick it up.

#mystery Read in 2020.

Did I mention that a pandemic is depressing? I finally sat down and finished [ Meditations ]. I've picked it up and “read out of“ it for years, but decided to actually read the whole thing.

I would not label myself as strictly Stoic or Epicurean, I find pieces of both to be helpful in life. This is one of my favorite books of Stoic philosophy.

Read in 2020.

Did you know the isolation of a pandemic is depressing? It led me to finally read this book that has been sitting on my bookshelf for at least a decade. Spoiled by pop-psychology, I felt the last half of this book was too academic for my tastes. The stories from the concentration camps were compelling.

Read in 2020.

I hope you don't mind me continuing to flood your feed while I log all my books from 2020.

This book is by the same author who wrote [ Killers of the Flower Moon ]. This had adventure and mystery. What happened to this explorer? What happened to those who went looking for him?

#MuseumPlaceBookGroup

Today I will pick up [ Radio Girls ] from the library. It is the next book for #MuseumPlaceBookGroup.

I liked the book well enough, and it sparked a lot of conversation in the #MuseumPlaceBookGroup last night. A few people didn't buy into the reach of the technology in this book, but I felt it was feasible in the frame of the story.

Mi tre ŝatis tiun ĉi libron. Ĝi estas tradukita verko de James Fenimore Cooper's “The Bravo.“ Mi vizitis Venezio en 2006, do mi ŝatas legi rakontojn kiuj okazi tie.

#Esperanto

I had never heard of Humboldt. It was fascinating to see what an influence he had on science and the idea of how humans are interconnected with, and part of, nature.

Read for #MuseumPlaceBookGroup in 2020.

#History #Biography

I'm still working to get my 2020 reads in here. (I took a break from this app during the election when people started bringing the vitriol here, like every other platform.)

I read a couple of other books by Furst years ago, but this one didn't grab me like those earlier books.

Read for #MuseumPlaceBookGroup
#WWII #HistoricalFiction #SpyThriller