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The_Penniless_Author

The_Penniless_Author

Joined October 2020

Author of four books, including TRUE NORTH and MEMOIR OF A DOOMSDAY PROPHET. https://www.facebook.com/randall.devallance.author
review
The_Penniless_Author
Fraud | Anita Brookner
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Pickpick

One sign of a great writer is that they can violate all the so-called rules of good writing with impunity. This is the second Anita Brookner novel I've read now, and I'm hard-pressed to think of another writer who does so much telling (about her characters' personalities and thought processes) in relation to showing, but it's so nuanced and well-observed that I immediately feel like I know and sympathize with these lonely introverts.

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The_Penniless_Author
Absolute Beginners | Colin MacInnes
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Pickpick

A guided tour through London's burgeoning teenage scene and the beginnings of mod culture set against the backdrop of the 1958 Notting Hill race riots. I can't speak to the accuracy of his depiction, but I can say that he perfectly captures what it's like to be a teenager, waking up to the world around oneself and coming into one's own. It's a fast-paced book, crackling with energy. I buzzed right through it in two days.

Ruthiella Another Backlisted episode recommendation! 😉 3w
The_Penniless_Author @Ruthiella And now I'm reading Anita Brookner. 😆 3w
Leftcoastzen I read it a long time ago but remember loving it. 3w
36 likes1 stack add3 comments
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The_Penniless_Author
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#TLT @dabbe

55 out of 73. I didn't realize "pie crust" was a standalone item at some people's Thanksgiving dinners. ?

My three favorites have to be the classics:

? Turkey
? Stuffing
? Mashed potatoes

Of course, it's all down to how they're made and who's making them. My single favorite thing is probably my wife's roasted Brussels sprouts with bacon and maple glaze. ?

TheBookHippie And now I want those brussel sprouts!!! Yummmmm. 3w
dabbe @TheBookHippie Same here! Funny about the pie crust ... if I have any left over, I do twirl it and make cinnamon crisps for breakfast. Does that sort of count? Thanks for playing and sharing! 💛🤎🧡 3w
31 likes2 comments
review
The_Penniless_Author
All The Devils Are Here | David Seabrook
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Pickpick

Like seemingly everyone else, I found out about this book through the (excellent) podcast, Backlisted. It was every bit as strange and compelling as they described it, like a walking tour of Kent directed by David Lynch, covering two centuries' worth of murder, depravity, and madness. In my experience there are few places with such sinister vibes as a decaying seaside town, and this book captures that feeling in spades.

Ruthiella I remember listening to that very episode. 4w
The_Penniless_Author @Ruthiella I think my entire TBR at this point is either Backlisted recommendations or my NYRB monthly book club selections. 3w
36 likes2 comments
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The_Penniless_Author
Riddley Walker | Russell Hoban
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Pickpick

The best book I've read all year. A second Book of Genesis cobbled together from scraps of Bible verse, western mythology, parables, art history, and pop culture left over after a nuclear holocaust sent human civilization back to the Stone Age some 2,400 years in the past. Profound, moving, funny, and utterly unique. I imagine I'll be re-reading this for years to come.

BarbaraBB That‘s quite the recommendation 🤩 1mo
Bookwomble It's a fantastic book. I loved this one. 1mo
43 likes1 stack add2 comments
review
The_Penniless_Author
Fire | George R Stewart
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Mehso-so

On the plus side, Stewart writes about plants and animals and the ever-shifting yet timeless nature of the landscape with a simple grace that's almost poetic at times. Unfortunately, such passages are immediately followed by characters and dialogue as wooden as anything you'd find in Highlights magazine. Would love to read some straightforward, nonfiction nature writing from him, but this one just didn't hold my attention.

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The_Penniless_Author
Erasure: A Novel | Percival Everett
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Pickpick

Distracting myself from my increasing sense of doom by mixing in some reading with my election viewing. This is my first Percival Everett, and I love it just as much as I thought I would. If nothing else, maybe tonight has given me a new favorite author (a pretty thin silver lining, admittedly 😕).

BarbaraBB He can very well turn into a favorite author but that doom is real. I am terrified 1mo
The_Penniless_Author @BarbaraJean Honestly, it's over. I'm not even anxious anymore, just depressed. He'll win Pennsylvania soon, and that will be that. 1mo
Leftcoastzen Tragic 1mo
55 likes1 stack add3 comments
review
The_Penniless_Author
Loser | Thomas Bernhard
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Pickpick

A 170-page unbroken paragraph composed of a would-be piano virtuoso's obsessive, paranoid reflections on his former friends and fellow students - Wertheimer, now dead by suicide, and the great Glenn Gould, whose genius sent the others' lives into a tailspin (all three of whom are really different aspects of Bernhard himself). Venomous, funny, and formalistically daring, this was not an easy read by any means but well worth the effort.

RaeLovesToRead If you like unbroken paragraphs, have I got a book for you... 3w
26 likes1 comment
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The_Penniless_Author
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#TLT @dabbe

Only 9 out of 100. There were a few authors I'd read, just not the listed book, and a few movie adaptations I've seen that could have boosted my score. Still, it included three of my favorite books of all time:

📘 Crime and Punishment
📕 The Spy Who Came In From the Cold
📗 The Long Good-Bye

dabbe Have you read THE BROTHERS KARAMAZOV? That book was torture for me. Should I give CRIME a go? Thanks for playing and sharing! 🖤🎃🖤 1mo
The_Penniless_Author @dabbe Yes! Dostoevsky was my first "favorite author" back in high school, so I've read nearly everything he's written. I would definitely recommend C&P. It's the most accessible of his books. At root, it's a psychological thriller, albeit with philosophical/religious overtone. 1mo
dabbe @The_Penniless_Author Now on the TBR! Thanks! 🤩 1mo
24 likes3 comments
review
The_Penniless_Author
The Pornographer | John McGahern
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Pickpick

A deceptively sophisticated book about unrequited love, self-sacrifice, and the seemingly impossible task of trying to be true to oneself while doing right by others and becoming part of a community. The protagonist is a smut writer dealing with the impending death of a beloved aunt on the one hand and birth of an unwanted child on the other. Full of fantastic dialogue and insightful observations that feel wholly organic, never forced or tacked-on

32 likes2 stack adds
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The_Penniless_Author
Cheap Thrills | Ron Goulart
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#TLT @dabbe

62 out of 100, way more than all my previous ones. So many of my favorite movies are on this list, too many to choose just three. I also see they've stretched the definition of "thriller" to the breaking point. So in that spirit, here are my top 3 movies that are absolutely NOT thrillers:

? Titanic
? The Wizard of Oz
? E.T.

Tag @RaeLovesToRead @MegaWhoppingCosmicBookwyrm @CBee @Ruthiella @IndoorDame

RaeLovesToRead I love that you love Titanic 🤣🤣💕 2mo
RaeLovesToRead Near.... faaaaarrrr.... wherevvvver you are. I believvvve that the heart does..... go oooonn 2mo
Ruthiella Thanks for the tag. 😊 2mo
See All 9 Comments
The_Penniless_Author @RaeLovesToRead I don't think you actually read what my list was. 😂 2mo
The_Penniless_Author @RaeLovesToRead I suppose someone who adds a half-dozen books to her collection every day has to do a lot of light skimming. 😄 2mo
dabbe AFI definitely stretched the definition of “thriller“, didn't they? 😂 Thanks for playing and sharing. 🖤🧡🖤 2mo
RaeLovesToRead I read it several times. Top non-thriller movies on the list?? 2mo
The_Penniless_Author @RaeLovesToRead No! ? The three movies that least meet the definition of "thriller". 2mo
The_Penniless_Author @RaeLovesToRead Trust me, Titanic would never make any list of things I like. (And I should be predisposed to like it, given that I first saw it on a movie date with a girl I used to work with, but even then it was 🤮😂). 2mo
25 likes9 comments
review
The_Penniless_Author
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Pickpick

This book melted my brain. I can't claim I fully grasped everything Campo laid out in these essays, even after multiple readings. Attention is good, imagination bad. The Gospels, (true) poetry, and fairy tales are good, realist fiction and contemporary are bad. Virtue can only be found in an ascetic, hermetic lifestyle. I'm not sure I can wholeheartedly endorse a worldview that dismisses the Renaissance as a "universal disaster", but I have...?

The_Penniless_Author ...to admit that a lot of what she argues rings true, even when I found myself having an immediate and visceral reaction against it. Whatever else Campo is, she's a genius. I wouldn't say this is an "enjoyable" book (not in a million years), yet I guarantee I'll still be thinking about it long after I put it down. 2mo
The_Penniless_Author I should also mention that Campo writes some incredible sentences. The strength of her opinions lies heavily in the quality of her writing. I'm continually shocked to find myself being persuaded that the correct course in life is to drop out altogether, move to the desert, and become an anchorite Catholic monk. 😂 2mo
The_Penniless_Author I also feel compelled to add that Campo is kind of a whack job and believes that illness has its roots in spiritual decay and asserts - sincerely, by all appearances - that "wild creatures do not usually attack children" because children are "the saint's model". ? You can see her slipping further into religious fundamentalism as the book progresses, and even her excellent writing can't save her from becoming tedious by the end. 2mo
35 likes1 stack add3 comments
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The_Penniless_Author
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#FirstLineFridays @ShyBookOwl

To accuse the French fabulists of frivolity because they adorned their fairies with a handful of ostrich feathers is to "have sight and not perception."

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The_Penniless_Author
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@TLT Thanks for the tag @dabbe !

33 out of 100. Given how many there were that I'd heard of but haven't yet watched, I think this time I'll go with my "Top 3 I was surprised to realize I haven't actually seen":

? Silkwood
? The Stepford Wives
? Texas Chainsaw Massacre

dabbe #ditto! I have quite a movie list going! Thanks for playing and sharing! 🖤🧡🖤 2mo
21 likes1 comment
review
The_Penniless_Author
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Pickpick

I rarely read nonfiction these days, but this was the perfect book to get me back into it - a popular history of everything, from the beginnings of the universe through Earth's formation and the appearance of life right up until the present day, told through a series of mind-boggling facts and statistics that had me following my poor family around saying, "Did you know...?" incessantly for the past two weeks. ?

35 likes2 stack adds
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The_Penniless_Author
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#FirstLineFridays @ShyBookOwl

No matter how hard you try you will never be able to grasp just how tiny, how spatially unassuming, is a proton.

32 likes2 stack adds
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The_Penniless_Author
Thrill! | Jackie Collins
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#TLT @dabbe

28 out of 100. That includes a few movies I've only seen part of, but I need to pad my numbers somehow. 😀

Three faves:

🎬 I'm not sure how anyone could classify The Karate Kid as a thriller, but I watched it so many times as a kid that I have it memorized beginning to end.
🎬 The Hustler
🎬 The Postman Always Rings Twice

Tag @RaeLovesToRead @CBee @MegaWhoppingCosmicBookwyrm @Ruthiella @IndoorDame @Yuki_Onna

Yuki_Onna Thanks for the tag, Randall! 😺I'm always rubbish with those! 😅 2mo
dabbe I guess some of them are more action than thrills/scares. 🖤 THE KARATE KID, too! Thanks for playing and sharing! 🧡🖤🧡 2mo
22 likes2 comments
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The_Penniless_Author
Thrillville, USA: Stories | Taylor Koekkoek
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##TLT @dabbe

31 out of 100. Guess I don't have the most thrilling viewing habits.

Three from the list I've been meaning to watch but haven't yet:

🎬 Cat People
🎬 The Asphalt Jungle
🎬 The Big Clock

Tag: @RaeLovesToRead @MegaWhoppingCosmicBookwyrm @CBee @Ruthiella @IndoorDame

Ruthiella Thanks for the tag. 😊 2mo
RaeLovesToRead Haha, I can confidently say without clicking on this that I will barely have seen any 🤣🤣🤣 2mo
RaeLovesToRead Having taken the survey. 5. Yes. Five. 2mo
See All 10 Comments
The_Penniless_Author @RaeLovesToRead Yeah, I'd say 5 equals "barely any". ? 2mo
RaeLovesToRead I'm not even 100% sure I've seen Aliens... 2mo
dabbe @RaeLovesToRead You still saw some! Thanks for playing and sharing! 🖤🎃🖤 2mo
dabbe I love THE BIG CLOCK! Charles Laughton is sooooo good! Thanks for playing and sharing! 🖤🎃🖤 2mo
The_Penniless_Author @dabbe He's good in everything. Even the one movie he wrote and directed (Night of the Hunter) is great. 2mo
dabbe @The_Penniless_Author I also love he and his wife together in WITNESS FOR THE PROSECUTION. My students read that when we did a big detective unit, and their reward was that movie. They LOVED it! Oh, and she was fantastic in THE BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN, too--another one on this list! 2mo
29 likes10 comments
review
The_Penniless_Author
Lightning Rods | Helen Dewitt
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Pickpick

An ex-salesman comes up with a creative solution for dealing with sexual harassment in the workplace. The juxtaposition of using such banal business/self-improvement jargon to describe such an outlandish idea really worked for me. DeWitt is a funny writer and great at conveying the gap between how people see themselves and how they actually think and behave.

rwmg I loved \“The Last Samurai\“. I didn\'t know she\'d written another one. 3mo
43 likes4 stack adds1 comment
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The_Penniless_Author
Lightning Rods | Helen Dewitt
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#FirstLineFridays @ShyBookOwl

One way of looking at it is that it was just an unfortunate by-product of Hurricane Edna.

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The_Penniless_Author
Banned Books Club | Brenda Novak
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#TLT @dabbe

Only got 12% (26 out of 211). I'd say that I need to start working on this list, but I'll probably just wait for a schoolboard to ban something I'm already reading. ?

Weirdest bans:

? The Bible: "Jesus was a commie!"
? Diary of Anne Frank/1984/Brave New World: "Let's give fascism a fair shake!"
? Nickel and Dimed: "How dare you besmirch the good name of the 1996 welfare reform act!"
? Where's Waldo: "He's not! It's a scam!"

IndoorDame 💯 agree about where‘s Waldo!!! That was so bizarre!!!! 3mo
CBee I had no idea that Where‘s Waldo was banned - that makes me want to burrow under a rock and never come out 😂😩🤪 3mo
See All 17 Comments
The_Penniless_Author @IndoorDame @CBee I love the idea that it's because a majority of schoolboard members couldn't find him, but I'm guessing it's far dumber than that. 3mo
CBee @The_Penniless_Author I mean, sometimes I couldn‘t find him either, but you eventually do. It takes something called patience, which I doubt these ridiculous book banners have an abundance of 🙄 3mo
RaeLovesToRead 32 (15%) woo 3mo
RaeLovesToRead Bone is a weird one. Wholesome 3mo
RaeLovesToRead I think it was banned because one of the MCs plays poker and smokes 🤣 3mo
Ruthiella I‘ve read 50 which puts me at 24%. Apparently Waldo was challenged because in one illustration where Waldo is somewhere on a beach, a woman‘s breast is exposed. 3mo
The_Penniless_Author @Ruthiella Ah, so Waldo's in southern Europe. Mystery solved! 😂 3mo
dabbe @Ruthiella And again I say 😱😱😂 ... seriously, people! 3mo
dabbe @The_Penniless_Author Now THAT\'s funny! 😂😂😂 3mo
dabbe Quite the list, isn\'t it? I couldn\'t believe some of it as I was putting it together. I think the really interesting statistic to know would be of all the people who challenged a book, DID THEY ACTUALLY READ THE DAMN THING? Thanks for playing and sharing! 🧡🍁🧡 3mo
The_Penniless_Author @dabbe Have they actually read anything? 😆 Adding a special 👎 for banning my favorite book, Slaughterhouse Five. 😡 3mo
dabbe @The_Penniless_Author When our school board was deciding whether or not to ban SO YOU\'VE BEEN PUBLICLY SHAMED, one of the board members said, \“Well, I haven\'t actually read the book, but if Dr. Bales (the Superintendent) thinks we should ban this book, then I agree. 😳 What the hell did we vote her in for? The absolute lack of diligence is stultifying. 3mo
CBee @dabbe you just taught me a new word - stultifying 👏🏻👏🏻 thanks! 🤓 3mo
dabbe @CBee 🤩😂😘 3mo
38 likes17 comments
review
The_Penniless_Author
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Pickpick

A collection of Vonnegut's previously published short stories that were not included in Welcome to the Monkey House. Like most short story collections, the quality varies - a few were truly excellent, most good, and a few "meh". As a document of a writer in the process of finding himself, I would highly recommend it. It was cool to see so many of the elements of his later novels popping up here in fits and starts.

37 likes2 stack adds
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The_Penniless_Author
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#TLT @dabbe

42 out of 50. Hard to choose three (though not as hard as the villains list), but here goes:

1. Rick Blaine (Casablanca)
2. Philip Marlowe (The Big Sleep)
3. Marge Gunderson (Fargo)

Honorable mention to Han Solo, George Bailey, and probably half a dozen others who just missed the cut.

Tag @RaeLovesToRead @MegaWhoppingCosmicBookwyrm @CBee @Yuki_Onna

RaeLovesToRead 7....... wow. You are correct in that you have to give me cultural info 🤣🤣🤣 Ripley is the standout on this list, for sure. 3mo
dabbe My #1 fave actor is Humphrey Bogart. I think we have something in common! Thanks for playing, sharing, and tagging! 🤩🤩🤩 3mo
33 likes2 comments
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The_Penniless_Author
Eve's Hollywood | Eve Babitz
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#wondrouswednesday @Eggs

Thanks for the tag @Yuki_Onna ✋️

1. Not much competition given my current reading rate, but really enjoyed this one.

2. Paper!

3. Literary Fiction

Eggs Thx for joining in🥳 3mo
29 likes1 comment
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The_Penniless_Author
Meet Me at the Museum | Anne Youngson
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#Two4Tuesday @TheSpineView

1. I've been to my share of world-famous museums, but for my money none are as enjoyable as the Corning Museum of Glass. I never get tired of visiting.

2. Nothing was coming to me, so had to cheat and google something.

Tag @RaeLovesToRead @IuliaC @CBee @dabbe

TheSpineView I've never been to the glass museum. I've heard it is fabulous. Thanks for playing 3mo
RaeLovesToRead I loved your glass museum pictures!!!!! I want to go and visit 3mo
The_Penniless_Author @TheSpineView @RaeLovesToRead It's pretty amazing. You can barely turn around without coming across something breathtaking. Plus they constantly have demonstrations going on with both in-house apprentices and visiting artists, and you can even make your own ornaments. Best of all, the tickets are good for two days, and you can tack on admission to the Rockwell Museum of American Art that's a couple blocks away. How's that for a sales pitch? 😅 3mo
See All 6 Comments
dabbe Will do; thanks for the tag! 🤩 3mo
TheSpineView @The_Penniless_Author I really need to go! 3mo
Susanita Yes that‘s a cool museum. 3mo
29 likes6 comments
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The_Penniless_Author
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#TLT @dabbe

42 out of 50. I think this was my favorite list yet as far as how good the choices were.

😈 Thrilled to see Rev. Harry Powell on here. Night of the Hunter is one of all-time favorite movies.
👹 Ditto for Harry Lime and The Third Man
👺 Ditto for Angela Lansbury and The Manchurian Candidate

All that said, let's face it - Darth Vader would annihilate everyone else on this list. 😂

Tag @RaeLovesToRead @MegaWhoppingCosmicBookwyrm

The_Penniless_Author So many great movies on here - Taxi Driver, Clockwork Orange, Godfather II, etc. (Even if I wouldn't call all of their protagonists "villains", necessarily.) 3mo
Cuilin Darth Vader? Agreed!!! 3mo
MegaWhoppingCosmicBookwyrm Oooh! I love villains! Should do alright with this one. 🤞 3mo
dabbe If I'd chosen my faves instead of ones that were left off the list, I probably would have chosen all of yours! Thanks for playing and sharing! 🩶🧡🩶 3mo
RaeLovesToRead 1) Grüber 2) Grüber 3) Alien or Grüber 3mo
31 likes5 comments
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The_Penniless_Author
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#TLT @dabbe

Boy, did that gut my previous score! All the way down to 43/100.

Let's do 3 favorite movies from the list:

1. Casablanca
2. Wizard of Oz
3. Do the Right Thing

Tag @RaeLovesToRead @MegaWhoppingCosmicBookwyrm @Ruthiella @Yuki_Onna @aa_guer2021

RaeLovesToRead 18/100. Yikes. Although in my defence I have no concentration span 4mo
dabbe I'm scared to retake it myself! 😂 Thanks for playing and sharing! 🧡🩶🧡 4mo
dabbe @RaeLovesToRead 🤩 Thanks for playing and sharing! 🧡🩶🧡 4mo
Ruthiella Thanks for the tag! 😊 4mo
31 likes4 comments
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The_Penniless_Author
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#wondrouswednesday @Eggs

Better late than never!

1. See colors. Taste is too important, plus it would be like living in a black-and-white movie.
2. It depends on how I'm going to die. If I find out it's some grisly, painful way but then don't know when, I'll spend every second of my life in abject terror waiting for it to happen. Let's say when.
3. Future, although would I also end up changing that, knowing what's going to happen?
👇

The_Penniless_Author 4. Passion, assuming I'm also good at it. I would hate to learn it's gymnastics, but then still have my current ability. 5. Summer, I suppose, although I'd complain about it endlessly. 6. Fly! 🪰 4mo
Eggs Thx for joining in🥳 4mo
25 likes2 comments
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The_Penniless_Author
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#FirstLineFridays @ShyBookOwl

At noon, Wednesday, July 26th, windowpanes in the small mountain towns of Sevier County, Tennessee, were rattled by the shock and faint thunder of a distant explosion rolling down the northwest slopes of the Great Smokies.

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The_Penniless_Author
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#TLT @dabbe

72 out of 100

Is this list in reverse order? Old Time Rock and Roll #1 and SOMEWHERE OVER THE RAINBOW #100??? 😳

Three that I like (in no particular order, and maybe not even my top three):

🎵 Ding Dong the Witch is Dead
🎵 Aquarius
🎵 As Time Goes By

Song that should be on the list: Any of Curtis Mayfield's songs from Superfly (I'd choose Freddie's Dead)

Tag @MegaWhoppingCosmicBookwyrm @IndoorDame

dabbe You are totally correct. The list started with #100 and went down to #1. Otherwise, I'd also be like 😳? 😂 Nice score, too! Thanks for playing and sharing! 🩶❤️🖤 4mo
33 likes1 comment
review
The_Penniless_Author
The Skin of Dreams | Raymond Queneau
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Pickpick

This is a difficult one to rate. The narrative weaves back and forth between the MC's rather tedious and impoverished existence and his daydreams, which are so vivid as to sublimate reality. As someone given to vivid daydreaming, I completely relate to this, even if it can make for a disorienting reading experience at times. Queneau's wordplay is dazzling at times and very funny, even in translation. It's not quite like anything I've ever read 👇

The_Penniless_Author ...before, and the experimental qualities that make it such an interesting and admirable book also keep me from loving it unabashedly. Definitely worth reading once, though I'll be interested to see if I ever feel compelled to revisit it. 4mo
Aimeesue Nice review! 4mo
40 likes1 stack add2 comments
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The_Penniless_Author
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#Two4Tuesday @TheSpineView

1. 🍻🍷🍸 + 📚 = 😴

If I drink anything while reading, it's going to have caffeine in it. ☕️😵‍💫

2. Look at Me, Anita Brookner

Thanks for the tag @Ruthiella !

Tag @MegaWhoppingCosmicBookwyrm @CBee @IndoorDame

Ruthiella Alcohol makes me sleepy too! 😂 4mo
TheSpineView Totally get #1. Thanks for playing 4mo
The_Penniless_Author @Ruthiella Only when paired with reading for me (actually, reading in general in the evenings or when I'm tired just puts me under). If I'm outside or playing a game or just talking with other people, it peps me right up. 😄 4mo
33 likes3 comments
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The_Penniless_Author
The Skin of Dreams | Raymond Queneau
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#FirstLineFridays @ShyBookOwl

Garbage tumbled out of the metal bin and fell in a torrent into the trash can, eggshells, cores, greasy paper, peels.

review
The_Penniless_Author
Eve's Hollywood | Eve Babitz
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Pickpick

I can't imagine a more surreal upbringing than being born in LA during the Golden Age of Hollywood, coming of age through the death of the studio system, and being there in your 20s for the height of rock and roll and the hippies, let alone going to school at Hollywood High, having artist parents, and literal Igor Stravinsky as your godfather. This is a fun book beginning to end, and Babitz is a fantastic natural writer, the sort of person 👇

The_Penniless_Author ...you hope to end up next to at a party, who can keep you entertained with stories all evening long. 4mo
TheBookHippie I love this author. This book is my favorite of hers! 4mo
Ruthiella I‘ve been wanting to read this for a while now and now I MUST own it in the NYRB edition. Fabulous! 4mo
See All 6 Comments
The_Penniless_Author @TheBookHippie I never knew anything about her until they covered this book on the podcast Backlisted (where all of my recommendations come from these days). I'll definitely give her other stuff a try if I come across it. 4mo
The_Penniless_Author @Ruthiella I subscribe to the NYRB monthly bookclub, but unfortunately started too late to get this one. Luckily, our local Barnes & Noble had this edition in stock. 4mo
TheBookHippie @The_Penniless_Author she was fascinating!!! All her books are good. 4mo
41 likes5 stack adds6 comments
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The_Penniless_Author
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#TLT @dabbe

90/100 to close things out. I know lists are inherently dumb and just a way to get people talking about (and arguing over) a subject, but this one - taken in full, top to bottom - seems especially arbitrary.

3 I like...

-Smells Like Teen Spirit (not even a top-ten Nirvana song tbh, but given how central it was to life in junior high, I have to include it);
-Love Will Tear Us Apart (Joy Division)
-Once in a Lifetime (Talking Heads)

The_Penniless_Author There are tons of older songs I could have included in my top-threes as well (James Brown, Little Richard, and Dionne Warwick this time around, for example), but I decided to go with what I listened to most growing up. 4mo
dabbe I hope no one wants to argue; I just did it for fun! It does seem like Rolling Stone wanted to include as many different types of music genres as they could, but hey, what do I know? Thanks for playing and sharing! 🩵💙🩵 4mo
31 likes2 comments
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The_Penniless_Author
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#TLT @dabbe

My best yet - 97 out of 100!

Three favorites (though there are at least a dozen others I could plausibly substitute in)...

1. I Only Have Eyes for You - The Flamingos
2. Just Like Heaven - The Cure
3. I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry - Hank Williams

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The_Penniless_Author
Untitled | Unknown
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#wondrouswednesday @Eggs

Going to try to answer through my COVID haze. 🤒🤢🤧 It was lame enough getting it in 2021, but this time around I'm beyond over it.

1. I try to read every day, at least a couple dozen pages but maybe up to 50 if I'm on a roll.
2. The Singularity wasn't exactly a disappointment - I still enjoyed it - but not the best-written book.
3. Plenty of them, but Slaughterhouse Five will always be my favorite.

Eggs So sorry you‘re sick 🤧 4mo
dabbe Hope you're on the mend soon! 🤗 4mo
PurpleyPumpkin Ugh I feel your pain! I‘m positive I‘ve got Covid too and so I‘m done with it. The lack of energy is awful. And I‘m finding it hard to concentrate on anything. 🫠 Hope it passes for you quickly. 🤞🏽 4mo
See All 7 Comments
The_Penniless_Author @PurpleyPumpkin I'm already on day 5, so "quickly" might be out of the question at this point. ? At least I'm past the worst of it (the chills and aching joints...argh! ?). Now it's just like a really bad cold that's taking its sweet time to clear up. Hope you feel better soon! 4mo
TheBookgeekFrau Feel better soon!! 4mo
PurpleyPumpkin Yeah, so not quickly then. Drat! Hope you feel better soon too. 4mo
Bookwormjillk Feel better soon! This summer has been a tough one for miserable weather and illnesses. 4mo
28 likes7 comments
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The_Penniless_Author
Silence | Shusaku Endo
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#FirstLineFridays @ShyBookOwl

News reached the Church in Rome.

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The_Penniless_Author
The Inheritors | William Golding
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Pickpick

(Pictured w/ my most recent acquisition from Bulgaria, a desktop kuker 👹)

What an audacious book. A fictional account of the displacement of Neanderthals by Homo Sapiens, told from the Neanderthals' point of view. Creating a narrative voice that captures a simpler, less abstract mode of thought without sounding cartoonish and that also allows the reader to empathize with the characters is no small feat, let alone when you realize that Golding 👇

The_Penniless_Author ...somehow wrote the first draft in only 29 days! Not always the easiest book to follow, certain parts benefit from careful and/or multiple readings, but it's worth it. Definitely not like any other book I've ever read. 4mo
30 likes1 stack add1 comment
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The_Penniless_Author
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#TLT @dabbe

Got 90 out of 100 this week. Possibly even higher - there are a couple songs I'm guessing I've heard but just don't recognize the names.

I have no idea how to pick my three favorites this time around, so I'll just say three that I've listened to most recently:

1. Ever Fallen in Love - The Buzzcocks
2. Master of Puppets - Metallica
3. Paint it Black - The Rolling Stones

Tag @RaeLovesToRead @CBee @MegaWhoppingCosmicBookwyrm

CBee Thanks for the tag! Got 80/100 😄 4mo
dabbe You beat my butt! Thanks for sharing and playing. 🩶🎵🩶 4mo
dabbe @CBee You “closely“ beat my butt! 😂 Thanks for sharing and playing. 🩶🎵🩶 4mo
30 likes3 comments
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The_Penniless_Author
Shifting Shelves | Michael Dahl
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#wondrouswednesday @Eggs

My already-read books are scattered around the house in various bookcases like the two pictured above. I suppose I loosely arrange them by height, but only when it looks really ridiculous.

My TBR books teeter precariously on a file cabinet, surrounded by decorations from Japan that we still haven't hung up after 14 months. 😂

Tag @RaeLovesToRead @CBee @Yuki_Onna @MegaWhoppingCosmicBookwyrm @IndoorDame

CBee That telephone booth bookshelf is AMAZING 🤩 4mo
The_Penniless_Author @CBee It was my daughter's, but she ran out of space in her bedroom so I stole it for myself. 😁 4mo
Eggs Love the colorful telephone ☎️ booth and blue shelves! 4mo
dabbe 🤩🤩🤩 4mo
MegaWhoppingCosmicBookwyrm Seriously jealous of the telephone booth! 😍 4mo
35 likes5 comments
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The_Penniless_Author
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#Two4Tuesday @TheSpineView

1. Last year, Universal Studios in Osaka Japan!

2. No. There's barely time to get to all the stuff we want to see/do/ride, let alone read.

Tag @RaeLovesToRead @CBee @Yuki_Onna @MegaWhoppingCosmicBookwyrm @dabbe @Ruthiella @IndoorDame

jewright I so want to go to Japan! Was it a good trip? 5mo
TheSpineView Japan sounds like a wonderful trip! Thanks for playing! 5mo
The_Penniless_Author @jewright Easily the best trip we've taken. If you're ever able to save up the money and time to do it, don't hesitate. It's an easy country to get around, not intimidating at all. Even the most mundane things are interesting to someone who's not from there, so you don't even need a lot of planning. We still visited a decent number of tourist sites, but often just wandering around, shopping and using public transportation was as much fun. 5mo
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Ruthiella Thanks for the tag! I‘ve not been to an amusement park in decades and I would never take a book for the same reasons you cite. 5mo
dabbe Will do; thanks for the tag! 😊 5mo
jewright @The_Penniless_Author—My grandfather was stationed there after WWII, so my dad was actually born in Japan. I grew up hearing lots of stories, so I‘ve always wanted to go. 5mo
29 likes6 comments
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The_Penniless_Author
The Inheritors | William Golding
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#FirstLineFridays @ShyBookOwl

Lok was running as fast as he could.

rwmg I loved this one, trying to work out how we would see the events reported from the Neanderthals' point of view 5mo
The_Penniless_Author @rwmg It's a pretty audacious thing to attempt, and I'm amazed so far at how well he pulled it off. 5mo
31 likes2 comments
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The_Penniless_Author
Butterfly of Dinard | Eugenio Montale
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Pickpick

Soft pick. Montale was a poet who also wrote short prose pieces for various newspapers just before and after WWII, most of them lightly fictionalized anecdotes from his own life. This book is a compendium of those newspaper columns, which collectively form a memoir of sorts. I liked the non-linear, piecemeal structure of this, as it seems to mimic what it's like getting to know another person in real life, a series of tiny glimpses that 👇

The_Penniless_Author ...gradually add up to a coherent picture. 5mo
29 likes1 comment
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The_Penniless_Author
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#TLT @dabbe

79 out of 100. A little lower than last round but still pretty good.

Three favorites from this list:

1. I Wanna Be Your Dog - The Stooges
2. Paranoid - Black Sabbath
3. Personality Crisis - New York Dolls

Tag @RaeLovesToRead @MegaWhoppingCosmicBookwyrm @CBee @Yuki_Onna @Ruthiella

dabbe You're creaming me! Great choices. Thanks for playing and sharing! 🤩🤩🤩 5mo
RaeLovesToRead I started, Randy, but how is Mr Brightside not top 10? Not even top 100? WHAT THE HECK ROLLING STONE 5mo
The_Penniless_Author @RaeLovesToRead Top 10!!! 🙄🤣 5mo
RaeLovesToRead Show some respect 🧐 5mo
31 likes4 comments
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The_Penniless_Author
Singularity | Dino Buzzati
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#wondrouswednesday @Eggs

1. I'm a published author who makes no money off his books. ? (Well, technically not "no money". I suppose I should be The Hundredaire Author. ?)

2. I've never listened to an audiobook. I do listen to the podcast Backlisted when I'm on the treadmill, though.

3. The Singularity (tagged)

Tag @RaeLovesToRead @IuliaC @Yuki_Onna @CBee @BarbaraBB @dabbe @Ruthiella @IndoorDame @MegaWhoppingCosmicBookwyrm

Eggs I loved True North 🧭 5mo
The_Penniless_Author @Eggs Thanks! It sold fine for a book put out by a small press with no marketing budget. Since this is a hobby for me rather than a living, I usually sink every penny I make into purchasing ads or review copies. I would much rather sell 500 copies and break even than sell 300 and make money out of it. 🙂 5mo
dabbe @Eggs #metoo! 🤩 5mo
dabbe Will do; thanks for the tag! 🤗 5mo
35 likes4 comments
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The_Penniless_Author
How Steeple Sinderby Wanderers Won the F.A. Cup | James Lloyd Carr, Joseph Lloyd Carr
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#Two4Tuesday @TheSpineView

1. Very minor bets with friends. I bet $20 on DraftKings way back when it first came around, didn't enjoy it at all, and never bothered again. (Thank God I didn't inherit the gambling-addict gene in the age of legalized sports betting on your smartphone. 😌)

2. Never read this one, but it sounds fun!

Tag @RaeLovesToRead @CBee @BarbaraBB @Yuki_Onna @MegaWhoppingCosmicBookwyrm

RaeLovesToRead Is Eurovision a sport?? 🤣🤣 5mo
TheSpineView Thanks for playing! 5mo
The_Penniless_Author @RaeLovesToRead It sure ain't music! 😉 5mo
RaeLovesToRead HOW VERY DARE YOU!!!! 5mo
34 likes4 comments
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The_Penniless_Author
Butterfly of Dinard | Eugenio Montale
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#FirstLineFridays @ShyBookOwl

Maybe you'll recall seeing the Amico delle famiglie at my house.

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The_Penniless_Author
Songstruck | Sofia Black
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#TLT @dabbe

83 out of 100. As for my 3 favorite, there are about 10 or so that I could probably mix and match forever trying to come up with the right order. So let's just go with my gut and say...

1. How Soon Is Now? - The Smiths
2. Poncho & Lefty - Townes Van Zandt
3. They Reminisce Over You - Pete Rock and CL Smooth

Honorable mention to Nirvana, Beck, Motorhead, and a half dozen others I listened to incessantly in high school and college.

AmyG Yes to your honorable mentions…those would be mine, too. 5mo
dabbe WOWZA! You certainly beat my butt! Thanks for playing and sharing! 🤩🤩🤩 5mo
27 likes2 comments
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The_Penniless_Author
Singularity | Dino Buzzati
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Mehso-so

Between so-so and a soft pick (the cover alone deserves a pick). A short book (only around 120 pages) designed to illustrate an idea, it gets bonus points for exploring the ramifications of AI way back in 1960. (Out of curiosity I checked, and it seems the tech definition of "the singularity" was coined just a couple years earlier.) Unfortunately, the writing was sort of stilted and the characters two-dimensional. Not sure how much was the ?

The_Penniless_Author ...the translation and how much the writing itself, but it is indicative of a certain type of sci-fi. I really did enjoy it, though, and the length plays to the book's strengths and makes it easy to forgive the roteness of some of language. Certainly, a much more interesting vision of AI than the glorified chatbots hallucinating fake court cases and historical events we got in real life! 5mo
37 likes1 comment