{"id":5040,"date":"2025-09-17T12:03:12","date_gmt":"2025-09-17T19:03:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/educatedguesswork.com\/?p=5040"},"modified":"2025-09-17T15:30:21","modified_gmt":"2025-09-17T22:30:21","slug":"book-list-1600-books","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/educatedguesswork.com\/?p=5040","title":{"rendered":"Book List: 1600 Books"},"content":{"rendered":"

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As I told you not too very long ago<\/a>, I’ve just finished another set of 100 books (not counting the comic books and graphic novels (of which latter there was only one, sort of, and it was one of the very rare books so bad that I gave it a single star in my rating system\u2014only the third time I’ve given my ultimate thumbs down to a book), which is my usual methodology of counting books towards each set of 100 … though I do track them as well, and will list them herebelow), and I’ve already told you about<\/a> the first book in these hundred books, An Experiment In Criticism<\/em>, so I’m not going to go into that again, and will only mention that this lit crit work of C. S. Lewis is Book #1501.<\/p>\n

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Also as usual, I’m going to highlight some of my favorite reads in each set of ten … when possible. (Sometimes I can no more resist dishing on a bad book than I can resist the urge to make parenthetical statements.) Unfortunately, there really wasn’t a lot to write home about in this first set of ten books. My favorites were the Book of Genesis and the Tales From The Crypt<\/em>, but I’d gone on about the Pocket Canons in the last Book Listing, and I also harped about a different 32-page reprint of classic 50’s comics. But Algis Budrys’s Rogue Moon<\/em> is of some interest, even if I don’t think it’s anything like a must-read. I found it surprisingly compelling, though in a bizarre, manly men who face death sort of way. Budrys buries the lede, or rather, never gives any clue about it. The book (originally published in 1960) is sort of like a Lem concept if written for a mid-20th Century men’s magazine.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
#<\/th>\nRead<\/th>\nAuthor<\/th>\nTitle<\/th>\nGenre<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n
1501<\/td>\n6\/31\/25<\/td>\nC. S. Lewis<\/td>\nAn Experiment In Criticism<\/em><\/td>\nLiterary Criticism<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1502<\/td>\n6\/31\/25<\/td>\nMatthew Zapruder<\/td>\nWhy Poetry<\/em><\/td>\nLiterary Criticism<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\n6\/2\/25<\/td>\nMike Baron<\/td>\nBadger<\/em> #31<\/td>\nComics<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\n6\/2\/25<\/td>\nMike Baron<\/td>\nBadger<\/em> #32<\/td>\nComics<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1503<\/td>\n6\/3\/25<\/td>\nSteven Rose, intro.<\/td>\nThe First Book of Moses, Called Genesis<\/em> (The Pocket Canons Bible Series)<\/td>\nChristian & Bibles<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1504<\/td>\n6\/4\/25<\/td>\nAlgis Budrys<\/td>\nRogue Moon<\/em><\/td>\nSF & Fantasy<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1505<\/td>\n6\/5\/25<\/td>\nHan Fei Tzu; Burton Watson, trans.<\/td>\nHan Fei Tzu: Basic Writings<\/em><\/td>\nReligion & Spirituality<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\n6\/6\/25<\/td>\nRuss Cochran, ed.<\/td>\nTales From The Crypt<\/em> #12<\/td>\nComics<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1506<\/td>\n6\/7\/25<\/td>\nJohn Buchan<\/td>\nThe Three Hostages<\/em><\/td>\nMystery<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1507<\/td>\n6\/10\/25<\/td>\nDennis King<\/td>\nArt Of Modern Rock – Mini #2: Poster Girls<\/em><\/td>\nArt<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1508<\/td>\n6\/11\/25<\/td>\nRa Page & Magda Raczy\u0144ska, eds.<\/td>\nLemistry: A Celebration of the Work of Stanislaw Lem<\/em><\/td>\nSF & Fantasy<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1509<\/td>\n6\/13\/25<\/td>\nEdgar Rice Burroughs<\/td>\nPirates Of Venus<\/em><\/td>\nSF & Fantasy<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1510<\/td>\n6\/14\/25<\/td>\nMichael Kurland<\/td>\nTen Little Wizards<\/em><\/td>\nSF & Fantasy<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

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This one hooked me good and proper, and though I had my suspicions early on, I soon became gobsmacked by the progressive unfolding of the plot, and ended up reading Inverted World<\/em> in a single, spellbound day. My only criticism is that I wished the ending had been longer. I was reminded of both Hal Clement and John Brunner, a duo that I rarely if ever contemplate together. I really don’t want to say too much about the story itself, as the surprises that Christopher Priest builds for his readers are best uncovered as the author intended them to be, but I will say this one word: The cover of the New English Library paperback I read turned out to be much more literal an interpretation of the novel than I ever would have imagined.<\/p>\n

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The other great winner of this next set of ten books was the first book in the famous series by Ren\u00e9 Goscinny & Albert Uderzo, Ast\u00e9rix le Gaulois<\/em>. Reading this got me some practice with my French (which is terrible), and also reminded me just how much fun these kooky Gauls are fighting the Roman Empire. (Well, technically, this would have still been the Republic we’re speaking of here, just as future historians will have to draw their own indelible (as we tend to think) lines in the sands of time.) And this book still holds up, by Toutatis! Indeed, my biggest challenge lay in re-apprehending the ‘real’ names of the characters, so used to the translated names in English have I become. (Similarly, Professor Snape becomes “Severus Rogue” in French translations of the Harry Potter books.)<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
#<\/th>\nRead<\/th>\nAuthor<\/th>\nTitle<\/th>\nGenre<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n
1511<\/td>\n6\/15\/25<\/td>\nMichael Bonner, ed.<\/td>\nUncut Magazine<\/em> June 2024<\/td>\nMusic<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1512<\/td>\n6\/17\/25<\/td>\nAgatha Christie; Michel Le Houbie, trans.<\/td>\nCinq petits cochons<\/em> [Five Little Pigs<\/em>]<\/td>\nForeign Language<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1513<\/td>\n6\/18\/25<\/td>\nEdgar Rice Burroughs<\/td>\nThe Eternal Savage<\/em><\/td>\nSF & Fantasy<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1514<\/td>\n6\/18\/25<\/td>\nChristopher Priest<\/td>\nInverted World<\/em><\/td>\nSF & Fantasy<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1515<\/td>\n6\/19\/25<\/td>\nJohn Brunner<\/td>\nGive Warning To The World<\/em><\/td>\nSF & Fantasy<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\n6\/20\/25<\/td>\nGarrett Romines & Christopher Miko<\/td>\nThe Unofficial Holy Bible for Minecrafters: A Children’s Guide to the Old and New Testament<\/em><\/td>\nComics<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1516<\/td>\n6\/20\/25<\/td>\nChristianna Brand<\/td>\nHeads You Lose<\/em><\/td>\nMystery<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1517<\/td>\n6\/21\/25<\/td>\n‘A Lounger at the Clubs’<\/td>\nThe Gentleman’s Art of Dressing, with Economy<\/em><\/td>\nEssays<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1518<\/td>\n6\/22\/25<\/td>\nCharlotte Armstrong<\/td>\nIncident At A Corner <\/em>\/ The Unsuspected<\/em> [Ace Double G-501]<\/td>\nMystery<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\n6\/23\/25<\/td>\nReynald Secher & Ren\u00e9 Le Honzec<\/td>\nHistoire de Bretagne, Tome 1 : Les origines<\/em> (French Edition)<\/td>\nComics<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\n6\/23\/25<\/td>\nGoscinny & Uderzo<\/td>\nAst\u00e9rix le Gaulois<\/em><\/td>\nComics<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1519<\/td>\n6\/23\/25<\/td>\nGraham Marsh & Tony Nourmand<\/td>\nX-Rated: Adult Movie Posters Of The 60s And 70s, Volume One<\/em><\/td>\nErotica & Pornography<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1520<\/td>\n6\/24\/25<\/td>\nCharlotte Armstrong<\/td>\nThe Better To Eat You<\/em> \/ Mischief<\/em> [Ace Double G-521]<\/td>\nMystery<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

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An Oxford Tragedy<\/em> by J. C. Masterman is a truly excellent mystery by a real Oxford don, with hints of Iain Pear\u2019s Fingerpost<\/em> or a really good Eco or Borges (well, maybe not Borges). Once again my suspicions were as nothing to the actuality behind the strange events in the navel-gazing college. The only flaw in Masterman’s tale is the techne of the denouement, but I suppose it was inevitable that he\u2019d have to go that way. But the whole book is a delight, and beats No Country For Old Men<\/em> all to hell for books about men getting old. (You can see in the picture that my copy was once used as a coaster, but I must aver that this happened before I got this copy, and that I would never do such a thing.)<\/p>\n

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Ingri and Edgar d’Aulaire were a couple of very gifted children’s book artists, and D’Aulaires’ Book Of Greek Myths<\/em> is among their masterworks. This large book is a truly remarkable retelling of these old tales, made suitable for young children by removing all references to fucking. (Daedalus makes Pasipha\u00eb a female wooden cow, \u201cso she could hide in it and enjoy the beauty of the bull at close range.\u201d Indeed!) We still get to hear about Tantalus chopping up his own son and feeding him to the gods, however, as well as many other family murders. The diagrams detailing the various family trees of gods and heroes only crown the gorgeous art accompanying the text. Maybe the best Greek mythology before the kids are ready for Edith Hamilton.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
#<\/th>\nRead<\/th>\nAuthor<\/th>\nTitle<\/th>\nGenre<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n
1521<\/td>\n6\/25\/25<\/td>\nLaurens Van Der Post<\/td>\nFlamingo Feather<\/em><\/td>\nThriller<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1522<\/td>\n6\/26\/25<\/td>\nElmore Leonard<\/td>\n52 Pickup<\/td>\nMystery<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1523<\/td>\n6\/27\/25<\/td>\nL. Frank Baum<\/td>\nJohn Dough And The Cherub<\/em><\/td>\nChildren’s<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1524<\/td>\n6\/27\/25<\/td>\nDarkness at Pemberley<\/td>\nT. H. White<\/em><\/td>\nMystery<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1525<\/td>\n6\/27\/25<\/td>\nMichael Bonner, ed.<\/td>\nUncut Magazine<\/em> July 2024<\/td>\nMusic<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1526<\/td>\n6\/28\/25<\/td>\nJ. C. Masterman<\/td>\nAn Oxford Tragedy<\/em><\/td>\nMystery<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1527<\/td>\n6\/28\/25<\/td>\nAnthony Wynne<\/td>\nMurder of a Lady: A Scottish Mystery<\/em><\/td>\nMystery<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1528<\/td>\n6\/29\/25<\/td>\nL. Frank Baum<\/td>\nOzma of Oz<\/em><\/td>\nChildren’s<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\n6\/29\/25<\/td>\nRuss Cochran, ed.<\/td>\nTales From The Crypt<\/em> #8<\/td>\nComics<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\n6\/30\/25<\/td>\nRuss Cochran, ed.<\/td>\nTales From The Crypt<\/em> #7<\/td>\nComics<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1529<\/td>\n6\/30\/25<\/td>\nIngri d’Aulaire & Edgar Parin d’Aulaire<\/td>\nD’Aulaires’ Book of Greek Myths<\/em><\/td>\nChildren’s<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\n6\/30\/25<\/td>\nRuss Cochran, ed.<\/td>\nTales From The Crypt<\/em> #6<\/td>\nComics<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1530<\/td>\n6\/30\/25<\/td>\nWilliam Burroughs & Allen Ginsberg<\/td>\nThe Yage Letters<\/em><\/td>\nDrugs<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

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Most\u2014rather, let’s say: Many people are aware of the preternaturally gifted liar Baron Munchausen, most likely from the Terry Gilliam movie (and not that awful Nazi film), though the Czech version by Karel Zeman is likely the best ever put on celluloid. But the original tales by R. E. Raspe which spawned all sorts of imitators and sequels are well worth reading as well. In this great Dover book, Singular Travels, Campaigns, And Adventures Of Baron Munchausen<\/em>, John Carswell brings together all the early tales in the Munchausen series in this wonderfully complete edition. There are later tales but who cares? In this set of stories, only the last section\u2014the ‘Sequel’\u2014is of lesser quality. The original tales\u2014which make up only 26 pages in this edition\u2014are both uniquely humorous and more benign and plausible than one expects with all the accretions to the Munchausen name. The introduction, also by Carswell, is delightfully informative: Who knew that there really was a Baron Munchausen? Or that he told such tales as these until the book came out and turned him from a rollicking talespinner into a bitter taciturn man? The biography of Herr Raspe is also illustrative, as well. Well, it illustrates something. Sort of like O. Henry but without the redemption arc.<\/p>\n

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Now it’s likely true that The Experiences of Loveday Brooke, Lady Detective<\/em> is a flawed work, and some of these short stories are mere trifles, as if Encyclopedia Brown were a Victorian lady detective. But Catherine Louisa Pirkis crafted a very fine set of tales, and her protagonist\u2014the titular Loveday Brooke\u2014has a real personality. The manner in which she sees clearly what others ignore reminded me often of another favorite detective of mine, Isidro Parodi. So, yes, the stories have their flaws, and the unravelling of the final tale took from me much of the goodwill the first half had engendered, but one can\u2019t help wondering where Ms. Pirkis might have taken her character if she\u2019d gone on to write more and more, working out the issues just as Doyle and others were having to do. (Please don’t get me started on that strange Mormon interlude in A Study In Scarlet<\/em>.)<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
#<\/th>\nRead<\/th>\nAuthor<\/th>\nTitle<\/th>\nGenre<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n
1531<\/td>\n6\/30\/25<\/td>\nTim Burton<\/td>\nThe Melancholy Death of Oyster Boy & Other Stories: And Other Stories<\/em><\/td>\nFiction<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1532<\/td>\n7\/1\/25<\/td>\nDick King-Smith<\/td>\nSophie’s Snail<\/em><\/td>\nChildren’s<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1533<\/td>\n7\/1\/25<\/td>\nE. Phillips Oppenheim<\/td>\nThe Great Impersonation<\/em><\/td>\nHistory<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1534<\/td>\n7\/2\/25<\/td>\nDick King-Smith<\/td>\nHarry’s Mad<\/em><\/td>\nChildren’s<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1535<\/td>\n7\/3\/25<\/td>\nR. E. Raspe; John Carswell, intro.<\/td>\nSingular Travels, Campaigns, And Adventures of Baron Munchausen<\/em><\/td>\nFiction<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1536<\/td>\n7\/3\/25<\/td>\nDick King-Smith<\/td>\nPigs Might Fly<\/em><\/td>\nChildren’s<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1537<\/td>\n7\/3\/25<\/td>\nNorman Dodge<\/td>\nThe Month at Goodspeed’s Book Shop<\/em> May 1933, Vol. IV No. 9<\/td>\nBooks<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1538<\/td>\n7\/5\/25<\/td>\nTravis Tea<\/td>\nAtlanta Nights<\/em><\/td>\nFiction<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1539<\/td>\n7\/5\/25<\/td>\nCatherine Louisa Pirkis<\/td>\nThe Experiences of Loveday Brooke, Lady Detective<\/em><\/td>\nMystery<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1540<\/td>\n7\/6\/25<\/td>\nMichael Bonner, ed.<\/td>\nUncut Magazine <\/em> August 2024<\/td>\nMusic<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

 <\/p>\n

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I’m not sure what I was expecting when I picked up Laurie Lee’s Cider With Rosie<\/em>. I had read his A Rose For Winter<\/em> and found that book well written enough, but had no urge to read it a second time. Also, I’m not one who likes to read much autobiography, nor biography for that matter. Thus I was languorously startled to find myself so enjoying Mr. Lee’s evocative and poetic tale of growing up as the youngest boy in a large family of women in a poor land in once-upon-a-time England as The Great War and the future it engendered changed the face of that country and the world forever. The narrative is surprisingly pleasant reading, and evokes a blessed healthymindedness that was a palliative for much of the news of today. I was\u2014and still am\u2014very grateful to the author for his humane vision, particularly when he limned his mother in such accurate yet loving tones.<\/p>\n

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Hmm \u2026 I see I’m going to have to use the word ‘humane’ again, but so be it. Rudyard Kipling’s first collection of short stories, Plain Tales From The Hills<\/em>, proved to be wonderfully crafted tales filled with surprising humane insights. There, I said it. Kipling himself turned out to be a very different writer than I was led to expect, given his fights with Tennyson and the whole “jingo imperialist” accusation of George Orwell. But (especially in the first half of the book), very few of these stories are merely good; most are much better than that. He displays veritable insights into human character at the same time that he recognizes the ineluctable social milieu of the British in occupied India.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
#<\/th>\nRead<\/th>\nAuthor<\/th>\nTitle<\/th>\nGenre<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n
1541<\/td>\n7\/8\/25<\/td>\nJulian Hawthorne, ed.<\/td>\nModern French Stories<\/em><\/td>\nMysteries<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1542<\/td>\n7\/9\/25<\/td>\nNorman Dodge<\/td>\nThe Month at Goodspeed’s Book Shop<\/em> June 1933, Vol. IV No. 10<\/td>\nBooks<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1543<\/td>\n7\/10\/25<\/td>\nNorman Dodge<\/td>\nThe Month at Goodspeed’s Book Shop<\/em> November 1933, Vol. V No. 3<\/td>\nBooks<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1544<\/td>\n7\/11\/25<\/td>\nClaudio Naranjo & Robert E. Ornstein<\/td>\nOn the Psychology of Meditation<\/em><\/td>\nPsychology<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1545<\/td>\n7\/12\/25<\/td>\nLaurent De Brunhoff<\/td>\nBabar’s French Lessons : Les Lecons de Francais de Babar<\/em><\/td>\nChildren’s<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1546<\/td>\n7\/13\/25<\/td>\nLaurie Lee<\/td>\nCider With Rosie<\/em><\/td>\nBiography<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\n7\/14\/25<\/td>\nRuss Cochran, ed.<\/td>\nTales From The Crypt<\/em> #6 [Gladstone]<\/td>\nComics<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1547<\/td>\n7\/14\/25<\/td>\nMichael Bonner, ed.<\/td>\nUncut Magazine<\/em> September 2024<\/td>\nMusic<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1548<\/td>\n7\/15\/25<\/td>\nLloyd Alexander<\/td>\nThe Wizard in the Tree<\/em><\/td>\nChildren’s<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1549<\/td>\n7\/16\/25<\/td>\nAlan Burt Akers<\/td>\nTalons of Scorpio<\/em> (Dray Prescot #30)<\/td>\nSF & Fantasy<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\n7\/17\/25<\/td>\nRuss Cochran, ed.<\/td>\nShock SuspenStories<\/em> #13<\/td>\nComics<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1550<\/td>\n7\/19\/25<\/td>\nRudyard Kipling<\/td>\nPlain Tales From The Hills<\/em><\/td>\nFiction<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

 <\/p>\n

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During this last hundred books, specifically the last half century, I started re-reading Philip K. Dick, in desperate hopes that I would still love my favorite Science Fiction author, and … I do. I grabbed The Zap Gun<\/em> because, well, it was there in my hand, and it was great. Not perfect, but then again, there are perhaps only three or maybe four perfect PKD novels. But this one is brilliant and muddled, but the muddled parts are used to further the complicated and likely compromised plot. For me the best parts were the self-reflective musings of the ‘cog’ Mr. Lars on the futility of his existence. ‘Cog’, of course, is short for ‘cognoscenti’, one of several terms Dick uses to demarcate the line between those ‘in the know’ and the rest of us poor schlubs who haven’t a clue about what’s really going on. (Another fave term is Geheimnistr\u00e4ger<\/em>, as opposed to we mere Befehlstr\u00e4ger<\/em>\u2014which latter word he translates as “carriers out of orders”.) In any event, like much (even most) of his work, The Zap Gun<\/em> now seems very prescient, though whatever happened to all those ‘cogs’ is a mystery we shall ponder in the dark future. We sure could use ’em now.<\/p>\n

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“How na\u00efve people were when they were our parents!” Jim Devito once said. True or not, how would a man like Art Buchwald exist today? My re-reading of And Then I Told The President<\/em>, some of his collected columns from 1964 & 1965, necessitated not a few retreats to the Interwebs to learn, for example, just who the various Republican presidential candidates had been, among other facts lost in the uncaring dust bunnies of discarded time. But the columnist knows his stuff, knows how to limn the fine line between biting humor and just mean carping. This book is political nostalgia of the best sort, though of course Buchwald was always working for The Man.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
#<\/th>\nRead<\/th>\nAuthor<\/th>\nTitle<\/th>\nGenre<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n
1551<\/td>\n7\/19\/25<\/td>\nLao Tzu; R. B. Blakney, trans.<\/td>\nThe Way Of Life, Lao Tzu – Tao Te Ching: A New Interpretation<\/em><\/td>\nReligion & Spirituality<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\n7\/20\/25<\/td>\nRuss Cochran, ed.<\/td>\nShock SuspenStories<\/em> #1<\/td>\nComics<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\n7\/20\/25<\/td>\nJim Vadeboncoeur, Jr., ed.<\/td>\nSeduction of the Innocent<\/em> #6<\/td>\nComics<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\n7\/20\/25<\/td>\nJim Vadeboncoeur, Jr., ed.<\/td>\nSeduction of the Innocent<\/em> #5<\/td>\nComics<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1552<\/td>\n7\/21\/25<\/td>\nPhilip K. Dick<\/td>\nThe Zap Gun<\/em><\/td>\nSF & Fantasy<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1553<\/td>\n7\/22\/25<\/td>\nJohn Weber, ed.<\/td>\nAnd Then I Told The President<\/em><\/td>\nHumor<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1554<\/td>\n7\/23\/25<\/td>\nUrsula Curtiss<\/td>\nThe Forbidden Garden \/ Hours To Kill<\/em> [Ace Double G-523]<\/td>\nMystery<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1555<\/td>\n7\/25\/25<\/td>\nA. A. Milne<\/td>\nThe Red House Mystery<\/em><\/td>\nMystery<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1556<\/td>\n7\/26\/25<\/td>\nUrsula Curtiss<\/td>\nVoice Out of Darkness<\/em><\/td>\nMystery<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1557<\/td>\n7\/26\/25<\/td>\nPhilip K. Dick<\/td>\nWe Can Build You<\/em><\/td>\nSF & Fantasy<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\n7\/27\/25<\/td>\nKamala Chandrakant<\/td>\nSudama: The Story of a Divine Friendship<\/em><\/td>\nComics<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\n7\/27\/25<\/td>\nAnant Pai, ed.<\/td>\nSultana Razia: The Only Queen Who Ruled From The Throne of Delhi<\/em><\/td>\nComics<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1558<\/td>\n7\/28\/25<\/td>\nFreeman Wills Crofts<\/td>\nThe Sea Mystery<\/em><\/td>\nMystery<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\n7\/29\/25<\/td>\nMayah Balse<\/td>\nSurya: Retold from the Markandeya Purana<\/em><\/td>\nComics<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1559<\/td>\n7\/29\/25<\/td>\nLois B. Wilson<\/td>\nLois Remembers: Memoirs of the Co-Founder of Al-Anon and Wife of the Co-Founder of Alcoholics Anonymous<\/em><\/td>\nAA<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1560<\/td>\n7\/29\/25<\/td>\nW. E. Scarelli<\/td>\nThe Brother<\/em><\/td>\nFiction<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

 <\/p>\n

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Likely when The Cosmic Puppets<\/em> was first published in 1957, it might have been read as wistful nostalgia for a lost innocent America. Nowadays, of course, it reads in exactly the same way. Sure we may not recognize many elements of the old, ‘good’ small town beneath the surface in this strange novel, or may be busy erasing them ourselves, but Philip K. Dick somehow engenders a wistful yet vicious battle of good and evil in a backwoods little village of no consequence. Yes, the basic myth story is a tetch silly, and of course PKD has to either throw away women or idolize women like a stupid man, but this novel actually works very well on its own terms, and is a believable fantasy, with few of his more habitual tropes.<\/p>\n

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Carlo M. Cipolla stakes out an interesting thesis, more interesting in its negative formulation, positing in Guns, Sails and Empires: Technological Innovation and the Early Phases of European Expansion 1400\u20131700<\/em> that the political groupings\u2014let’s call them nations\u2014of Europe were defeated on every front by all other countries they encountered into the 14th Century, losing to the Moors in Spain and the Holy Land, and only surviving the Huns and the Golden Horde from lack of interest in what the Europeans had to offer. Cipolla posits that advances in the West in the technology of cannon and sailing possible made the Western world conquest during his time period. This is an excellent history, and an investigator into early armaments could hardly do better than to start here and dive into the sources Cipolla cites. His information about changing sailing technology is not so profound, but still he makes a strong case for his thesis.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
#<\/th>\nRead<\/th>\nAuthor<\/th>\nTitle<\/th>\nGenre<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n
1561<\/td>\n7\/29\/25<\/td>\nPhilip K. Dick<\/td>\nThe Cosmic Puppets<\/em><\/td>\nSF & Fantasy<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\n7\/29\/25<\/td>\nAnant Pai, ed.<\/td>\nThe Syamantaka Gem<\/em><\/td>\nComics<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\n7\/30\/25<\/td>\nLopamudra<\/td>\nTales of Arjuna<\/em><\/td>\nComics<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1562<\/td>\n7\/30\/25<\/td>\nNorman L. Dodge<\/td>\nThe Month at Goodspeed’s Book Shop<\/em> June 1948, Vol. XIX No. 9<\/td>\nBooks<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1563<\/td>\n7\/30\/25<\/td>\nJohn Kenneth Galbraith<\/td>\nThe McLandress Dimension<\/em><\/td>\nHumor<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1564<\/td>\n7\/31\/25<\/td>\nPhilip K. Dick<\/td>\nA Handful of Darkness<\/em><\/td>\nSF & Fantasy<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\n7\/31\/25<\/td>\nMike Baron<\/td>\nBadger<\/em> #33<\/td>\nComics<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\n7\/31\/25<\/td>\nMike Baron<\/td>\nBadger<\/em> #34<\/td>\nComics<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1565<\/td>\n7\/31\/25<\/td>\nGeorge Gamow<\/td>\nMr Tompkins Learns the Facts of Life<\/em><\/td>\nScience<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1566<\/td>\n7\/31\/25<\/td>\nPhyllis Diller<\/td>\nPhyllis Diller’s Marriage Manual<\/em><\/td>\nHumor<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1567<\/td>\n8\/1\/25<\/td>\nPhilip K. Dick<\/td>\nThe World Jones Made<\/em><\/td>\nSF & Fantasy<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1568<\/td>\n8\/2\/25<\/td>\nCarlo M. Cipolla<\/td>\nGuns, Sails and Empires: Technological Innovation and the Early Phases of European Expansion 1400\u20131700<\/em><\/td>\nHistory<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1569<\/td>\n8\/3\/25<\/td>\nMichael Bonner, ed.<\/td>\nUncut Magazine<\/em> October 2024<\/td>\nMusic<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1570<\/td>\n8\/4\/25<\/td>\nPhilip K. Dick<\/td>\nWorld of Chance<\/em><\/td>\nSF & Fantasy<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

 <\/p>\n

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After reading and comparing the two versions (US & UK) of Solar Lottery<\/em> (released as World Of Chance<\/em> in the UK), I continued my PKD re-reads with this copy of The Unteleported Man<\/em>. This is a famously incomplete novel, expanded from an earlier publication as a novella (32k words) in Fantastic<\/em>, but\u2014allegedly\u2014a whole heap of the expanded material was lost, and then later found, and there’s a later release of this with more material (there’s two versions even of that, if you’re keeping score (I am; I don’t have the new new release with even more<\/em>)). But, to my mind, the brevity of the work \u2026 ahem \u2026 works in favor of the flaws, as the typically Dickian elements (the dunning balloons, the truncated words (and women\u2019s fashions) of the future) are highlighted while we\u2019re not given too much time to see if any of this makes any sense. The flaws, and PKD\u2019s usual (at this time) focus on Germans (the original story was written only a couple of years after the High Castle<\/em>), make some of the underlying philosophy a bit \u2026 strained, but the hyper-patriotic-inspiring finish still made me cry in spite of myself.<\/p>\n

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And in continuing to attempt to fool myself into telling myself that I’ll ever learn a language, I read the classic (and rightfully so!) Le Petit Prince<\/em> by Antoine de Saint-Exup\u00e9ry. And\u2014whee!\u2014I am able to read this most basic and deceptively simple tale by a French flyer who had a lot of time to think deep thoughts while flying and managed to get some of them on paper. Another book which made me cry, this is the best writing about what cannot be written that I know of.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
#<\/th>\nRead<\/th>\nAuthor<\/th>\nTitle<\/th>\nGenre<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n
1571<\/td>\n8\/5\/25<\/td>\nPhilip K. Dick<\/td>\nSolar Lottery<\/em> [Ace G-718]<\/td>\nSF & Fantasy<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1572<\/td>\n8\/6\/25<\/td>\nPhilip K. Dick<\/td>\nThe Unteleported Man<\/em><\/td>\nSF & Fantasy<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1573<\/td>\n8\/8\/25<\/td>\nK. W. Jeter<\/td>\nNoir<\/em><\/td>\nSF & Fantasy<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1574<\/td>\n8\/9\/25<\/td>\nMarie-Louise Sjoestedt; Myles Dillon, trans.<\/td>\nGods and Heroes of the Celts<\/em><\/td>\nMythology<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1575<\/td>\n8\/9\/25<\/td>\nCharles Bukowski, Philip Lamantia, Harold Norse<\/td>\nPenguin Modern Poets 13: Bukowski Lamantia Norse<\/em><\/td>\nPoetry<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1576<\/td>\n8\/9\/25<\/td>\nPhilip K. Dick<\/td>\nIn Milton Lumky Territory<\/em><\/td>\nFiction<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1577<\/td>\n8\/10\/25<\/td>\nE. E. Milligan, ed.<\/td>\nBeginning Readings in French<\/em><\/td>\nForeign Language<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1578<\/td>\n8\/12\/25<\/td>\nLawrence Block<\/td>\nDeadly Honeymoon<\/em><\/td>\nThriller<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1579<\/td>\n8\/13\/25<\/td>\nAntoine de Saint-Exup\u00e9ry<\/td>\nLe Petit Prince<\/em><\/td>\nForeign Language<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1580<\/td>\n8\/14\/25<\/td>\nPhilip K. Dick<\/td>\nPuttering About in a Small Land<\/em><\/td>\nFiction<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

 <\/p>\n

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Okay, I should admit up front that the problematic aspects of Charles G. Finney’s work are not solely confined to Tony Randall’s dubious turn in The Circus Of Dr. Lao<\/em>. Much as I’d love to blame the prissy half of the Odd Couple\u2014I mean, look what Randall did to M. Poirot!\u2014the modern age with its higher-than-thou evolution has made much of Finney’s thoughts crass and racist and all that. But when I read The Magician Out Of Manchuria<\/em>, my only thought was \u2026 Wow! Just wow! Despite its obvious polemic bent\u2014the Great Leap Forward is specifically called out as bad, bad, bad\u2014this is a wonderful fantasy about the loss of magic (or I\u2019d call it poetry) in a materialistic world. Likely not for everyone, but it was perfect to me! [CW: Sexism, racism, anti-communism, and surely much more]<\/p>\n

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At this point you’re likely getting tired of hearing about Philip K. Dick. (More likely you’re not reading these words at all by this point. Statistically, you don’t even know they exist.) But here I am, and here we are. By this time I decided to re-read all the PKD novels in publication order, or thereabouts (no need for foolish consistency). Which brought me back to Eye In The Sky<\/em>. Which reminded me of just what Dick is so expert at that no-one else seems ever to do as well: getting inside the head (or seeming to) of multiple characters. Though this book also highlights that this ability, his specialty, seems best when applied to deeply flawed psyches. A wonderfully realized conceit, for all the obvious rough edges and compromises with the 1950s.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
#<\/th>\nRead<\/th>\nAuthor<\/th>\nTitle<\/th>\nGenre<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n
1581<\/td>\n8\/15\/25<\/td>\nPhilip K. Dick \/ E.C. Tubb<\/td>\nThe Man Who Japed<\/em> \/ The Space-Born<\/em> [Ace Double D-193]<\/td>\nSF & Fantasy<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1582<\/td>\n8\/16\/25<\/td>\nCharles G. Finney<\/td>\nThe Magician Out of Manchuria<\/em><\/td>\nSF & Fantasy<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1583<\/td>\n8\/17\/25<\/td>\nNorman Dodge<\/td>\nThe Month at Goodspeed’s Book Shop<\/em> March 1934, Vol. V No. 7<\/td>\nBooks<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1584<\/td>\n8\/19\/25<\/td>\nArsidious The Great Writer & Zarqnon The Embarrassed<\/td>\nThe Epic Saga of Razzle, Dazzle and Gustov. Vol 2: an Experiment in Error<\/em><\/td>\nFiction<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1585<\/td>\n8\/20\/25<\/td>\nNachman Ben-Yehuda<\/td>\nDeviance and Moral Boundaries: Witchcraft, the Occult, Science Fiction, Deviant Sciences and Scientists<\/em><\/td>\nSociology<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1586<\/td>\n8\/20\/25<\/td>\nNorman Dodge<\/td>\nThe Month at Goodspeed’s Book Shop<\/em> January 1934, Vol. V No. 5<\/td>\nBooks<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1587<\/td>\n8\/20\/25<\/td>\nArthur Braverman<\/td>\nWarrior of Zen: The Diamond-Hard Wisdom Mind of Suzuki Sh\u014dsan<\/em><\/td>\nReligion & Spirituality<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1588<\/td>\n8\/23\/25<\/td>\nPhilip K. Dick<\/td>\nEye In The Sky<\/em> [Ace H-39]<\/td>\nSF & Fantasy<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1589<\/td>\n8\/24\/25<\/td>\nMichael Bonner, ed.<\/td>\nUncut Magazine<\/em> November 2024<\/td>\nMusic<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1590<\/td>\n8\/25\/25<\/td>\nJ. K. Rowling<\/td>\nHarry Potter et le prisonnier d’Azkaban<\/em><\/td>\nForeign Language<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

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Speaking of books that aren’t for everyone, Dr. Adder<\/em>. This sick sick sick cyberpunk novel published in 1984 by K. W. Jeter turns out to not have been cyberpunk at all (I guess I didn’t read the ancillary material too closely the first time), but was rather a student effort written in 1972. And it is great! Just as good as I remembered, one of the Top 3 Post-Apocalyptic LA novels. During this re-read I was more aware of the flaws, the juvenile high school focus, but \u2026 write what you know, I think they always say. But this is awesome stuff, even if the perversion is offputting (as it should be). I won’t bother with a Content Warning, as it would be too lengthy, and also because if you alert to those at all, you should not read this book. (Nor Kathy Acker. Nor Brian Evenson.) 9\/10<\/p>\n

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I had very few expectations when I opened The Cacahuatl Eater: Ruminations of an Unabashed Chocolate Addict<\/em>, but I found this to be simply one of the best books I\u2019ve read in a long time. Erudite and entertaining in equal measure, somehow the author Jonathan Ott also delivers an inspirational tome (inspired me to imbibe more chocolate, at least). A work by a monomaniac who both knows well his subject and can also write with humor to match his insight is always a delight, and this is such a book.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
#<\/th>\nRead<\/th>\nAuthor<\/th>\nTitle<\/th>\nGenre<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n
1591<\/td>\n8\/26\/25<\/td>\nK. W. Jeter<\/td>\nDr. Adder<\/em><\/td>\nSF & Fantasy<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1592<\/td>\n8\/26\/25<\/td>\nP. B. Yuill<\/td>\nHazell Plays Solomon<\/em><\/td>\nMystery<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1593<\/td>\n8\/28\/25<\/td>\nPhilip K. Dick<\/td>\nTime Out of Joint<\/em><\/td>\nSF & Fantasy<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\n8\/28\/25<\/td>\nMike Baron<\/td>\nBadger<\/em> #35<\/td>\nComics<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1594<\/td>\n8\/28\/25<\/td>\nEvelyne Amon<\/td>\nC’est la vie!, A French Reader<\/em><\/td>\nForeign Language<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\n8\/28\/25<\/td>\nMike Baron<\/td>\nBadger<\/em> #36<\/td>\nComics<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1595<\/td>\n8\/28\/25<\/td>\nWilkie Collins<\/td>\nA Rogue’s Life: From His Birth to His Marriage<\/em><\/td>\nFiction<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1596<\/td>\n8\/29\/25<\/td>\nMalaclypse the Elder<\/td>\nPrincipia Discordia, or How I Found the Goddess and What I Did To Her When I Found Her<\/em><\/td>\nHumor<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1597<\/td>\n8\/30\/25<\/td>\nEugene Ionesco<\/td>\nStory Number 2<\/em><\/td>\nChildren’s<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1598<\/td>\n8\/30\/25<\/td>\nA. Merritt<\/td>\nThe Face In The Abyss<\/em><\/td>\nSF & Fantasy<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1599<\/td>\n8\/31\/25<\/td>\nJonathan Ott<\/td>\nThe Cacahuatl Eater: Ruminations of an Unabashed Chocolate Addict<\/em><\/td>\nDrugs<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\n8\/31\/25<\/td>\nMike Baron<\/td>\nBadger<\/em> #37<\/td>\nComics<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\n8\/31\/25<\/td>\nMike Baron<\/td>\nBadger<\/em> #38<\/td>\nComics<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\n8\/31\/25<\/td>\nMike Baron<\/td>\nBadger<\/em> #39<\/td>\nComics<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1600<\/td>\n9\/3\/25<\/td>\nJohn Milton<\/td>\nParadise Lost<\/em> (Norton Critical Edition)<\/td>\nPoetry<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

 <\/p>\n

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And voil\u00e0, the book list for the last 100 books is finished, and only two weeks after I read Book #1600! As I may have said at the top of the page, I’ve slowed my pace considerably, and so am only up to Book #1605. So may be a while before the next lengthy list like this one. Until then: Good reading!<\/p>\n

 
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The lists of previously read books may be found by following the links:<\/p>\n