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January 25, 2026
Sunday Morning Book Thread - 1-25-2026 ["Perfessor" Squirrel]
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Welcome to the prestigious, internationally acclaimed, stately, and illustrious Sunday Morning Book Thread! The place where all readers are welcome, regardless of whatever guilty pleasure we feel like reading (for masochists only!). Here is where we can discuss, argue, bicker, quibble, consider, debate, confabulate, converse, and jaw about our latest fancy in reading material. As always, pants are required, unless you are wearing these pants...
So relax, find yourself a warm kitty (or warm puppy--I won't judge) to curl up in your lap, and dive into a new book. What are YOU reading this fine morning?
PIC NOTE
My cat Allie decided to relax on top of some of my books in my library. Like any self-respecting bibliophile, I no longer have any available bookshelf space, so I've simply been putting books on top of my bookcases in approximate locations where they would go on the shelves. In this case, I have several Alastair Reynolds books that are in my TBR pile that are sitting on top of my shelves. Allie seems to have appointed herself my literary critic and enjoys laying down on the books. I guess they are slightly more comfortable than the particle board of the bookshelves. NOTE: Right above Allie's head is my ticket stub from when I went to see Lord of the Rings: Return of the King in the theater many years ago. I think I found it in a jacket pocket.
QUICK HITS FROM THE MORON GALLERY
I've had several submissions from Morons, so here goes:
I found this article so profound I thought it book thread worthy.
https://x.com/athenaeumbc/status/2009596011761598931?s=20
Just brilliant and so applicable to what is going on in the world today.
Sharon(willow's apprentice)
It's tempting to think that authors like C.S. Lewis or J.R.R. Tolkien were prescient about today's world. I prefer to think that they were astute observers of the fallen nature of mankind. They knew that Man needed to be steadfast in the face of Evil, and that God was the only way that could happen. Removing God from our lives lets in all the evils of the world. We see that everywhere we look nowadays. The good news is that the pendulum does appear to be swinging back the other way.
I don't know if this will be worth anything, but I came across a fun little EweToob channel the Horde might enjoy.
It's called Bitesized Audio Classics. British actor who narrates Victorian and Edwardian short stories. Ghost stories, detective stories, various. I don't know if you've done anything on audio books, but I you ever do, this might be a fun inclusion.
Regards,
- RedMindBlueState
I don't talk about audio books much, mainly because that's not my thing. I do recognize that many Morons enjoy audiobooks and I understand their appeal. You can listen to them while working on something else. I guess it's not too different than turning on a television show and letting it run in the background while you do something else, which I have done frequently. I like this channel because it's a good way to get people interested in classic stories who might not be inclined to read them. The audio rendition with your classic British narration does add a lot to the retelling of these stories.
OrangeEnt Book Review:
All right. Finally finished a work recommended to me: Adrift in the Stratosphere, by "Professor" A.M. Low, as an example of pulp science fiction. It was published in 1937. It concerns three English lads just out for a motorcycle ride who come to an inventor's shed looking for tools to repair one of the bikes. The man has built a craft he plans to take into space. They sneak into the contraption, and accidentally launch it.
They don't know how it works, but they figure out how to do some things by sheer luck. Nearly every problem they get into is solved by sheer luck: learning how to control the ship, escaping Martian attacks, getting trapped in a strange place that forces the ship along a path that apparently ends in a number of jets of fire that they pass through basically unharmed, etc. The other races they meet are friendly and help them for no reason other than the story, I guess.
It seemed amateurish, like something a kid would write. A lot of exposition, with dull dialog, even with the generous use of exclamation points!!! The writer was a scientist and inventor--he operated the first radio-controlled airplane among other things, but was notorious for not finishing his projects. I don't find it memorable. In fact, it's slipping out of my mind although I just finished reading it today. If you're looking to see what early English scifi was like, eh, it may be worth a read. It's not very long. If you're looking for good science fiction, pass.
I've never heard of A.M. Low. The story does sound rather predictable and not terribly compelling. I suppose it can be looked at as an example of the state of pulp fiction at the time it was written. Quite a lot of it was terrible, but it paid the bills. We know of pulp authors from that era mainly because they were the cream of the crop. A lot of pulp authors have faded into obscurity, probably because they couldn't master storytelling like the authors we remember today.
Just read the book thread (1/18). Thought you might like to include this to avoid issues like the Ian McAllister broken spine. I still remember learning this in 4th grade. In the last millinneum when schools still taught useful Stuff. I can attest to the fact that it works.
STOP Ruining Your Books! How to Properly Break In a Hardcover & Paperback
A proud lurker who posts as OldToolFool once or twice a decade.
Note that this technique only works on "fresh" books, i.e., those books that still have a spine worth preserving. Many, many books on my shelves have the creased spines that we are all familiar with, either because of my own negligence or the negligence of the previous owner in the case of used books. I have noticed that book covers seem to use different paper or different bindings than many of the paperbacks from days of yore. I think this really helps in preserving the spines of books. I generally don't have issues with hardcover books, though I do have several where the binding has deteriorated a bit, requiring a judicious application of Elmer's glue to repair.
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BOOKS BY MORONS
This is not my usual HF or contemporary comedy, but a Hallmark movie romance-style, and I wrote it on a dare from the other contributors at the Chicagoboyz blog. we were talking about the expensive uselessness of getting a college degree these days, and how many (especially young men) who skipped the whole college game and went into skilled trades are doing very well, economically - but aren't considered good prospects for marrying by college-graduate women. The culture has to change, we all agreed...and then one of the guys suggested that the culture might have to change to make this acceptable ... and one of the ways to do it was to generate books and movies with that theme. And at that point in the Zoom call, they all looked at me and chanted "doo eet! doo eet!"
So I did, and Sarah Hoyt did a cover for me that rings all the right beats for this kind of romance.
Return to Alder Grove
Celia Hayes, Author
MORON RECOMMENDATIONS
I snagged an early copy of Twelve Months by Jim Butcher on Friday from a local B&N. Finished it early in the morning of Saturday! Turned the book over to my daughter for her enjoyment. It's maybe my favorite Dresden Files book. The longer time frame of the book gives Harry a lot more depth and shows off his more intellectual side. Great twists, great emotional moments, just a 10 out of 10 for me.
Posted by: McDirty at January 18, 2026 09:07 AM (RWXeq)
Comment: Up until this point, the books in The Dresden Files have taken place over a very short period of time within each book--usually just a few days of non-stop action. One thing I've learned in my reread of these books is that they move fast. The pacing is just off-the-charts. There's rarely a moment where the hero (or the reader) gets to stop and take a moment to absorb what's happening before Harry is off to the next action-packed sequence. I'm curious how Harry will handle the downtime in Twelve Months, which sounds like Butcher is giving Harry some very necessary breathing space. I know Butcher has mentioned that he plans around 25 books in the series, so we still have a ways go to.
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I have been reading The Unseen Realm by Michael Heiser. The author is an evangelical and this book is about seldom discussed scripture. It's all very strange to me and I am extremely skeptical of Heiser or anyone offering novel interpretations of the Bible. I had enough of that as a child. I picked up the book because Angela McArdle, former chairman of the Libertarian Party, mentioned it.
Posted by: Oglebay at January 18, 2026 09:33 AM (GPa4z)
Comment: A friend of mine recommended this book several years ago. I really enjoyed it because it touches on the most unusual aspects of theology that many of us don't really think about much. Heiser approaches the idea of an "unseen realm" all around us filled with spiritual creatures from a linguistic and historical perspective. To the ancient Israelites and other civilizations of the time, the "unseen realm" was very, very real. No one thought it was superstitious nonsense. You might have vigorous disagreements about whose gods were better, but no one disputed that the gods existed. That's the perspective Heiser brings to the conversation. There are a lot of strange passages in the Bible that tend to be glossed over by pastors in church. But those who compiled the books of the Bible must have had a reason for their inclusion. Heiser reminds us that the "unseen realm" is every bit as vast and complicated--if not more so--than the natural world we see around us. Earth is just a tiny, tiny flyspeck in the cosmos. The spiritual world is so much bigger and more interesting.
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The Presidency of George Washington by Forrest McDonald is an excerpt of the great man's life, focusing only on Washington's two terms as our first president. Washington was chosen for his high moral standards and his military background. He was an excellent choice and a thoughtful leader. My favorite chapter was one that set the stage by giving a glimpse into the U.S. in 1789. This brief recap of the political, economic and cultural status of the new nation was enlightening. The new Americans thought of themselves as citizens of a region rather than as citizens of a nation. And these citizens continued in the occupations that had brought them survival and, to some extent, success as colonizers. The political parties are largely unchanged from then to now, and the politics of trying to ensure your state or group succeeds above all others remains unchanged. Recommend this book as an addition to your reading list on early American history.
Posted by: Legally Sufficient at January 18, 2026 09:56 AM (kB9dk)
Comment: Would America be America without George Washington? I've heard him referred to as the "Indispensable Man" of his time. I'm sure it did take some time before people accepted the idea of being an "American" versus being a "Virginian" or "New Yorker." Even today, we can see people who don't seem to accept that they are "American," instead preferring to refer to themselves a "Californian" or "Somalian," even though they live in the United States of America.
MORE MORON RECOMMENDATIONS CAN BE FOUND HERE: AoSHQ - Book Thread Recommendations
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WHAT I'VE BEEN ACQUIRED THIS PAST WEEK:
Jim Butcher's Twelve Months, the latest entry in his long running Dresden Files series, has just been released. It will be another week or two (or three) until I am able to read it, however, since I'm doing a re-read of the complete Dresden Files series from the beginning, including the two collections, Side Jobs and Brief Cases.
WHAT I'VE BEEN READING THIS PAST WEEK:
The Dresden Files Book 6 - Blood Rites by Jim Butcher
I finished Blood Rites this past week. We find out some of the secrets of the White Court of vampires, including the fact that Thomas Raith is Harry's half-brother. This will have enormous implications later in the series. I also realized that the White Court's plan for Harry may, in fact, not have worked even if they had succeeded, but we won't find out why until a few more books down the line.
The Dresden Files Book 7 - Dead Beat by Jim Butcher
The Dresden-verse is full of nefarious factions all vying for THE ULTIMATE POWER! One of these factions consists of acolytes of the notorious necromancer Kemmler. They are searching for The Word of Kemmler which will allow them to conduct the Darkhallow ritual, elevating one of them to godhood. Or so they think. Being a cult of evil warlocks, they are all jockeying for the spoils, backstabbing each other willy-nilly until one of them will rise to the challenge and claim the mantle. But Harry is their fly in the ointment. If you consider a reanimated T. rex a "fly" when it's stomping down the dark streets of Chicago, flattening zombies left and right, powered by the beat of a one-man polka band. (Seriously. I swear I'm not making that up.)
The Dresden Files Book 8 - Proven Guilty by Jim Butcher
Molly Carpenter, Michael Carpenter's oldest daughter, is all grown up and she has the hots for Harry. Harry is adult enough to know that it's a very, very bad idea to get mixed up with his best friend's seventeen-year-old daughter, no matter how smoking hot she might be. At first she brings him in on a case when her boyfriend (sort of) is arrested for beating up an old man while they're at a horror convention. Turns out the movie monsters are being brought into the real world by something called a "phobophage"--an entity the feeds on the fears of humans. Molly gets in way over her head and Harry and his friends have to bail her out, as she's possibly engaged in black magic of the worst kind. The punishment for breaking the Laws of Magic is death by beheading, administered by the Wardens of the White Council of Wizards.
The Dresden Files Book 9 - White Night by Jim Butcher
Someone is killing low-level practitioners of the Art, often making it look like a suicide. At first Harry thought it was only confined to Chicago, but there's a much larger pattern involved as the serial killer has been busy throughout cities across America. Harry's first love, Elaine, comes to Chicago to assist Harry in tracking down the murderer. Unfortunately for Harry, it looks like his vampire half-brother Thomas might be the culprit. Though it's always much more complicated than what it seems when the White Court gets involved. One of Harry's old foes from a couple of books ago might even be at the heart of the matter. Or is it the Outsiders?
The Dresden Files Book 10 - Small Favor by Jim Butcher
Harry's least favorite faction is back! The Order of the Blackened Denarius, among the most vile and evil villains Harry has ever faced are looking for a new "deal." They've kidnapped Johnny Marcone, Chicago's most notorious gangster and the Queen of Air and Darkness, Mab, wants Harry to find him. Marcone is unique among those who have signed onto the Unseelie Accords, being an ordinary vanilla human. He's also entitled to their protection, which is why Mab needs Harry's help. I'm not quite sure how or why the Order of the Blackened Denarius was allowed to sign onto the Unseelie Accords, since it's well known that they are less trustworthy than a Gazan with his fingers crossed behind his back. Now it's up to Harry and his companions to rescue Johnny Marcone and a bonus hostage from the most demonic forces Harry has faced yet.
The Dresden Files Book 11 - Turn Coat by Jim Butcher
Morgan, one of the Wardens of the White Council of Wizards, has been accused of murdering one of the leaders of the White Council. Which is strange considering that Morgan may be a dick, but he's also one of the most staunch defenders of the White Council and the Laws of Magic. It's not his style, despite the fact he was seen standing over the body with the murder weapon in his hand. Now Morgan needs Harry Dresden's help to find a traitor on the White Council who framed him for murder. Harry is conflicted considering that Morgan has been harassing Harry for years about breaking the Laws of Magic, but as usual Harry chooses to do the right thing. If only to spit in the eyes of the White Council, since Harry doesn't have much respect for them, even though he's a member.
This is also the entry in The Dresden Files where we meet Mr. Shagnasty, a shapeshifting eldritch abomination of indescribable horror. Just one glimpse of Shagnasty through Harry's magical Sight nearly turns his brain into tapioca pudding
PREVIOUS SUNDAY MORNING BOOK THREAD - 1-18-2026 (NOTE: Do NOT comment on old threads!)
Tips, suggestions, recommendations, etc., can all be directed to perfessor -dot- squirrel -at- gmail -dot- com.
Disclaimer: POLKA WILL NEVER DIE!!!
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