Five Feel-Good Comfort Reads
https://www.tor.com/2022/07/21/five-feel-good-comfort-reads/

What it says on the tin.
--
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jdnicoll@panix.com (James Nicoll) writes:
>Five Feel-Good Comfort Reads
>https://www.tor.com/2022/07/21/five-feel-good-comfort-reads/
>
>What it says on the tin.

0-fer here.

In article <2sfCK.195057$9j2.126882@fx33.iad>,
Scott Lurndal <slp53@pacbell.net> wrote:
>jdnicoll@panix.com (James Nicoll) writes:
>>Five Feel-Good Comfort Reads
>>https://www.tor.com/2022/07/21/five-feel-good-comfort-reads/
>>
>>What it says on the tin.
>
>0-fer here.

Think of it has having five more books for the TBR pile.
--
My reviews can be found at http://jamesdavisnicoll.com/
My tor pieces at https://www.tor.com/author/james-davis-nicoll/
My Dreamwidth at https://james-davis-nicoll.dreamwidth.org/
My patreon is at https://www.patreon.com/jamesdnicoll

jdnicoll@panix.com (James Nicoll) writes:
>In article <2sfCK.195057$9j2.126882@fx33.iad>,
>Scott Lurndal <slp53@pacbell.net> wrote:
>>jdnicoll@panix.com (James Nicoll) writes:
>>>Five Feel-Good Comfort Reads
>>>https://www.tor.com/2022/07/21/five-feel-good-comfort-reads/
>>>
>>>What it says on the tin.
>>
>>0-fer here.
>
>Think of it has having five more books for the TBR pile.

the 1932 does look interesting.... the others didn't jump out
at me.

My comfort reads are _The Crystal Cave_, _The Hollow Hills_
and the Michelle West books.

On 7/21/2022 11:05 AM, James Nicoll wrote:
> Five Feel-Good Comfort Reads
> https://www.tor.com/2022/07/21/five-feel-good-comfort-reads/
>
> What it says on the tin.

Zero for five here and gonna stay that way.

My comfort reads are (in no order after the first):
1. Mutineer's Moon by David Weber
2. Red Thunder by John Varley
3. Jumper by Steven Gould
4. Dies the Fire by S. M. Stirling
5. Shards of Honor by Lois McMaster Bujold
6. The Tar-Aiym Krang by Alan Dean Foster
7. Citizen of the Galaxy by Robert Heinlein
8. The Star Beast by Robert Heinlein
9. The Moon is a Harsh Mistress by Robert Heinlein
10. Live Free or Die by John Ringo
11. Emergence by David R. Palmer
12. Going Home by A. American

Lynn

Since Cold Comfort Farm said, in the edition shown, on the cover, that it was
funny, my curiousity was piqued.
Apparently it must have been popular, as there were sequels. Conference
at Cold Comfort Farm, and Christmas at Cold Comfort Farm.

John Savard

On Friday, July 22, 2022 at 1:13:50 AM UTC-6, Quadibloc wrote:
> Since Cold Comfort Farm said, in the edition shown, on the cover, that it was
> funny, my curiousity was piqued.
> Apparently it must have been popular, as there were sequels. Conference
> at Cold Comfort Farm, and Christmas at Cold Comfort Farm.

It turns out that Christmas at Cold Comfort Farm was actually a prequel.
First the prequel, and then the sequel. Clearly Stella Gibbons had a
prophetic vision of Star Wars, even if she got the Anglo-Nicaraguan war
wrong.

Had this book been better remembered, some British rock group might have
brought out a record titled "Never Mind the Mollocks"...

John Savard

In article <26bb7730-5867-4ee4-9701-ac81f3d873d4n@googlegroups.com>,
Quadibloc <jsavard@ecn.ab.ca> wrote:
>Since Cold Comfort Farm said, in the edition shown, on the cover, that it was
>funny, my curiousity was piqued.
>Apparently it must have been popular, as there were sequels. Conference
>at Cold Comfort Farm, and Christmas at Cold Comfort Farm.

(Hal Heydt)
Dorothy was rather fond of it.

On 21/07/2022 11.05, James Nicoll wrote:
> Five Feel-Good Comfort Reads
> https://www.tor.com/2022/07/21/five-feel-good-comfort-reads/
>
> What it says on the tin.

Did Anderson really do such a blatant self-insertion as protagonist?

I've only heard of the first two, and read neither. My comfort
reads include Henderson's "People", and most Bradbury and Simak.

--
Michael F. Stemper
Economists have correctly predicted seven of the last three recessions.

On Friday, July 22, 2022 at 2:18:21 PM UTC-4, Dorothy J Heydt wrote:
> In article <26bb7730-5867-4ee4...@googlegroups.com>,
> Quadibloc <jsa...@ecn.ab.ca> wrote:
> >Since Cold Comfort Farm said, in the edition shown, on the cover, that it was
> >funny, my curiousity was piqued.
> >Apparently it must have been popular, as there were sequels. Conference
> >at Cold Comfort Farm, and Christmas at Cold Comfort Farm.
> (Hal Heydt)
> Dorothy was rather fond of it.

I read it on her recommendation, and am glad I did. A wonderful book.

William Hyde

On Saturday, July 23, 2022 at 1:14:44 PM UTC-4, Michael F. Stemper wrote:

> Did Anderson really do such a blatant self-insertion as protagonist?

Oh, yes. In the book's Foreword, he wrote:

"I always feel vaguely cheated by first-person novels wherein the name of the narrator is not the name of the author. This is irrational, but there it is. I never claimed to be particularly rational.

"Therefore, I made myself a character in this book, using my own real name (with, of course, my permission). Having gone thus far, I modeled the character of my friend, roommate, and manager on my real-life friend, roommate, and (quondam) manager, Michael Kurland..."

Kurland subsequently wrote a related (and IMO better) novel, _The Unicorn Girl_, also making himself the protagonist. Their mutual friend T.A. Waters (who appears as a bit character in the latter novel) then wrote a third novel in the same vein, _The Probability Pad_, which is lesser known and IMO inferior to the other two. The three novels are collectively known as the Greenwich Village Trilogy.

I hadn't thought about those books in years...now I'm going to have to dig them all out and reread them!

Martin

In article <90a0f4d2-c654-47f6-b0be-953c5f71b84en@googlegroups.com>,
Martin <mooremar@gmail.com> wrote:
>On Saturday, July 23, 2022 at 1:14:44 PM UTC-4, Michael F. Stemper wrote:
>
>> Did Anderson really do such a blatant self-insertion as protagonist?
>
>Oh, yes. In the book's Foreword, he wrote:
>
>"I always feel vaguely cheated by first-person novels wherein the name
>of the narrator is not the name of the author. This is irrational,
>but there it is. I never claimed to be particularly rational.
>
>"Therefore, I made myself a character in this book, using my own real
>name (with, of course, my permission). Having gone thus far, I modeled
>the character of my friend, roommate, and manager on my real-life
>friend, roommate, and (quondam) manager, Michael Kurland..."
>
>Kurland subsequently wrote a related (and IMO better) novel, _The
>Unicorn Girl_, also making himself the protagonist. Their mutual friend
>T.A. Waters (who appears as a bit character in the latter novel) then
>wrote a third novel in the same vein, _The Probability Pad_, which is
>lesser known and IMO inferior to the other two. The three novels are
>collectively known as the Greenwich Village Trilogy.
>
>I hadn't thought about those books in years...now I'm going to have to
>dig them all out and reread them!

(Hal Heydt)
And Randall Garrett (thinly disguised) appears in Waters' book.

For that matter, Tom Waters appears in Garrett's "Lord d'Arcy"
works.

On 21 Jul 2022 at 17:05:26 BST, "James Nicoll" <James Nicoll> wrote:

> Five Feel-Good Comfort Reads
> https://www.tor.com/2022/07/21/five-feel-good-comfort-reads/
>
> What it says on the tin.

Glad to see a couple of people in the comments pointing at _Bridge of
Birds_.

I wanted to commend Yokohama Kaidashi Kiko (Hitoshi Ashinano), a
wonderful gentle 'an android and her friends in a quietly fading
pastoral future' (not a wide genre, unfortunately) manga series, but
there has never been a licensed English translation. But the Wikipedia
page had ISBNs against a second edition being published in a couple of
weeks time.... turns out Seven Seas are finally publishing it in English
as a five volume set. Immediate pre-order for me. Link for you - and
it's *totally* in your wheelhouse, going by the other manga you've
reviewed positively:

https://www.amazon.ca/Yokohama-Kaidashi-Kikou-Deluxe-1/dp/163858544X

You'll doubtless be able to read it online in the usual places for at
least the next two weeks to see if you want to jump in, until the more
reputable manga sites remove the fan translations as publication
happens.

Cheers - Jaimie
--
There's no limit to the amount of work someone can do,
provided it's not the work they're supposed to be doing.

begin fnord
"Michael F. Stemper" <michael.stemper@gmail.com> writes:

> Did Anderson really do such a blatant self-insertion as protagonist?

I don't normally think of Anderson as a subtle kind of guy.

--
Steve Coltrin spcoltri@omcl.org Google Groups killfiled here
"A group known as the League of Human Dignity helped arrange for Deuel
to be driven to a local livestock scale, where he could be weighed."
- Associated Press

On Saturday, July 23, 2022 at 6:28:22 PM UTC-4, Dorothy J Heydt wrote:
> In article <90a0f4d2-c654-47f6...@googlegroups.com>,
> Martin <moor...@gmail.com> wrote:
> >On Saturday, July 23, 2022 at 1:14:44 PM UTC-4, Michael F. Stemper wrote:
> >
> >> Did Anderson really do such a blatant self-insertion as protagonist?
> >
> >Oh, yes. In the book's Foreword, he wrote:
> >
> >"I always feel vaguely cheated by first-person novels wherein the name
> >of the narrator is not the name of the author. This is irrational,
> >but there it is. I never claimed to be particularly rational.
> >
> >"Therefore, I made myself a character in this book, using my own real
> >name (with, of course, my permission). Having gone thus far, I modeled
> >the character of my friend, roommate, and manager on my real-life
> >friend, roommate, and (quondam) manager, Michael Kurland..."
> >
> >Kurland subsequently wrote a related (and IMO better) novel, _The
> >Unicorn Girl_, also making himself the protagonist. Their mutual friend
> >T.A. Waters (who appears as a bit character in the latter novel) then
> >wrote a third novel in the same vein, _The Probability Pad_, which is
> >lesser known and IMO inferior to the other two. The three novels are
> >collectively known as the Greenwich Village Trilogy.
> >
> >I hadn't thought about those books in years...now I'm going to have to
> >dig them all out and reread them!
> (Hal Heydt)
> And Randall Garrett (thinly disguised) appears in Waters' book.
>
> For that matter, Tom Waters appears in Garrett's "Lord d'Arcy"
> works.

Thomas Leseaux? I see it now. :)

In article <1970c040-de70-48c5-bb3e-6014543f1f05n@googlegroups.com>,
Martin <mooremar@gmail.com> wrote:
>On Saturday, July 23, 2022 at 6:28:22 PM UTC-4, Dorothy J Heydt wrote:
>> In article <90a0f4d2-c654-47f6...@googlegroups.com>,
>> Martin <moor...@gmail.com> wrote:
>> >On Saturday, July 23, 2022 at 1:14:44 PM UTC-4, Michael F. Stemper wrote:
>> >
>> >> Did Anderson really do such a blatant self-insertion as protagonist?
>> >
>> >Oh, yes. In the book's Foreword, he wrote:
>> >
>> >"I always feel vaguely cheated by first-person novels wherein the name
>> >of the narrator is not the name of the author. This is irrational,
>> >but there it is. I never claimed to be particularly rational.
>> >
>> >"Therefore, I made myself a character in this book, using my own real
>> >name (with, of course, my permission). Having gone thus far, I modeled
>> >the character of my friend, roommate, and manager on my real-life
>> >friend, roommate, and (quondam) manager, Michael Kurland..."
>> >
>> >Kurland subsequently wrote a related (and IMO better) novel, _The
>> >Unicorn Girl_, also making himself the protagonist. Their mutual friend
>> >T.A. Waters (who appears as a bit character in the latter novel) then
>> >wrote a third novel in the same vein, _The Probability Pad_, which is
>> >lesser known and IMO inferior to the other two. The three novels are
>> >collectively known as the Greenwich Village Trilogy.
>> >
>> >I hadn't thought about those books in years...now I'm going to have to
>> >dig them all out and reread them!
>> (Hal Heydt)
>> And Randall Garrett (thinly disguised) appears in Waters' book.
>>
>> For that matter, Tom Waters appears in Garrett's "Lord d'Arcy"
>> works.
>
>Thomas Leseaux? I see it now. :)

(Hal Heydt)
Correct. Tom Waters was also a stage magician. Hence Sir Thomas
being a theoretical thaumaturge, but lacking the Talent to
actually do any.

On 24/07/22 08:26, William Hyde wrote:
> On Friday, July 22, 2022 at 2:18:21 PM UTC-4, Dorothy J Heydt wrote:
>> In article <26bb7730-5867-4ee4...@googlegroups.com>,
>> Quadibloc <jsa...@ecn.ab.ca> wrote:
>>> Since Cold Comfort Farm said, in the edition shown, on the cover, that it was
>>> funny, my curiousity was piqued.
>>> Apparently it must have been popular, as there were sequels. Conference
>>> at Cold Comfort Farm, and Christmas at Cold Comfort Farm.
>> (Hal Heydt)
>> Dorothy was rather fond of it.
>
> I read it on her recommendation, and am glad I did. A wonderful book.
>
> William Hyde

Although it is probably decades since I have read any Bronte style
romance, I also thoroughly enjoyed this just-finished parody some of
whose characters reminded me of those in Wodehouse's Jeeves books.
Even a more terrible manipulator, that Robert Poste's child!

On Monday, July 25, 2022 at 6:13:24 PM UTC-4, Dorothy J Heydt wrote:
> In article <1970c040-de70-48c5...@googlegroups.com>,
> Martin <moor...@gmail.com> wrote:
> >On Saturday, July 23, 2022 at 6:28:22 PM UTC-4, Dorothy J Heydt wrote:
> >> In article <90a0f4d2-c654-47f6...@googlegroups.com>,
> >> Martin <moor...@gmail.com> wrote:
> >> >On Saturday, July 23, 2022 at 1:14:44 PM UTC-4, Michael F. Stemper wrote:
> >> >
> >> >> Did Anderson really do such a blatant self-insertion as protagonist?
> >> >
> >> >Oh, yes. In the book's Foreword, he wrote:
> >> >
> >> >"I always feel vaguely cheated by first-person novels wherein the name
> >> >of the narrator is not the name of the author. This is irrational,
> >> >but there it is. I never claimed to be particularly rational.
> >> >
> >> >"Therefore, I made myself a character in this book, using my own real
> >> >name (with, of course, my permission). Having gone thus far, I modeled
> >> >the character of my friend, roommate, and manager on my real-life
> >> >friend, roommate, and (quondam) manager, Michael Kurland..."
> >> >
> >> >Kurland subsequently wrote a related (and IMO better) novel, _The
> >> >Unicorn Girl_, also making himself the protagonist. Their mutual friend
> >> >T.A. Waters (who appears as a bit character in the latter novel) then
> >> >wrote a third novel in the same vein, _The Probability Pad_, which is
> >> >lesser known and IMO inferior to the other two. The three novels are
> >> >collectively known as the Greenwich Village Trilogy.
> >> >
> >> >I hadn't thought about those books in years...now I'm going to have to
> >> >dig them all out and reread them!
> >> (Hal Heydt)
> >> And Randall Garrett (thinly disguised) appears in Waters' book.
> >>
> >> For that matter, Tom Waters appears in Garrett's "Lord d'Arcy"
> >> works.
> >
> >Thomas Leseaux? I see it now. :)
> (Hal Heydt)
> Correct. Tom Waters was also a stage magician. Hence Sir Thomas
> being a theoretical thaumaturge, but lacking the Talent to
> actually do any.

Following this discussion, I dug out and re-read _The Butterfly Kid_. It's still a highly amusing book! And I'd really like to hear the song "Love Sold in Doses".