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Farnam's Freehold

Heinlein, Robert
A man and his family are propelled, as it were, into the future by an atomic bomb explosion. There, now you don't have to read it!! This must have been an outrageous book in the 60s. First read way back then.

Read:

10/2005

Read:

8/2012

Read:

5/2018

For Us The Living

Heinlein, Robert
The master's previously unpublished first novel. Not a great story, but many of the concepts are used in later novels. Interesting.

Read:

7/2004

Friday

Heinlein, Robert
The heroine is a combat courier. A very resourceful woman, as it were, but with some serious relationship problems. Read this a long time ago, read it again in 2009. Still pretty good.

Read:

No date

Words I Had To Look Up:

A birdie with a yellow bill (pg. 71) -- Uncredited Robert Lewis Stevenson poem.
Teratololgy (pg. 75) -- The study of malformations or serious deviations from the normal type in organisms.
Honi soit qui mal y pense (pg. 95) -- The motto of the Order of the Garter. It is a French phrase which means "Let anyone who thinks bad things about it be ashamed.".
...a cowan can bribe his way into an esbat... (pg. 96) -- Unwelcome non-Pagan (Non-craft person, an outsider) intruder to a Witches gathering that is not on a Sabbat, usually occurring on a full or dark moon. Also a term for the monthly meeting of a Wiccan Coven, usually held during the full of the moon.
donna e mobile (pg. 119) -- Woman is fickle (Verdi's La Donna È Mobile from Rigoletto)
toasted rusks (pg. 131) -- Known in France as biscotte and in Germany as zwieback, a rusk is a slice of yeast bread (thick or thin) that is baked until dry, crisp and golden brown.
en tutoyant (pg. 163) -- To address in a familiar manner.
quondam (pg. 182) -- Belonging to some prior time; like "erstwhile friend".
triste (pg. 196) -- sad, wistful.
soi-disant (pg. 189) -- Self-styled; so-called.
Benjamin Franklin's parable of the whistle (pg. 223) -- Google it.
veriest (pg. 223) -- An adjective form of very.
slitch (pg. 249) -- Pretty much what I thought it meant.
doxyology (pg. 253) -- Doxology is a hymn or verse in Christian liturgy glorifying God. Friday's doxyology instructor trains her in the sexual arts.

Quote:

"...It is a bad sign when the people of a country stop identifying themselves with the country and start identifying with a group. A racial group. Or a religion. Or a language. Anything, as long as it isn't the whole population."
"A very bad sign. Particularism..." -- (pg. 233)

Read:

4/2009

Read:

10/2019

Read:

4/2021

Glory Road

Heinlein, Robert
Of course I've read this many times, but is new to the data base. I bought this copy the other day at the used paperback store, and enjoyed it very much!

Read:

9/2019

Read:

4/2021

Have Space Suit-Will Travel

Heinlein, Robert
Boy wins space suit, gets captured by bad guys! Fabulous book. Highly recommended!!!

QUOTE--"To what extent civilization is retarded by the laughing jackasses, the empty-minded belittlers?" --page 35

Read:

9/1999

Read:

6/2012

Job: A Comedy Of Justice

Heinlein, Robert
Oh come on! This isn't in the database? Yet another book I actually OWN and have read quite a few times. In fact, I might characterize it as my favorite book!

Read:

9/2012

Podkayne Of Mars

Heinlein, Robert
A student gave me this after asking me what book I would want. I've read it several times in the last zillion years, but I've been wanting to read it again, the library doesn't have a copy, and I want my own copy, too. Now I've got one. Finished it this morning. Tears at the end.

Read:

6/2016

Read Again:

7/2016

Read Again:

8/2017

Read Again:

6/2019

Revolt In 2100 & Methuselah's Children

Heinlein, Robert
Two books in one! I've read it before, of course, but the nice thing about Heinlein is you can read it again and it's still new! I love the clunky computers used to navigate space ships.

Read:

6/2012

Starman Jones

Heinlein, Robert
Max runs away from home and sneaks onto a starship as assistant pig-keeper, I mean, horse-poop shoveler. I've read this before, in the distant past.

Read:

6/2012

Starship troopers

Heinlein, Robert
A great book, classic Science Fiction! Book makes you think about personal responsibility. Highly recommended for Junior High. Also take a look at Citizen Of The Galaxy. Read again 2008! Read again in 2010, finally figured out Johnnie is from the Philippines.

Read:

No date

Read:

2/2008

Words I Had To Look Up:

Ochee Chyornya (pg. 27) -- "Dark Eyes", a famous Russian Gypsy ballad
moulinet (pg. 47) -- A circular cut, often composed of a parry, usually prime or seconde, moving thence into a circular cut.
scrofulous toads (pg. 44) -- 1. Relating to, affected with, or resembling scrofula. 2. Morally degenerate; corrupt
Danny Deever (pg. 75) -- A poem by Rudyard Kipling describing the execution of a British soldier in India for murder.
Ramon Magsaysay ( pg. 260) -- Guerrilla leader in the Philippines during World War II, he was later President of the Philippines.

Read:

11/2010

Stranger In A Strange Land

Heinlein, Robert
I've been complaining for years how much I disliked this book. I decided to take a break from Sean O'Faolain and read it again. I got the unabridged edition from the public library. I'm surprised how much better the book has gotten since I read it in the 60s... I'm also surprised it's in a middle school library! In several or them!

Words I Had To Look Up:

rump crews (pg. 5) -- A minimum crew for a vessel.
Wise Girl Malthusian Lozenges (pg. 75) -- Some sort birth control related pills.
apportation (pg. 70) -- The carrying or projecting of an object through space.
Karthago delenda est (pg. 72) -- Carthage must be destroyed.
Cry Harold (pg. 147) -- Can't find anything definitive.
bindlestiff (pg. 147) -- A tramp (hobo) who carries a bedroll (bindle) or a bundle of possessions.
gandy dancer (pg. 147) -- A railroad worker, an itinerant laborer.
philosophunculist (pg. 154) -- A person who pretends to know more than they do to impress others.
amphigory (pg. 154) -- Nonsensical writing.
imputation (pg. 189) -- A statement attributing something dishonest.
catenative (pg. 196) -- Having the ability to catenate, or form chains..
invidious (pg. 215) -- Discriminatory.
accretion (pg. 242) -- An increase by natural growth or addition .
odalisque (pg. 297) -- A concubine or woman slave in a harem .
capric cult (pg. 332) -- Must refer to the sexual activities of the Foster religion.
concupiscence (pg. 334) -- Sexual desire: a desire for sexual intimacy .
omniscio (pg. 341) -- As an adjective: Omniscient, all-knowing. Used here as a noun: An omniscient viewing device.
benison (pg. 343) -- A spoken blessing.
nautch dance (pg. 373) -- An intricate traditional dance performed by dancing girls in India.
peccavimus (pg. 390) -- Latin, we have sinned.
exempli gratia (pg. 391) -- Latin, for the sake of example, abbreviated as eg.
William Harvey (pg. 391) -- Described blood circulation correctly.
theogamy (pg. 414) -- Marriage of/between gods.
apotheosis (pg. 414) -- Exaltation to divine rank or stature.
syncretic (pg. 417) -- Reconciliation or fusion of differing systems of belief.
scansion (pg. 429) -- Analysis of verse into metrical patterns. Whatever THAT means!

Read:

4/2009

The Cat Who Walks Through Walls

Heinlein, Robert
I love the book jacket! A guy is murdered at Dr. Ames' restaurant table. How rude! Great first half, great "ending", kind of sags in the rest.

Words I Had To Look Up:

buy a round toowitt (pg. 364) -- Joke? Just where and how do you get a round toowitt?

Read:

4/2009

Read:

9/2019

Read:

4/2021

The Fantasies Of Robert A. Heinlein

Heinlein, Robert
Eight stories, including Waldo and Magic, Inc.

Read:

7/2002

The Moon I A Harsh Mistress

Heinlein, Robert
Luna is revolting! I've read this a number of times over the years, now I have my own personal copy!

Read::

10/2019

The Number Of The Beast

Heinlein, Robert
Mr. Heinlein's mad ride through space and time.

Vanderdecken (pg. 130) The Lost Dutchman.
"'"Owner,"'" Zebadiah said firmly. (pg. 234) I still haven't figured out the punctuation there.
"Zebadiah, is my number fifty-nine?" (pg. 269) I have not figured out the name/number puzzle yet.
Praxitele (pg. 276) A renown Greek sculptor of the fourth century B.C., first to sculpt a female nude ACT Wikipedia.
Koschei (pg. 461) A character in Slavic folklore, he is very hard to kill.

Read:

10/2002

Read:

4/2014

Read:

8/2017

The Puppet Masters

Heinlein, Robert
I've read this several times before, but apparently not since 1998. Scary book, scary movie.

On page 272 a "Jo block" is mentioned. I looked 'em up, they are standard gauge blocks of varying size that are combined for measurement in a machine tool. More or less!

On page 313 a quote "Would that my subjects had but one neck...", which pretty much is what is in the standard quote sites, and is attributed to Caligula.

Read:

9/2012

Read:

4/2014

Read Again:

5/2016

Read Again:

8/2019

The Star Beast

Heinlein, Robert
A boy and his pet, or vice versa, head out to the woods for a little alone-time from the stresses of societal demands... I think I only read this one five times since junior high. I love the teen girl divorcing her parents in a 1954 book!

Read:

6/2015

Read:

12/2017

Read Again:

9/2019

Read:

8/2021

Time for the stars

Heinlein, Robert
Twins with telepathic talents maintain communications between a spaceship surveying planets to settle and Earth. Read again. And again. This time I learned that "sasparilla" is a variation of the original "sarsaparilla". Or vice versa. Or neither!

Read:

10/2005

Read:

12/2010

Read:

9/2019

Tunnel In The Sky

Heinlein, Robert
Final exam in Solo Survival goes awry.

Read:

6/2012

Murder By Bicycle

Heley, Veronica
Ellie Quieke tries to find out who is bicycling around her "pleasant London suburb" delivering poisoned buns. And, she make a decision about her suitor, Bill.

Words I Had To Look Up:

paracetamol (pg. 40) -- We in the U.S. know it as acetaminophen.
senna (pg. 28) -- A plant, used as a laxative.
cascara (pg. 28) -- Another plant, used as a laxative.
carers (pg. 129) -- Brit for caregivers.

Quote:

...there was always a crumble in the rose leaf, wasn't there? (pg. 40)

20 books displayed
[Haddix - Hale] [Hale - Hallinan] [Hallinan - Harrison] [Harrison - Heinlein] [Heinlein - Heley] [Heley - Henry] [Henry - Hess] [Hess - Hiaasen] [Hiaasen - Himes] [Hines - Holm] [Holman - Howe] [Howe - Hyman] 

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