# first book (blogs) — RSS Amplifier Recent posts from the 11 feeds in the RSS Amplifier directory that cover first book. Page: Feed: --- ## [Library of Congress National Book Festival!](https://thisbookisbanned.com/the-art-of-reading/library-of-congress-national-book-festival/) _2026-08-19 · this-book-is-banned · This Book is Banned_ The Library of Congress' National Book Festival takes place on August 22. Can't make it in person? Be sure to check out the online options.... Read More The post Library of Congress National Book Festival! appeared first on This Book is Banned . ## [Aphorisms and Idioms: The More That You Read… The More Places You’ll Go](https://thisbookisbanned.com/aphorisms-and-idioms/aphorisms-and-idioms-the-more-that-you-read-the-more-places-youll-go/) _2026-08-17 · this-book-is-banned · This Book is Banned_ The more that you read, the more things that you'll know. The more that you learn, the more places you'll go. This aphorism may come from Dr. Seuss, but the wisdom it contains isn't just for kids. ... Read More The post Aphorisms and Idioms: The More That You Read… The More Places You’ll Go appeared first on This Book is Banned . ## [This Week’s Fun & Fancy Word: Abibliophobia!](https://thisbookisbanned.com/fun-fancy-words/this-weeks-fun-fancy-word-abibliophobia/) _2026-08-16 · this-book-is-banned · This Book is Banned_ Abibliophobia. It means the fear of running out of things to read. Do you suffer from this frightful word? ... Read More The post This Week’s Fun & Fancy Word: Abibliophobia! appeared first on This Book is Banned . ## [The Final MPs Entry](https://gleaningwords.substack.com/p/final-morning-pages-entry) _2026-08-14 · Eric Beaty · Gleaning Words_ It’s been an amazing journey, but I have many more journals to glean. ## [Unboxing My First Book of Cartoons](https://paulnoth.substack.com/p/unboxing-my-first-book-of-cartoons) _2026-08-14 · Paul Noth · Noth Things_ My first book of cartoons comes out in two months. ## [Vitriol and Exhaustion](http://zanshin.net/2026/08/12/vitriol-and-exhaustion/) _2026-08-13 · Mark H. Nichols · Zanshin.net_ The vehemence and vitriol that AI brings out in some people is both surprising to me, and exhausting. I don’t remember a technology topic as divisive or polarizing. The first code I wrote was BASIC in the mid 1970s. I was self-taught and I was privileged enough to have a father who brought home a portable terminal that could connect to his employer’s mainframe, giving me access to a… ## [Novels are Like Layer Cake – Be Sure to Get Every Bite.](https://thisbookisbanned.com/teacher-resources/layers-give-a-book-substance/) _2026-08-12 · this-book-is-banned · This Book is Banned_ Stories are more than just characters and plot. They’re a collaboration between author, reader, and culture, sometimes contradictory and always symbolic. To understand them, you can’t just look at the surface—you need to dig through every layer.... Read More The post Novels are Like Layer Cake – Be Sure to Get Every Bite. appeared first on This Book is Banned . ## [Aphorisms and Idioms: Jack Of All Trades](https://thisbookisbanned.com/aphorisms-and-idioms/aphorisms-and-idioms-jack-of-all-trades/) _2026-08-10 · this-book-is-banned · This Book is Banned_ Jack of all trades. What does Shakespeare have to do with this phrase.? It isn't one he invented. So, what is the Shakespearean connection? ... Read More The post Aphorisms and Idioms: Jack Of All Trades appeared first on This Book is Banned . ## [This Week’s Fun & Fancy Word: Contronym!](https://thisbookisbanned.com/fun-fancy-words/this-weeks-fun-fancy-word-contronyms/) _2026-08-09 · this-book-is-banned · This Book is Banned_ Contronyms can either be fun or frustrating. They're words that have contradictory meanings depending on the context. Check out a few here.... Read More The post This Week’s Fun & Fancy Word: Contronym! appeared first on This Book is Banned . ## [We May Read For Entertainment, But Literature Isn’t Written Just To Entertain Us](https://thisbookisbanned.com/teacher-resources/the-purpose-of-literature/) _2026-08-05 · this-book-is-banned · This Book is Banned_ Books aren’t just meant to entertain us. They help us see from new perspectives. So take a second to think. Then read on here. ... Read More The post We May Read For Entertainment, But Literature Isn’t Written Just To Entertain Us appeared first on This Book is Banned . ## [Reach prospects with real signals (Sponsored)](https://crawlproof.com/a/bIY3pFJiUP9P) _2026-08-05 · **Sponsored**_ Find prospects talking about your problem and get context-backed moments to engage ## [Create Your Own Lines](https://gleaningwords.substack.com/p/create-your-own-lines) _2026-08-05 · Eric Beaty · Gleaning Words_ Rather than coloring inside the lines others have imposed upon you. ## [Aphorisms And Idioms: Anyone Who Stops Learning Is Old](https://thisbookisbanned.com/aphorisms-and-idioms/aphorisms-and-idioms-anyone-who-stops-learning-is-old/) _2026-08-03 · this-book-is-banned · This Book is Banned_ There’s a saying that “you only become old when you stop learning.” While often intended metaphorically, there are real biological benefits to maintaining a lifestyle of curiosity. So learn more and keep your brain young. ... Read More The post Aphorisms And Idioms: Anyone Who Stops Learning Is Old appeared first on This Book is Banned . ## [This Week’s Fun & Fancy Word: Autodidact!](https://thisbookisbanned.com/fun-fancy-words/this-weeks-fun-fancy-word-autodidact/) _2026-08-02 · this-book-is-banned · This Book is Banned_ Autodidact. If your curiosity brought you to this post, then you’re already well on your way to becoming one! Can you guess what it means? ... Read More The post This Week’s Fun & Fancy Word: Autodidact! appeared first on This Book is Banned . ## [Double Detection - Belton Cobb](https://prettysinister.blogspot.com/2026/07/double-detection-belton-cobb.html) _2026-07-31 · J F Norris · Pretty Sinister Books_ THE STORY: Noel Ross, ex-police sergeant with Scotland Yard, has just ad an operation to remove shrapnel from his head. He and his wife take a vacation for him to recuperate. Ross is distracted and annoyed by his fellow guests at the White Cliffs Hotel on the South Coast of England. When Mr. Griggs, a supposedly amusing and witty man, is found unresponsive in his room the maid jumps to the… ## [In This Week’s New Yorker](https://paulnoth.substack.com/p/in-this-weeks-new-yorker) _2026-07-31 · Paul Noth · Noth Things_ Regularly scheduled Noth Things will resume soon. ## [Carryout Tipping](http://zanshin.net/2026/07/29/carryout-tipping/) _2026-07-30 · Mark H. Nichols · Zanshin.net_ At the risk of being a curmudgeon, I need to rant about tipping with regard to carry out food orders. When we carry out from someplace that has sit down dining, where I would tip the server at the end of the meal, I add a tip to the carry out order. If it is a fast food place where I wouldn’t leave a tip even if I ate there, I don’t leave a tip. ## [Fight Book Bans: Tools For Fighting Book Bans and Resisting Censorship](https://thisbookisbanned.com/on-censorship/fight-book-bans-tools-to-resist-censorship/) _2026-07-29 · this-book-is-banned · This Book is Banned_ There have been more than 10,000 book challenges since 2021. Here are some tools for fighting book bans, and a few ways to resist censorship.... Read More The post Fight Book Bans: Tools For Fighting Book Bans and Resisting Censorship appeared first on This Book is Banned . ## [Let’s Play 20 Questions](https://gleaningwords.substack.com/p/lets-play-20-questions) _2026-07-27 · Eric Beaty · Gleaning Words_ Don’t worry, it’s family-friendly. ## [Rush 50 Something](http://zanshin.net/2026/07/21/rush-50-something/) _2026-07-21 · Mark H. Nichols · Zanshin.net_ Last night I checked off a concert box I thought I’d never get to see. Rush. When Neil Peart died in 2020 everyone thought that Rush was done. He was their drummer and he was unparalleled in his ability to play the drums. Last year Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson announced they were going out on tour again. They had found a touring drummer named Anika Nilles. There was a lot of speculation and… ## [Unfinished Book Series](http://zanshin.net/2026/07/16/unfinished-book-series/) _2026-07-17 · Mark H. Nichols · Zanshin.net_ Sometime in the early 1980s I discovered the David Eddings books in the local bookstore. There were 3 on the shelf that appeared to be a trilogy. So I bought them. Imagine my dismay to reach the end of book three only to learn the story would be continued in book 4, and then book 5. I spent a couple of years hoping the author didn’t wander in front of a moving bus. ## [Refer a Friend, Earn Rewards (Sponsored)](https://crawlproof.com/a/4WdZVpN79eH5) _2026-07-17 · **Sponsored**_ Earn rewards when a friend signs up for the Graphite Business Card ## [Book Series](http://zanshin.net/2026/07/16/book-series/) _2026-07-17 · Mark H. Nichols · Zanshin.net_ I am probably not 100% neurotypical. There are places in my life where my atypical traits show more than others. One such place is book covers. Specifically book covers for a series. Iain M. Banks wrote 9 “Culture” novels. I have 7 of them published by Orbit books, that all use the same color palette and same overall design. The last two, even though they are from Orbit, not only have… ## [Macos ControlCenter](http://zanshin.net/2026/07/14/macos-controlcenter/) _2026-07-15 · Mark H. Nichols · Zanshin.net_ The WiFi icon in my menu bar has been gray for sometime now, regardless of signal strength or connection. Some glitch in the Matrix no doubt. The solution I found is to restart the “ControlCenter”, i.e., the right-hand end of the menu bar. killall ControlCenter At least for now, my WiFi icon is working as expected. ## [FIRST BOOKS: The Swan Island Murders - Victoria Lincoln](https://prettysinister.blogspot.com/2026/07/first-books-swan-island-murders.html) _2026-07-13 · J F Norris · Pretty Sinister Books_ There is nothing more upsetting than falling for the hype on a book jacket. The Swan Island Murders (1930) with its striking Art Deco influenced illustration of a silhouetted damsel being threatened by claw-like hands and the promise of "mystery, horror and detection" was enough to lure me in. While there is plenty of mystery and a smattering of rudimentary detection on display there is little… ## [Concerts](http://zanshin.net/2026/07/11/concerts/) _2026-07-11 · Mark H. Nichols · Zanshin.net_ On July 20th I’ll be in Chicago to see the Rust “50 Something” tour. I never had the opportunity to see them with Neal Peart. All the reviews of the 50 Something tour have been good, so I am excited to see them. In September I’ll be in Boston to see the same tour a second time. I’ve only done that once before; in the 1980s I saw the same Genesis tour twice. ## [Intonation Blues](http://zanshin.net/2026/07/09/intonation-blues/) _2026-07-10 · Mark H. Nichols · Zanshin.net_ There are two broad categories of music instruments: fixed intonation and variable intonation. Fixed intonation instruments are keyboards, fretted string instruments-anything where you cannot play out of tune. Variable intonation instruments require the player to not only master playing the instrument, but also master producing notes, music, that is in tune. The violoncello, or cello, falls firmly… ## [Foreign Affairs - Hugh Fleetwood](https://prettysinister.blogspot.com/2026/07/foreign-affairs-hugh-fleetwood.html) _2026-07-06 · J F Norris · Pretty Sinister Books_ Paolo Levin, concert pianist living in Rome, is being followed by an emaciated and crippled young man. He stands outside Paolo's apartment and watches the pianist. For weeks the young man shadows Paolo. He starts to show up dressed exactly like Paolo. After several failed attempts to get the stalker to explain himself the young man speaks: "I wish you would speak in English. I don't understand a… ## [Peculiar Thinking](https://gleaningwords.substack.com/p/peculiar-thinking) _2026-07-03 · Eric Beaty · Gleaning Words_ for a peculiar people ## [FIRST BOOKS: A Man Died Here - Gina Dessart](https://prettysinister.blogspot.com/2026/07/first-books-man-died-here-gina-dessart.html) _2026-07-01 · J F Norris · Pretty Sinister Books_ THE STORY: Liz & Bob Macklin purchase an old home in Marshall, Massachusetts and begin an extensive rehab project transforming the gloomy, dark paneled, house into a bright, livable home. Liz is curious about the former owner, Seton Williams, who died in the house several years ago. Cancer she's told was the cause. A lonely old man dying alone, she thinks. But who was he? One day at the post… ## [Remembering Dominique Paul Noth](https://paulnoth.substack.com/p/remembering-dominique-paul-noth) _2026-06-30 · Paul Noth · Noth Things_ 1942-2026 ## [LEFT INSIDE: Another Bookshop Receipt](https://prettysinister.blogspot.com/2026/06/left-inside-another-bookshop-receipt.html) _2026-06-29 · J F Norris · Pretty Sinister Books_ This bookshop receipt was Left Inside a copy of The Wallet of Kai Lung that I purchased many moons ago from John Chandler's long-lived but sadly now defunct bookstore Bookman's Corner on Broadway and Wellington in the Lakeview neighborhood of Chicago. I've mentioned this mess of a bookstore that I dearly loved visiting a couple of times on this blog. I bought both books listed on this receipt as… ## [Point once, get highlights (Sponsored)](https://crawlproof.com/a/wNRXBUvehFs7) _2026-06-29 · **Sponsored**_ Get minutes worth watching from a whole game — point once ## [The Snare of Circumstance - Edith E. Buckley](https://prettysinister.blogspot.com/2026/06/the-snare-of-circumstance-edith-e.html) _2026-06-26 · J F Norris · Pretty Sinister Books_ THE STORY Elmer Bliss, reporter, is hired by a mysterious gentleman called Philander Summerfield to look into a recent Peter Somhers murder case that he believes was never solved. Bliss has been fascinated by the case because Somhers' nephew, Harrison Milbrath, was tried twice for the murder. In the first trial he was found guilty then he and his lawyer appealed due to an abundance of… ## [LEFT INSIDE: Ancient Sherlockiana & German Post Card](https://prettysinister.blogspot.com/2026/06/left-inside-ancient-sherlockiana-german.html) _2026-06-21 · J F Norris · Pretty Sinister Books_ These bits of ephemera are rather remarkable for both being well over 100 years old. Both post card and newspaper story were Left Inside my extremely scarce copy of The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes (Harper & Brothers, 1894. Revised 2nd edition). I have to brag a little about this book because my partner Joe found it at a book sale in Libertyville, Illinois many moons ago. I paid one buck for the… ## [Giveaway Results Are In](https://prettysinister.blogspot.com/2026/06/giveaway-results-are-in.html) _2026-06-17 · J F Norris · Pretty Sinister Books_ The results of the Cecil M. Wills book giveaway are in. After a highly scientific method that I left to one of the many Random Number Generators on the internet a winner was selected at random by a machine. How fitting for our new age of omnipresent AI and robots. And now for the Lucky Stiff...uh, lucky winner -- Comment #5 assigned to jdf21 was selected. Congrats to jdf21 ! You are the winner of… ## [Giveaway Results Are In](https://prettysinister.blogspot.com/2026/06/giveaway-results-are-in.html) _2026-06-17 · J F Norris · Pretty Sinister Books_ The results of the Cecil M. Wills book giveaway are in. After a highly scientific method that I left to one of the many Random Number Generators on the internet a winner was selected at random by a machine. How fitting for our new age of omnipresent AI and robots. And now for the Lucky Stiff...uh, lucky winner -- Comment #5 assigned to jdf21 was selected. Congrats to jdf21 ! You are the winner of… ## [A Writing Ratio](https://gleaningwords.substack.com/p/a-writing-ratio) _2026-06-17 · Eric Beaty · Gleaning Words_ ...as compared to marketing. Sometimes, it’s easy to get wrapped up in the selling of our work rather than what’s more important—the production of it. In this entry, I’ll give you a reasonable ratio as it relates to both. ## [LEFT INSIDE: "Thank you for arranging the Madrigal Singers..."](https://prettysinister.blogspot.com/2026/06/left-inside-thank-you-for-arranging.html) _2026-06-14 · J F Norris · Pretty Sinister Books_ On rare occasions I find a letter still in its envelope inside a book. This one dated January 29, 1976 and mailed on Jan 30 of that year was Left Inside my rare copy of Call Mr. Fortune (Dutton, 1921) by H. C. Bailey. I uncovered a wealth of information about the letter's writer, her husband and the photographer who took the photo on the stationery. First, the photographer. Sally Savage has had… ## [Summer Beach Read](https://paulnoth.substack.com/p/summer-beach-read) _2026-06-12 · Paul Noth · Noth Things_ And It’s All Cartoons! ## [Cecil M. Wills New Reprint on Sale & Giveaway!](https://prettysinister.blogspot.com/2026/06/cecil-m-wills-new-reprint-on-sale.html) _2026-06-10 · J F Norris · Pretty Sinister Books_ A couple of years ago I bought a small pile of rare hardcover editions of Cecil M. Wills mystery novels. These included Author in Distress (his debut as a mystery writer), The Chamois Murder and Death Treads . I read all of them in quick succession, but only reviewed Author in Distress (1934) on the blog. Shortly after I posted that review I sent a PDF of the entire book to Gavin O'Keefe as a… ## [LEFT INSIDE: Sales Slip for Used Book](https://prettysinister.blogspot.com/2026/06/left-inside-sales-slip-for-used-book.html) _2026-06-07 · J F Norris · Pretty Sinister Books_ For those among you who were with me from the start of this blog back in 2011 you may recall I had a somewhat regular feature (at one time weekly) in which I share photos of objects, mostly paper ephemera, found in the old books I own. Well, this summer that feature has returned. Huzzah, hurrah and hallelujah! Each Sunday, for the next three or so months, I'll have some little tidbit to share with… ## [Be the Clay](https://gleaningwords.substack.com/p/be-the-clay) _2026-06-05 · Eric Beaty · Gleaning Words_ Let the Potter mold you. This, one of the final entries in my Morning Pages Journal, is probably one of my most inspired entries in the entire notebook. I hope it inspires you to take your own creative action, your own first draft of something bigger. ## [Feedback - Hugh Miller](https://prettysinister.blogspot.com/2026/06/feedback-hugh-miller.html) _2026-06-05 · J F Norris · Pretty Sinister Books_ THE STORY: Matt Galt, Scottish ex-pat and private detective with a middling business, lives and works in Stratford primarily because he is an aficionado of the Bard. At the start of this novel he is hired by antiques dealer Timothy Barton to discover who has been sneaking rats into his shop. Galt spends the night in the shop, has a frightening encounter with the vandal and a small army of rats.… ## [Nice Substack you got here…](https://paulnoth.substack.com/p/nice-substack-you-got-here) _2026-06-05 · Paul Noth · Noth Things_ Be a shame if something happened in it. ## [NEW STUFF: Strange Houses - Uketsu](https://prettysinister.blogspot.com/2026/06/new-stuff-strange-houses-uketsu.html) _2026-06-02 · J F Norris · Pretty Sinister Books_ Here we go again. Another puzzle laden "mystery" novel has arrived fresh from the pen of Uketsu and the English language translator Jim Rion. It's Strange Houses (2025, original Japanese edition 2021) and this time instead of a variety of unusual picture puzzles that are supposed to reveal the hidden motives of the criminally minded characters in its pages ( Strange Pictures ) we have an… ## [Sentence Deferred - August Derleth](https://prettysinister.blogspot.com/2026/05/sentence-deferred-august-derleth.html) _2026-05-30 · J F Norris · Pretty Sinister Books_ THE STORY: Sentence Deferred (1939) tells of how circumstantial evidence and coincidence can complicate a murder investigation. Two men, Beckit and Alford, claim to have shot a thoroughly disliked bank whose savings and loan institution failed taking with it most of the accounts. The victim was shot twice according to each shooter's confessions, once in the head, once in the chest. But only his… ## [Did My Appendix Draw This Cartoon?](https://paulnoth.substack.com/p/did-my-apendix-draw-this-cartoon) _2026-05-29 · Paul Noth · Noth Things_ In Memorium of My Iatrophobia ## [Speak, Lord](https://gleaningwords.substack.com/p/speak-lord) _2026-05-19 · Eric Beaty · Gleaning Words_ For thy servant heareth. “To obey is better than sacrifice.” These words spoken by Samuel, the prophet and last judge of the nation of Israel in the Old Testament, are sometimes hard to swallow. Because, quite often, obedience is a sacrifice in itself. ## [A Badge for Barbarism](http://zanshin.net/notes/a-badge-for-barbarism/) _2026-05-18 · Mark H. Nichols · Zanshin.net_ When you’ve got rid of all the mosques But the costs of life still rise and you’ve built your fortressed borders but the NHS still dies and the Muslims are all gone and your town’s a wall of white but corporate vultures are still pillaging every facet of our lives who will you blame then? What will you have gained? A badge for barbarism against a backdrop of decay… ## [NEW STUFF: The Final Problem - Arturo Pérez-Reverte](https://prettysinister.blogspot.com/2026/05/new-stuff-final-problem-arturo-perez.html) _2026-05-17 · J F Norris · Pretty Sinister Books_ There will always be Sherlock Holmes pastiches. It is the one type of mystery novel homage that seems to be pouring out of an eternal fountain. I tend to avoid them these days but The Final Problem (2026), from the pen of inventive Spanish writer Arturo Pérez-Reverte, has an intriguing originality in that this is not only a Holmes homage but also an intricately devised meta-fictional tribute to… ## [Political Cartoon Battle Royal](https://paulnoth.substack.com/p/political-cartoon-battle-royal) _2026-05-15 · Paul Noth · Noth Things_ I’ve written here before about being a “reluctant political cartoonist,” and yet political jokes show up in nearly every batch I submit to the New Yorker like uninvited guests. ## [Net of Cobwebs - Elisabeth Sanxay Holding](https://prettysinister.blogspot.com/2026/05/net-of-cobwebs-elisabeth-sanxay-holding.html) _2026-05-15 · J F Norris · Pretty Sinister Books_ THE STORY: Malcolm Drake has returned from his WW2 Navy service a damaged man. He keeps dwelling on a young sailor whose death he feels he caused. While recuperating in his brother's home he has been amassing sleeping pills for what seems like a planned suicide. Then at an impromptu party he insists his teetotaling Aunt Evie join in drinking and she accepts a strongly prepared cocktail more on a…