Saturday Miscellany—4/17/21

1. It’s weird to look off to the right there and not see History of Tom Jones, a Foundling by Henry Fielding listed there.
2. My ISP went down for a day-and-a-half this week, making it a real challenge to get anything posted, but it did help me catch up on reading. But I’m super-behind on blog-hopping, commenting, and everything. I’m looking forward to catching up and seeing all the fun stuff I missed this week.
3. I’m apparently in a list-making mood today.
4. I came across a thing I did for a bit on an old blog and then Facebook years ago, and decided I’d try to resurrect it on these posts. If you still see it in a month, I guess we’ll call it a success.

that caught my eye this week. You’ve probably seen some/most/all of them, but just in case:
In honor of today being the 124th Anniversary of the play, LitHub posted Watch Spalding Gray perform Our Town’s legendary opening monologue.—First off, Our Town is my favorite play, full stop. I’ve read better, but none affect me the at it does. I cannot make it through the third act dry-eyed (I’ve seen high school drama departments stumble through it, ditto for college and amateur troupes, several filmed versions—and in print). I also loved the part of Gray’s monologue, Monster in a Box this post mentions about his role and the reaction to it. I’m rambling now—just read and watch.
Lauren Hough Vs The World—For the 4% of you that didn’t watch this trainwreck live, this is a good summary.
Turns Out It’s Pretty Good: Reading First Thing in the Morning
How Would the Publishing World Respond to Lolita Today?: Jenny Minton Quigley on the Novel Her Father Published
Rare book burial brings a little-known Jewish custom to Naples (Hat tip: Jo Perry)
10 of the worst sentences found in literature—Thoughts: I don’t know how they ever settled on one from The Da Vinci Code; the New Moon selection as great; and I don’t know how I managed to read the rest of The Killing Floor (much less the 25 following novels) after that sentence.
What makes you pick up a book?
Amanda’s Book Format Battle
My first reads!—this was a fun read and sent me down a fun trip down memory lane.
@HiuGregg gives some handy advice in this thread

That I’m Excited About and/or You’ll Probably See Here Soon:
Okay, I’ve got nothing for this. Which is happening a lot lately—have I gotten that picky?

(that I can’t imagine finding a use for)
At least 80% of all cars in Afghanistan are various years of Toyota Corollas, mostly brought into the country used.
Daniel Boone didn’t like flat coonskin caps, but preferred high-crown felt hats so he’d look taller. (yeah, I know I mentioned this in my post about the book, but it was so ingrained my mind from childhood on that I have to mention it again). Also, I’m taller than Daniel Boone was, and I’m not tall, definitely not “tall as a mountain.”
The American custom of having race tracks constructed to run widdershins comes from a “rabid revolutionary,” William Whitleywho built one of the first horse tracks in Kentucky, who deliberately wanted to do so contrary to the British custom.
My new word for the week is, “Funt” which looks like a misprint when you come across it in a book. But after a quick internet search, you find out that it’s not and kind of wish that you didn’t know what you now do.
Sources: The Lore of Prometheus by Graham Austin-King (verified because it made me curious); Blood and Treasure: Daniel Boone and the Fight for America’s First Frontier by Bob Drury, Tom Clavin (for the next two items); Robert B. Parker’s Payback by Mike Lupica.

I’d like to say hi and extend a warm welcome to bookish_renee who followed the blog this week. Don’t be a stranger, and use that comment box, would you?
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