From: psperson@old.netcom.invalid   
      
   On Thu, 22 Jan 2026 15:06:19 -0800, BCFD 36  wrote:   
      
   >As I have mentioned before, I listen to novels via Audible when I am on    
   >my (somewhat) daily walks or doing my job as an organlegger. I saw one    
   >by Dean Koontz that looked interesting and got it, "Fear Nothing"    
   >(1998). I liked it, although the writing style of the narrator I find to    
   >be a bit off-putting. The narrator is fond of lists that have too many    
   >entries and goes off on too much expository (I think that might be the    
   >right word) prose at times, but I like the story overall. It does make    
   >the miles go by faster, both walking and driving.   
   >   
   >The next book in the series is "Seize the Night" (1999) and I downloaded    
   >that one and it too was good.   
   >   
   >I didn't realize the books had been published that far back, but that    
   >was not really an issue. I went to get the next in the series, "Ride the    
   >Storm) and IT HASN'T BEEN FINISHED YET! Or maybe even started!   
   >   
   >Who does he think he is, George R.R. Martin? I need closure, damn it!   
   >   
   >Fortunately, I am working my way through the Lincoln Lawyer series so I    
   >am not stuck for something new for a few days.   
      
   When I was younger, and buying at bookstores, I made it a rule to   
   always get the /entire/ series, with each volume in the same edition   
   (HB, TPB, MMPB) or not at all. This has avoided a lot of annoyance   
   over the years.   
      
   One reason was when I checked out the first volume of a three-volume   
   French novel about Jesuits scheming to control the inheritance of two   
   little girls, only to find the other volumes weren't available. The   
   rule for libraries, then, is to make sure they at least /have/ each   
   volume in their collection.   
      
   This has been relaxed a bit -- I bought the first several Harry Potter   
   books and then bought the others as they came out -- and my current   
   pattern of reading (on Kindle) an author's complete output (if   
   possible) is a deliberate relaxation of it.   
      
   BTW, don't get steamed up over "French" "Jesuits" and "little girls".   
   The book is about legal and related machinations to control the vast   
   fortune their parents' left them. Apparently, in whatever past century   
   this was written, the French still had standards for what could be   
   printed.   
   --    
   "Here lies the Tuscan poet Aretino,   
   Who evil spoke of everyone but God,   
   Giving as his excuse, 'I never knew him.'"   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)