#Library Listing

[mwsa-member]

The Nightmare of the Mekong by Terry M. Sater

Author's Synopsis

The Nightmare of the Mekong" is a gritty account of the Vietnam War, from a sailor who manned automatic weapons in intense combat, on the rivers, streams and canals of the Mekong Delta. It is profoundly personal, with diary entries, and letters to and from home. It includes summaries of official "Operations Reports" and military historical records. The interwoven references to music and news of the day provides a vivid picture of the culture and politics of the times. It is a true story of love, family, war, life and death.Some of this story will bring a smile to your face and warm your heart. Much of it will surprise you. Some of it will give you nightmares. Terry Sater takes the reader through the difficult training of being a "River Rat," fighting the Viet Cong on the dark and dangerous rivers, streams and canals of enemy infested territory. The men of the Mobile Riverine Force go through the legendary "S.E.R.E." (Survival, Evasion, Resistance and Escape) training, followed by boat handling and weapons training, by Army, Navy, and Marine instructors. Following the training, Sater takes the reader to the Mekong Delta of Vietnam, where death awaits around every bend in the river, or a careless step into the muddy Mekong River, "The River of Nine Dragons." Coming home, Sater sheds light on the terrible price our Vietnam veterans paid for serving their country, both in their treatment by the antiwar protestors, and the nightmares and flashbacks that came home with them. If you can only read one book to learn about the Vietnam War, this is the one. You will feel you are there.

Format(s) for review: Paper and Kindle

Review Genre: Nonfiction—Memoir/Biography

Number of Pages: 290

Word Count: 169,944

[teaandspite]

The Great Goodreads Diss List (Part 1)

Context: For many years now, I have been collecting funny lines from Goodreads reviews to share with my coworkers. (I do collection development, reader's advisory, and weeding at a public library, so I read a LOT of reviews)

Are some of these, perhaps, rather mean? Yes, but they are also very funny, and come from a place of honest frustration. In the tradition of Bargepole threads and lists everywhere, names and titles have been censored.

"First, I want to say that I understand how hard it is to write a book and how amazing it is when it is actually published. Congrats to the author for that accomplishment. That said--"

"Warning: This review will be lengthy due to pure hatred."

"I found myself feeling really, really annoyed with the world that this book is allowed to exist. We live in a universe where the passenger pigeon is extinct but this book goes along merrily being read by unsuspecting lovers of words and ideas and stories? It just seems like too much, you know?"

"Don't do it. Don't spring the cash for the hardcover. Instead, eat an entire bag of Twizzlers, spend some money you don't have at a high-end department store, look up on Facebook the shady college boyfriend that made you cry, research the current value of your home or 401K and then read all about how the big hedge fund managers are faring during the economic crisis. You'll feel about the same stomach pain if you waste your time reading this book."

"This wretched novel begins with the mugging of an old lady and it appears I may be in the process of repeating that loathsome crime as [author] was 78 when she wrote it. It is not nice to put the boot into such a poor defenseless old creature lying there with only a damehood, a Booker Prize and a few million quid. It’s a nasty job but somebody has to do it."

"I think this is the way dead people would write, if they could."

"I am considering setting up SPABB: Society for the Protection of Accurate Book Blurb. This blurb appears to have been written by someone from the publishers who met [the author] the night before, got very drunk, lost his notes and then constructed something in a fug of hangover the next morning."

"I congratulate [the author] on the early half of his book, which was thoroughly fun and made me laugh and think. I congratulate [the author] on the second half of his book, for finishing it. It reads like that was difficult."

"…a woman whose taste in contemporary literature has roughly the same batting average as a pitcher in the National League."

"The author is a pompous windbag."

"Recommends it for: No one. Recommended to me by: A friend who apparently wished to cause me great suffering."

"Makes me wonder: is it possible to obtain similes at a volume discount?"

"The repeated phrases made me want to mail a thesaurus to the author."

"I'm disappointed in myself for finishing this book."

"if the author described [character's] eyes as "obsidian" one more time I was tempted to write her and ask if her thesaurus broke."

"They say that an infinite number of monkeys with an infinite number of typewriters would, if given infinite time, eventually produce the complete works of William Shakespeare. [This book], on the other hand, would probably take the average monkey just under two hours."

"I can't imagine what the author had to do to get this nadir of Western literature printed on innocent trees, but he does seem to know a LOT about being well-connected in New York."

"This book is so bad it is almost worth reading just to make you appreciate the other books you are reading."

"Reads like it was written by a brilliant author, the night before it was due."

"raises interesting questions, like: can a book be so bad as to constitute an act of terrorism"

"has this author ever spoken to a human woman"

"This acorn has fallen so far from the tree that it can’t even see the forest."

"I’m guessing they are touted as ‘beach reads’ because no one will care if they get dropped into the ocean."

"This book begins with all the energy of a hand vacuum near the end of its battery life, and the pace doesn't quicken much from there."

"At least everybody’s eyes stayed the same color this time around.”

Part 2

Part 3

[celestialwrites]

heir to the throne x commoner dialogue and prompts

@celestialwrites for more!!

♡ "believe it or not you are worth more to me than any throne." "but you've spent your life preparing for this?" "exactly."

♡ the heir bowing to their s/o, for everyone to witness.

♡ "you should not be seen with me." "really? now why is that?"

♡ just days after their meeting, the heir already has a plan set for a second throne.

♡ "my love and loyalty to you will never falter." "what about your crown? your people?" "it. will. not. falter."

♡ the commoner ending their affair because the only way the heir can sit on the throne is when betrothed to a person of noble blood.

♡ both of them fake their deaths to ensure that they are never found out, yet they resurface to claim the throne together years later when the country is on the brink of war.

♡ there is a colour only the queen/king can wear at court (and/or) ball. so naturally, the heir sends their s/o an outfit, made from the fabric of that colour.

♡ "oh, you asshole!" "careful love, i wouldn't want to throw you in the dungeons."

♡ "i want to be the monarch i was raised to be, but it grows harder with each second i spend thinking about you."

♡ writing secret letters that they both hide around the palace.

♡ the heir gifting their s/o a key to the secret royal library that hasn’t been touched by a non-royal in centuries.

♡ “take my crown, take my title, take my heart, it has always been yours to begin with.”

♡ “for the first time in my life i was just (name), no duties, and no responsibilities. you gave me that gift.”

REBLOG TO SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL WRITERS!!<3

[blu3b3rrin]

uhhh parkciv ate my brain so i jumped for the cringeass yaoi

EDIT: minecraft but i read yuri in PARKOUR CIVILIZATION (this comic is loosely based on this fic ↓) https://archiveofourown.org/works/59668831/comments/839813416

[baba-is-blog]

Does baba like aliens?

ANSWER IS DEPEND

XENOMORPH AND SANGHEILI IS COOL

FACE IS NOT HUMAN AND NOT BORING

FACE IS HUMAN AND BORING IS NOT COOL

[lovelettersandjournals]

R. Arnold.

[blueprint-9376]

04.05.2025 [😘]

🎨: 미술 전시회 보러 간 날/ The day I went to see an art exhibition

[sergle]

I think if you're in a relationship that's anything less than ROCK FUCKING SOLID you should consider not messing with too many of your partners interests. You'll think ohh nooo I'm being a good partner engaging in the stuff they loveee we can bond over ittttt No. you don't want all your hobbies and shows and books covered in their stank.

[pe-arls]

トマト 🍅 ' (ㅅ´ ˘ `) 𝖲𝖯𝖮𝖳𝖨𝖥𝖸 𝖯𝖫𝖠𝖸𝖫𝖨𝖲𝖳𝖲 𝖨𝖣𝖤𝖨𝖠

[...] | random

トマト

🍅 | (⇀‸↼* )

[queerliblib]

Irish? Queer? we’ve got books for you

Irish authors, settings (or both!), with a St. Patricks’ Day romance thrown in - all available at the Queer Liberation Library!

Books pictured are listed below, and there are more in the list in our collection if you click through!

Some Integrity by Padraig Regan (multi-award winning irish poetry, queerness as a way of looking)

In the Name of Love: the movement for Marriage Equality in Ireland by Una Mullally (what it says on the tin)

Moments of Glad Grace by Alison Wearing (ultimately a family story, exploring ancestral connections to Ireland and a daughter’s relationship with her aging father)

All Our Hidden Gifts by Caroline O’Donoghue (teens, tarot, and catholic school)

Juno Loves Legs by Karl Geary (young friendship in 1980’s Dublin)

Lucky to Be Yours by Shannon O’Connor (fun F/F rom-com!)

[mwsa-member]

Courage on the Mountain by George Reischling

Author's Synopsis

Projecting skyward ominously 3200 feet above the surrounding flat jungle terrain towered a solitary goliath of a mountain shrouded with an ancient mystical legend and now an enemy stronghold. Nui Ba Dien or the “Black Virgin Mountain” served as a major staging area for the last finger of the infamous Ho Chi Minh trail as it crossed the Cambodian border just a few miles to the West. Honeycombed with hundreds of caves and fortified with elite NVA and Viet Cong soldiers, she stood as a “Thorn in the Side” of American military control of the region. The 25th Infantry Division held a communication site on her highest peak and also the land encircling her base, but her slopes were voraciously defended by large numbers of elite enemy soldiers. Anytime any American unit undertook to engage her slopes, a hellacious battle was guaranteed with the “Angel of Death” always hovering near!

These memoirs illuminate more than just the courage of battle but also the courage and inner strength that the soldiers of Vietnam had to shoulder upon their return home. Courage and dignity qualify all Vietnam Veterans such that the country that at one time turned their back on them now holds them in high esteem. This is my story, start to finish and it was written to enlighten the reader to a greater understanding of the American men and women and their struggles for survival in America’s most unpopular war!

Format(s) for review: Kindle Only

Review Genre: Nonfiction—Memoir/Biography

Number of Pages: 422

[teaandspite]

The Great Goodreads Diss List (Part 2)

[part 1]

[part 3]

"I've read a few books where the authors should have quit while they were ahead. Occasionally that spot is after they've written down the title."

"As boring as watching my grandma knit"

"if I hear the word 'countless' used to describe what we were repeatedly told were exactly one million ships ever again, I think I'll find something to throw myself off."

"The only crime in this novel worth investigating is the one the author has committed against the English language."

"The breasts of every woman that appeared in this book were described."

"The best thing I can say about this book is that it's diverting. The worst thing I can say is not printable."

"This book could have been an email."

"Someone take the damned thesaurus away from [author]."

"This book is so bad that I literally joined Goodreads just so I could vent about it."

"Why does everybody keep falling for him? He has the emotional range of a potholder."

"as if a spavined mule was trying to do the tango to the music of Iron Maiden."

"too much wrapping and not enough content."

"Can I get a horror comic with real monsters and not a metaphorical one please."

"OH MY GOD WHEN WILL SOMEONE GET MURDERED ALREADY?"

"I did not read this I’m just a hater." 

"Sometimes, if it takes you 10 years to write a book, you just shouldn't." 

"I'd recommend vcr manuals over this."

"She actually wrote 'molten gaze'! Ack!"

"Those poor, tortured metaphors."

"This book only gets a star because the fact that I like words coincides with the fact that it contained words."

"I will proceed to chronicle my transition from literature enthusiast to broken shell of a woman"

"A shortbread tin Brigadoon piece of nonsense"

"It pains me to write this review, almost as much as it pained me to finish this book."

"'Empurpled' is a word that should never be used to describe genitalia. It should, however, be used to describe your prose."

"Well I mean, at least I'll have a new joke to tell my therapist this week."

[cottoncandytrafficcones]

Jewish nonfiction books I recommend

Pleasant Are Their Names: Jewish Names in the Sephardi Diaspora Edited by Aaron Demsky

These Are the Names: Studies in Jewish Onomastics by Aaron Demsky

The Torah Encyclopedia of the Animal Kingdom by Rabbi Dr. Slifkin

Sacred Monsters by Rabbi Dr. Slifkin

Growing up Jewish in India by Siona Benjamin

The Jews of Kaifeng, China: History, Culture, and Religion by Xin Xu

Chinese and Jews: Encounters Between Cultures by Irene Eber

Basically any book on the Kaifeng Jews (though many are outdated) such as The Survival of the Chinese Jews by Donald Leslie, Wanderers and Settlers in the Far East: A Century of Jewish Life in China and Japan by Herman Dicker, Chinese Jews by William Charles White, Mandarins Jews and Missionaries by Michael Pollak, Jews in Old China by Sidney Shapiro, and Studies of the Chinese Jews compiled by Hyman Kublin.

[saydesole]

Book Bouquet

I would cry If someone gifted me with one knowing I'm a book junkie

[blueprint-9376]

15.03.2025 [😗]

🌱: 벌써 봄이다/ It's already spring

[violetsonnets]

fall tbr