There is a tall bearded named 'Seagull' but no photo.

Today is International Children's Book Day:

Good one!


Today is American Circus Day!

Today is International Carrot Day!

Today is First Contact Day:






...and my personal favourite:

And staying in that vein, on this day in 1992, the famous sci-fi writer (and professor of biochemistry) Isaac Asimov, died.

Lilli ~ How beautiful!

BTW, i LOVED Asimov's writing!

And THANK YOU for reviving this thread, as I haven't been able to do it lately.

Evelyn, I loved Asimov's writing, too. I love sci-fi. I think my absolute favorite was Orson Scott Card's Ender's Game. The book, not the movie.

I've always liked Isaac Asimov too, used to be an avid Sci-Fi reader, though haven't read any in recent years. Guess my favorite author was Robert Heinlein, also like Ursula K. Le Guinn. During the past twenty years I've kind of gotten stuck on Terry Pratchett, as well as historical fiction and authors in the "detective" genre (Michael Connelly, Lee Child), et. al. @DaisyDo, thanks for the recommendation. I had not known of Orson Scott Card and will look for his books. I'm always looking for new authors.

Donna, of Card's books, Ender's Game was the only one I really loved, so look for it. Some other sci-fi favorites were Starship Troopers (the book is much better than the movie), Rendezvous with Rama (and the rest of that series), Flowers for Algernon, 1984, and Ringworld. I think The Handmaid's Tale is sometimes classified in with Sci-fi, since it's an alternate (but all too possible) reality. Certainly don't miss any of these.

Thanks, I read 1984 and The Handmaid's Tale years ago. I have enjoyed the series of The Handmaid's Tale. Some of these so-called Sci-Fi books are becoming all too real and a little scary! I will look for the rest.

2Dogsmother said:During the past twenty years I've kind of gotten stuck on Terry Pratchett..

Glad to connect with another Terry Pratchett fan. I reread his books every few years and indeed spent my first COVID summer escaping into Discworld. I highly recommend Pratchett's Wyrd Sisters series on Audible audiobooks read by Indira Varma as well.

For a new author, check out the mysteries of Tana French. Her books are very well written with excellent characterization.

It's fun to find out that we have more in common than simply irises.

'Cosmic Celebration'

'Starship Enterprise'

AndreaD said: Glad to connect with another Terry Pratchett fan. I reread his books every few years and indeed spent my first COVID summer escaping into Discworld. I highly recommend Pratchett's Wyrd Sisters series on Audible audiobooks read by Indira Varma as well.

For a new author, check out the mysteries of Tana French. Her books are very well written with excellent characterization.

I read all of the Discworld books around 15-20 years ago, sold them all (dumb move) and am now buying them back to re-read. I found several of Pratchett's non-fiction books as well - "Slip of the Keyboard", "Shaking Hands With Death", and "Seriously Funny". There are others, but I haven't yet found them at any of the used bookshops I buy from on-line. They are worth a read, and if you haven't read "Nation" I highly recommend it. Both my daughters are also Pratchett fans and they loved that one too.

Thanks for the recommendation, looked up Tana French and bookmarked her site. Will check my library for her books.

@DaisyDo , I agree it's great to find other things in common besides iris. Any of you also grow daylilies?

Pratchett's books are always worth a reread.

Polymerous (Marilyn) of this forum is very much into daylilies. I don't grow them myself.

I have daylilies, but the deer always succeed in nipping off most of the buds. They are deer candy, so I won't be planting more of them. I have even thought of digging them out to make more room for irises, but I don't have the energy.