Wilkie Collins' The Moonstone

I know, I know. I've got thousands of books...and and I've only read about half of them. And I probably only have a decade or so (at best) left on this planet. And the library has tons of books I want to read, including this one.

But in my defense, (1) I have intended to read some Wilkie Collins ever since my Dickens binge, when I found out that they were buds and even wrote stuff together, (2) it was only $4, and (3) who could resist that pulpy cover? Not me. And since I'm struggling a bit...a BIG bit...with Zombie Capitalism (my current DDR)...I thought it might be fun to make this my side hustle. (Well...ONE of my side hustles.) 

So let the games begin.

News as it happens.

Oh, by the way, I went online to see how much other people were selling this book for and was astonished at how many different covers there were. This book has been published many, many times. Check THIS out.

And oh oh...there's also a movie. And the LFPL's got it. (Soon I will, too.)

DDR: Zombie Capitalism: Global Crisis and the Relevance of Marx by Chris Harman

424 pages on the evils of Capitalism. What's not to like? I bought this book years ago after reading a reference to it in something or other, and lately it's been on my mind, so time to get out of my dreams and into my car. Do I have the stamina to read a 424 page book on economics? I kind of doubt it, but let's see.

Day 1 (DDRD 3,043) March 2, 2026)

Read to page 30.

It only took a few pages before a reference to Adam Smith's The Wealth of Nations came up. Which is not a surprise, but it did remind me that I've long intended to attempt to read that book.  It probably would make a good follow-up to Zombie Capitalism, eh?

A pretty tough read for me, as I am ignorant of event the most basic concepts of economic theory, but I think I can stick with this. As always,  🕰 will tell...and so will 👁.

Day 2 (DDRD 3,044) March 3, 2026)

Read to  60. But it took me until 8:30 pm to get there. Math is hard. 

Day 3 (DDRD 3,045) March 4, 2026)

Read to page 90.

I'm swimming against the current here as my brain tries to grasp the nuances of economic theory, but I'm determined to keep at it. The major point thus far seems to be that the crises which occur in the capitalist system are not abberations, but are built into the system. Or, more eloquently, "Capitalism does live by crises and booms, just as a human being lives by inhaling and exhaling." (68) That's Leon Trotsky, folks. Let's give him a big hand. 👏👏👏👏👏

"The drive to accumulate leads inevitably to crises. And the greater the scale of past accumulation, the deeper the crises will be." (72) 

Or...

Senses never gratified

Only swelling like a tide

That could drown me in the

Material world

(George Harrison)

Day 4 (DDRD 3,046) March 5, 2026)

Read to page 100. Yeah. 😫 I'll go back for more, but right now it just feels like trying to swim through dough. (Though I did read 40 pages of The Moonstone with no strain.

Sigh.

Later...made it to 104. That's it for today.

Day 5 (DDRD 3,047) March 6, 2026)

Read to page 

I was thinking pretty seriously about quitting.this book, but then I read this line: "The relationship between states and capitals are relationships between people, between those engaged in exploiting the mass of the population and those who control bodies of armed men." (109) That's a big gulp. Enough to keep me going for another page or two, anyway. (But not promises.)

Sometimes I wonder: where DO we end?

 

DDR: How to Kill a Witch: The Patriarchy's Guide to Silencing Women by Zoe Venditozzi & Claire Mitchell

 

xxi+ 296 = 317 pages

I'm not sure how I encountered this book. Possibly via an ad on Facebook. At any rate, it seemed interesting, the library had a copy, and I put in a request for it. The library's stamped RECEIVED date is January 23, 2026, so I might be the first person to read this copy of this book. For some reason that thought pleases me.

Day 1 (DDRD 3,039) February 26, 2026)

Read to page 73.

"...when the going gets tough in any society, it is the most vulnerable who are accused of causing the damage." (xviii)

There are some VERY gross descriptions of the tortures "witches" were put through. This is definitely not for the faint of heart...of whose number I count myself, alas. Despite that, I find this book quite compelling. That's due in part to the occasionally sarcastic voice of the writer(s). Sarcasm is a balm for my soul.

Day 2 (DDRD 3,040) February 27, 2026)

Read to page 146 (halfway point).

This book has actually FOOTnotes. That's the way you do it, folks. (As opposed to hiding them at the end of the book with no indication that they exist until you reach the end of the book. I'm looking at you, Mr. Brando Starkey.)

"If a woman's behavior is unacceptable or suspicious, Could it be she's a witch?" (98)

I couldn't help but think of my daughter when I read this. She is a very odd human being. Also, my favorite female human being. But if you met her, it would not take more than a few seconds to realize that she was, at very least  odd. We volunteer at the hospital once a week. As we were leaving one day, she went into the women's room. Shortly after she entered an old woman came out, her eyes wide. She whispered to her son, who was waiting for her,  "There's a woman in there talking to herself. I think she's crazy!" For a moment I was offended and was going to say something in my daughter's defense...and then I realized, No, that's fair. 

So my daughter might have been labeled a witch back in those days, simply for being her autistic self. A frightening thought.

In a first draft opinion on the case of Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization in 2022, Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito quoted Matthew Hale's opinion that abortion is a great crime. Matthew Hale was a judge who presided over a Salem witch trial in which two innocent women were hanged on the testimony of several children who said they were attacked and threatened by invisible spectres of these women. Dobbs v. Jackson WHO is the case that overturned Roe v. Wade. Still hunting down those witches, I guess.

Day 3 (DDRD 3,041) February 28, 2026)

Read to page 222. So tomorrow will probably do it. Good read!

BTW, you can find the Witches of Scotland podcast HERE.

Day 4 (DDRD 3,042) March 1, 2026)

Read to page 296, The End.  A good book. At the end it linked past treatment of women with present treatment of women with the possible future degradation of women. It was necessary, of course, but also a bit screedy. As a man who has tried very hard not to mistreat women, it's hard for me to listen to blanket condemnations without thinking, "Hey, wait a minute." I understand why it's done that way, and maybe even why it's necessary to do it that way, but it still hurts. 

Isaac Asimov did make me smile hard.

 

https://archive.org/details/moretalesofblack00asim/mode/1up

I'm reading my second collection of Isaac Asimov's Black Widowers stories (More Tales of the Black Widowers) And enjoying it quite a bit. As a matter of fact, I'm spending a lot more time with it per day than is my wont, and thus am already halfway through the book after just a few days. (Normally it takes me several months to read an Asimov book because I only read a few pages per day. (Sotto voce: in the bathroom.)

The stories delineate the regular dinner meetings of this men's group, which is modeled after a real group Asimov belonged to. At these meetings, a guest is grilled, and some kind of mystery evolves out of the grilling. Invariably, the waiter, Henry, is the one to solve the mystery. It's very formulaic and you would think it would have gotten old after a few stories, but it actually has not and I'm anxious to read more. (There are quite a few more by the way. I'm glad that Internet Archive has them available, since some of the prices for these books are way out of my league.*) In the VIIth story in this volume, entitled "Season's Greetings," A character named  Gonzalo suggests that the Black Widowers should put together a book of limericks. He is immediately (and rudely) shot down for the suggestion, and then he surreptitiously begins to write, "There once was a group of dull bastards...." 

It didn't make me laugh...few books do...but it did make me smile. Smile hard. I think that's the first time this has happened whilst reading an Asimov book.

So there's that.

*