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PaperclipPerfector  10d ago (text post)   2383 thread views

Small-Scale Question Sunday for October 26, 2025

Do you have a dumb question that you're kind of embarrassed to ask in the main thread? Is there something you're just not sure about?

This is your opportunity to ask questions. No question too simple or too silly.

Culture war topics are accepted, and proposals for a better intro post are appreciated.

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So, what are you reading?

I'm retrying Carnegie's The Gospel of Wealth Essays and Other Writings.

been reading the Mr. Putter and Tabby books at bedtime. Just a wonderful set of kids books. Interestingly enough the author published 25 of them from 1994-2016, but I would say the first 5 are a class above most of the rest, and none of the ones after 13 are really anything special. i'll happily reread those first 5 and even 6-13 a pretty decent amount, but 14-25 get old.

You wouldn't think the author of a short kids series could rest on their laurels but they seem to be doing so.

Maybe next week I'll create my full ranked list for all the other young dads out there haha.

Resting on their laurels, or just using their best ideas first and having to fall back on their second-best later? Being a popular author has never been a safe career plan, so for those who try anyway it just makes sense to front-load hard and give their work the best chance of being seen at all. There's usually a countervailing effect, where any art improves with practice and later better implementations can make up for weaker concepts, but maybe kids' books have a higher ratio than most of inspiration to perspiration.

The art definitely improves, but something goes down - perhaps the winsomeness? The first ones have a bit of melancholy to them, these are stories about a elderly man and his old cat, no wife or grandkids in the picture, and his friendship with his elderly neighbor and her dog. So there is some inherent melancholy to that which I think the early ones convey in the midst of these stories that have their funny and positive elements as well.

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