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December 2007
Dragonhaven Winner Announced: 12/31/07
Thank you to everyone who entered the Dragonhaven giveaway. As it's now an hour away from the New Year, it's time to announce the winner. The lucky winner is Anna of Anna's Attitude.
There are still two contests open:
And I will be announcing new book giveaways in early January.
FSF: The Twilight Year: 12/31/07
The January issue starts off with a dark ages tale called "The Twilight Year" which takes place in England during a freak summer snow storm. McMullen explains that in the mid-530s, Krakatoa erupted and blanketed skies in a twilight for an entire year.
The story is narrated by a bard who makes his living singing of the mythical Arthurian. The bard finds himself in the middle of a land skirmish between a representative of the Roman empire and a group claiming local independence. The bard uses the myth of Arthurian to save his own neck.
When the story first began I was reluctant to read it, afraid I'd be reading another rehash of the Arthurian legend but Sean McMullen's tale is more a historical fiction that explores the power of propaganda than an actual Arthurian tale. Arthur here is secondary to the political machinations of the different factions.
fantasy science fiction magazine | fiction | short story | sean mcmullen
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How Big is Your God? 12/30/07
Paul Coutinho, SJ, an Indian Jesuit priest offers in this slim volume ways for Christians to enrich their lives through new understandings of the divine. Coutinho draws on his understanding of Eastern beliefs to expand upon Western practices of religion. As a Jesuit, many of his examples and questions to readers come from the teachings of St. Ignatius.
The central theme of How Big is Your God? is to experience life, rather than strictly following the rules of tradition. He gives examples of the many different ways one can experience God and what can be learned from understanding these different approaches.
What the book never explores is what value is the book to non-Christians or atheists. God is so much a part of the author's life (as can be expected from his calling) that he never seems to step outside his own experience to ask who might be reading his book.
If you're a practicing Christian looking to expand your relationship with God, you will benefit from this book. If you're not, you can still gain insight into some of the founding principles of the religion.
I have two copies of this book that I will be giving away. If you are interested in winning a copy, you have until 11PM on January 7th to enter. Just leave a comment here.
nonfiction | books | paul coutinho
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FSF: Finisterra 12/29/07
The December issue rounds out with a lovely novelet, "Finisterra" by David Moles. The story takes its inspiration from an illustration done in a Vermeer style by Lara Wells called "The Engineer."
Moles put a lot of work into "Finisterra" an it shows in how much a part of the world his characters are. Sky is more than just an exotic backdrop to his story; it is a fully realized world with history, culture, geography, biology and so forth. To learn more about the process of writing "Finisterra" I highly recommend the interview on John Joseph Adams's blog. I must admit to grinning where Moles described trying to remember his trig to figure out how big Sky had to be because I did the same thing for Hale when working on Tangent for this year's Nanowrimo.
"Finisterra" with its celebration of flight set against a hostile world and pre industrial technology reminds me quite favorably of Bob Shaw's novels The Rugged Astronauts and The Wooden Spaceships.
This ends the reviews from the December issue. The full list of reviews is as follows:
fantasy science fiction magazine | fiction | short story | david moles
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Buy Jupiter: 12/28/07
Buy Jupiter is a 1975 collection of 24 short stories by Isaac Asimov. Between each story Asimov explains the history of story. Sometimes he offers the reason behind the story and other times he explains the punchline.
Most of the stories are actually shorter than the attached commentary, coming in at two to five pages in length. They are too the point, usually aiming either for a quick moral or a funny pun.
My favorite of the set is Shah Guido G. (1951) which is also one of the longer of the stories. It is also probably the best of the pun stories.
Over all, though, I found Buy Jupiter hard to read at my usual pace. The stories tend to run right into the explanations. It reads like Asimov is sitting in the corner of the room giving a drunken monologue about his story writing process.
Buy Jupiter was my second book for the Jewish Literature Challenge.
books | scifi | short story | isaac asimov
| jewish literature challenge
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Letters from Iceland: 12/27/07
I am rather split brained about Letters From Iceland by W. H. Auden and Louis MacNeice. There were pieces of it that had me roaring with laughter and other pieces where I just had to skip out of boredom or disinterest.
Letters From Iceland is a collection of writings inspire by a trip to Iceland. It was published in 1937 and has been reprinted a number of times. W. H. Auden provided about two-thirds of the pieces including a lengthy (and rather dull) epic poem called a "Letter to Lord Byron." Louis MacNeice provided the remaining third of the text.
My favorite parts of the book were the notes for tourists which includes practical advice on what to pack an who to dress, warnings about the food an transportation. The descriptions of the Icelandic traditions taken from a British point of view made for a humorous comparison with the dwarves in Pratchett's discworld novels; I was constantly reminded of Carrot.
My all time favorite piece of the book was a satiric letter "Hetty to Nancy" by MacNeice. It is an account of a disastrous group camping trip. Hetty recounts the problems of sleeping facing down hill, with sleeping on rocks and with tents in the rain when the tents haven't been properly pitched.
FSF: Who Brought Tulips to the Moon? 12/27/07
Here I am a day late on my review. Even though I tore apart the room we're staying in at my parents' home, I didn't find the December issue. My son actually found it for me tonight by accident while he was looking for a change of underwear. Sigh.
That being said, the theme of delay is oddly appropriate for S. L. Gilbow's story "Who Brought Tulips to the Moon." The moon in some undetermined future has become the place where people go to die. The story follows Jack Hudson an his daughter and son-in-law who have brought him to Smooth Passing in Lunacy Park. He's 94, in good health to no fault of his own, and expecting to die in the next day or so.
Jack spends his last day with Susan, another soon to be passing geriatric. They spend the day drinking and talking of tulips. Gilbow uses their conversation and Mr. Hudson's observations to do some subtle world building. Although this story is about euthanasia, it is by no means a rehash of Logan's Run.
I really enjoyed this story and count it one of my favorites of this issue.
fantasy science fiction magazine | fiction | short story | s l gilbow
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Booking Through Thursday: Highlights: 12/27/07
Booking Through Thursday
It's an old question, but a good one . . . What were your favorite books this year? List as many as you like ... fiction, non-fiction, mystery, romance, science-fiction, business, travel, cookbooks ... whatever the category. But, really, we're all dying to know. What books were the highlight of your reading year in 2007?
I pretty much covered this topic in last week's Thursday Thirteen. If you'd like to see my list of 13 favorites from my year of reading, please see that blog entry.
Rather than rehash my list again, I'd rather explain what makes an enjoyable read for me. Although I can read quickly and frequently, I don't have the time in the day to waste on difficult to read books.
A good read will keep me entertained and be easy to follow even if I have to put it down a number of times over the course of a day. I should be able to pick up where I left off no matter what the circumstances.
I prefer short chapters to long chapters and dear Mr. Pratchett, please for the love of god, learn how to write in chapter form! Dan Brown, cheesy as his books are, I love them for their short chapters.
I adore well punctuated books. Quotation marks, commas and periods are good things. Italics and em-dashes do not make good substitutes for properly punctuated dialog (even if you are a prize winning author). I would much prefer to read Nathaniel Hawthorne's longwinded but well punctuated sentences to Margaret Atwood at her most experimental.
Sex scenes, I can take them or leave them. Most of the time they get in the way of the flow of the plot. As you can guess, I don't read much in the form of romance or erotica. I do make exceptions for gay or lesbian romances (which are unfortunately lumped together as erotica) because they are often time more compelling and interesting stories than the average vanilla romance or chick-lit.
Fantasy and science fiction books will keep my attention better if the characters have easy to read names. The made up sounding names to be either "futuristic" or "otherworldly" sound stupid. I'm not expecting a world populated by Tom, Dick and Mary but let's keep the names believable, okay?
I prefer short novels to long novels. They are easy to hold and honestly, most of the 400+ novels are just filler any ways. If you really feel like you have more than 400 pages of story, break it up into "books" and break each of those books into chapters. I have listened to an audio version of The Historian but there is no way I am tempted to crack that thing open.
That brings me to my next point: vampires. I really don't "do" vampires. I know they're all the latest rage for readers in my demographic but frankly, they are boring. I love Dracula but "vampire as erotic lead" or even as a "screwball heroine" just doesn't appeal to me. I make an exceptions to the books by Christopher Moore and Terry Pratchett.
On physical descriptions, I really don't care what your characters look like unless it's important to the plot. Don't waste my time telling me what everyone is wearing in every damn scene. Sue Grafton in her Kinsey Millhone books wastes so much time setting up every single scene with useless descriptions. Again, I have to go with Pratchett for keeping things simple. Take Carrot: he's tall and has bright orange hair an there is something vaguely regal about him.
Above all, make sure I can remember your book a month or so down the line without having to reread my own reviews.
booking through thursday | books
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The Year in Review: 12/26/07
I don't normally post memes on this blog but I really like the year in review meme where one posts the first entry from each month.
January: Read more >>> |
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February: Read More >>> |
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| March: Now that I've filled you in on the Roosevelt elk we saw on the way northward, let's blip back to Oregon for the return trip to Eureka. We finished lunch and our book purchases by 2 PM, so we were on schedule for starting our trip down the coast with enough time to stop at a number of sites we had skipped on the way north. Read More >>> |
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April: Sean, feeling a little cooped up really wanted to go to the park (any park). So Sean, Harriet and I dropped Ian off at the Apple Store and then spent a lovely (and windy) hour at the Dublin Civic Center Park. This is the same park we went to a week ago while Ian was getting his hair cut. Read More >>> |
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May: Read More >>> |
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June: Read More >>> |
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July: Read More >>> |
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August: Read More >>> |
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September: Read More >>> |
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October: Read More >>>
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November: Read More >>> |
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December: Read More >>> |
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That's a quick glimpse of 2007 and what I blogged about.
meme | 2007 | blog
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FSF: Delayed Review: 12/26/07
I had planned to write my last review from the December issue of Fantasy & Science Fiction Magazine tonight but circumstances beyond my control have forced me to delay this review. The problem is two fold: I don't remember enough of the story to review (a downside of speed reading) and I don't have my copy of the magazine with me to reread.
I think I've left my copy at my in-laws' home in South Pasadena. I certainly had it there over the Christmas weekend when I wrote my review of "Don't Ask" on the 24th. Since then I've traveled down to San Diego and I thought the magazine was with me as all my other reading material made it down with me. So far though, after having torn apart my bags and the car, I haven't found it. I am very annoyed at myself.
fantasy science fiction magazine | fiction | short story | s l gilbow
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Thirteen photographs from last night.
1. Eddie, Sean and Ian watch Santa dance. |
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2. Harriet sorts Christmas coasters. |
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3. Harriet joins in the fun with Eddie, Sean and Ian. |
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4. Eddie shows Sean and Ian how Santa works. Harriet flirts. |
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5. Harriet offers a coaster to another Santa. |
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6. Harriet flits with her great grandfather while Sean watches the outside Christmas lights. |
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7. Harriet and Eddie. |
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8. Ian holds Harriet while she looks at two of her presents: Curious George (2005) and Sesame Street (the old school ones). |
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9. Sean delivers a gift to his uncle John. |
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10. My parents use a live tree. They use it for two years and then plant it in the their backyard at the cabin in Idyllwild. This tree will be planted in early January. |
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11. Lots of presents, mostly for the kids. |
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12. Another photograph of Harriet. |
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13. The stockings hung with care. |
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The Dante Club: 12/25/07
The Dante Club is Matthew Pearl's 2004 debut novel. It's set in Boston just after the close of the Civil War. A series of bizarre and gruesome murders are hitting the city. A local club of scholars working on an English translation of Dante's Inferno begin to see striking similarities between Dante's vision of hell and these recent murders.
I usually shy away from historical novels, especially mysteries, that have major historical figures as the detectives. They often seem too contrived to hold my suspension of disbelief. Pearl, though, kept my attention with his convincing descriptions of post Civil War Boston, the popular literary culture of the time and with how he managed to keep his historical figures human, interesting and believably flawed.
The grisly murders described in The Dante Club are presented with a detached, cold and frank manner. The matter-of-fact approach makes these scenes both gripping and disturbing to read.
There were a few too many scenes of Dante devotion that get in the way of the mystery. Fans though of Dante will probably enjoy these lengthy passages. Readers who aren't all that familiar with The Inferno will benefit from learning the passages relevant to the mystery.
Having now enjoyed The Dante Club, I am eagerly awaiting my chance in 2008 to read The Poe Shadow also by Pearl.
FSF: Don't Ask: 12/24/07
Fourth in the December issue of Fantasy & Science Fiction is a cautionary tale to parents, "Don't Ask" by M. Rickert.
"Don't Ask" is narrated by an unnamed parent of one of the recently returned "lost boys." At first these lost boys brought to mind (quite naturally) the lost boys of Peter Pan. But there is something more sinister happening here than children refusing to grow up.
These lost boys return but they are changed. "Don't Ask" is more about the parents coming to terms with what has happened than the children learning the importance of growing up. "Don't Ask" is a tale about unconditional love.
fantasy science fiction magazine | fiction | short story | m rickert
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The Last Few Days: 12/24/07
We've been very busy the last few days getting ready for the holidays and of course now with the holidays. Every year we travel down to southern California to spend time with our family. First we go to Ian's parents. Then we go to my parents.
Although it isn't time for a Thursday Thirteen, I'm going to use that sort of format to illustrate the highlights of what we've been doing.
Friday: Caligula was happy to get to camp. She loves the horses but she hated the ride. She howled the entire hour drive. Harriet meowed along with her. |
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Along the way to Shamrock Ranch ("cat camp") we drove by the site of the future Devil's Slide tunnel. I wish I had managed to capture a photograph of the tunnel end on the Montara side of things. It's just started and so cool. I did manage to get photographs of the bridge and the cranes at the Pacifica side of things. The bridge crosses over the tail end of Shamrock Ranch. Caligula will be able to watch the construction from her kennel. |
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| Here is Ian checking in Caligula. We've been taking her to Shamrock Ranch since 1999. If we move from the Bay Area, Shamrock Ranch will be one of the things I'll miss most. |  |
| Before heading home we stopped for lunch at the most beautiful Taco Bell ever. It's right on the edge of San Pedro beach in Pacifica. We don't normally eat at Taco Bell but we make an exception for this one because of the location. |  |
Saturday: With Ian and Harriet both suffering from a cold we got a slower than usual start for our drive down to South Pasadena. We arrived at Ingram Creek for breakfast at eleven and didn't get on the road properly until noon. From looking back at last year's blog entry, we actually had an easier drive this year. We averaged 50 mph but in bursts of 80 mph and 0 mph. For the first couple of hours we were stopping because of accidents every half an hour or so. We ended up arriving at 7PM. |
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Sunday: Although he's seen Christmas trees at school and at my parents' home, it was his first time of actually picking one out and decorating it. |
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| Sean and I had so much fun decorating the tree. It was his first time. The last time I helped decorate a tree was probably ten years ago. It's been so long I don't actually remember what year it was. |  |
| Harriet did her part too. She picked out the ornaments from the bag. |  |
When we were done with the tree, we had fun coloring together. Judy and Charlie found a fantastic giant sized coloring book and box of 196 crayons. Sean, Harriet and I have been having fun coloring in it. The book brings back memories of the oversized coloring books Grandma Flora Mae used to have for me at her house. She and I would lie on the floor on our stomachs and color together for hours. |
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Monday: We had prime rib, potatoes, Thanksgiving rolls and Brussels sprouts for dinner. It's the same lovely meal that we had last year. Afterwards we exchanged presents. I got two pairs of silly socks and a lovely new blank diary. |
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That sums up all our last few days. Tomorrow we head down to San Diego to spend Christmas. We'll be back to South Pasadena on Saturday.
Dragonhaven: 12/23/07
Tucked away in the Smokehill Mountains is the last remaining refuge of draco australiensis, the largest of the dragon species. Dragonhaven by Robin McKinley is an alternate-Earth novel set in contemporary times. The only main difference is the existence of dragons, although they are endangered.
Dragonhaven is a first person narrative by Jake Mendoza, a native of Smokehill. His story begins shortly after the unfortunate death of his mother when a hike through Smokehill changes his life and the lives of those around him forever. Jake saves the life of a newly born dragon whom he names Lois.
It takes until the discovery of Lois for Jake's narrative to become focused enough to be interesting. The first sixty or so pages are way too chatty. Jake is a rambling narrator. I suppose these early pages are a way to do world building but they can easily be skipped. Likewise, Jake's narrative doesn't seem to end either. The novel has as long a coda as it does an opening.
Despite the rambling start and finish, the work in creating this alternate Earth and in working out the biology of all these different species of dragons made for a fascinating read. I just wish the first and last chapters had been more tightly edited.
I did this review for SQT. If you would like a chance to read this book, please enter my contest.
fantasy | books | robin mckinley | sqt
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Bleach 7: 12/22/07
Bleach 7 takes the series in a new direction. The fallout from Ichigo and Uryû's Hollow competition leads to Rukia's arrest. Can they save her from certain execution?
Most of this volume is a long drawn out fight between Ichigo and Rukia's captors. Lots of sword play and posturing.
Needless to say, Ichigo gets his ass handed to him. In all of this abuse he begins to learn that he might have powers and strength beyond what Rukia has given him. He also learns first hand the prejudices of the Soul Society.
The second half of Volume 7 focuses on the training of Ichigo and his friends. Ichigo's training re-emphasizes the theme of balance from Volume 6. There is a fine line between becoming a Soul Reaper and becoming a Hollow.
FSF: The Bone Man: 12/21/07
Third in the December issue of Fantasy & Science Fiction is a ghost story called "The Bone Man" by Frederic S. Durbin.
"The Bone Man" is a grown up version of Ray Bradbury's Halloween Tree. Searching for a bite to eat, Conlin arrives at an idyllic middle of nowhere town just hours before the annual Halloween parade. Although this unnamed town is off the map, it manages to have a steady tourist population, all coming to see the Bone Man.
Not everyone can see the Bone Man and those who can aren't always happy that they can see him. Only the "luckiest" will actually be seen by Bone Man. Conlin, is one of the elite.
fantasy science fiction magazine | fiction | short story | frederic s durbin
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Franny and Zooey: 12/20/07
Franny and Zooey made the perfect follow up to Better Than Running at Night. Both books center around young women struggling through a personal crises in the freshman year at college. Franny struggles more than Ellie in melding her personal convictions with her experiences in college.
In "Franny" (published in the New Yorker in 1955), Franny, a member of the Glass family (a family I will revisit when I read and review Nine Stories next year), is introduced as a cheerful and enthusiastic character through a letter that her boyfriend, Lane, carries in his pocket. It has been a while since they last saw each other and the woman who steps of the train is nothing like her letter. She is withdrawn and nervous, a very changed person.
Over the course of a disastrous dinner date, Franny pours out her heart to Lane. She has become enamored with a book of eastern philosophy that she believes has the answers to all her problems. Franny's half of the story ends though before she can elaborate.
It isn't until the much longer Zooey chapter (or story, as originally published in The New Yorker in 1957) that greater details of Franny's problems are revealed. The bulk of her story comes out in a very funny but touching conversation between Zooey and his mother, Bessie Glass.
While the story is still about Franny's depression, Bessie ends up stealing the show. She is so perfectly written in all her quirks to be a fully realized person in these eight or so pages.
I'm very glad I read this book for the Jewish Literature Challenge.
fiction | books | j d salinger | jewish literature challenge
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Booking Through Thursday: And the Nominees Are... 12/20/07
Booking Through Thursday
- What fiction book (or books) would you nominate to be the best new book published in 2007? (Older books that you read for the first time in 2007 don't count.)
Most of the fiction books I read this year were published long before 2007. Of the fiction I read, most of it was children's fiction. The title that jumps out at me as the best is Little Pea by Amy Krause Rosenthal
- What non-fiction book (or books) would you nominate to be the best new book published in 2007? (Older books that you read for the first time in 2007 don't count.)
Same answer here. The vast majority of the books I read were published prior to 2007. In fact most of the books weren't even published this decade. Of the small handful of nonfiction books that qualify, the best was clearly Plato and a Platypus Walk into a Bar by Thomas Catchart and Daniel Klein.
- And, do "best of" lists influence your reading?
It depends on who has written the list. I give more weight to friends and favorite bloggers than I do to the New York Times and similar lists. If you'd like to see my best of 2007 (including books from previous years), check out this week's Thursday Thirteen.
booking through thursday | books
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Bleach 6: 12/19/07
Although "Hat and Clogs" is on the cover of Bleach 6, he is waiting in the wings to clean up the mess that Uryû and Ichigo create.
Volume 6 is the breaking point in the current rhythm of the series. It is also the point where the Soul Society's role in the universe is finally explained. They keep the balance of souls between the two worlds. Unfortunately Uryû and Ichigo have thrown that completely off kilter.
Can they put things to rights? Can they work together long enough to fix the mess? And finally, will all of this go unnoticed? Of course not.
FSF: Stray: 12/19/07
"Stray", The second story of the December issue of Fantasy & Science Fiction Magazine is about fitting in, love and acceptance. The protagonist is a fallen immortal named Ivan. He has sent thousands of men to their deaths and is now for reasons unknown stranded in the middle of nowhere at the height of Depression.
His savoir is a woman named Muriel who takes him home in her beat up Model T and welcomes him into her heart no questions asked. Ivan soon finds a happiness he has never had but this bliss is threatened by his own desire to make Muriel happy.
It took me a page or two to get into this short story but I liked the awkward relationship between Ivan and Muriel. There was a certain matter of factness to the story. These things happen and don't require explanation or much in the way of exposition.
fantasy science fiction magazine | fiction | short story | benjamin rosenbaum | david ackert
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#37: Best Books of 2007: 12/19/07
Now that the year is almost complete, I thought I'd share what were my thirteen favorite reads this year. Click on the title to read my reviews. The last one will take you to my contest. I will be giving away Dragonhaven at the end of the month.
1. Cork Boat by John Pollack I enjoyed reading the book. It was nonfiction fluff and a nice mental vacation from the classics I've been reading. |
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2. Quest for Kim by Peter Hopkirk. Hopkirk gives a chapter for each major even in Kim, even if he is unable to find through research definitive answers to a location's whereabouts or history. |
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3. The Girl in the Flammable Skirt by Aimee Bender. The Girl in the Flammable Skirt is a collection of short stories that are written in a chick-lit style (hence the cover) but with science fiction and horror undertones. |
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4. Marianne Dreams by Catherine Storr. As a children's book it's a great introduction to the horror genre. It is also beautifully (and eerily) illustrated by Marjorie-Ann Watts. |
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5. Housekeeping by Marilynne Robinson. While Ruth is the narrator and the story centers around the misfortunes of her family, the true protagonist is Fingerbone, a place somewhere near Seattle but in the cold, remote regions of the mountains. |
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6. The Hours by Michael Cunningham. It was a pleasant surprise. It had some flaws here and there and wasn't the best book I've ever read but it was oddly compelling and I stayed up a little late to finish it. |
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7. Basket Case by Carl Hiaasen. Basket Case has the humor and wit of Hoot but is written for an adult audience (for themes of sex, drugs and rock-and-roll though without being very explicit). I think teens will still enjoy Basket Case (I certainly would have!) and anyone who enjoys Jimmy Buffett's books will find a similar style of writing (and setting) in Basket Case. |
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8. Rowing to Latitude by Jill Fredston. Rowing to Latitude chronicles a number of kayaking trips that Jill Fredston took with her husband, Doug. When they aren't kayaking, Jill and Doug work as avalanche experts in Alaska. Most of the the trips described are along the Alaska coast or along rivers that end in the Arctic Circle. The final chapters of the book cover their trips around Greenland. |
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9. Locked Rooms by Laurie R. King. Of the three Mary Russell books I've read this year, Locked Rooms is by far my favorite. King's depiction of San Francisco and the peninsula both during the earthquake and in the 1920s, brought the mystery to life for me. |
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10. The Velvet Rage by Alan Downs. With "rage" in the title, I expected to find a great deal of anger inside of The Velvet Rage. Instead I found a book full of hope, encouragement and practical advice. |
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11. Black Swan Green by David Mitchell. The narrator of the book is thirteen-year-old Jason Taylor. He is like Adrian Mole but more likeable and probably smarter. His narration is told in the past tense, somewhere between the impressions he would have had as a teen and the twenty-twenty hindsight of an adult. |
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12. Better Than Running at Night by Hillary Frank. If you pick up a copy of Better Than Running at Night, I highly recommend reading it to the music of Sam Phillip's 2001 album, Fan Dance. The two complement each other beautifully. |
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13. Dragonhaven by Robin McKinley. A coming of age tale involving dragons in a national park. I will be reviewing it in the next few days. I am also giving away my copy. Contest ends on December 31st. |
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Better Than Running at Night: 12/18/07
Better Than Running at Night turns out to be one of the best books I've read this year. This 2002 debut novel by Hillary Frank covers the first year Ladybug (Ellie) Yelinsky spends at the New England Collage of Art and Design.
Each chapter is short, not more than a couple pages. Each one has a funny title, illustrated by a tiny sketch the by the author.
Hillary Frank created a very realistic, likeable and believable character in Ellie. She's naive in the way that so many new adults are but she also has a strong personal code and even when her experiences at NECAD challenge her beliefs she stays true to herself as she adapts.
If you pick up a copy of Better Than Running at Night, I highly recommend reading it to the music of Sam Phillip's 2001 album, Fan Dance. The two complement each other beautifully.
Bleach 5: 12/18/07
As the cover art implies, much of Bleach 5: Right Arm of the Giant is about Chad and his unusual abilities. As Chad is honing his strength we are treated to Uryû Ishida's back story as the last Quincy. Finally there is Orihime who is also coming into her powers.
Although there are the usual fights with Hollows, Bleach 5 is mostly about Ichigo's friends (or soon to be friends). It's about their back stories, their abilities and how they are important to Ichigo. The Hollows here are just to show what Ichigo's friends can do without him.
I like Chad. He's not the typical stupid heavy. He's quiet, embarrassed by his strength but he's smart. He's also very nice, even if he's not the most social of characters.
FSF: Osama Phone Home: 12/17/07
The first story of the December issue of Fantasy & Science Fiction Magazine is a reprint of "Osama Phone Home" by Alaskan author David Marusek. The story originally appeared the March/April 2007 issue of MIT's Technology Review.
"Osama Phone Home" recounts the plans of the American Curling Club to do what the U.S. government has so far failed to do: find Osama bin Laden. They come up with a variety of wild ideas and by the end of the story their plans backfire in humorous ways.
This story is a farcical poke at modern science and venture capital. It's a quick read and a fun way to start off the December issue. I'm glad it was included.
fantasy science fiction magazine | fiction | short story | david Marusek
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O is for Outlaw: 12/17/07
When the Nattie Challenge blog announced the "Baby Steps Challenge" of reading three books by the end of the year, I felt ready to tackle a few more of the alphabet series. I'm reading M, N and O for this challenge.
A phone call from a storage bin bidder brings Kinsey Millhone face to face with the memories of her first husband and their failed marriage. Mickey Magruder is in a coma at the UCLA Medical Center and the Los Angeles police Kinsey had something to do with it.
Rather than leave things alone, Kinsey starts investigating Magruder's shooting pro bono, putting herself and her license at risk. Kinsey is the outlaw in O is for Outlaw.
A huge pile of debt, a seedy bar and a Vietnam war secret are at the heart of this mystery. Unfortunately these are all the elements of a typical ratings sweep episode of Magnum PI. The Vietnam piece of this mystery felt forced. I know that Kinsey is living in the mid to late 1980s but that still puts more than a decade between her present and the tour of duty where the original crime took place.
O is for Outlaw reminded me why I stopped reading this series in the first place. Kinsey's quirky personal life is supposed to make her interesting but she comes off as annoying and oft-times clueless when she's supposed to be a crack detective. She hasn't grown at all as a character in the course of these fifteen books. She's just as stuck in her ways and just as defective as she was in A is for Alibi.
Win Four Wives: 12/17/07
I am pleased to announce another book give away. This time I'm giving away a copy of Four Wives, a novel by Wendy Walker.
Four Wives is Wendy Walker's debut novel. It's certainly exciting for me to get a chance to read a debut novel. To learn more about the author and her novel, check out her website.
If you are interested in winning a copy, please leave a comment on this post. I will take entries from December 17th through January 17th at 11 PM PST. I will announce the winner on January 18, 2008. The contest is open to any country where the United States postal service sends packages. I will mail the book out to the winner on February 2nd, 2008.
books | contest | fiction | wendy walker
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Castro Valley: 12/16/07
The community to the north of us is Castro Valley. It's the place we spent most of our free time and where Sean goes to school. It's the place I look at through my kitchen window when I'm working from home.
So when I heard there was a pictorial history book on Castro Valley, I had to have a copy. Castro Valley by Lucille Lorge, Robert Phelps and Devon Weston is part of the Images of America series by Arcadia Publishing. Although these books are print on demand, I've noticed that Borders has started to stock copies of the books that cover local communities.
Castro Valley, once home to the Ohlone (page 9), began its modern transformation into a thriving community as part of Rancho San Lorenzo. Bad debts eventually resulted in the ranch being broken up into what's now San Lorenzo, Castro Valley and Hayward.
As a parent with an almost school aged child, the story of Castro Valley's first school made me nod and smile. Most of the students lived on the Hayward side of things but the school was in Castro Valley. Unable to afford to build its own school, Hayward residents stole the school in the middle of the night and carted it back on a wagon to the Hayward side of things (page 22). In the unincorporated area of Fairview the school tug of war continues.
Most of the book though is dedicated to the photographic history of the last century when Castro Valley was a thriving hatchery and later booming bedroom community to post WWII families. Castro Valley in it's current form really took shape in the late 1950s, early 1960s when the strip mall and the mini golf course were built (page 117).
I have thoroughly enjoyed this book and have already read it twice cover to cover.
books | history | castro valley | nonfiction
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Brown Eggs: 12/16/07
When Ian and I were first married he liked to purchase brown eggs over white. Now with our budget as tight as it is, we don't spurge on brown eggs.
They do, however, make a nice subject in still lifes, whether done in traditional or digital media.
My "Brown Eggs" was inspired by Jelaine Faunce's "Four Brown Eggs" painting. She specializes in painting glass. My little iBook is not up to the task of rendering reflections of light on glass in the way that Faunce's paint strokes do. Therefore I went with an earthenware type bowl for my brown eggs.
As simple a piece as "Brown Eggs" appears to be, it was also one of my most popular pieces in my November gallery. If you would like a copy for your wall, it is available from Zazzle.
Happy Halloween Stinky Face: 12/15/07
Sean likes Halloween themed books. He has about a dozen of them. He also adores I Love You, Stinky Face, a favorite book to borrow from his school. So when I saw Happy Halloween Stinky Face for sale, I had to get a copy for him.
Stinky Face is getting ready for Halloween and his (or her, it's never made clear) mother has to field a long string of trick-or-treat related questions. As with the first book, Mama always manages a kind and creative answer to Stinky Face's questions. I often wish I could come up with Mama's witty responses when Sean is flinging run-on-sentence questions at me.
Cyd Moore's illustrations bring to life Stinky Face's wild questions and his mother's equally creative answers. I think my favorite illustration is of Stinky Face's sister flying over the neighborhood, unable to trick-or-treat because she is so high in the air.
If you're a fan of the Stinky Face books or have a young one who adores Halloween themed stories as much as mine does, get yourself a copy of I Love You Stinky Face by Lisa McCourt with illustrations by Cyd Moore.
childrens | books | stinky face | lisa mccourt | cyd moore
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"Urdumheim": 12/15/07
The October/ November issue of Fantasy & Science Fiction rounds out issue with "Urdumheim", a creation story by Michael Swanwick.
This creation story is told from the point of view of the would be assassin of King Nimrod to prevent the building of the tower of Babel.
As the Babel myth is one of the quintessential language creation stories, Swanwick uses his thirty page narrative to play with language. Although the protagonist is able to clearly relate his history to us, he has lost the ability to communicate with his kith and kin.
The unnamed winged creatures of Urdumheim want to bring the chaos of the prelanguage days back to the People of King Nimrod. Urdumheim isn't a place, as the narrator explains, it is a state of being. It is also a play on words on the author's own neighborhood. Perhaps Swanwick's monsters won after all and we are all living in Urdumheim.
That rounds out my reviews of the October/November issue of Fantasy & ScienceFiction Magazine. Here are all of them again:
fantasy science fiction magazine | fiction | short story | michael swanwick
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N is for Noose: 12/14/07
When the Nattie Challenge blog announced the "Baby Steps Challenge" of reading three books by the end of the year, I felt ready to tackle a few more of the alphabet series. I'm reading M, N and O for this challenge.
The unfinished business left by Detective Tom Newquist's untimely death brings Kinsey Millhone out to Nota Lake on a case that will put her life in jeopardy. Kinsey takes on the case of a widow who is convinced her husband died under mysterious circumstances and that the entire town is covering up for the murderer. What Mrs. Newquist and Kinsey don't realize is that the murderer is closer than either would dare suspect but any observant reader will probably realize fairly early on.
I enjoyed N is for Noose, not for the mystery which was one of the most obvious plots I've read in a while, but for the descriptions of Nota Lake County. Anyone who has vacationed along the 395 by Mono Lake or down closer to Mammoth will recognize the areas described as Nota Lake.
Unfortunately by the final third of N is for Noose the scenic descriptions weren't enough to keep me all that interested. The plot was railroaded to such an extent that I knew within pages what had to come to next all the way to the end.
Betrayed by Elmo: 12/14/07
Harriet usually ends her morning by watching Sesame Street before her nap. She knows that when the "Elmo's World" bit of Sesame Street is over, it's her nap time.
Today though, she refused to nap. See, naps are for babies. Elmo told her this. Worse than that, Elmo called a child obviously older than Harriet a baby.
Elmo betrayed Harriet's trust by calling this obvious toddler a baby. This child must have been about 18 months old, so about the youngest of the "younger kids" in Sean's school. These are the big kids that Harriet so looks up to and aspires to be. If they are babies, then Harriet, despite her best efforts, must also be one.
Rather than take her usual nap, Harriet howled from her crib: "I don't want to be a baby! I don't want to take a nap. Big girls don't take naps." Over and over and over again. All day, in fact, did I get to hear her protests.
Watch out Elmo. You're on Harriet's shit list.
elmo | harriet | milestones
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Neighbor Cats: 12/14/07
Caligula turned twelve in September. She's getting to be an old cat and she's never been a very social cat. She prefers the company of humans to felines.
Our next door neighbors have a pair of cats who came to visit yesterday. I heard of them first from Caligula's frantic growling and hissing at the glass door to our balcony. At first I didn't know where these two beautiful cats had come from and I certainly didn't want to spook them because the balcony is three stories off the ground. They would have a long fall if they jumped.
The cats explored the entire balcony from end to end over the course of an hour or so. All that time Caligula watched and growled at the door. I managed to get a few photographs of the cats and Caligula.
By noon the cats had walked back along the narrow ridge between our balcony and our neighbor's balcony. I watched them walk as if that inch wide ridge were a proper walkway. They made it look so easy. Caligula though stayed on guard for another few hours just in case they came back.
Olivia Saves the Circus: 12/13/07
My in laws continue to be a wonderful source of sidesplitting funny children's books for Sean and Harriet. On their recent visit they brought up Olivia (for Sean) and Olivia Saves the Circus (for Harriet) by Ian Falconer.
Olivia Saves the Circus celebrates the power of a child's imagination. Olivia is suppose to share with her class what she and her family did over vacation. Rather than telling the boring details, she paints a fantastic picture where she is one pig circus.
If you believe Olivia's version she single handedly saved the circus when all the performers were out with ear infections. With that premise in mind, Olivia jumps into her story and takes us along.
childrens | books | olivia | ian falconer
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Booking Through Thursday: Catalog 12/13/07
Booking Through Thursday
Do you use any of the online book-cataloguing sites, like Library Thing or Shelfari? Why or why not? (Or... do you have absolutely no idea what I'm talking to?? (grin))
If not an online catalog, do you use any other method to catalog your book collection? Excel spreadsheets, index cards, a notebook, anything?
I don't use Shelfari or Library Thing. I don't see the appeal of either. Nor do I see a need for either. I am a member of BookCrossing and Goodreads and they complement each other nicely.
Rather than use an online catalog for my books, I use a SQL database I've built over this year. I call it my "Book Traffic Control" database and I use it to track books received, books released (through BookCrossing) and books put into storage.
booking through thursday | books | btc
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Olivia: 12/12/07
My in laws continue to be a wonderful source of sidesplitting funny children's books for Sean and Harriet. On their recent visit they brought up Olivia (for Sean) and Olivia Saves the Circus (for Harriet) by Ian Falconer.
Olivia, a Caldecott Honor book, is the first of eight books. It introduces Olivia a young pig who is full of energy.
The book covers a typical day in Olivia's life. She moves the cat around a lot. She moves herself around a lot too. She scares baby brother Ian. She's a typical preschooler (except that she's a pig).
To go with the simple but funny story, Ian Falconer creates full page illustrations in a simple pallet of red, white, black and grays. Olivia, visually, borders on pop art and is just gorgeous to look at. We have enjoyed these two books so much that we've purchased another Olivia book for Sean's school book drive. I think next year we will try to get the entire Olivia collection for our home library.
childrens | books | olivia | ian falconer
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#36: Another Week in Review: 12/12/07
It's been another crazy week. Here it is in review.
1. We celebrated Hannukah |
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2. Harriet loved her first taste of latkes with apple sauce. |
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3. Sean and I had to make a heritage doll for school. This is our representation of the first Sammis wearing slops. |
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4. I'm giving away two copies of How Big Is Your God? |
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5. And one copy of Dragonhaven |
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| 6. I found a double yolk in an egg that I was scrambling for Harriet. |  |
7. We bought a new rice cooker with a steamer. |
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| 8. Sean threw a snitfit about having to eat beans at school so we made beans with every dinner at home for a week. |  |
| 9. My Christmas cactus bloomed. |  |
10. I started offering my calendar and some posters of my artwork for sale. |
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| 11. I wrote my 365th review for 2007. |  |
| 12. Harriet started climbing on everything. |  |
| 13. I attended the annual holiday dinner of the local BookCrossing group. |  |
8 Things Meme Again: 12/12/07
I was tagged by notjustmama for the "8 Things Meme" so here's my third go at it.
- I've been to Tasmania
- I've seen the northern lights
- I can type 100 words per minute; it comes in handy when I'm hand coding.
- I want to visit Wales
- I won a putting contest
- I've had a drawing displayed in the San Diego Museum of Art
- Author Susan Vreeland was my creative writing teacher in high school
- I have never been to Europe, Asia, Africa or South America.
"Unpossible": 12/11/07
The penultimate story in October/ November issue of Fantasy & Science Fiction goes back to the theme of death and loss but from the perspective of someone left behind.
Author Daryl Gregory's story telling style is one part Rod Sterling and one part Michael Ende. He beautifully blends a widower's sorrow with the magic of childhood imagination.
On a day when he should be cleaning out the house before putting it on the market, the protagonist digs through the attic full of his memories: that of his wife and son who have died and that of his own childhood. At the very back, having dug through the layers of his life he finds his old bike, his chariot into the unexplored lands of imagination.
fantasy science fiction magazine | fiction | short story | daryl gregory
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Cross Bones: 12/11/07
You might remember that I was reading chapters of Cross Bones to Sean last month. I've now finished the book and I'm having mixed feelings about it.
Cross Bones has two distinct parts and two distinct mysteries. The first part takes place in Montreal and centers around the execution style shooting of an antiquities dealer. The second part takes place in Israel and focuses on a 2000 year old corpse who is possibly related St. James Ossuary.
The Montreal bits I tore through. I loved the details of the mystery, the cultural clashes and Temperance's goofy friends (who are similar to but different Bones, the series). This half of the book entertained me enough that I still want to read the other book in the series that I have on my TBR shelf.
Had the book only taken place in Israel I would have tossed it aside unfinished. The pacing is off in this bit of the book. I know Temperance is supposed to have tons of experience traveling around the world doing her special field of forensics but she seemed so out of place in the field. Plus there were all these ridiculous action scenes that left me rolling my eyes.
mystery | books | bones | kathy reichs
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Good Omens: 12/10/07
Agnes Nutter probably prophesied this but it's still worth celebrating; Good Omens is my 365th review for the year!
Good Omens is the brilliant novel collaboration between Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett with a guest appearance by Death. See, it's the coming apocalypse and Death is one of the Four Horsemen except that Pestilence has quit in a huff and Pollution is filling in for him.
At the center of the world's destruction is the 12 year old Antichrist. He should be living in the United States but he's apparently not. Can the forces of good and evil find him and set things right before they go completely pear shaped?
Good Omens is an enjoyable book with humor similar to the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series. Gaiman and Pratchett play off of each other well although the pacing of the ending does stutter a bit. I'll forgive the book the last thirty pages since I enjoyed the rest of it so much.
Read the review at Just Add Books.
humor | books | neil gaiman | terry pratchett
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BlogRush 12/10/07
At the beginning of November a bunch of my BookCrossing blogging friends started putting up BlogRush widgets. I had also seen some positive reviews about the widget being another way of syndicating content to niche markets. The positive reviews combined with friends using the widget I decided to add it to mine.
After six weeks I am seeing an increase in traffic. BlogRush's referrals has brought in about 10% added viewership over my usual regulars. Google Analytics shows that BlogRush is now #3 on my list of referral traffic. Thursday Thirteen still comes at first place but the traffic from it is a once a week spike of traffic.
BlogRush is still in it's beta and it has a few problems. Sometime over the weekend the Dashboard stopped writing cookies in a way that works with Firefox so now I have to use a different browser to check my stats or make other changes to my widget. It only has a limited number of colors and no room for customization of look and feel beyond these few "flavors." Although it's possible to ban certain keywords and URLs from showing up in the widget, I've found that these changes don't always stick.
BlogRush has a ways to go before it is as useful and powerful a tool that it promises to be. I will keep using it for now to see how things improve. I certainly appreciate the extra traffic.
blogrush | books | bookcrossing
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Return of the Indian: 12/09/07
The Return of the Indian is the second of the Indian in the Cupboard series. After a year of keeping the cupboard locked, Omri decides to see Little Bear again.
When Omri brings Little Bear back to life he learns first hand the brutality of war. In an effort to help Little Bear win the war, Omri and his friends interfere first by sending weapons back and then by going back themselves.
See, it's not the cupboard that's magic, it's actually the key. But what and who can go back isn't exactly explained in this sequel. Perhaps later books dig deeper in the magic behind the key.
I enjoyed the darker themes of The Return of the Indian but I still found Omri a rather dull lead character.
Among the Impostors: 12/09/07
Among the Impostors is the second book in the Shadow Children sequence by Margaret Peterson Haddix. In this book, "Shadow Child" Luke Garner takes on a new identity and leaves his home to attend the Hendricks school for boys.
Living out in the open gives him lots to worry about. One slip up and he could lose his life or risk his family's safety. His main worry, two words of advice he was given on the day he started at school: "blend in."
Shadow Children are children born after the allowed two children per family. The themes of the all seeing government make Among the Impostors a good introduction for classics such as 1984 and Brave New World.
Among the Impostors is the only one of the series I've read but I tore through in the course of an afternoon. I would love to read more of the books.
young adult | books | scifi | margaret peterson haddix
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BTC Database Complete! 12/09/07
It has taken me just shy of a year but I have completely built my Book Traffic Control database. I now know how many books I have and how many I have gotten by month and year since joining BookCrossing in January 2003.
So far all these years contain months where I have been registering my books. Since I hadn't kept records of when I purchased books prior to joining BookCrossing, I have decided to use the registration date for the "Books In" table. Now that the database tables are built and complete for both "Books In" and "Books Out" I can now keep all my data current as I go. Next year (2008) will be my first with what I'd consider "pure data" in that it won't be confused with me registering masses of books I've owned for years.
I know with being an active BookCrossing and BookObsessed member and book lover, I won't be able to go all of 2008 without acquiring any new books. I also hope to continue doing ARC reviews and that will be another source of new books for me and new data points in my BTC database. Keeping all these factors in mind, my goals for next year are this: acquire only 100 books and release 400 books.
The blue bars show the registration dates or arrival dates for books into our home library. The red bars show the flow of books out each year. As you can see I've released almost 400 books every year. If I keep with my goal of only 100 "new" books, I can make a sizable dent in our book collection and free up some well needed shelf space.
btc | books | database | bookcrossing
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Sleep No More: 12/08/07
John Waters life becomes a living hell shortly after he meets Eve Sumner, the near twin of his long dead girl friend. What's even stranger is Eve claims to be possessed by the spirit of Mallory Chandler. John doesn't believe her at first but she keeps coming up with details an imposter just couldn't know.
By the start of the second act, Sleep No More takes on a decidedly supernatural tone. As Eve's claims of being Mallory (or possessing Mallory) begin to seem plausible, John Waters loses all claim of being an intelligent or likeable protagonist. Mallory claims to be able to travel from body to body during strong orgasms. So what does John do? He cheats on his wife and has a fortnight long affair with Eve until one day he wakes up with her dead next to him in a hotel room!
The final act is John Water's decent into his own personally made Hell. How can he defeat the vengeful spirit of his ex-girl friend while she is possessing him? How can he escape a murder conviction when his DNA will be found at the scene? How can he protect his family?
Pippi Longstocking: 12/08/07
Pippilotta Delicatessa Windowshade Mackrelmint Efraim's Daughter Longstocking (or Pippi to her friends) is one of my favorite children's fiction heroines. She was first introduced in Pippi Longstocking. She's stronger anyone, lives alone in a palatial home, has a horse and a monkey, and is the daughter of a pirate. Who could ask for more out of a main character?
For the BookCrossing Literacy Train I treated myself to a reread of Pippi Longstocking before donating my copy to the cause. This initial volume introduces Pippi, her pets and her friends: Tommy and Annika. The chapters are not more than vignettes to put Pippi in comical situations but it is fun to see the mayhem that unfolds.
Pippi isn't a bad child. She's just headstrong and used to being on her own. She's not part of proper society although she does try to be polite. She's not educated in the standard way but has seen the world before settling down albeit briefly at her home, Villa Villekulla.
Read the review at 1morechapter.
childrens | books | pippi longstocking | astrid lindgren
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Two Chances to Win How Big Is Your God: 12/07/07
I have been asked to review How Big Is Your God? The Freedom to Experience the Divine by Paul Coutinho, SJ. I have two copies that I will be giving away by random drawing. If you would like a chance to win just leave a comment. I will hold the drawing at 11 PM Pacific Time on January 7th and announce the winners on January 8th.
Here's a short excerpt:
Now you might ask, "Okay, but how do I do this? How do I choose to respond when I am under pressure, when I have been taught to fear or fight, when the situation seems 'bad' to me?" The "PQR formula" can help us live freely in stressful, anxious, or depressing situations. We pause to question how we would like to respond rather than react and live to regret our negative reaction. Let me try to explain what I mean by react: You push; I shove. Without thinking, I shove. This is my reaction. It is immediate and disconnected from my higher Self, the constant "I," and the meaning of my life. My reaction is an imprisoned effect. This is not freedom. By applying the PQR formula, however, I can respond. I pause (find myself in the situation), question (How does this situation relate to the meaning of my life? How do I wish to respond given a world of infinite possibilities?), and then respond (a freely chosen action — not a reaction). Responding rather than reacting helps us live freely and in greater harmony with our true identity in every situation. It helps us grab hold of the freedom we seek in order to enter into the river of divine life.
Copyright © 2007 Paul Coutinho, SJ
nonfiction | books | paul coutinho
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