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November 2007
Chain Letter: 11/30/07
I missed Christopher Pike's books when I was a kid. I've only recently started reading them but I like his take on the horror genre. His books are complex enough to be interesting but short enough to only take about a day's worth of reading.
Chain Letters either through the mail (pre internet days) or via email always close with a threat of bad things happening if the chain is broken. Chain Letter follows a group of high school friends who witness those bad things first hand.
Alison and her friends are listed on a chain letter sent by the mysterious "Caretaker". Someone wants to make them pay for a crime they committed last summer. Did they actually kill a man on a desert highway? Is the Caretaker trying to avenge his death?
Chain Letter looks at how cruel teens can be to each other. It's an examination of "man's inhumanity to man" and the resolution to the mystery is tight and satisfying.
The characters return in Chain Letter 2: An Ancient Evil. The sequel while also entertaining is very different in tone and theme. Although Chain Letter isn't as highly rated as its sequel, I enjoyed both and think they complement each other.
books | fiction | horror | christopher pike
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"The Bird Shaman's Girl": 11/30/07
The fifth story in October/ November issue of Fantasy & Science Fiction is a short story by Judith Moffett that builds on the novel The Ragged World (1992) in which the Hefn invade Earth to force humanity to stop its ecological destruction of the planet.
In this short story the Hefn appear to be working as guardians for the childlike humans. They have taken charge of the government and child welfare. In the middle of all of this is Lexi, a young actress who has accused her grandfather of sexual abuse. Unfortunately they are part of a religious cult.
Frankly I didn't like this short story. Having not read any of Moffett's prior work I came to this story not knowing or caring about her vision of Earth. She does try to offer enough exposition to carry the uninitiated along but these long segments of back story break up pacing and slow the whole thing down at a time when the main characters are racing to rescue the kidnapped Lexi.
Perhaps fans of the Hefn stories will enjoy this story more than I did. I frankly was glad when the story was over.
fantasy science fiction magazine | fiction | short story | judith moffett
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M is for Malice: 11/29/07
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.
M is for Malice finds Kinsey Millhone tracking down a missing member of the wealthy Malek gravel family when the patriarch dies. Guy Malek left home in 1968 and hasn't been heard from in 18 years.
Unfortunately for Guy and Kinsey, a simple missing person case ends up being a murder investigation of an especially violent nature. Although I enjoyed the book, I figured out who had committed the murder. I did though have to read to the end to learn why the murderer did it.
books | mystery | sue grafton
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Booking Through Thursday: Rolling 11/29/07
Booking Through Thursday
Do you get on a roll when you read, so that one book leads to the next, which leads to the next, and so on and so on?
I don't so much mean something like reading a series from beginning to end, but, say, a string of books that all take place in Paris. Or that have anthropologists as the main character. Or were written in the same year. Something like that... Something that strings them together in your head, and yet, otherwise could be different genres, different authors...
Since I've challenged myself to read a book a day I've been reading enough books to see themes in what I've read. Sometimes these themes are expected if I'm reading them for a challenge. Sometimes I'm doing research for one thing or another (like this year's Nanowrimo).
I like the reading challenges that a variety of bloggers run because they encourage me to mix up my reading and reward my progress with each book I can cross of the list. The challenges are also a friendly way of meeting bloggers with similar interests and to get that all important "linky love" while giving it at the same time.
National Velvet: 11/28/07
National Velvet is another one of those books I've been meaning to read. As a child I enjoyed the 1944 film starring Elizabeth Taylor and Mickey Rooney. When I was reading books for the BookCrossing Literacy Train, I made sure to add this one of the pile to get some classics into the mass release.
Velvet Brown, the protagonist, finds herself the sudden owner of a group of horses through a series of unusual events. Of all the horses she falls in love with the most ornery, a piebald nicknamed "The Pie." With her new horse Velvet decides to out do her famous mother (who had swum the English channel in her youth).
With her mother's earnings and help from the son of her mother's trainer, Velvet sets out to do the impossible: win the Grand National. There are two problems: she's too young and the wrong gender.
When the National Velvet plot moves onto the Nationals and the fallout from Velvet entering, I was reminded of Babe: The Gallant Pig by Dick King-Smith. The Sheep Trials which Babe wins are a wonderful parody of the melodrama that is the fall out from Velvet's participation in the Grand National.
books | fiction | enid bagnold
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#34: Thirteen Pages from Next Year's Calendar: 11/28/07
Every year I make calendars from my favorite renders of the year. This year I have an extra copy. If you would like a chance to win a 2008 calendar, please with this week's Thursday Thirteen. I will announce the winner next week.
1. January |
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2. February |
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3. March |
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4. April |
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5. May |
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| 6. June |  |
7. July |
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| 8. August |  |
| 9. September |  |
10. October |
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| 11. November |  |
| 12. December. (This one is also my Christmas Card) |  |
| 13. The Cover |  |
The Prisoner of Zenda: 11/27/07
The Prisoner of Zenda
is one of those books I've been meaning to read for about twenty years. Over the Thanksgiving holiday I finally took the time to read this classic adventure written by Anthony Hope in 1894.
The Prisoner of Zenda brings the fairy tale of Mark Twain's The Prince and the Pauper (1888) and Pudd'nhead Wilson (1893-4) into the adventure genre for adults. Anthony Hope's story of a king kidnapped on the eve of his coronation and his English cousin who takes his place is derring-do at its best.
Sure the story has been done over and over again but that's because the story is so entertaining. It was written at at time before two world wars forever altered the map of Europe. Ruritania exists in a time when it was possible to still imagine tiny kingdoms and principalities tucked among the better known countries. Think of Ruritania existing along side the duchy of Luxembourg and the principality of Monaco.
The hero and narrator of Zenda is twenty-nine year Rudolf Rassendyll who shares a name and certain physical features with soon to be crowned Rudolph IV of Ruritania. Unfortunately for all those involved, Rudolph IV is an idiot and easily falls prey to a plot to take the crown away from him and possibly end his life. To keep things in check while the king can be found and rescued, Rudolf Rassendyll must play the king.
Throughout the narrative Rassendyll gives amusing commentary on politics and the responsibilities of leadership. All the while he is putting himself in harms way both in his portrayal of the king and in trying to rescue Rudolf IV.
I am releasing the copy I read soon through BookCrossing as it came to me from another member. I will however be keeping my eyes out for a nice hardback edition for my personal collection.
books | fiction | zenda | anthony hope
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"The Recreation Room": 11/27/07
The fourth story in October/ November issue of Fantasy & Science Fiction is a short story by Albert E. Cowdrey that draws heavily on his personal experience as an evacuee of hurricane Katrina.
In a way reminiscent of Daphne du Maurier's story "Don't Look Now" this Katrina ghost story begins with a prophesy from a psychic. Jim is warned: "There be dead folks in your attic." Who has died (or will die) in Jim's attic is the lingering question throughout "The Recreation Room" because Madame Lott has never been wrong before.
"The Recreation Room" is mostly a social commentary on the events of Katrina from New Orleans' near destruction, the victims, the chaos during the flooding and the failure of FEMA and the rest of the federal government to react. It isn't until the last couple of pages that the story finally comes into its own as a well written ghost story. This is fantasy in the vein of H. G. Wells and Jonathan Swift.
fantasy science fiction magazine | fiction | short story | albert e cowdrey
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Nanowrimo Finished on a Cliffhanger: 11/27/07
Today I wrote myself cross-eyed by pounding through 4,500 words bringing my total to 50,523 words. I am once again a Nanowrimo winner and I am glad to be taking a break from Tangent. Sam and Joseph ended up being two of the most intense characters I have ever written and they have worn me out.
Around the time I wrote my last post about Tangent, I realized I would only be halfway through my novel by the time I reached the minimum fifty thousand requirement for Nanowrimo.
Rather than stress myself out with trying to finish ninety or so thousand words by November 30th, Ian suggested I "cliffhanger out" the story saving the second half for next year's Nanowrimo project. After mulling on his suggestion for a week and realizing I could easily fill fifty thousand words with just the first half of the plot I saw the wisdom of Ian's suggestion.
Next year's sequel will be called Secant. Ian and came to the same logical conclusion for the title. It will cover Sam and Joseph's travels below the surface of Hale. The year will give me time to learn more about things like battleships, industrial design, warfare, architecture and so forth.
nanowrimo | writing | books | cliffhanger
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Affinity: 11/26/07
Every book has it's own history and even if we don't mean to, we come to each and every book with some sort of expectation. In the case of Affinity I came to the book with two sets of misconceptions. The person who gave me the book via BookCrossing said it was a graphic novel, so I immediately thought of English language manga. Later the person explained that they meant "graphic" in the sense of being explicit and the words used were "sick shit." So when the book arrived with the cheesy cover art, I was disappointed that it wasn't a graphic novel and a little worried that it would be poorly written erotica.
Although Affinity is classified under the horror genre, it was neither "sick shit" or poorly written erotica. If anything, it was sort of a sweet paranormal love story without the benefit of a pink and purple cover art depicting shoes, purses or vampires. The book most reminded me of James Patterson's When the Wind Blows but better written.
Affinity is a love story and a mystery. Quent comes to realize his childhood has been a lie. His memories aren't his and he begins to realize he has powers that most people don't have. In steps the only woman to capture his heart, Feather, who seems to have powers like his. Why do they seem to know each other? What happened in their past and who is behind keeping all those memories a secret?
The book though flawed still captured my interest. I found it an entertaining read.
fiction | horror | books | jn williamson
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Class President: 11/26/07
The fifth grade elections are coming up and there are two candidates: Lucas and Cricket. Julio finds himself in the middle of the election madness when he shows his leadership skills regarding two playground problems: Arthur's broken glasses and the banning of soccer during recess.
Class President is the third in the series by Johanna Hurwitz. The first two are Class Clown and Teacher's Pet. It is the only book in the series I've read but I would read others if I ran into them.
Hurwitz makes good use of the 100 pages to develop her characters. We learn about Julio Sanchez, his family and what it's like to be Puerto Rican. The book is entertaining and informative without being preachy.
fiction | childrens | books | johanna hurwitz
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The Great Ringtail Garbage Caper: 11/25/07
The Great Ringtail Garbage Caper presents a message of environmental protection from the point of view of a clan of desperate but resourceful raccoons.
Over a summer a clan of raccoons learn how to drive a garbage truck to guarantee a food supply for the entire community when the local garbage collectors are too efficient with their pick ups.
The story teaches the importance of sharing the environment with nature while still be entertaining. The way in which the raccoon clan is set up reminded me a bit of the society in The Giver by Lois Lowry.
This book was made into a CBS Storybreak animation by Hanna-Barbera Australia but I haven't been able to find much information about it online. I probably saw the cartoon as a child but I don't remember it.
fiction | books | childrens | timothy foote
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The Long Drive Home: 11/24/07
We're home after a lovely Thanksgiving with Ian's family. Harriet had a lovely time exploring their home and has developed a fast-paced bear crawl. Tomorrow it is back to work for me but I am grateful for the week off.
I'll post more about our time down in South Pasadena in the next few days. It's late tonight and I want to get to work on Tangent tonight before bed.
The drive home today was long but not as bad as some of our trips. We left at nine thirty and arrived home at four thirty. We hit pockets of slow traffic (even stopping dead for about fifteen minutes at one point) and saw three accidents.
We only made a few stops, once for gas, once for lunch and once to swap spots driving. Ian had done most of the drive but finally needed me to take over at West Panoche Road. While we were stretching our legs at Panoche, I stopped to take a panorama of the cotton field in front of us.
Mystery of the Moaning Cave: 11/24/07
Fans of The Lost Boys will recognize the city of Santa Carla in this 1968 young adult thriller by William Arden. For readers who know California, Santa Carla is roughly Santa Cruz with a little bit of Santa Clara thrown in.
In The Mystery of the Moaning Cave, the three investigators decide to solve the mystery behind a recently moaning cave rumored to be the resting place of El Diablo, a Zorro-like figure. The cave sits on the property of the Crooked-Y Ranch.
The three investigators use a number of clever approaches to track down the source of the moaning. The story is fast paced and entertaining. The mystery is complex enough to keep older readers engrossed and straightforward enough to keep the younger readers turning the pages too.
This book is the first of the three investigators books I've read. I enjoyed it enough to want to read more in the series if I find them.
fiction | books | william arden
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Ashenden or the British Agent: 11/23/07
Ashenden or the British Agent by W. Somerset Maugham is somewhere between a short story collection and a novel that chronicles a series of adventures of failed writer turned spy, John Ashenden.
With the characters who recur within the stories make these the book gel. Unfortunately the stories are inconsistent in quality and without an overall sense of progression, the book isn't as satisfying as it should be.
Although my reaction to Ashenden as a whole was lukewarm, there were moments that I really enjoyed. Maugham peppered his scenes with little bits of detail that bring the characters to life. For instance there's a scene early on where Ashenden is bathing but is unhappy that he can't turn the taps with his toes like he feels all good bathtubs should work. Yet, he's too lazy to sit up and adjust the temperature with his hands, so he just sits there getting colder and colder as the bath water cools. These moments of character insight make me want to try other books by Maugham.
fiction | w somerset maugham | books
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Nanowrimo and Thoughts on Stereotypes: 11/23/07
Last night I crossed 40,000 words on this year's Nanowrimo. Having hit a good stopping point I popped over to the forums to see what the other Nanowrimo participants were doing. I divide my time in the Erotic and Science Fiction forums.
Why the Erotic Forum? It's the only spot in Nanowrimo that has any sort of mature discussion of writing LGBT characters. I usually populate my books (whether Nano inspired or not) with a few gay or lesbian characters because it seems more realistic to me. I don't do it to "get off" on writing them or to make my other characters seem more normal. I do it because it feels right.
Every year around the third week of November someone will post in the Erotic Forum a rant against all the stereotypes that end up in LGBT romance novels. The rant is usually filled with a useful check list of things to avoid (and so far I think I've avoid these pitfalls). Typically the rant ends with the conclusion that people shouldn't write LGBT characters unless they are part of the LGBT community.
If we only write what we know then our books will be very plain. Should I not write any male characters (straight or gay) because I'm not a man? Should I avoid writing any characters who are older than me? From a different part of the world from me? If I only populated one of my Nanowrimos with female thirty-something married web designers who have been born and raised in California, I wouldn't finish the project. I'd be too bored to finish!
So onto the point of stereotypes. I don't like them in fiction either that I write or read. The abundance of stereotypes in the heterosexual romance I've read has been enough to make me swear off most of the genre. I try to approach all of my characters (even the minor ones) as individuals with their own likes and dislikes. I've seen enough of what is expected of me as a straight woman based on stupid stereotypes to want to cubbyhole any of my characters.
I have ten thousand more words before I can claim a win again this year for Nanowrimo. At the rate I'm going I could be done in about four or five days. My plot though is just starting to unfold. In previous years the plot and the word count have met up at the 50K mark but this year I think I have another twenty or thirty thousand words to go beyond the minimum to truly wrap up Tangent.
nanowrimo | writing | books | stereotypes
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Journey to the Orange Islands: 11/22/07
Pokémon the series follows Ash's adventures in different Pokémon leagues. The Orange Islands are adventures from the second season. Journey to the Orange Islands covers the opening of this season when Ash, Brock and Misty travel to the Orange Islands on an errand to fetch an unusual poké ball.
Tracey West's adaptation covers the first three or four episodes of the second season. Ash, Misty and Brock meet up with an a young artist, also named Tracey, and Brock finds a new home. The second season expands the pokémon world as Ash learns that different environments have different sorts of pokémon.
Tracey's writing style is a little simplistic at times but the story is still interesting enough to keep fans of the series entertained. I haven't seen most of the later seasons so I am looking forward to reading through my son's collection of books from seasons 2 and onward.
pokemon | orange islands | books | tracey west
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Mount Diablo and My Inner Surveyor 11/22/07
Since we've moved to the east bay I've wanted to drive to the top of Mount Diablo. On those rare times we get snow, it is on Mount Diablo. It's always there in my line of site being the tallest feature in the area. Tuesday I had the day to myself and after three weeks of writing about surveying in the mountains, I had to spend my day off visiting Mount Diablo.
I drove to the base of the mountain listening to KFOG's Ten at Ten. It wasn't an especially good ten this time but it was still part of the experience. The entrance to the state park on the south side is little more than a brown sign on the lawn of a private school. As the road goes down and around before it starts the white knuckle climb up the mountain it doesn't feel like like the right road to take.
Most of the road goes right to the edge of the cliff. There are many hair pin turns and other heart stopping features to the road (like no turn outs). Besides the potential to drive right off the road or risk being hit head on by traffic coming down the mountain, drivers must share the road with bicyclists who are making the trek up and down the road too. As there is no shoulder, the bicyclists must take the lane. Be prepared to dodge around them if driving up to the summit.
A day use pass costs $6. With the budget cut backs, the gates aren't manned. Just park, fill out the form, stick the money in the envelope and put the receipt tab in on the dashboard. I heard one passenger of the car next to me complain that most cars just blow through the gate and don't bother to pay. On the day I was there I didn't see anyone blow through. If you want to camp over night, the cost is $15 a night.
The summit sits at 3800 feet and spare change. I don't recall the exact figure. At the top there is a beautiful stone tower that serves as observation deck, museum and gift shop. The observation deck offers the best 360° panorama of the bay area. Although it was hazy the day I went, I was still able to see west towards the ocean, north towards the delta, east towards Tracy and south towards Fremont and San Jose.
In the gift shop / museum I saw something I wouldn't have recognized at the beginning of the year: a surveyor's chain. Of course the technology has changed since then but the old principles still apply. It was exciting to see a piece from that not too distant past.
Mount Diablo being the tallest thing around is also one of the most blustery areas around. The day I was there it was probably 20° F at the summit when taking in account wind chill. Nonetheless, I overheard an irate old woman demanding from the one ranger on site (she was running the gift shop) to know if the wind would abate on Thanksgiving. She had this cockamamie plan to barbecue a turkey on the summit!
Booking Through Thursday: Connecting Words 11/22/07
Booking Through Thursday
Joanna and Brad are asking about "connecting words," and they don't mean conjunctions like "and" or "but." No, what they're looking for are unique, or treasured words that we've found out and about in our daily travels, words that might not be common usage, or often heard, but which struck a chord for some reason.
I'm going to take this week's question to be one of coined words. Literature has been a wonderful source of new words. Just look at what William Shakespeare has done for the English language!
The word though that came first to mind when I read this week's question was "kipple" coined by Philip K. Dick in Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep. Kipple is a specific type of clutter that fills our homes. It's the old movie stubs, the junk mail, the packaging from the things we buy and so forth. It's all those random pieces of paper covered with advertising that clutters our homes long after the thing being advertised has ceased to be relevant or useful.
I spent a year in high school carefully collecting all of my pocket kipple (although I didn't know the word kipple back then). At the end of the year I used it to make a collage that measured 3 feet by 2 feet. I still have it and it has become a wonderful time capsule of the late 1980s.
booking through thursday | books | philip k dick
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Cam Jansen and the Mystery of the Carnival Prize: 11/21/07
Cam Jansen and the Mystery of the Carnival Prize is another of the books I read for the BookCrossing literacy train. It is one of a series of mysteries all staring Cam Jansen, an elementary school aged girl with a photographic memory (Cam for "Camera").
Cam and her friends are participating in the school's fund raising carnival. Something is amiss with the dime toss. It appears to be too easy to win and soon all the prizes are gone. Is the game rigged? If so, by whom and how?
I really enjoyed this book and would read more from the series if I run into any. The story is well written and the mystery has enough clues to keep observant readers engaged.
books | childrens | mystery | david a adler
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#33: Thirteen Photographs of Mini Golf: 11/21/07
Last Sunday Sean, Harriet and I went mini golfing.
1.We had originally planned to go to the zoo but the weather was cold and blustery. Sean decided it would be better to go mini golfing. Here are Sean and Harriet waiting at one of the holes. Harriet obviously didn't golf but she had fun people watching. |
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2. These three dragons have been a Castro Valley landmark since the park opened in the early 1960s. |
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3. Harriet had fun watching Sean golf. I think she's trying offer him pointers here. |
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4. Sean actually did really well on these 18 holes but we had a few problem holes. |
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5. Golf was a popular idea on Sunday. Every hole had a group on it. We were following a large family, three generations of players. |
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| 6. We played from three until four-thirty. Around four the weather changed. The fog came back with a vegeance and the temperature dropped about ten degrees. |  |
7. Sean practiced his grip. |
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| 8. But he still has a pretty unconvential approach to the ball. Don't laugh though, he's accurate! |  |
| 9. These are some of the rare palm trees in Castro Valley. Pine trees and live oaks are far more common. |  |
10. Here are some smaller palm trees. They mark the start of the course. |
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| 11. By about the 16th hole, Harriet wondered when we were going home. She was bored and cold. |  |
| 12. Sean finishes up one of the holes. |  |
| 13. The golf course is across the street from a fish store. |  |
The Mysterious Island (Secrets of Droon 3): 11/20/07
The Secrets of Droon series of books began in 1999 with The Hidden Stairs and the Magic Carpet. I happened to have a copy of the third in the series, The Mysterious Island, which I read before donating it to the BookCrossing literacy train.
The series comes highly recommended at Amazon but I found the one book I read to be nothing special. There are numerous series of books where children from present day get to travel to far away fantasy lands. These lands have names like Neverland, Oz, Narnia and so forth. Droon from what I saw is no where as interesting as Neverland, Oz or Narnia (and I'm not much a fan of Narnia). Droon is more akin to Dragon Land (Dragon Tales, PBS 1999).
In The Mysterious Island, Eric, Julie, and Neal travel down the staircase to Princess Keeah's ship. It might as well be Max, Emma and Enrique traveling to Dragon Land to Princess Kadoodle's ship: the characters seem interchangeable to me. Anyway, these three end up on a mysterious island with bugs and other weird stuff. The island belongs to evil Lord Sparr's witches. Ho hum.
I suppose younger readers who have started with the series from book one and are fans will enjoy book three. As a stand alone fantasy it doesn't hold up.
fantasy | books | droon | tony abbott
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"The Star to Every Wandering Barque": 11/19/07
The third story in October/ November issue of Fantasy & Science Fiction is a short story by James Stoddard that paints a rosy utopic future for mankind. For some unknown reason a sunset inspires all of mankind to see the world differently one day.
The protagonist, an A/V technician for NASA, has his depression over the Columbia destruction lifted. He reports over the course of days how the world changes not only for himself but for everyone else. Ultimately the change in mankind brings about world peace, an end to hunger and the development of deep space travel.
Overall I enjoyed this short story but it is clearly one man's version of utopia. Stoddard's vision of the perfect future isn't necessarily my vision of utopia but it is still an entertaining story for what it is.
fantasy science fiction magazine | fiction | short story | james stoddard
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Airplane Tracking: 11/19/07
Ian is home. His plane landed an hour and fifteen minutes behind schedule. I had fun tracking his flight (and therefore timing my trip to the airport) via Google Earth. Commercial flight tracking is easy to set up. First go to the Aeroseek website and pick your desired method of tracking. If you pick Google Earth, it will give you the URL to the feed. Plug that feed URL into Google Earth and soon you will see your plane.
At 1:10 just as Ian's plane was crossing into California, I got Harriet ready and we headed towards the Oakland airport. It was our first time going to there. I have to say I was impressed. The roads are well labeled and parking was easy to get and affordable. Oakland doesn't have the traffic of San Francisco which made the whole experience of picking up Ian so much more pleasant.
Harriet and I arrived in Terminal One just as his plane was set to land. We walked up to a restaurant just outside the security clearance line. Not sure how long Ian's plane would take to land we headed back towards the seats by the baggage claim. Just as we settled in Ian called me to say the plane was on the ground and taxing to the gate.
It took another twenty minutes or so for Ian to get off the plane and for us to get his bags from baggage claim. As he hadn't eaten in hours we headed to the Carrows on Hesperian.
The kids are thrilled to have Ian home. So am I. He's happy to be home.
ian | travel | google earth
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At Play in the Fields of the Lord: 11/18/07
Author Peter Matthessen is a naturalist and documentary filmmaker. At Play in the Fields of the Lord is a novel set in the Amazon. The same year he wrote the novel he also worked on the famous but somewhat controversial documentary Dead Birds.
At Play in the Fields of the Lord is another take on Heart of Darkness. A mercinary and a family of missionaries both come to a remote village for polar oppsoite reasons leaving the villagers in a tug of war. As with Conrad's tale, fantasticism ultimately destroys the fanatic.
Matthiessen's version of the dark journey up river is a far more straightforward narrative to Conrad's. I liked At Play in the Fields of the Lord more than I did Heart of Darkness but I still find the themes rather hard to swallow.
Readers who have enjoyed Barbara Kinsolver's Poisonwood Bible will probably like At Play in the Fields of the Lord.
books | peter matthiessen | jopseh conrad | barbara kinsolver
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Change of Plans: 11/18/07
Our original plan for today was to go to the zoo after lunch but that was before the fog rolled in. The fog is so thick and wet we can't see our neighbors' roofs.
We've decided instead to go min golfing after lunch. It won't be as long out in the damp and we don't have to worry about hiding animals.
Our new zoo plan is to go to the Los Angeles Zoo when we're down visiting Ian's parents for Thanksgiving. I don't know if Ian will want to go since he's still working on his thesis. Over iChat he though the Los Angeles Zoo sounded like a good idea.
Today is our last full day without Ian. He will be catching another 3 a.m. taxi to the airport. That's midnight here. He's been trying to keep himself on California time so he won't be hit again with jet lag. We're all looking forward to seeing him tomorrow. Harriet and I will be picking him up at noon from the airport.
Thundershock in Pummelo Stadium: 11/17/07
When the Pokémon cartoon was at the height of its popularity in the States, a bunch of books were published as well that more or less follow the series. Thundershock in Pummelo Stadium follows Ash on the Orange Islands, a series I'm not all the familiar with. According to Amazon.com, it is the 16th book in the Pokémon chapter books adapted by Tracey West.
Ash has one more badge to win before he can join the Orange Islands league and battle in the league wide competition. Thundershock covers the last badge and his competition in the Winner's Cup on Pummelo island.
There are some side plots involving a quest for an antidote to Vileplume stun spores and some brief interference from Team Rocket. Ultimately though the book focuses on the full battle (all six pokémon taking turns).
If you're not a regular player of the games or fan of the dubbed series, this book can be skipped. If you are a fan of either the series or the games, give the book a go. It's short and entertaining for what it is.
pokemon | orange islands | books | tracey west
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Spider-man 3: 11/17/07
Sean is turning out to be as much a fan of Spider-man as I am. I've been reading the comic on and off since I was Sean's age. Back in 2002 when the first film came out I remember thinking that
Tobey Maguire was perfectly cast. Not only does he completely capture the earnest geekiness of Peter Parker he's gorgeous to look at in the spidey suit.
I have enjoyed all three films but so far, Spider-man 3 is my favorite. All of the major characters have hit their stride. Spider-man is an established quantity now. Peter has told M.J. and he is comfortable in his job (as comfortable as he ever is).
When Ian and I first watched the Spider-man 3, Ian complained that the plot was too busy, too complicated. I liked the change of pace. I liked that time had obviously passed between the second and third films and we either had to figure out what had happened or had to know from our understanding of the comic. Huge drawn out origin stories bug me (see film two) so it was refreshing to just have the villains come without much fuss.
While Ian has been out of town, I've shown Spider-man 3 to the kids. They're on their second or third time of watching it. Sean took to the film immediately, having no trouble sorting out the three villains and their plots or even that Harry switches sides at the end to redeem himself. Sean also had no problems figuring out Venom's three forms (icky slime thing, Peter's second suit and Eddie's evil black widow version of spider-man).
The other thing I've loved about all three films is how beautiful and lived New York looks. The city is shown throughout the seasons and in different times of the day. It isn't the odd miniature sets and funky neon of the Burton Batmans or the overly British Gotham of the newest incarnation. It just is a beautifully captured New York.
spiderman | peter parker | tobey maguire | new york
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Saturday: 11/17/07
With Ian out of town I was sure I would have to get up at the same time I do on week days. Sean is an early riser, often times getting up at seven even on weekends. Ian usually is the one to get up with the children but of course today he wouldn't be here to do that.
This morning though when I woke up I realized that the room was much to bright for it to be seven. I looked at the clock and it was nine o'clock! At first I didn't hear either child. I couldn't believe for an instant that Sean was still asleep. I listened more carefully and heard quiet foot steps upstairs and the low volume of Saturday morning cartoons.
I peaked my head into the kid's room and there was Harriet just coming around herself. Sean, bless his heart, had snuck upstairs to let Harriet and me sleep in for two blissful hours!
sean | milestones
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Seeing a Large Cat: 11/16/07
Seeing a Large Cat marks a change in the narrative style of the Amelia Peabody series by Elizabeth Peters. Starting with this volume the mysteries balloon from two hundred fifty pages to almost five hundred pages. The main source of these extra pages is the "manuscript H" which is apparently written by Walter "Ramses" Emerson.
Over the course of the second half of the series (where Ramses, Nefret and David are adults), the writing style of "manuscript H" improves as does the manner in which it is integrated into the over all narrative. In this first attempt, though, the "manuscript H" inserts interrupt the flow of the story and stall the start of the actual mystery until page 125.
The mystery itself is rather simplistic once all the family drama of the early days of the rivalry and romance of Ramses and Nefret and the historical background of 1903 Egypt are pared away. A woman is found in an unknown side tomb of KV-20 (called tomb 20-A in the novel). The woman is mummified but her modern dress quickly gives away the fact that she was only recently murdered. Eventually the plot progresses enough for Amelia et al to investigate, get in trouble, need rescuing and finally escape of their own accord. Unfortunately these action scenes are buried under long dull passages. There are times when Amelia Peabody needs to be gagged.
A huge hindrance to the pacing is the tedious attention to detail. Peters (Barbara Mertz) is a trained Egyptologist and probably knows the Valley of the Kings as well as I know my local neighborhood. It helps to come to these later novels with a basic knowledge of the history (both ancient and recent) and geography of Egypt.
The other problem with the novel is Peter's growing love affair with her characters. She has become so enamored with the Emersons and their kith and kin that every single character has to be lovingly followed and described. This love affair only gets worse as the series progresses.
books | mystery | elizabeth peters | amelia peabody
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Harriet's Crib: 11/16/07
Harriet really wants to move into a big girl bed. She knows the front of the crib can come off. Sometime this morning she managed to get one of the screws out. I don't know how she did it but I know she's smart enough to have figured it out. She is very mechanically inclined
Fortunately I found the missing screw before her morning nap. She did her best to stop from from putting it back together. She tried to push my hand away. She tried to pull the screw driver out of my hand but I managed to get the missing screw back into its place.
All she needs to do to earn her big girl bed is learn how to walk and learn how to climb in and out of bed. Sean managed it when he was a year and a half old. I'm hoping the same will be true of Harriet.
harriet | milestones
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Sock at Work: 11/15/07
Sock at Work is my least favorite of the three books from Adventures from the Book of Virtues books I read for the literacy train.
Socrates the bobcat (Sock to his friends) is apparently lazy. Funny, he didn't seem lazy in the last two books but then only one character gets to have any traits in a story.
So anyway, Zach and Annie want to go swimming right after a big storm (idiots) but oh no(!) the swimming hole is full of storm crap. They can't go swimming until they clean out the pond. Sock, though, doesn't want to help.
Time out then for a story about how the Camel got his hump. This story within a story is supposed to teach about the importance of teamwork. Sock, though, learns from the story that if he doesn't help his "friends" will tease him until he does.
And as a parting thought, what's up with the cover art? Are they on drugs?
books | childrens | shelagh canning
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Reading Bones: 11/15/07
I like to keep a book in the bathroom for when I am bathing Harriet. My current bath time book is Cross Bones by Kathy Reichs. Since I was pregnant with Harriet, Ian has taken charge of Sean's baths but with him out of town, I now have to bathe both children.
Now that he's five Ian sits in the bedroom within ear shot of Sean. It gives Ian time to do some work on his thesis or to read and it gives Sean the privacy that he is starting to want. Last night when it was Sean's turn for a bath I expected that he would want me to leave for some privacy.
Sean, though, had different plans. He wanted me to stay and keep him company. More importantly he wanted me to read to him. I asked him what he wanted me to read, thinking he would want one of his books. No, he said, he wanted me to read from my book.
So that's what I did. While Sean bathed I read a chapter to him from Cross Bones. We mostly read about skull reconstruction. He really seemed to enjoy listening the to the book and I think we have a date for another chapter tomorrow night.
sean | books | mystery | kathy reichs
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Booking Through Thursday: Preservationist 11/15/07
Booking Through Thursday
Today's question comes from Conspiracy-Girl:
I'm still relatively new to this meme so I'm not sure if this has been asked yet, but I'm curious how many of us write notes in our books. Are you a Footprint Leaver or a Preservationist?
Before I joined BookCrossing I was hesitant to even put my name on the inside cover. It felt like I was defacing something sacred. Since joining, though, I have gotten more relaxed about writing in books. Every BookCrossing book has a BCID written inside it's cover in the form of 123-1234567. For books I haven't released or don't plant to release for a long while, I just write the number in a corner as small as possible. For the ones I am releasing, I slap a big BookCrossing book plate in it.
Besides writing the numbers, I have also gotten rather bold about correcting typos. The typo correction thing may stem from ten years of working in web design. All those years of catching typos on web pages has bled into my reading habits. I can't help but see them and feel the need to correct them.
I am not, though, one to write notes in the margin or to underline or highlight text. I always feel like the next reader won't find the same bits of text as interesting as I did and I don't want my notes to be a distraction.
booking through thursday | books | bookcrossing
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Responsibility: Annie Shows Off: 11/14/07
Annie Shows Off is another story based on a 1996 PBS series called Adventures from the Book of Virtues. I am glad I didn't have the entire collection to read through.
In this book, Annie and Zach need to learn to take responsibility for their actions. They also need a serious grounding.
Annie's mother is a single parent trying to provide a good home for her daughter. She runs a bakery and has scraped together enough money to buy Annie a well needed new bike. To help out, Annie is asked to make a few deliveries on her new bike. Annie and Zach though decided to go racing in the mountains instead. Cakes and bike are ruined in the process and Annie nearly kills herself.
Annie and Zach get a lesson in responsibility from their oddly named forest friends. They use the myth of Daedalus and Icarus to teach them to take responsibility for their actions.
Happy to have learned a new life lesson, Annie and Zach go home to tell Annie's mother the truth. She happily drops everything to rebake all the cakes (plus one for the forest friends!). What about the heart break and frustration she must be feeling?
books | childrens | shelagh canning
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#32: Another Thirteen Things from my Hectic Life: 11/14/07
This week is crazier than last week so once again I am presenting my week in review.
1. Ian's car key fell off his key ring. He had recently taken the car in for its yearly tune up and hadn't put the key back on the full chain. The little ring that the service department gave him snapped. Of course this happened while he was at Berkeley and I was home with Harriet. Thanks to a wonderful BookCrossing friend, we got the problem sorted out. Read the blog entry >> |
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2. Harriet had been grumpy for about two weeks. Then on Friday she came down with a slight fever. On Saturday she broke out in the classic rash that is part of Fifth disease. So we stayed home for the entire weekend as she was grumpy, tired and itchy. Don't let her smiles fool you. She was very grumpy most of the weekend. |
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3. Sean did his best to avoid being bored silly since we had to stay home with Harriet. He played a lot of video games. We played against him. Finally by Sunday Harriet was out of her complete "mommy only" mood so Sean and I went to the park while Ian stayed home with Harriet. |
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4. I spent much of my reading time working through a huge pile of children's books I was getting ready to donate for the start off of the Bookcrossing Literacy Train that was held at Zeum in San Francisco. I had to get them ready to give to the CEO on Tuesday's BookCrossing meeting. I didn't manage to read all the books I donated but I did get through most of them. Stay tuned for the reviews as I get them posted. |
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5. Some how in all this chaos I am keeping up with Nanowrimo and managing to have fun. As of noon on November 14th, I have 23,000 words. Last night I didn't do any Nanowrimo writing; I was too busy with BookCrossing and too tired once I got home. Sam, my main character, is coming to terms with dating someone ten years his junior. He has also stumbled upon the strangest discovery of his life. I'm almost to the halfway point and things should start to get really interesting. |
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| 6. Harriet has discovered laundry. She loves to sort through her laundry basket. I try to keep her out of the laundry when I'm doing it but I just had to snap a photo of her "helping" me. |  |
7. I'm trying to take a more active role in how I get my blog's syndication out there to readers. I have finally signed up with Google analytics. I am also now participating in Blogrush. If you see one of my posts on another blog, please click on it. I am already seeing an increase in readership and I've learned I have a loyal following of readers in West Hollywood. |
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| 8. I entered the Silly Sock contest. |  |
| 9. Ian left this morning at 3AM for a conference in Raleigh North Carolina. He will be home at noon on Monday. Until then it's just me, the kids and the cat. |  |
10. I finished a new render called "Blue Poppy." It took 12 hours for my computer to finish once I hit the render button. |
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| 11. Caligula had her annual shots. Now I need to make reservations for her stay at Shamrock Ranch over the holidays. |  |
| 12. Harriet is still nuts for Caligula. Fortunately the cat seems to be fond of her too. On Monday I caught Harriet trying to honk the cat's nose. |  |
| 13. On Saturday we had another rainstorm. Now we are back in a pattern of warm days and cold nights. We might get rain on Monday. |  |
Honesty: Zach's Tall Tale: 11/13/07
Zach's Tall Tale is the first story based on a 1996 PBS series called Adventures from the Book of Virtues. If the books are anything to go on, I'm grateful to have missed the television series.
Each book teaches a different virtue through some painfully forced plotting. Then to spice things up, the story takes a time out for an excerpt from a better story that illustrates the same point.
Besides Zach and Annie there are talking forest animals who for some unexplained reason have the names of dead Greek philosophers. But to keep things cool, the animals go by nicknames like "Sock" for Socrates. More on Sock when I review Sock at Work.
In this inaugural book, Zach must learn the importance of telling the truth after he breaks his father's camera. Of course Zach could have saved himself and us a lot of pain if he had listened to his father in the first place but this book is about honesty not obedience.
books | childrens | shelagh canning
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Lucky You: 11/12/07
Two people win the Florida lottery and they are total opposites: one's a racist militia man; the other is a female black environmentalist. The heroine of the story just happens to be named JoLayne Lucks. Lady Luck's new found fortune brings her in league with Tom Krome a reporter who just wants her story no matter what she does to him.
It could have been another cute story set around one of Florida's many environmental issues but it didn't catch my attention. The situations felt contrived at best and forced at their worst. Hiaasen was trying for an irreverent tone in the vein of Christopher Moore but he didn't make me laugh or connect with any of the characters. Ms Lucks is so abrasive throughout the book that I didn't care if she succeeded in her environmental quest.
Lucky You is the last of the Hiaasen books I have on my to be read shelf and I think I'll keep it that way for a while. I'm not giving up on him completely as I have enjoyed two of his books tremendously: Hoot and Basket Case.
mystery | books | florida | carl hiaasen
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Nanowrimo and Thoughts on Writing: 11/12/07
Paperback Writer has posted a list common pitfalls to avoid when writing novels. As this is Nanowrimo season and lots of us (myself included) are busy cranking out our novellas, I found the "Novel McTen" post useful and interesting.
Among her list of ten I can say I've suffered through at least one book in the list. My favorites (or perhaps, least favorite) are the "Brother McVampires" "Dragon McQuest" and "Happily Ever McAfter" (see my recent post on "Romance").
While I can say with a sigh of relief that my current Nanowrimo hasn't fallen into any of these McTen traps, it is not without problems. Last night just as I was patting myself on the back for getting a day ahead in terms of word count, I realized I had made an error in my world's orientation which is really sad for a book starring a surveyor!
The mantras for Nanowrimo are "quantity not quality" and "no editing" but I just had to fix this mistake. Since I was already at my word count for today before even writing I took ten minutes out of my schedule to find and fix the places where I specifically mention directions. Now when I begin writing again after the children go to bed I can jump back into writing my Nanowrimo and not stress over the mistake.
Bleach 4: 11/11/07
Bleach 4 further explains what Hollows are and how they are created. Ichigo and a popular TV psychic learn the hard way the danger of doing haphazard spiritual cleansing.
A mystery also begins near the end of the volume. Someone other than Ichigo and Rukia are taking care of the hollows. Either that or her detector has started to misfire. The who behind the mystery is shown on cover but the how and the why is revealed in volume 5.
Overall I like how each new volume brings something new to the overall story arc. Each one reveals more information either on characters or on how the world works. Volume 4 does both, bringing in more pivotal characters and better explanation to how the spirit world works.
Blogging Rituals: 11/11/07
Blogging has been part of my daily routine since 2004. I don't blog as frequently as some of my favorite bloggers but I do still strive for one post a day. In an ideal world, I would blog with no distractions but as a mother of two, that just isn't always possible.
On the topic of blogging without distraction, Cuncun has some tips. The tips include things like: turning off instant messaging, closing the feed reader, quitting email and so forth.
Along Cuncun's lines, I have a few things I do to make sure I'm as focused as possible. I do most of my blogging after my children go to bed so they are less of a distraction. Blogging at the same time of day also helps me get into the mind set that it is now time to blog. I make sure I have all the information I need before I start blogging so I can focus on what I'm writing while I write. No matter how many posts I had planned, I stop at midnight because a tired blogger is a poor blogger.
Of course I'm breaking my rules here with this post. Only one child is in bed (napping). The other child is constantly interrupting me with "Hey Mama..." so I am not as focused as I should be. Flexibility is also a must when blogging.
Romance: 11/10/07
A few weeks back for the Booking Through Thursday meme we were asked about what makes us abandon a book. I had trouble answering the question, not being able to think of many recent examples of books I had abandoned. Tonight while updating my alphabetical list of book reviews, I remembered a bunch I had abandoned.
Interestingly the books all fell into the category of historical romances. Historical fiction more broadly and romances equally broadly are two of my least favorite genres. They aren't books I seek out in book stores or libraries.
My hang ups with the genre stem mostly from not being told what I should like to read because of my gender.For similar reasons as a child I avoided Beverly Clearly and Judy Blume. Books aimed at helping me learn about the troubles of growing from girl to woman made me run in the opposite direct (right towards science fiction).
I also tend to avoid a lot of fantasy because so much of it involves questing for a romantic outcome. Books where the main point seems to be to find "true love" don't do it for me.
That's not to say I won't sometimes read romances in their many forms but only if it's an author I've already had good luck with (Sandra Brown for example) or if it comes highly recommended by a close personal friend. I will also read them out of desperation if I find myself with nothing else handy to read.
romance | booking through thursday | books
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"The Diamond Shadow": 11/10/07
The second story in October/ November issue of Fantasy & Science Fiction is a novelet by Fred Chappell called "The Diamond Shadow." The premise is that light and shadow have forces that can be controlled for magical purposes. A trio of men, a shadow mage, his apprentice and a servant are called before a countess who has a diamond that has developed a disturbingly dark shadow. She wants it taken care of no matter what.
I liked the premise but the execution left me wanting something different. First there are the awkward names chosen for the main characters: Astolfo, Falco and Mutano. Then there is the Countess's ornate style of speaking which doesn't flow as well as it should. Finally there is the lack of explanation as to why the narrator is apprenticing. Without a good sense of where he is coming from and what his view of his world is, it's hard to understand the world in so few pages.
fantasy science fiction magazine | fiction | short story | fred chappell
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Feet of Clay: 11/09/07
I started reading through the Night Watch series of Discworld books for the Beach Blanket Bonanza challenge I ran. I enjoyed the books I read then enough to keep reading more of the series. I recently finished Feet of Clay and am now starting Jingo.
Feet of Clay is another straight up mystery. There have been a handful of murders and someone is trying to kill the Patrician again. Vimes, Carrot and the rest of the Watch must figure out who is behind the murders, the assassination attempts and why.
The novel is fleshed out with details of Ankh-Morpork's history and culture. We learn more of the Vimes who committed regicide and of the city's peerage. There are a number of humorous scenes involving the heraldry of the various families. In the midst of these scenes, Nobby Nobbs finds himself elevated.
Over all it's a good combination of mystery, world building, social commentary and humor. It was been fun to see how the Watch has changed as it diversifies. All the different cultures have their own prejudices even if they grudgingly agree to work together.
fiction | books | scifi | terry pratchett
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The Butt Ugly 1970s: 11/09/07
Romance author and blogger
Carolan Ivey has a link to a very funny blog post about a recently uncovered 1977 J.C. Pennys catalogue. There are of course pictures of some of the choicest examples of what was "hot" that year.
I was four when the catalogue came out but I can still remember thinking how stupid everyone looked. The entire decade with a few exceptions was very tacky. While the big hair and pink shirts of the 1980s was pretty ugly at least the hideous cuts to the clothes were gone (wide collars and bell bottoms for instance).
Now that the folks who were teens in the 1970s are making the creative decisions in places like Hollywood there has been an unfortunate nostalgia run for the 1970s but everything seems to boil down to polyester leisure suits. They need more variety in the costumes. They need to go back and look at these goofy old catalogues and watch old episodes of TV from the era.
humor | books | 15 minute lunch | carolan ivey
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Fortunately: 11/08/07
Remy Charlip is a choreographer, dancer, poet, artist and children's book author. He's also one of my favorite authors of children's books.
His books are surreal and playful. Fortunately builds on a series of events much like The House the Jack Built nursery rhyme. Each new event poses a new problem that requires a solution. The problem comes with "unfortunately" and the solution is provided with "fortunately."
The basic story follow's Ned's travels from New York to Florida to attend a party he has been invited to. On the way he has a number of misfortunes, each one more surreal than the previous. And yet all these apparently random events do help Ned reach his goal.
fiction | books | childrens | remy charlip
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Car Keys: 11/08/07
Today started like any other typical Thursday. I got the kids up. I did my morning round of work while they ate breakfast. Ian took Sean to school while Harriet and I stayed home. After taking Sean to school Ian drove the car to Berkeley.
His plan was to work the morning at Berkeley and then come home for lunch. After lunch he would then box up Caligula and take her for her annual shots. We need to get her vaccinated for when she'll be staying at Shamrock Ranch over the Christmas holiday.
Unfortunately things didn't work out as planned. At twelve thirty I got a frantic phone call from Ian. The car key had fallen off his key chain. The same thing happened about five years ago with his key to the Civic Hatchback but the old Honda keys were much thinner at the top than the newer ones. He thinks this time it was the ring that failed not the key but the result is the same. The key vanished sometime after he paid for parking.
So there I was at home trying to figure out how to get my set of keys to him. We couldn't leave the car overnight in the Berkeley garage and it seemed pointless to rent a car just to come home to get the keys and drive back.
While I was figuring out how to get us to Berkeley I also had to quickly feed Harriet and call the vet to reschedule the appointment. The vet (of course!) was taking a two hour lunch break so all I could do was leave a message.
I thought about walking down to BART but the sling and the stroller are both the trunk. I thought about calling for a taxi but I only had two dollars on hand. While I was trying to sort out whether to call a taxi or perhaps try the bus, I sent out an email to my local BookCrossing friends.
The email worked beautifully! Lisa (lisaxiii) who has a daughter about a year older than Harriet responded immediately. Her daughter was in day care (meaning she had a car seat available) and she could spare the hour and a half it would take to get me there and then drive home.
So by two thirty the three of us were riding into Berkeley. It was Harriet's first time riding forward. She loved it so much that we've now turned her seat to face forward (we could have done it two months ago). I called Ian to find out where he had parked the car and Lisa dropped me off just a block up from the garage.
Tomorrow we need to figure out how to get a duplicate key made (we couldn't with the old Civic because the key styles had changed). We also need to reschedule the cat's appointment.
bookcrossing | ian | ferdinand | cars
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Booking Through Thursday: Volume 11/08/07
Booking Through Thursday
Would you say that you read about the same amount now as when you were younger? More? Less? Why?
I have been keeping track of my reading for almost 21 years (my anniversary falls in June). The last two years I have read more than I have in any year. The last time I passed 300 books was in 1998. My typical amount of reading hovers around 200 books but on years when I was too depressed or stressed to read I haven't crossed 100. My worst year I read only 34 books which is still a lot for many readers.
So far this year I have read 350 books. My goal is to read (and review) 365 books.
To Bathe in Lightning: 11/07/07
To Bathe in Lightning is the sequel to Dancing on the Volcano. I came to this book without having read the first book. I am a firm believer that books in a series should stand alone because it's not always possible to read all the books in the series.
I am feeling very mixed brained about my first time reading book by Anne Gay. She seems capable of building complex worlds and populating them with a variety of characters and cultures. Unfortunately either as a result of coming in halfway through the story or because of the nature of the Second Wave plot, I felt like an outsider only understanding every other sentence. I never really found a character I liked or comprehended. Without that connection I never really cared about all the machinations and backstabbing and whatnot even though the characters themselves were clearly fighting for their lives.
Despite my lukewarm reaction to To Bathe in Lightning I am intrigued enough by Anne Gay's writing to want to try again. If I find a copy of Dancing on the Volcano I will read it. Or if I see another of her books, I will try it too.
I read this book for the "Unread Authors Challenge" run by Sycoraxpine.
#31: The Week in Review: 11/07/07
Nanowrimo is eating most of my free time so this week's Thursday 13 will be a way to catch up on all the news I would have otherwise blogged on if I weren't busy writing my Nano.
| 1. I finished the Halloween costumes in time. Sean loved dressing as a purple pikmin but Harriet wanted nothing to do with being a white pikmin. |  |
| 2. Harriet would only let me photograph her in her costume when she was in her stroller. |  |
3. Nanowrimo begins. Now after I've posted at least one book review on this blog, I work on getting my 1,667 words a day. I do this after the children go to bed, usually from 10 until midnight. As of the afternoon of November 7, I am up to 11,000 words. That puts me roughtly a day ahead of schedule. |
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4. Ian's parents came to visit. It was their first trip in a number of months. They came to see their grandkids and to help put up our baby gate. I spent most of Friday cleaning the house. Ian and Sean helped too after dinner. |
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5. Spent the day with Ian's parents. We had breakfast at Baker's Square and put up the gate. I actually blogged about this day. Sean and Harriet helped with the gate in their own special way. |
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| 6. Ian's parents went home and Ian needed to get back to studying. We made Sunday a "rest-a-day." |  |
| 7. Harriet turned 14 months old! She is now getting into everything. She sure can crawl and she's starting to take a few steps too. |  |
| 8. Once a year I have to drive to my client's main campus to be "re-badged". Yesterday was my day. It is 96 miles round trip from my home when taking in account driving around the bay. I also had to get some software installed on my computer. |  |
| 9. I have started doing my holiday shopping. I have read so many lovely books this year so I will be giving new copies of books to many of my friends and family. |  |
10. I have also designed and ordered my holiday cards and calendars. I am trying a new vendor recommended to me by Ravensroads. The picture on the right will be used on the October 2008 page. |
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| 11. Sean is doing fantastic at school. He can read and write and he's gotten really interested in drawing and painting. |  |
| 12. I've been Freecycling again and using the fred up space to better organize things. For instance, I've now made a place upstairs for the kids to put their current favorite toys. |  |
| 13. Ian is working hard on this thesis. He'll be leaving next week to present a poster at a conference. It's so exciting to see him getting close to finishing. |  |
Ten Timid Ghosts: 11/06/07
Now that Sean is older and able to read he has been recommending a number of wonderful books. One of the current favorites among his friends is Ten Timid Ghosts. Sean spoke so highly of it that we ended up getting a copy to add to our collection.
Ten Timid Ghosts is a counting backwards book like Ten Little Lady Bugs except that it is Halloween themed. Ten ghosts get evicted from their home by a witch who has bought their home. The witch uses a number of sneaky tricks to get them to leave. In the end though, they figure out what's going on and they want their house back!
Sean likes the book for all the witch's schemes. She uses puppets and disguises and these make him laugh.
My personal favorite page is the bat she uses to scare away ghost number nine. The fleeing ghost takes the eyes up the stairs to the striped socks of the witch. The spring hanging down from her feet leads to the bat which takes up most of the two pages. It's left wing creates a line that draws the eye from the foyer to the sitting room, by way of a portrait (with a hiding ghost) and a number of other hiding ghosts (like those in Hide and Ghost Seek). This illustration is a good early introduction to the ghosts and their home and that's why I like it so much.
fiction | books | childrens | jennifer oconnell
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Black Swan Green: 11/05/07
Black Swan Green takes place over the course of a year: from January 1982 to January 1983. There is one chapter for each month. Until the last chapter, the other twelve chapters read more like short stories than chapters in a novel. The plotting is subtle, often focusing on the mundane joys of life than on the big picture events.
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. These months are told in standard prose, not in the pseudo diary entries that many of these teen coming of age books have.
Black Swan Green needed to be read at a leisurely pace. Every book has its own rhythm. For this book I found myself needing to savor each chapter and take a break between chapters. When I can normally read a book in a day to a day and a half, I ended up taking almost five days to read this novel.
fiction | books | david mitchell
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A Visit: 11/04/07
If you're a regular reader of my blog you've probably noticed I haven't been doing much beyond posting the promised review a day. November so far has been a very busy month. First there is Nanowrimo which eats up my evenings (and blogging time). Then I was trying to get the house ready for Ian's parents who visited this weekend. Finally there is Harriet who is now into everything.
Ian's parents drove up on Friday and drove home today. Friday they got in around eight, after Harriet had gone to bed. They came just to say hi and to share a bottle of wine.
Since we usually share a bottle on the night they arrive, Sean and I had gone to Trader Joe's to get a bottle of wine. We chose "Jake's Fault" in honor of our recent 5.6 earthquake. We also got milk, bubble water, limes, some more pumpkins for cooking and a few other sundry things. Sean is such a help with grocery shopping!
Judy and Charlie also brought a bottle of wine so we shared their bottle instead. It was delicious! They stayed for a few hours and we caught up on the news and started to make plans for the holidays.
On Saturday we mostly stayed around the house, although we did have our usual breakfast at Bakers' Square. While we were at home, I baked pumpkin bread from the remains of our jack-o-lantern, and Charlie and Ian put up the baby gate.
We then had dinner at Chevy's and were given a nifty booth in the back. Harriet ended up having fun watching a loud birthday party behind us. Sean was enamored with the lights over the table that were colored by marbles held in the metal lamp shade. OK; I liked them too!
Today we had breakfast at home. Ian made coffee and I made tea. They brought croissants, rolls and orange juice. I was a lovely farewell meal.
And that in a nutshell is why I haven't been blogging much.
Knuffle Bunny Too: 11/04/07
Knuffle Bunny Too is the sequel to Knuffle Bunny. I have not read the first in the series but having so enjoyed the sequel I will keep my eyes out for the original.
Knuffle Bunny is the favorite toy of a now preschool aged Trixie. She takes her beloved bunny to preschool to show to all her classmates.
Unfortunately for Trixie, her Knuffle isn't the only one! Her preschool friend has one too! Then an even more horrible thing happens, the teacher mixes up the Knuffle bunnies and no one notices until it is too late.
This story of mistaken identities is told against a black and white photographic backdrop of New York City, as is the original. The typical goofy Mo Willems illustrations blend nicely with these snatches of New York. The characters really seem live there even though they are stylistically so different.
For parents the book has some nice humorous looks at the sorts of demands young children make and the sacrifices that parents are so often willing to make to keep their children happy. This book is one that can be enjoyed by children and parents together.
Read the reviews at Valentina's Room, Renee's Corner, ><((((+>.
fiction | books | childrens | mo willems
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Zombies of the Gene Pool: 11/03/07
Zombies of the Gene Pool is the sequel to Bimbos of the Death Sun. This book satirizes fandom and has a mystery set during a reunion of 1950s authors.
Author and engineer Jay Omega pals along with his colleague to the reunion of the "Lanthanides" so named because they first joined together in 1957. They have come together thirty years later to dig up a time capsule long buried at the bottom of a man made lake (currently being drained for repairs).
Mostly this book, as its predecessor, Bimbos of the Death Sun, is an antagonistic look at fandom and at the writers of science fiction. She paints a dreary view of the genre, clearly asking through her books why anyone would either want to write or read science fiction. These books would have been better if she had stuck with something she knows more about: the mystery genre.
Since McCrumb writes mysteries she seems compelled to turn these two parodies into mysteries but the murders come so late in the book that they seem more like after thoughts than actual plot points. The murder and ultimate solving of the case takes place within the last 50 to 70 pages of the novels, leaving no room for subtly or red herrings.
fiction | books | mystery | sharyn mccrumb
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Birthday Card, Where Are You? 11/02/07
My children love "lift the flap" books and both of them have gone with me numerous times to the post office to mail BookCrossing books. So Birthday Card, Where Are You? makes the perfect book for both Sean and Harriet.
Birthday Card, Where Are You? tracks the travels of a birthday card as it goes from mail box, through the U. S. postal system to the home of a girl having a birthday. Each page except the very last one has a flap to list that shows the insides of something postal: the mail box, the mail truck, the mail bag, the airplane, and so forth.
The illustrations are a little out of date as they have the old logo (the book being published in 1982) but they are still intricate enough to be educational and lovely enough to be interesting and engaging.
fiction | books | childrens | harriet ziefert | richard brown
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Auntie Mame: 11/01/07
Auntie Mame was one of my favorite movies as a child. So when BookCrossing offered me the chance to read the book that inspired the film, I had to jump on it. Of course, real life being what it is, I ended up shelving the book for about three years before I finally read it. The Book to Movie Challenge at SMS Reviews finally inspired me to read the book.
Auntie Mame (An Irreverent Episode) is the first in a series of books by Patrick Dennis (Edward Everett Tanner III). This memoir, while perhaps inspired by real people in his life. In that regard, Auntie Mame is among a number of novels disguised as memoirs: Life on the Mississippi, Tales from Margaritaville, most of Philip Roth's novels and so forth.
I have to admit that while I enjoyed some of the chapters, over all I found Dennis's style of writing rather dry. The situations he dreamed up are bizarre but the way in which he describes them manages to drain the humor right out of the situation.
fiction | books | patrick dennis
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Booking Through Thursday: Oh Horror! 11/01/07
Booking Through Thursday
What with yesterday being Halloween, and all ... do you read horror? Stories of things that go bump in the night and keep you from sleeping?
I thought about asking you about whether you were participating in NaNoWriMo, but I asked that last year. Although ... if you want to answer that one, too, please feel free to go ahead and do both, or either, your choice!
Yes, I read horror, along with everything else that I read. My son has a new found interest in Halloween books so many of the "horror" books I've read this year have been children's books and therefore not the gory affairs that I've read as an adult.
Here are some of children's Halloween books I've read recently:
Adult horror I've read in recent months:
Oh, and yes, I'm doing Nanowrimo again. I've done it every year since 2004.
All work © 1997-2008 Sarah Sammis