Pax, Amor, et Lepos in Iocando

Interesting (Icky?) Career Choice

2012-01-11T04:26:00.002-07:00

Just watched Moneyball, and I didn't recognize the director's name, so I did a quick IMDb check on him. I had seen his other non-documentary film, Capote, and was underwhelmed. But I liked this one a lot more, so I was curious about the film he had in pre-production, Foxcatcher, which is described as:

The story of John du Pont, who suffered from paranoid schizophrenia and killed Olympic wrestler David Schultz.

Doesn't that sound like fun? Already crossing it off my "to watch" list, I scrolled down to see what poor suckers have been cast in this thing. Channing Tatum gets to play the victim, and Steve Carell gets to play the paranoid schizophrenic. Carell, really? I get where someone like him wants to stretch, to take on new kinds of rolls, but a whackadoodle murderer? Why, Steve, why?

Just don't get that at all.

While I'm at it, a few thoughts on Moneyball:

It was just odd seeing Jonah Hill play someone competent (actually, more than competent...smart)
Speaking of odd, lean Chris Pratt, really?
Would've been fun to see Hill, Pratt, Pitt and the rest working with more Sorkin-esque dialogue (of course, that's true for 90% of what's in the theaters/TV screens).
Especially considering the source material, that was one entertaining flick.

2 posts out of the 11 days...sigh, this is why I don't do resolutions.

New Year's Wishes and whatnot

2012-01-02T07:26:00.000-07:00

To start off the New Year, I tried to come up with something to say about resolutions or goals or Happy New Year, and honestly couldn't come up with anything.

And then I made the mistake of reading Neil Gaiman's blog post yesterday*, everything he said there is good, but this resonated with me the most:

May your coming year be filled with magic and dreams and good madness. I hope you read some fine books and kiss someone who thinks you're wonderful, and don't forget to make some art -- write or draw or build or sing or live as only you can. And I hope, somewhere in the next year, you surprise yourself.

.
So, let's just go with that...what he said. And I hope your 2012 is at least as good as, if not better than, 2011 was.

* just kidding, reading Gaiman is almost never a mistake

XMas Programs/Recitals/Etc.

2011-12-17T17:02:00.003-07:00

(I apologize in advance for the spacing on this post, depending what your screen resolution, and window size, this could look pretty ugly)

I find myself at the end of a busy week of children's Christmas programs, wherein parents, grandparents and resentful siblings were able to see the culmination of hours, days, and weeks (and sometimes entire minutes) of preparation on the parts of many, only to watch those who we get to see and hear too much of at home.

We started the week with Samwise and a group of guitar classmates performing during a veritable (and interminable) cavalcade of acoustic performances from the secondary students at his school. Samwise was, for reasons beyond my ken, enrolled in the beginning guitar class and so was playing with people who've been playing for 3 months. They had a lot of fun doing a "funny" little song they wrote. Results varied beyond them. 14 hours after that, the audience members that hadn't fled were released, relatively unharmed.

The next night, Arnold and the Princess got to strut their stuff in the elementary classes program. As you can see from this picture of the Princess I took right before showtime, we had seats in the a good distance away from the stage, and more clearly, I need a better camera. It was a very ambitious program of singing, dancing and recorder playing. I won't say that very few of the kids had talents commensurate with the ambition of the music teacher, but, um... it was cute.

And hey, did I mention, there were recorders? Yup, 90 4^th and 5^th graders played "Frosty the Snowman" on recorders. Several of which had the same key. (if you use your imagination, you can see a pink recorder in her hands there...see above paragraph).

I thought they did a really good job integrating all the grades into the program, and shuffled it up enough that even the shortest of attention spans weren't pushed too far past the breaking point. Someday, I would like someone to explain exactly how this position
represents a partridge in a pear tree, though.

Today, Arnold's music academy put on a recital--we had a flautist, a guitar player, a clarinet wrangler and several pianists perform a song each for us. I was quite impressed with the range of ages and abilities shown, and despite the nerves, they all did a great job. I was, naturally, very impressed with Arnold's playing, this was better than any time I've heard him practice. Thankfully, it was a small crowd, so I was able to shoot a video.

Veritable Webster's Definition of "Awwwwww...."

2011-11-23T18:40:00.001-07:00

Happy Birthday, Samwise! (or...Man, I Need to Tweak my Camera Settings)

2011-11-22T21:44:00.003-07:00

In Commemoration of Samwise's 12th Birthday, I took a stab at a Popcorn Cake.

I think he liked the looks of it:

TLoML described the cake as a popcorn ball mixed with trail mix. Frodo said it was like a movie theater's concession's stand after an earthquake. Both I think were compliments. :) Pretty tasty, actually, and fairly easy. "Sticky", "gooey" and "a giant mess" begin to describe the process of making it.

After that, we gave him his new Nook (yes, my boys are e-book readers now...*sigh*). This is mostly him being excited, and a little bit of him being a giant ham.

yeah, yeah, yeah, the pictures are lousy. I know, I know.

Writing Quote of the Day - Nov 13

2011-11-13T06:59:00.000-07:00

To get the right word in the right place is a rare achievement. To condense the diffused light of a page of thought into the luminous flash of a single sentence, is worthy to rank as a prize composition just by itself...Anybody can have ideas--the difficulty is to express them without squandering a quire of paper on an idea that ought to be reduced to one glittering paragraph.
Mark Twain

Writing Quote of the Day - Nov 12

2011-11-12T06:59:00.000-07:00

Plot grows out of character. If you focus on who the people in your story are, if you sit and write about two people you know and are getting to know better day by day, something is bound to happen.

Characters should not, conversely, serve as pawns for some plot you've dreamed up. Any plot you impose on your characters will be onomatopoetic: PLOT. I say don't worry about plot. Worry about the characters. Let what they say or do reveal who they are, and be involved in their lives, and keep asking yourself, Now what happens? The development of relationship creates plot. Flannery O'Connor, in Mystery and Manners, tells how she gave bunch of her early stories to the old lady who lived down the street, and the woman returned them saying, "Them stories just gone and shown you how some folks would do."

That's what plot is: what people will up and do in spite of everything that tells them they shouldn't, everything that tells them they shouldn't, everything that tells them that they should sit quietly on the couch and practice their Lamaze, or call their therapist, or eat until the urge to do that thing passes.

So focus on character.
Anne Lamott

Writing Quote of the Day - Nov 11

2011-11-11T06:58:00.000-07:00

here are a few rules ... for writing:
The best way to write better is to write more.
The best way to write better is to write more.
The best way to write better is to write more.
The best way to write more is to write whenever you have five minutes and wherever you find a chair and a pen and paper or your computer.
Read! Most likely you don't need this rule. If you enjoy writing, you probably enjoy reading. The payoff for this pleasure is that reading books shows you how to write them.
Reread! There's nothing wrong with reading a book you love over and over. When you do, the words get inside you, become part of you, n a way that words in a book you've read only once can't.
Save everything you write, even if you don't like it, even if you hate it. Save it for a minimum of fifteen years. I'm serious. At that time, if you want to, you can throw it out, but even then don't discard your writing lightly.

Gail Carson Levine

Writing Quote of the Day - Nov 10

2011-11-10T06:57:00.000-07:00

Rules such as "Write what you know," and "Show, don't tell," while doubtlessly grounded in good sense, can be ignored with impunity by any novelist nimble enough to get away with it. There is, in fact, only one rule in writing fiction: Whatever works, works.

Ah, but how can you know if it's working? The truth is, you can't always know (I nearly burned my first novel a dozen times, and it's still in print after 35 years), you just have to sense it, feel it, trust it. It's intuitive, and that peculiar brand of intuition is a gift from the gods. Obviously, most people have received a different package altogether, but until you undo the ribbons you can never be sure.
Tom Robbins

Writing Quote of the Day - Nov 9

2011-11-09T06:57:00.000-07:00

It is a delicious thing to write, to be no longer yourself but to move in an entire universe of your own creating. Today, for instance, as man and woman, both lover and mistress, I rode in a forest on an autumn afternoon under the yellow leaves, and I was also the horses, the leaves, the wind, the words my people uttered, even the red sun that made them almost close their love-drowned eyes. When I brood over these marvelous pleasures I have enjoyed, I would be tempted to offer God a prayer of thanks if I knew he could hear me. Praised may he be for not creating me a cotton merchant, a vaudevillian, or a wit.
Gustave Flaubert

Writing Quote of the Day - Nov 8

2011-11-08T21:56:00.000-07:00

Why Authors write I do not know. As well ask why a hen lays an egg or a cow stands patiently while a farmer burglarizes her.
H. L. Mencken

Why do writers write? Because it isn't there.
Thomas Beger

Writing Quote of the Day - Nov 7

2011-11-07T07:01:00.000-07:00

Writing, in its most essential sense, is an artificial means for getting thoughts and images which reside in YOUR brain over to the guy holding your book in the most effective and accurate fashion possible, so that the reader will successfully translate your thoughts into HIS brain. The written word uses symbols to describe sights, sounds, and situations, in order to let the reader create the story inside his own imagination as he reads.

Writing is the original virtual reality.

If all goes well, the imaginary world you help the reader create in his head becomes as believable, exciting, and interesting as the real world.

But that means you need to make everything go well.
Jim Butcher

Writing Quote of the Day - Nov 6

2011-11-06T07:00:00.001-07:00

Nothing corrupts a man so deeply as writing a book; the myriad temptations are overwhelming.
Nero Wolfe

Writing Quote of the Day - Nov 5

2011-11-05T19:00:00.001-06:00

When asked, "How do you write?" I invariably answer, "One word at a time," and the answer is invariably dismissed. But that is all it is. It sounds too simple to be true, but consider the Great Wall of China, if you will: one stone at a time, man. That’s all. One stone at a time. But I’ve read you can see that [expletive deleted] from space without a telescope.
Stephen King

Writing Quote of the Day - Nov 4

2011-11-04T07:20:00.000-06:00

Very few writers really know what they are doing until they've done it. Nor do they go about their business feeling dewy and thrilled. They do not type a few stiff warm-up sentences and then find themselves bounding along like huskies across the snow. One writer I know tells me that he sits down every morning and says to himself nicely, "It's not like you don't have a choice, because you do--you can either type or kill yourself." We all often feel like we are pulling teeth, even those writers whose prose ends up being the most natural and fluid. The right words and sentences just do not coming pouring out like ticker tape most of the time. Now, Muriel Spark is said to have felt that she was taking dictation from God every morning--sitting there, one supposes, plugged into a Dictaphone, typing away, humming. But this is a very hostile and aggressive position. One might hope for bad things to rain down on a person like this.

For me and most of the other writers I know, writing is not rapturous. In fact, the only way I can get anything written at all is to write really, really sh*tty first drafts.

The first draft is the child's draft, where you let it all pour out and then let it romp all over the place, knowing that no one is going to see it and that you can shape it later. You just let this childlike part of you channel whatever voices and visions come through and onto the page. If one of the characters wants to say, "Well, so what, Mr. Poopy Pants?," you let her. No one is going to see it. If the kid wants to get into really sentimental, weepy, emotional territory, you let him. Just get it all down on paper, because there may be something great in those six crazy pages that you would never have gotten to by more rational, grown-up means. There may be something in the very last line of the very last paragraph on page six that you just love, that is so beautiful or wild that you now know what you're supposed to be writing about, more or less, or in what direction you you might go--but there was no way to get to this without first getting through the first five and a half pages.
Anne Lamott

Writing Quote of the Day - Nov 3

2011-11-03T23:46:00.001-06:00

I certainly don't sit down and plan a book out before I write it. There's a phrase I use called "The Valley Full of Clouds." Writing a novel is as if you are going off on a journey across a valley. The valley is full of mist, but you can see the top of a tree here and the top of another tree over there. And with any luck you can see the other side of the valley. But you cannot see down into the mist. Nevertheless, you head for the first tree. At this stage in the book, I know a little about how I want to start. I know some of the things that I want to do on the way. I think I know how I want it to end. This is enough. The thing now is to get as much down as possible. If necessary, I will write the ending fairly early on in the process. Now that ending may not turn out to be the real ending by the time that I have finished. But I will write down now what I think the conclusion of the book is going to be. It's all a technique, not to get over writer's block, but to get 15,000 or 20,000 words of text under my belt. When you've got that text down, then you can work on it. Then you start giving yourself ideas.
Terry Pratchett

Writing Quote of the Day - Nov 2

2011-11-02T23:47:00.000-06:00

Writing is easy. You only need to stare at a piece of blank paper until your forehead bleeds.
Douglas Adams

(one of my all-time favorite lines)

Writing Quote of the Day - Nov 1

2011-11-01T04:45:00.000-06:00

Writing a novel--actually picking the words and filling in paragraphs--is a tremendous pain in the ass. Now that TV's so good and the Internet is an endless forest of distraction, it's damn near impossible. That should be taken into account when ranking the all-time greats. Somebody like Charles Dickens, for example, who had nothing better to do except eat mutton and attend public hangings, should get very little credit.
Steve Hely
How I Became a Famous Novelist

Happy Independence Day!

2011-07-04T07:44:00.000-06:00

Something Missing by Matthew Dicks

2011-06-08T01:34:00.001-06:00

Something Missing by Matthew Dicks

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Martin's a thief--a very peculiar kind of thief. He keeps going back to the same places time and again, mostly stealing staples--food, household supplies, etc.--enough to get by on, but never enough to get noticed. This book takes effort to get through--the quirky, even funny, premise will carry you through the first chapter or two, but then the excruciating detail that the Narrator gives about every little thing threatens to drag the story to a halt. I wanted to stop more than once, but there's something about Martin that made me want to stick with it.

I'm so glad I did, it was so worth it. After all the painstaking detail about how Martin gets into people's homes, learns their habits, decides how much to take, and then inventories it and so on...a new side of Martin starts to break through. One that cares about people. He starts taking risks--and everything, every dull, obsessive detail that you trudged through pays off.

The book becomes thrilling, endearing, heartwarming...by the end, I couldn't believe how much I liked Martin and was pulling for him.

View all my reviews

The Weed That Strings the Hangman's Bag by Alan Bradley

2011-06-04T01:17:00.000-06:00

The Weed That Strings the Hangman's Bag by Alan Bradley

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The plucky young chemist with a nascent obsession with death is back in action. The case is a little less personal for Flavia de Luce this time, but that doesn't stop her from jumping in whole hog to get to the bottom of it.

Flavia runs into a couple of traveling performers with some car trouble and before you know it, she's got them some help--and a gig. While she hangs around the TV star and his assistant, she finds herself surrounded by some of her town's darker history and then face to face with a murder. And Flavia being Flavia, she can't resist sticking her nose in and making sure all the knots are untangled--particularly the ones adults are ignoring, despite them being painfully obvious to her.

We get less of Flavia's sisters (and the rest of the household, come to think of it) in this installment--but when they're around, their impact is greater. Clearly, as this series continues, there's going to be some serious drama on the homefront with some major implications for the de Luce family, I hope Bradley tackles that quickly, the foreshadowing's getting old quickly.

Unlike with so many other amateur sleuths (particularly juveniles), it's nice to see that her reputation and track record are acknowledged by some in the community -- which is both a help and a hindrance, I hope to see more of that in the future.

My only major quibble with this installment is that it takes far too long to set the main action of the novel up--in a 348 page mystery novel, you'd better get to the central crime before page 150 or so. Unless you've got a heroine like Flavia to focus on, I can't imagine being patient enough to wait that long to get the ball rolling.

Another fun (occasionally hilarious) read, with a mystery satisfyingly twisty, with just enough red herrings to get you through it. Highly recommended if you've read the first in the series.

View all my reviews

Exactly How They Work

2011-05-31T03:34:00.003-06:00

Of all the "motivational" style posters I've seen, this is probably closer to the truth than any of them (can't imagine getting much closer, honestly). I've seen this link posted a handful of times over the last few weeks, and each time I've left the tab open, returning to look at it several times throughout the day. Figured it's about time I put it up here...

Can't imagine it's going to work well on this here template, so you'd be better off clicking the link above or the image below and seeing it in a better way.

DVD: I Am Number Four

2011-05-30T08:52:00.000-06:00

So the family and I sat down and watched the DVD for I Am Number Four this weekend--the oldest three of us enjoyed the novel to varying degrees, and probably at least one other kid would have, too, if it weren't for having to take it back to the library before he got to it. It's been awhile since I had such a visceral reaction to a movie, so I figured I'd write about it a bit. But I'm not in the mood to do more than provide two lists about the flick--a pro and a con, if you would.

Reasons to Watch It (largely for novelty):

Timothy Olyphant gets more dialogue per second of screen time in this role than in any other I've seen him in (haven't seen him on The Office, so...I dunno about that). So as weird as it was to see him without a hat (thank you, Sheriff Bullock and Marshall Givens), it was weirder yet to see him as such a chatterbox. He was funny, too, I should add. Then he got to pick up a gun and blast a few bad guys, and everything was right with the world.
Speaking of jarring, Dianna Agron spent a whole lotta time walking around a high school and no one, not one person, broke into song, even for a moment.

Reasons Why Not to Watch It:

Everything else about the movie. The acting. The script. The characters. The plot. How do you take a novel that's basically a very thorough movie treatment to start with and ruin it? I dunno, but somehow the normally reliable Alfred Gough & Miles Millar and typically wonderful Marti Noxon did just that.

Hope you find this helpful.

I Thought You Were Dead by Pete Nelson

2011-05-25T02:55:00.000-06:00

I Thought You Were Dead by Pete Nelson

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Start with a young-ish divorced man, struggling to get his career going, in love with a woman dating someone else. Throw in a parent with a major health issue, a supportive sister, and a much more successful older brother who's a lifelong rival and idle who he must come to terms with. On the whole, there's not much here you can't find in many other books on the General Fiction shelves. But Nelson executes his story so well, the lack of novelty isn't that important. Nothing seems forced, even if several plot developments can be seen coming a hundred pages or more away, they still unfold naturally. And you're left with a tale well told, and well worth your while.

And that would be enough, but there is one element to this book you won't find anywhere else--Stella, "a mixed breed, half German Shepherd and half yellow Labrador, but favoring the latter in appearance. Fortunately, she’d also gotten her personality from the Labrador side of the family, taking from the Germans only a certain congenital neatness and a strong sense of protectiveness, though as the Omega dog in her litter, it only meant she frequently felt put upon." As with any good book with a dog as a main character, Stella is the heart and soul of this book--at least until her master gets his act together, and then he shares that billing. Stella's also the source of the humor in the book--humor frequently needed to keep the story from being bogged down in the muck of her master's life.

If you can buy Paul talking to Stella and Stella talking back (and there's no reason you shouldn't), this is a sweet, heart-filled book that's a great way to wile away a few hours.

View all my reviews

Semi-Random Spring-Timeish Picture

2011-05-21T08:30:00.003-06:00

this is probably the fourth or fifth actual Spring-like day we've had this month, in honor of which, I snapped this photo on my way in the house from work today. The robin caught my eye and made me actually look around a bit.

Top This, Guys

2011-05-19T00:35:00.000-06:00

Skywriting? Antiquated (and probably will get Al Gore after you)
Using the JumboTron during a pro sporting event? Cliche.
That Boise Junior College Guy celebrating the Fiesta Bowl win by proposing to that cheerleader? Bush League.

This is the new (fleeting) gold standard:

Awwwwww......

Father of PFC Bowe Bergdahl Breaks his (public) Silence

2011-05-06T18:20:00.001-06:00

Misc. Things about Books

2011-04-28T03:57:00.004-06:00

We're all more than familiar with the stereotype of the socially awkward bookworm (heck, it's practically my whole identity for huge chunks of my life), but some recent research suggests that just might not be so. In fact, those who read a lot of fiction might be more empathetic than others (gotta say, that's long been my theory, glad to see that I was probably right). (h/t:Lifehacker)
This has been linked like crazy all over, but author extraordinaire Michael Chabon has a great essay out about The Phantom Tollbooth (taken from his introduction to the forthcoming 50^th anniversary edition). Loved, loved, loved that book (and re-re-re-re-re-reread it as a kid). A couple years ago I read it with my kids and fell in love again--thanks to Mr. Chabon, I have to go read it again.
I'm torn about this. I'm a huge, huge fan of Robert B. Parker, and the thought of not getting new Spenser and Stone volumes each year depresses me, but the news that the Parker estate and his publisher have hired new authors to continue his two main series (thankfully there's no talk about more Cole/Hitch books). If Joan's comfortable with it, it seems wrong for us fans to be naysayers. But, my initial reaction's more like what Andrew Wheeler tweeted, "V.C. Andrews, move over: sharecropping to begin over Robert Parker's barely-cold corpse." (h/t:Harry Connolly's feed). But, hey, it's not like Parker treated his stuff as much more than a commodity anyway lately (and honestly, I liked some of the choices that the new Stone writer made with the movies more than Parker made). I do know I'll be grabbing them up from the library as soon as humanly possible--and hopefully I'll like 'em enough to head to a bookstore after that.

A Bad Day for Sorry by Sophie Littlefield/After the Golden Age by Carrie Vaughn

2011-04-27T03:33:00.001-06:00

A Bad Day for Sorry: A Crime Novel by Sophie Littlefield

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I knew that crime fiction would come up with someone to dethrone Lisbeth Salander as reigning Queen Bad*ss, but I never woulda figured it'd be someone like Stella Hardesty. Sure, Lisbeth could take Stella in a steel cage match--but in an extended campaign, that little girl wouldn't stand a chance, Stella'd kick her Asperger's all the way back to Sweden.

After years of spousal abuse, Stella finally had enough and killed him. Some years later, Stella augments her income from her sewing supply store by helping women in similar situations by making their spouses, boyfriends, etc. To say that her methods are unorthodox would be an understatement of the highest order.

The case at the center of this book seems pretty straightforward--the jerk in question seems to need (and respond to) some encouragement to stick to the behavior plan that Stella's lined out for him--like she expected, but lo and behold, he ends up kidnapping his ex's kid.

Things go out of control from there.

Given the subject matter, this book obviously goes to some pretty dark places. Yet this story is told with a lot of wit and charm--a few laughs, too (particularly as a mutual attraction grows between Stella and the new Sheriff). It doesn't take long at all to really like Stella and get invested in her crusade, as well as this case.

Just can't wait to get my hands on the sequel.

After the Golden Age by Carrie Vaughn

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

(really 4.5 stars, if that were possible)

This should make up for my less than glowing review of Vaughn's last book (the fun Steel). This is the best novel Carrie Vaughn has published--and that's saying something.

Beyond paraphrasing the book description, or spoiling the whole thing, I can't think of anything else to say.

Just read it.

View all my reviews

Words of Encouragement

2011-04-26T02:53:00.003-06:00

Last few days, these thoughts have really helped me:

Perfectionism is not an attribute in my opinion so don't beat yourself up when you miss a few workouts or eat some Easter candy. The goal is to have far more good days than bad. Exercise for the joy of feeling good and getting better. Eat right with the intention of fueling your body with the things it needs to perform
- Tony Horton

That was just general encouragement, this one means that things like general encouragement (or anything at all) meaningful:

After these things the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision, saying,
"Do not fear, Abram,
I am a shield to you;
Your reward shall be very great."

Abram said, "O Lord GOD, what will You give me, since I am childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?"

And Abram said, "Since You have given no offspring to me, one born in my house is my heir."

Then behold, the word of the LORD came to him, saying, "This man will not be your heir; but one who will come forth from your own body, he shall be your heir."

And He took him outside and said, "Now look toward the heavens, and count the stars, if you are able to count them "And He said to him, "So shall your descendants be."

Then he believed in the LORD; and He reckoned it to him as righteousness.

And He said to him, "I am the LORD who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans, to give you this land to possess it."

He said, "O Lord GOD, how may I know that I will possess it?"

So He said to him, "Bring Me a three year old heifer, and a three year old female goat, and a three year old ram, and a turtledove, and a young pigeon."

Then he brought all these to Him and cut them in two, and laid each half opposite the other; but he did not cut the birds.

The birds of prey came down upon the carcasses, and Abram drove them away.

Now when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and behold, terror and great darkness fell upon him.

God said to Abram, "Know for certain that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, where they will be enslaved and oppressed four hundred years.

"But I will also judge the nation whom they will serve, and afterward they will come out with many possessions.

"As for you, you shall go to your fathers in peace; you will be buried at a good old age.

"Then in the fourth generation they will return here, for the iniquity of the Amorite is not yet complete."

It came about when the sun had set, that it was very dark, and behold, there appeared a smoking oven and a flaming torch which passed between these pieces.

On that day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying,
"To your descendants I have given this land,
From the river of Egypt as far as the great river, the river Euphrates:

the Kenite and the Kenizzite and the Kadmonite
and the Hittite and the Perizzite and the Rephaim
and the Amorite and the Canaanite and the Girgashite and the Jebusite."
- Genesis 15

The Story of Edgar Sawtelle by David Wroblewski

2011-04-23T04:41:00.000-06:00

The Story of Edgar Sawtelle by David Wroblewski

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Meticulously crafted, wonderfully written, intricately , fantastic characters, a world you'd love to live in, imaginative, creative, a concept so great, so well executed...aaaaaand I had to force myself to read it. I took 3 breaks from this novel, and had to drag myself back to it each time.

I feel like I owe this book 5 stars because it deserves them, but I really want to give it 1.75 or so. There is no reason at all that I shouldn't like it--people should love this work, actually. But I just didn't.

Sorry Mr. Wroblewski.

View all my reviews

Nothin's More Excitin' Than

2011-04-20T13:37:00.001-06:00

New Glasses Day!

(especially if it gives Dad a chance to try to get better with his new camera)

Midnight Riot by Ben Aaronovitch

2011-04-20T04:21:00.002-06:00

Midnight Riot by Ben Aaronovitch

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

In a very real sense, there's practically nothing new in this book--neophyte wizard just discovering a world of magic; super-secret police division tasked with investigating (and covering up) supernatural crimes; a whole world of ghosts, vamps, trolls, dryads, nymphs, demigods living unseen amongst mortals; clever (and funny) pop culture references littered throughout the text; and so on...Urban Fantasy 101.

BUT, there's something about the way that Aaronovitch writes that makes Midnight Riot so fresh, so entertaining, so fun, it feels like I'm reading a brand new genre. He's basically the British Anton Strout (but a tad bit funnier).

I had a blast reading this--every second of it--laughed out loud, sat on the edge of my seat, and tore through this book.

View all my reviews

Master of None by Sonya Bateman

2011-04-19T02:46:00.000-06:00

Master of None by Sonya Bateman

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I'm way late on this, but really wanted to write something about it, and yet I'm really lazy. So, this isn't going to be as good as it should be...let me start by quoting from the back of the book (or the amazon/goodreads description anyway, think it's what the book had on it):

ONE UNLUCKY THIEF. ONE UNLIKELY GENIE. ONE VERY ODD COUPLE. Gavyn Donatti is the world's unluckiest thief. Just ask all the partners he's lost over the years. And when he misplaces an irreplaceable item he was hired to steal for his ruthless employer, Trevor—-well, his latest bungle just might be his last. But then his luck finally turns: right when Trevor's thugs have him cornered, a djinn, otherwise known as a genie, appears to save him.Unfortunately, this genie—-who goes by the very non-magical name of "Ian"—-is more Hellboy than dream girl. An overgrown and extremely surly man who seems to hate Donatti on the spot, he may call Donatti master, but he isn't interested in granting three wishes. He informs Donatti that he is bound to help the thief fulfill his life's purpose, and then he will be free. The problem is that neither Donatti nor Ian has any idea what exactly that purpose is.

If that description doesn't pique your interest, you'd better skip this novel. If it does, on the other hand, grab the book--it delivers on the promise in spades. I mean, come on! A grumpy djinn "serving" a barely competent thief.

It's a good read, with a heckuva cast of characters, gritty but not grim--ensured by an overly generous supply of wisecracks, and a magic system/overall mythology that's intriguing and rich enough to mine for a long time.

Master of None is enjoyable enough on its own, but now that the initial bout of setup and world-building is done, I'm really looking forward to seeing what Bateman has in store for this series.

View all my reviews

Weekend Posts?

2011-04-19T02:15:00.002-06:00

"Hey, you know those 'What Happened This Weekend' Posts you were doing? You decide to quit those?"

Nope, thought they were fun. Just have had a couple of uneventful/nonphotogenic weekends.

That is all.

Dark Jenny by Alex Bledsoe

2011-04-16T04:59:00.000-06:00

Dark Jenny by Alex Bledsoe

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I'll be honest with you, I have only the vaguest of memory of what actually happened in the first Eddie LaCrosse novel (The Sword-Edged Blonde), and only somewhat better recall about the second (Burn Me Deadly). That's a reflection on the amount of stuff I've read in that time, and is in no way a reflection on Bledsoe. I do have a very clear recollection about what both books told me about Alex Bledsoe's talent and that I enjoyed them a lot. I'm equally certain that Dark Jenny won't suffer from that same fading from memory/excuse to reread them. This one is gonna stay with me for awhile.

Essentially, this book is a variation of an Arthurian story--ideal king, queen rumored to be less than ideal, noble knight corps with a few rotten apples thrown in, a wizard figure, wicked half-sister, and a whole lotta intrigue--with a few unique twists of Bledsoe's own thrown in for good measure. Not a sour note to be found here--some notes that were hard to listen to, sure, but...okay, there's a metaphor that went awry. I was trying to say that yes, there were things that were less pleasant than others--this book goes to some dark, nasty places--but it all worked well.

We get this Arthurian tale via an extended flashback--in the middle of a nasty winter storm, with nothing else to occupy the attention of his neighbors, Eddie receives an interesting package. One so interesting, there has to be a great tale that goes along with it--which he ends up telling to the crowd at his favorite tavern (with only the tiniest of breaks to remind us that this is all in Eddie's past). By making this all an extended flashback, Bledsoe is able to give us a slightly different version of Eddie--one on the way to being the guy we've seen in the last two books. It also gives him the excuse to have a great femme fatale to grab Eddie's attention without having to write around his lovely lady.

A great, riveting fantasy noir. Can't wait for the next one already. A decent jumping on point for those new to the series, and a great third installment for those who've been around for awhile.

View all my reviews

Their Best Idea Since They Hired That Silly Dog...

2011-04-14T09:32:00.002-06:00

According to food blogs like SlashFood, Taco Bell is test marketing taco shells made out of Nacho Cheese Doritos.

Let me repeat that: Nacho Cheese Dorito taco shells. I've put on 10 pounds just typing this post. Talk about stuff that dreams are made of (dreams and sessions in Eric Foreman's That 70's Basement).

I just may have to take a trip to Toledo where some of this testing is taking place.

Agent to the Stars by John Scalzi

2011-04-13T05:45:00.000-06:00

Agent to the Stars by John Scalzi

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Short Version: A good, good story told in a fun--often funny--way.

Long Version: In the Author's Note, while Scalzi is describing the long, strange journey this novel took to get to this particular edition, he calls it the "book that won't quit." It took me maybe 50 pages to see why. This is one froody book.

The tone is great, the style is spot on, good satire/commentary on Hollywood's place in the world, everything about the alien race--their language, appearance, spaceship, ways to interact with humans/other creatures...just wonderfully imaginative.

In case you haven't read the blurb--an up and coming Hollywood agent is hired by a (by human standards) ugly, nauseatingly smelly alien race to help their "image" so they can make first contact with humanity. Why an agent, why not a President or something? 'Cuz the aliens know where real power and influence are centered. So, our hero has to balance his Hollywood weirdo clients, the aliens and a nosy journalist who won't leave him alone; while he comes up with a way to sell this species to humanity.

Funny, funny stuff on many levels and in different ways. But the book has a lot of heart, too. Just a pleasure to read.

View all my reviews

Steel by Carrie Vaughn

2011-04-12T05:18:00.000-06:00

Steel by Carrie Vaughn

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Let me start by saying I'm a big, big fan of Carrie Vaughn. Read every book--and can't imagine stopping. I've recommended this book to my sons and am going to loan this to my niece. But, (and you knew one was coming given that opening) man, this could've been--should've been--a much better book.

Jill, a championship level fencer and potential Olympian, suffers a tough loss, sending her into a losing battle with self-doubt. Soon after, her parents drag her along on a family vacation in the Bahamas (poor girl, right?). Walking along the beach, she stumbles on to a piece of a broken sword--an old, broken sword. First time she's held anything but a blunt, sport blade. Enchanted with the notion, she tucks it away.

Turns out, not only is her imagination bespelled, she is--before she knows it, Jill finds herself on an actual pirate ship a couple of hundred years in the past. After she figures out what happened to her, she finds herself part of the crew, growing close to a handful of them (a hunky age-appropriate pirate in particular) and learning about the sword's magic.

While she tries to find a way home, she learns a little about herself and a little about life. (wow, that sounds like a cheesy after school special...which not exactly inaccurate, but Vaughn pulls it off).

Vaughn touches upon some pretty dark stuff here, enough to make it authentic (or authentic-ish, anyway)--but makes sure that it stays a pretty tame PG-13.

And that's the crux of my problem with the book--she pulls her punches, just about all of them. She did it with Voices of Dragons, too--less so, here, though. Yes, it's a YA book, and yes, I think she's right to do it. I just think she shouldn't pull back as much. Everything here--from character, plot, setting, narrative, action--it's all perfectly fine, it's all age appropriate, but she certainly could've fleshed it all out more without going over the line.

Still, it's a good, swashbuckling read.

View all my reviews

When Did I Become That Guy?

2011-04-08T18:59:00.003-06:00

This has been a weird week--far busier than normal, and therefore it's been hard to squeeze everything in. I had to cut out one workout this week, and yesterday got away from me and I wasn't able to do all the exercise I was supposed to do. Today threatened to be the same way, but I refused to buckle and forced the time--which has resulted in my schedule being pushed back by 90 minutes or so, and I'll end up sleeping tonight about half as much as usual. But I just had to get it done, and consequences be hanged. Honestly, it's not about meeting whatever (and honestly fairly nebulous) fitness goals I have--it's more of a psychological thing, sorta like a matter of esteem (not in the Robert Schuller, etc. sense, I assure you). Truth be told, there's probably some dependency on adrenaline and other hormones/whatever produced by the body during exercise. Whatever, I'm fine with that.

But the bottom line is, if I don't exercise, I'm in a foul(er?) mood, shorter tempered, and generally feel blecky about life. With the exception of one friend/co-worker and people who live with me, I can't imagine many people who know me ever expected me to say that.

I'm also jumping (a little) higher, lifting more, doing more reps, etc. Been really pushing myself the last couple of weeks, and, yeah, I feel dead like I always do at the end of the workout, but this last week and a half, I've felt human a whole lot faster afterwards. If it wasn't for this gut, I'd say I was dangerously close to almost being in shape.

Great Ceasar's Ghost! What's happening?

Odds 'n Ends

2011-04-07T06:33:00.001-06:00

The pre-Thanksgiving TSA-induced uproar has died down, but the injustices that caused it continue. You can see Wil Wheaton's entirely justified reaction to his pat down on his twitter feed on Tuesday. Being a bit more composed, but still outraged, yesterday he The very definition of a must read.

I, like many of you, suffered through Rebecca Black's "Friday" (see how nice I am to not link to it?). But there are great ways to cope with it--like Conan's video "Thursday", or Stephen Colbert's great cover of it on Fallon's show. But this essay, just might take the cake, where Jeffrey Tucker reads way too much into the song and tries to turn it into a Libertarian allegory (I agree with the politics/philosophy, just think it's a bad read of the lyrics/video).

I'm sure you've seen this as it's showing up everywhere I look (or maybe I just spend too much time in the wrong places on the Net), but in case you haven't, hit play here. Last night, I almost broke my laptop watching this--it was on my lap (is that maybe where they got the name for them?) and I laughed so hard I almost launched it across the room.
When Harry Met Sally 2 with Billy Crystal & Helen Mirren from Billy Crystal

I put up a video from Lovett a few weeks back, and his album came out recently--one of the most eclectic collections of music I have--and pretty much all good. Grab a free track here:

Dear Showtime

2011-04-06T04:52:00.001-06:00

I have a humble suggestion to help out a very good show that seems to be slipping in quality. It wouldn't take much, you could keep the current cast, make a minor title tweak, and shift the limelight from one character to another. Here's my idea: Nurse Zoey.

Why?

Merritt Weaver is a gem.
Jackie's becoming more and more unlikable (not a good ting in a title character, particularly in a comedy)
Zoey is just about the only character on the show who's demonstrated growth.
If you do this, not only will the show be more enjoyable, but it will actually deserve the label comedy, which should involve something evoking laughter--and the only character that can be counted on to bring the laughs--as well as heart, pathos, whatever--is Zoey (and usually Thor, true, but, Zoe's more reliable).
Did I mention that Jackie's harder and harder to like?

Just sayin',
Me

First Weekend of April

2011-04-05T01:14:00.002-06:00

Not as eventful as last weekend, but I liked doing it, and hey...it's not a book review, right?

So, this weekend, I

enjoyed this old friend

who has sadly, decided to go away again
(not my pic, btw)

over-indulged here

toured the Old Idaho Penitentiary with the family

enough implied gore for the eldest two Offspring, different enough for the others

didn'tover-indulge here

(for a change)

watched this again,

was afraid it wouldn't be as funny the 2nd time around, but it was

introduced my children to this classic

glad to report, they reacted as they should--laughing hysterically, quoting and requoting ad infinitum

finished

was better than it was my sophomore year in high school, don't know why it took me so long to reread it (won't make that mistake again)

read

such a fun read

started

not bad, not bad at all

was blown away by the premier of

mystery fans, quality TV fans...watch this

2,000th Post?!?!?!

2011-04-05T01:06:00.000-06:00

Wow, seriously? I know I've been doing this awhile, and if I'd been more consistent, I could've hit this mark years ago, but still...there's something about that number. Really didn't expect to hit this mark.

Thanks for reading, everyone!!

This Past Weekend

2011-03-28T13:23:00.006-06:00

So, this weekend I:

laughed a lot, but not as much as I hoped I would at

laughed more than I expected to and totally DID NOT cry at

but there was a lot of pollen and dust in the room while I watched

celebrated her 9th birthday

got this for TLoML

tried this yummy yummy beer

(Kona & Maui Brewing Companies make the best argument for relocating to the Aloha State)

spent far too much time with this guy

(have just started the 5th week of P90X Doubles)

finished this

good stuff

started this

remember this being good in 10th Grade

watched the latest episodes of

and

NPH got it done on all fronts this week (tho' Segal absolutely killed, as per usual)

tried out this very, very tasty cake recipe

mine didn't look quite that good. BTW, if you make it, double the KoolAid like I did (accidentally yesterday, on purpose from now on)

all in all, a good weekend. How was yours?

Moonheart by Charles de Lint

2011-03-17T05:42:00.001-06:00

Moonheart by Charles de Lint

My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Man, I wanted to like this book. Really, really wanted to...and I almost did.

The plot, the characters, the world de Lint built...were all so close to being good, to being right what I was looking for, but ultimately missed it.

The elements are all there for something great: a mix of the real world, a secret government program, Celtic mythology and Native American tales--oh, yeah, and a magic house. Who could want more? Not me. Unless you count a plot that moves faster than a glacier and well-developed characters that get the chance to do something.

There are just far too many characters moving around this book -- it's honestly difficult at times to keep track of some of them. And tracking is essential, because the book is essentially 320 pages of introducing players and moving them around to set up the last 90 pages (don't have the book with me, so my page counts are estimates).

Nice try, but nowhere near as good as his straight fantasy that preceded it.

View all my reviews

Fourth Day by Zoe Sharp

2011-03-15T06:30:00.000-06:00

Fourth Day by Zoe Sharp

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This isn't your typical Charlie Fox novel, and in this case, that's a good thing (I can easily see where an atypical Fox novel would disturb my quiet).

Are there twists? Yup. Action? Yup. Bad guys in need of taking down? Yup. As you'd expect. A few less bullets than you'd expect.

But there was more to this. Sure, Sharp develops her characters further and further each novel--but here, they grew by leaps and bounds, a few books' worth. And it didn't seem forced or obligatory, it was wholly organic and genuine.

Honestly, I groaned when I realized we were getting "undercover op in a cult compound" for a mission. But it turned out to be so much more, and a satisfying read.

(I just hope for a little more action and a little less heart next time)

View all my reviews

Too Funny to Check

2011-03-15T00:20:00.003-06:00

I'm not going to read the story, don't need to, I'm laughing out loud at the headline on the local newspapers' website:

Report: Internet usage transforming news industry

Ohhhh, thank heavens, there's a report on this, 'cuz otherwise, who ever would have known?

The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley

2011-03-12T02:02:00.000-07:00

The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I don't know why so many of the reviews/recommendations I've read for this book compare the hero, Flavia de Luce, to Lisbeth Sanders. I guess it's because they're both not your typical female mystery protagonist. The comparison doesn't seem fair -- I know which one I'd like my sons to marry (seriously, if she has a granddaughter...). On the other hand, I know which one I'd like walking home with my daughter after dark, too.

Anyway, I need to get back on task, this, by gum, was a fun read with an utterly charming hero that deserves all the accolades and awards it's getting.

Our 11-year-old hero (no, this is not a kid's book [not that there's anything inappropriate for anyone who's made it through Rowling here]) is a budding, self-taught, chemist with a curious mind and a stubborn streak a mile wide. Her family life is a mess -- but in a charming, amusing, English countryside way -- but our plucky gal has managed to get through it pretty much intact and for the better.

So when she discovers a body on her lawn, yet the police shoo her away from the crime scene and dismiss her, she starts her own investigation. She's helped early on by a fact or two the police didn't obtain from her, and some that she kept to herself out of spite. Her father's arrest for the murder just adds fuel to her fire and becomes determined not only to solve the case before the police but to make them eat a good-sized helping of crow.

Probably not much of a spoiler to say that's exactly what she does, because the book's not about that foregone conclusion, but in watching Flavia do that while making less than flattering observations about her older sisters.

Highly recommended.

View all my reviews

Legacy by Jeanne C. Stein

2011-03-11T00:53:00.001-07:00

Legacy by Jeanne C. Stein

My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I was almost disappointed by this one, on second thought, maybe I was disappointed by this installment in the Anna Strong series.

Stein introduces us to her version of werewolves (different, a la Meyer, than the shapechangers we've already met). Her take on the species isn't my favorite, but I dig what she's doing with them and the backstory for vamps/werewolves/demons she worked up.

I wasn't crazy about how Anna "solved" the real world job (which she really didn't do), but I thought she handled the supernatural "case" okay. On the whole, though, this book showed Anna at her most clueless, which may be what Stein intended--as long as she's denying one side of her nature, she can't be what she needs to be, etc.--but I doubt it.

For a page or so I thought we were done with the Max subplot after book #3, but no. I thought we were done with the Gloria thing, but no. I thought the David stuff had turned a page and onto something new there, but no. And so on.

Basically, this book served to shuffle the characters around a bit to (potentially, hopefully) do something with next time around.

Don't get me wrong, I'm back for (at least) #5 and #6. Just hoping I don't regret it.

View all my reviews

God's War by Kameron Hurley

2011-03-10T05:29:00.002-07:00

God's War by Kameron Hurley

My rating: 2 of 5 stars

On a planet colonized by Muslims using insect-based technology in the far-flung future ravaged a multi-sect religious war, in the midst of which a scrappy band of pansexual assassins try to scrap out a living (selling the occasional organ to pay bills). Ho-hum. Nothing we all haven't read a thousand times before, right?

Well, maybe not. Fantastic concept, well-written, heckuva world built by Hurley here.

But here's the problem -- I couldn't force myself to care about any of these characters, particularly the protagonist Nyx. Unpleasant people, no real moral core, no reason to root for/against them, to care about their lives, their missions, their wars. I kept trying and trying and trying to find a reason to get invested in this beyond trying to figure out exactly how the insect-tech worked and utterly failed at every turn.

You can have the coolest, most inventive setup imaginable, but if you don't fill it with people readers can give a rip about, it's just not worth the effort.

View all my reviews

Sure, it's Cold, but the Dude's Got a Point

2011-03-09T18:48:00.002-07:00

catchy tune, too

Ex-Boyfriend's Handbook by Matt Dunn

2011-03-09T02:08:00.000-07:00

Ex-Boyfriend's Handbook by Matt Dunn

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

The book begins with our hero, Edward, receiving one of the (if not the) worst Dear John letters imaginable. What's worse is that Edward soon realizes that every nasty thing enumerated in the letter is true. In her letter, Jane essentially has given Edward three months to fix himself, which will at least open the door for a discussion of their future.

So, with the guidance and help of his best friend/ladies' man/cad, the lady bartender from their pub, his lecherous/man-chasing boss, and his new personal trainer, Edward starts a process of self-improvement to become the kind of guy he imagines Jane wants him to be.

This was very funny book, a quick, light read that makes no pretensions of being anything but. It's a Nick Hornby/Jonathan Tropper book without the depth (which isn't a knock, Dunn doesn't seem to be going for depth--just enjoyment), it's more along the lines of a Mike Gayle or Jennifer Weiner book. Apparently the first of a series, I'm intrigued to see where they take things from here.

A lot of heart, a lot of laughs. All you can ask from it.

View all my reviews

The Lover's Dictionary by David Levithan

2011-03-08T03:22:00.001-07:00

The Lover's Dictionary: A Novel by David Levithan

My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I was really looking forward to reading this one, I mean, what a concept -- tell a love story through a series of personal dictionary entries. Amazon gives a sample or two (I'd provide my own, but I don't have the book on me): "breathtaking (adj.)," the unnamed narrator explains, "Those moments when we kiss and surrender for an hour before we say a single word." For "exacerbate (v.)," he notes, "I believe your exact words were: 'You’re getting too emotional.'"

Some of the entries are short, not even a sentence long; some go on for a page or two. Some are funny, some are bitter, some are lovey-dovey and sweet. The entries are listed alphabetically, rather than chronologically, so the reader has to piece together the story from beginning to end.

Great, great concept.

And that's pretty much all it is.

Sure, it was skillfully accomplished. Can't complain about the execution. But beyond that, there's little to be said about it. It comes across as little more than a clever exercise for a Creative Writing course.

I was pretty disappointed in case you can't tell.

View all my reviews

Dead Waters by Anton Strout

2011-03-01T06:02:00.001-07:00

Dead Waters by Anton Strout

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Dead Waters displays the growth of Anton Strout as a novelist as much as it shows Simon Canderous' growth as a person. This fourth installment in the Simon Canderous series is (like each installment before) better than its predecessors -- which works out great for me, because I've enjoyed all four of them.

The best part of this series (next to the characters) is the way Strout mixes magic into the real world. The adversary in this go 'round brings the challenge in the best mix of magic, myth and technology I can remember. Worth the read just for this.

The humor sprinkled (sometimes heavily) throughout the tale isn't forced, like I think it was earlier in the series. It flows from the characters and the situations naturally.

Simon's partner, Connor, still doesn't get as much screen time as he should, but the partnership does seem stronger this go around -- and Connor's character feels more like a person. Maybe its because Connor's family situation is a bit more settled, or maybe it's just the nature of the case. Doesn't matter, it's a lot of fun.

Speaking of fun, Jane, Simon's girlfriend really gets to strut her stuff magically here, frankly, I'd love to read a solo adventure or two featuring her. More pressing for our hero, however, is the fact that she's putting pressure on him to deepen their relationship -- which causes Simon to go through a good amount of maturing (or at least to consider it).

The ending of Dead Waters is one I should've seen coming, it was telegraphed like crazy. BUT, I'd spent most of the book convinced Strout was telegraphing something else, so what do I know? Frankly, I'm not crazy about the major character development that happened at the end, I'm afraid it will lead to this series losing some of what sets it apart from the rest of the genre and become a little more like typical Urban Fantasies. But I figure Strout's gonna pull this off right and show me I'm worrying for nothing.

I should add here, that almost immediately after finishing this, I sent a tweet Strout's way bemoaning the ending, and in only a few minutes got a reply that made me laugh. Gotta love an author who'll take a moment for a fan and this Internet thingy that makes that interaction possible.

View all my reviews

Some Music to Kick Off the Weekend

2011-02-25T09:59:00.003-07:00

Not since Run DMC's "You be Illin'" or LL's "I'm Bad" have I felt that a rap song has looked deep into my soul and displayed it for the world the way this has:

Persuader by Lee Child

2011-02-22T03:01:00.000-07:00

Persuader by Lee Child

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

It's really hard to say something about a Jack Reacher book--in a very real sense, if you've read one, you've read 'em all (maybe this changes after book 7, but I doubt it). But dang it all if you don't come back for more and more and more--like Pringles, or Fritos, etc. Great action; totally outlandish, but (in the moment definitely) believable plot; lots of testosterone-y fun.

Two things I'd like to mention about this book.

First, there's this fad in TV lately where you watch a scene or two at the top of the show, and then the chyron flashes "X days earlier" and you get to see how events led up to this, and even get a better picture of what happened. It's a tired and overused gimmick. But in '03 when this was published, it wasn't. And even if it was tired then, Child does it right, and I would've been totally on board with it then. Great hook to begin the book. Really great.

Secondly, I couldn't help but be impressed with the way that Child laid out Reacher's motivation to hunt down this particular criminal in bits and pieces, scattered throughout the present day action. Sure, it was predictable after a certain point, but it was skillfully done. Giving Reacher the proper motivation each time to go after the baddie has to be a struggle, especially since it has to be sufficient motivation to get him to perform superhuman tasks. This was one of Child's best efforts in that regard.

One more thing that I just thought of--since Parker's God Save the Child and The Judas Goat I've been a sucker for a fight between big, tough hero and impossibly huge, strong, psychotic villain, and the one here delivers the goods in spades. Loved it.

View all my reviews

Blood Drive by Jeanne C. Stein

2011-02-15T04:22:00.000-07:00

Blood Drive by Jeanne C. Stein

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is not the follow-up to The Becoming Anna Strong Chronicles 1 that I expected, it's a lot better. Something struck me odd about the way Stein included the detail about our heroine's dead brother in the first book, and I should've realized she was planting a seed.

The seed, no pun intended, is what just may be her brother's heretofore unknown daughter. Her brother's girlfriend at the time of his death appears, asking for Anna's help tracking down her runaway daughter, claiming it's Anna's niece. Before Anna can start looking, the girl's best friend turns up murdered in a grisly fashion with hints of the supernatural. While looking for the girl and trying to find the murderer, Anna deepens her understanding and awareness of the supernatural world that she's now a part of, and is reminded that perhaps the greatest monsters are merely human.

Great pacing, taught writing, good action--and even though I knew the identity of the bad guy at least one hundred pages before Anna did, I was on the edge of my seat.

The big issue that Urban Fantasy writers have to deal with his how to treat vampires (at least those authors that deal with vampires). Some leave them as horrid monsters, most find some way of toning down the whole vicious, blood-drinking, killer aspect. Stein doesn't do that, yet. If Anna ends up toning down the animalistic nature of her protagonist, it will be as a result of a lot of trial and error, and stubborn choices she makes. While I hope Anna never becomes someone that I want Ms. Summers and the Scooby gang to track down, I hope she doesn't turn off that aspect of her nature like a light switch.

I'm more than a little bothered by the dynamics between Anna and her boyfriend, and Anna and her partner, if Stein doesn't resolve or change them soon, it's really going to drag the series down. But I'm inclined to give her the benefit of the doubt.

I don't know why I keep comparing this series to the Rachel Morgan books as I read them, but I do. And, Anna Strong comes out looking better and better each time I do. I'm really looking forward to seeing where she takes this.

View all my reviews

Eye of the Storm

2011-02-03T00:06:00.001-07:00

what? not a book review? I know, I know, sorry. Other posts have been eaten by sloth or time lately...but anyhow

This is an awesome music video (decent song, too, I need to pay more attention to it than the video next couple of times I watch) that once upon a time would've been shown on a cable network devoted to the media...a magic time, known as the 80's

more about the musician and the making of the video, check out this post at The Nerdist.

And, yeah, I know, it's a cheap shot to talk about MTV not showing videos anymore, but given the fact that they're talking about airing new episodes of Beavis & Butthead, can't help feeling nostalgic for the good ol' days. (am seriously torn on the appropriate reaction to that piece of news, actually)

Love in the Time of Fridges by Tim Scott

2011-02-02T05:03:00.000-07:00

Love in the Time of Fridges by Tim Scott

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

It's not often that a book leaves me as uncertain as this one does. Parts 1 & 2 were odd, amusing, a bit confusing (but not in a way that really detracted from the experience). Part 3, alas, fell apart, leaving me feeling all sorts of...eh...towards the book.

Scott's prose is light, breezy, charming, incredibly quotable (about 50% of this book is worth memorizing to sprinkle in conversation), with just a hint of profundity, and a touch of sadness.

Other than the protagonist, Huckleberry Lindbergh, the characters are more hints, or sketches, of characters--in a couple of cases, a hint of a sketch--rather than fully-developed characters. Given that this is a thriller (and a fairly satirical one at that), it works, we don't need complete backstories. Fridges is about the plot and the world Scott's imagined, not people.

This is a world where the Nanny State has run amok, drunk on marketing. In part of their benevolent(-ish) efforts to protect the citizenry, they've developed technology to listen to moods, and search, print, and erase 24-hours worth of memory (anything more than that will likely lead to severe damage).

Oh, and there's the whole thing with sentient, verbal, and semi=intelligent appliances and furniture. No idea what that was all about.

The novel was built on a tight inner logic, and was a heckuva ride, until Part 3 where Scott found/created a loophole in that logic and gave his reader a sloppy deus ex Heisenberg uncertainty principle ending. And that's where he lost me. I'm still giving it three stars for the fun leading up to that tho'.

View all my reviews

The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest by Stieg Larsson

2011-02-01T05:53:00.001-07:00

The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest by Stieg Larsson

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Blast it all, Larsson made me eat my words -- many of them, anyway -- about his ability to write a decent thriller with his third Millennium book. If anyone else had written this, I'd probably have given it 2.5-3 stars, but in comparison to his first two books, this one looks sooo much better.

A lot of the weaknesses of the first two books are still present--the persistent eye for irrelevant, and momentum slowing detail; an overabundance of characters; plotlines that do little-to-nothing to serve the main plotlines; stock characters abound; etc., etc.

But we see some real growth in Lisbeth, some potential growth in Blomquist, and a courtroom scene at the end that makes one wonder if there's another female character that's supposed to be the real hero of this set. In my book, that scene covers a multitude of crimes against fiction that Larsson committed.

Am I glad I slogged through the series? Not really. But having made it through the first book, and suffered through the second, I really enjoyed this one.

But man, am I so glad there's not a #4

View all my reviews

Agatha H and the Airship City by Phil & Kaja Foglio

2011-01-28T02:55:00.000-07:00

Agatha H and the Airship City by Phil Foglio

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I've recently discovered--and become a fan of--the Foglios Girl Genius comics, doing so just before the release of the first novelization of the series was a nice bit of fortuitous timing.

There's a part of me that wonders if they've been wasting their time, the Foglios have a wonderful, playful way of using their words. Certain phrases, sentences, and even whole paragraphs are filled with a whimsy that just makes me smile. Little things like:

"Now I am in control!" He followed this statement with a burst of laughter that showed the owner had done a fair share of gloating in his time, and had the basics down pat.

If you've read the comics, you're not going to find a lot new here--they fill out some details here and there, spell out some things that the reader had to assume, that sort of thing. I honestly don't know if someone who hadn't read at least some of the comics could visualize the clanks, airships, Jägermonsters, etc. That's the closest I can come to a negative to point out about this novel.

Full of laughs, romance, adventure, strong (and smart!) female characters, this is one fun read. Bring on the further adventures of Agatha and co.!

View all my reviews

The Imperfectionists by Tom Rachman

2011-01-26T05:49:00.000-07:00

The Imperfectionists by Tom Rachman

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I'm not sure I'm up to writing up my thoughts on this book, they seem pretty inadequate...but if I don't do it now, I probably won't at all. This is a really good book, a love letter to a medium that's (almost certainly) dying and a rich character study. Touching, funny, moving, and more than capable of throwing a surprise at you.

At the center of the novel is an international English language newspaper based in Rome. The story of this paper, from its founding in the 50's through its coverage of the U.S. Invasion of Iraq is told in brief (2-3 page) spurts between chapters telling us about the people who read and/or work for (and/or their families) the paper.

More than once, I was astounded by how invested I could be in a character I just met by the end of one of those chapters--each of these really could be a short story unto themselves. But when looked at as a whole--once you reach the end--it is a well-crafted novel, not just a series of semi-related short stories.

That's not to say that all the chapters are great--there were a couple that almost missed the mark, and a one flat-out dud (I felt I've read the story of the novice reporter being taken advantage of by the veteran a few dozen times).

From the other reviews I've read (at goodreads and elsewhere), it's easy to oversell or overhype this book--and I don't want to do that, nor do I want to undersell it. It's very good--not fantastic--not a "must read", but a "really, really should read."

View all my reviews

I Am Number Four by Pittacus Lore

2011-01-25T02:52:00.000-07:00

I Am Number Four by Pittacus Lore

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Overall, this was a fun, fast read, though it wasn't the best written book.

The book opens with a scene that's supposed to grab you by the lapels and not let go for the next 440 pages. Personally, it didn't work at all, particularly because I could see the authors doing that.

Thirty pages or so later, the story did get rolling pretty well and before I knew it I was hip deep in the book, and fairly invested with some of the characters.

I had a list of quibbles I had with the writing, but decided not to bother. While they detracted from my enjoyment, they didn't ruin anything.

The highpoint of the novel was the mix of SF and Magic. It's not often that you come across that kind of thing, and when done right, it's dynamite. These authors pull it off pretty well, as they do the rest of the story. I'll be back for more.

View all my reviews

So Much for that Father of the Year Nomination

2011-01-23T23:17:00.002-07:00

I just got an email from Samwise's school administrator, letting me know that he'll be meeting with her tomorrow, thanks to an email I sent his teacher.

It's not that he's in trouble or anything, don't get me wrong (me, either...at least not with the school). No, he's going to be asked some questions, which will lead him to "snitch" on some classmates (I'm using some vernacular here that I understand is used by "skels" on "the street").

What guy doesn't want to do that? What guy isn't filled with gratitude toward the person that put him there?

sigh

The Becoming by Jeanne C. Stein

2011-01-21T01:58:00.001-07:00

The Becoming by Jeanne C. Stein

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

(3.5 actually, but goodreads won't let me do that) This was just what the doctor ordered, over the last couple of months, I'd tried out a handful of new (to me) urban fantasy series, and had to force myself to finish them. Not this one. A fun ride from start to finish.

It's the kind of start to a series that reminded me of Kitty and the Midnight Hour -- and judging by the fact that of Carrie Vaughn books are now on my shelves at home, that's a good thing. It's very much a start to a series, a good ol' origin story. Butt-kickin', independent woman (with family issues), is out with her partner doing their bounty hunter thing, and unbeknownst to them, try to take a vampire into custody. Hilarity, er, blood-swapping ensues, and you've got yourself a butt-kickin', independent vampire (with family issues).

Sure, our hero, Anna, has a heckuva learning curve in front of her--which Stein uses well to introduce the reader to her vampire rules, society, hunters, history, and whatnot. A good healthy mix of tradition and nouveau vamp lore.

It is a setup novel, so it's hard to predict what form the future installments will take, once Anna's more settled into her fangs, things will be different. But it's a good start, with a likable cast, and a couple of good threads to follow in future books. Sign me up for more.

View all my reviews

So I'm Done with Elevators for a While Now - Updated

2011-01-20T08:45:00.000-07:00

Update: TLomL pointed out that in the initial posting, I neglected to mention the name of the movie I was talking about. Which is a pretty dumb thing to overlook. Thanks for the catch, dear.

One guy on screen for 95 minutes, in one set, only interacting with other actors over brief cell phone calls doesn't sound like the most interesting, never mind exciting, movie. This fails to take into account a few things:

The actor is Ryan Reynolds, a man who can be comfortable in any genre
The action takes place in Iraq
The set is a buried coffin

All that together results in Buried--one of the most taut, suspenseful, and pulse-pounding movies I've ever seen, and one of the best I've seen in months.

In case you aren't familiar with the movie or trailer or anything, the premise is pretty simple. Reynolds plays Paul Conroy, a contractor in Iraq, a truck driver transporting materials for rebuilding efforts. A convoy he's in is attacked and he wakes up in a coffin underground, with a Zippo and a cell phone left by the attackers (with a less than full battery, it should be noted). Paul starts making calls, trying to get someone to believe what's happening to him, desperate for someone to come looking for him.

And well, things go on from there. Not much else to say without giving the whole thing away. I was sitting on the edge of my seat the whole time, I squirmed a couple of times, chuckled once or twice, had to remind myself to breathe occasionally and hoped I'd taken my blood pressure meds more than once.

Can't say I recommend it, because I really wouldn't wish any of my readers the distress they may feel watching it, but sheee--oot. What a movie.

Oh, and before I forget...honey, if I die in the next month or so, please cremate me. Please. Or a nice pyre. Anything but a coffin.

Possibly the Most Disillusioning Blogpost Ever

2011-01-19T01:19:00.001-07:00

I can't remember who on my Twitter feed posted this link, so I can't give credit where it's due, but this post is well worth the read and listen. What is it, you ask, rather than clicking the link blindly.

It's a list of 15 songs you probably didn't realize were covers--one of these I knew was a cover. One. And I really like/love most of these songs.

I know that Rob Fleming and the rest of the crew at Championship Vinyl would be ashamed of me. I am.

Regardless, this post is quite educational and entertaining (and a leeetle scary)

The Sentry by Robert Crais

2011-01-18T03:52:00.001-07:00

The Sentry by Robert Crais

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

So the third Joe Pike novel starts off with him gassing up his Jeep and noticing that across the street that a couple of gang-bangers are up to no good at a sandwich shop. Pike decides to intervene, roughs up the ruffians little (well, by Pike's standards). The shop owner isn't grateful, but his niece sure is.

Pike senses an instant connection with her, the kind of connection that he hasn't felt in a long, long time. Where some guys will do something to show off for a gal, try to impress them, Pike decides to get the gang to back off what what seems to be a straightforward protection racket. And it seems to work, very easily.

Which of course, is where things go very, very badly for all involved. The woman and her uncle go missing, so Pike sets off to find her, rescue her from whatever she needs rescuing from and brings Elvis along for the ride. A twisty, nothing is as it seems (at least twice), ride.

More than maybe any other Pike/Elvis or Elvis/Pike novel, this one is about the friendship between these two men. Yeah, there's the action, the mystery, the bullets (MINOR SPOILER: far, far fewer than we've come accustomed to Pike using), and so on. But at the core, this is about the bond tying Pike and Elvis together.

Told in Crais' (sadly) now-typical shifting perspectives, the action, once it starts, doesn't relent. I flew through this book without realizing it. The only thing that kept me from finishing it in one setting was forcing myself to put it down so I could get a few winks before work. The best of the Pike books so far, better than a couple of Elvis books, too.

Perfect book for immersing yourself into to get out of a crappy day.

Waiting for the next book from Crais, if only he could write faster...

View all my reviews

Current Musical Obsessions (1) - Mumford and Sons

2011-01-17T09:27:00.004-07:00

taking a break from blathering about books for a bit, I figured I'd shake things up a bit and talk about music a little bit this week. But as I sit down to talk about Mumford and Sons, I realize I have to idea what to say. This is what music is supposed to be about, catchy tunes, lovely instrumentation, heartfelt lyrics--it's fun stuff, it's quality music, it's...ugh. Listen to it, and like me, I bet you'll be hooked.

Embedding a few things from an acoustical set they have on their youtube page rather than the videos of the studio versions from the cd Sigh No More.

There's "The Cave"

The thoughtful "White Blank Page" (the title alone speaks to me)

and the one you may have actually heard before, "Little Lion Man" (song is musical crack...you'll listen over and over and over)

Wolfsbane by Patricia Briggs

2011-01-14T04:56:00.001-07:00

Wolfsbane (Sianim, #4) by Patricia Briggs

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

A fun, solid read with characters you end up caring a lot about without even noticing, just a touch of action, a splash of romance, and at least one character who switches between species. In other words, it's a Patricia Briggs novel.

Like its predecessor Masques, this was written pretty early in her career, and it shows. It's still a heckuva story, and I'd jump right into a third adventure of Wolfe and Aralorn.

View all my reviews

A Stained White Radiance by James Lee Burke

2011-01-13T01:29:00.000-07:00

A Stained White Radiance by James Lee Burke

My rating: 1 of 5 stars

Elmore Leonard famously quotes Steinbeck saying, "Sometimes I want a book to break loose with a bunch of hooptedoodle. . . . Spin up some pretty words maybe or sing a little song with language. That’s nice. But I wish it was set aside so I don’t have to read it. I don’t want hooptedoodle to get mixed up with the story."

I sincerely wish Burke would follow Leonard's urging to get rid of the hooptedoodle, or as he puts it later, "If it sounds like writing, I rewrite it."

There's a whole lot in here (and most of this series) that sounds like writing. Once you take all that away, there's not a lot in this book. Horribly thin plot, from the get go everyone knows who did what and pretty much why, there's just a few hundred pages of wheel spinning, hooptedoodle, and moments intended to be tense that really aren't.

Not sure if I'll keep going with Burke

View all my reviews

When the Sacred Ginmill Closes by Lawrence Block

2011-01-12T07:12:00.001-07:00

When the Sacred Ginmill Closes by Lawrence Block

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I'll be honest, I'm sticking with this series primarily because of the author's reputation, though Eight Million Ways to Die did impress me. I was fairly dismayed when I started this book and it looked like all the progress that Scudder made during his outing was tossed out without explanation or comment. A relapse, or backslide, etc. would've been acceptable if Block had done it right (obviously), but to just start off the book without noting that he'd fallen off the wagon was just horrible.

Thankfully, he didn't waste too much time before he had Scudder inform us that this was an extended flashback. That done, we could see Scudder not at his alcoholic worst, just pretty bad--probably before the first book in the series, now that I think of it. Then he brought us back to the present at the conclusion of the novel, making the whole exercise mean something. What made me ready to toss the whole series at the beginning, in the end made a pretty effective novel. It's not a trick that he can use more than once, I think--and my gut says Block wouldn't try.

As far as the mysteries that make up Scudder's cases? Marginally interesting, at best. I've yet to be really impressed by the whodunit aspect of Block's books, it's how Scudder interacts with the suspects/victims/survivors that makes them interesting--especially as he interacts with himself. But one of the two mysteries here is about as strong as he gets, and the other is about as weak as he gets. So...eh, whatever.

If you like Matt Scudder, this book will satisfy you. If you've never encountered him before, I'm not sure this is the book to start with.

View all my reviews

2010 Books

2011-01-12T02:30:00.000-07:00

I kinda overdid it this year when it came to books. No doubt, helped in part by my Nero Wolfe Corpus project, I read 78 more books than 2009. Which is just insane. I didn't think I was reading more or anything--I was just plowing through stuff. I can't imagine I'll even come close this year, but you never know... Here's the list, for those who are interested.

Now for my personal rankings...

As I looked over my list, I gotta say I was surprised and chagrined to see how little non-fiction I read last year. I wasn't consciously avoiding it, it just happened. Even if I hadn't, I can't imagine much being better than Stephen King's Writing: A Memoir of the Craft. I should also note that Lies the Government Told You: Myth, Power, and Deception in American History by Andrew P. Napolitano is great fodder for paranoia, as well as a nice little history primer.

The Scott Pilgrim series - Bryan Lee O'Malley. There's no way to pick one, gotta think of them as a package deal
Changes - Jim Butcher
One Day - David Nicholls--best book I read all year
Anasi Boys - Neil Gaiman
Boy Proof - Cecil Castellucci
Cursor's Fury - Jim Butcher
Good in Bed - Jennifer Weiner
How I Became a Famous Novelist - Steve Hely
The Adventure of the Princess and Mr. Whiffle - Patrick Rothfuss (not really a novel, but trust me folks, this is worth the read)

Reading so much, however, leads to more than one stinker. Do yourself a favor and avoid these:

Point Omega - Don DeLillo
The Ask - Sam Lipsyte
Bite Me: A Love Story - Christopher Moore. And I really liked the first two in the series
Chemistry for Beginners - Anthony Strong. This thing just didn't know what it wanted to be, and ended up being nothing.
Batman: The Ultimate Evil - Andrew H. Vachss I can't even explain how horrible this would-be expose of child sex slavery disguised as a super hero story. It was as bad as it was well-intentioned and misguided.
Youth in Revolt - C. D. Payne
Zorro - Isabel Allende
Hello Kitty Must Die - Angela S. Choi
Starter for Ten - David Nicholls. Yup, same Nicholls that wrote my favorite book from 2010.
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo - Stieg Larsson
The Girl who Played with Fire - Stieg Larsson

Goodreads

2011-01-11T07:07:00.002-07:00

Last year, after I gave up on my quixotic goal of blogging my way through the Nero Wolfe corpus (still bummed I failed on that), I made a decision to cut back on my book blogging, 'cuz it felt like I was talking wayyy to much about them. But looking back over my 2010 posts, I saw that really wasn't the case. Also, I remembered that I'd met myself, and I tend to be a bit obsessed with books, so what else am I going to talk about?

At the same time, I started using Goodreads.com last year, and while not 100% faithful about writing mini-to-full reviews of what I read, I was a whole lot better at it than I was here. From time to time, I copied things over here, but not that often. I've now decided to automatically post what I put there over here, (see the previous post) just to keep this place as the center of all things me.

If nothing else, this'll keep this place updated regularly -- hopefully, it'll spur some conversation, and maybe even nudge someone toward a good read (no pun intended).

Or away from a bad one, come to think of it.

By the way, if you're a Goodreads member, why not be my friend? If you're not a member, check out the site and think about it. Maybe try your hand at their 2011 Reading Challenge.

The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms by N.K. Jemisin

2011-01-11T04:06:00.000-07:00

The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms by N.K. Jemisin

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I put off writing this review, because I was pretty sure if I'd done it right away, it'd have been filled with all kinds of hyperbole. With a few days' worth of distance, I can honestly say most of it would've been deserved. I'm going to keep this short and vague, because that's the only way I think I can keep myself from gushing and rehashing this book in detail.

The story, while solid, feels like something I've read more than once (tho' I honestly can't say where, it just feels that way). A lot of the characters aren't that novel, maybe even a bit stock-ish. But not all of them. There are four or five characters for whom the term "multi-faceted" doesn't seem adequate, so that more than makes up for it.

But what truly, truly makes this book great is the way the story's told--both the structure and the voice. As much as I wanted to find out what happened to Yeine and the rest, I didn't want to walk away from the Jesmin's voice and style.

Great debut novel. Sooooo looking forward to the rest of the trilogy.

View all my reviews

Blechy Movies of '10

2011-01-06T03:02:00.002-07:00

Like last year, I should probably talk about those movies that weren't that good...scratch that. Those that were horrid. This year, that as 12 of my 147, 8%, a smidge worse than 2009.

There were more than a handful of movies that were just dull, or wastes of time--mostly indie comedies, oddly. But there were a few that I actively disliked--if not downright hated/got angry with. Those were (in order that I saw them, not in order of horribleness):

Jennifer's Body - Karyn Kusama

Big Fan - Robert D. Siegel

I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell - Bob Gosse (truly vile flick)

Where the Wild Things Are - Spike Jonze

The Blue Tooth Virgin - Russell Brown

A Serious Man - Ethan Coen, Joel Coen

Remember Me - Allen Coulter

The Runaways - Floria Sigismondi

Greenberg - Noah Baumbach

Babies - Thomas Balmes

The Secret of Kells - Tomm Moore, Nora Twomey

Agora - Alejandro Amenábar

Two of those, I want to call out for special attention. Remember Me, I thought I'd written a blog post ranting about, but I can't find it...whoops. It was a perfectly uninspired/uninspiring indie drama with competent-to-really good performances, that they totally screwed up by pulling a surprise ending out of nothing, an a horrible attempt to add weight and heft to the movie. So instead of a nice-enough movie I'd have forgotten about within a month or two, I'm going to be carrying around the hate for years.

The other bad movie was The Secret of Kells. Awesome animation, great artwork, love the idea of using this medium to talk about the actual Book of Kells. But, in order to avoid talking about the content of the book (an illuminated Bible, for those who don't know), they go for some silly mystical, pseudospiritual idea where the artwork is what gives hope to people. Just horrid. Horrid thing to do regarding the actual truths contained in the book. Skip the flick, listen to Iona's album instead.

2010 Movies

2011-01-05T03:21:00.001-07:00

So in 2010, I watched 19 fewer movies than in '09 (and man, I wish I tracked '08's, those'd be some numbers). I actually wanted to watch more, but when you're looking for things to help you kill a graveyard shift, a DVD full of TV episodes is worth more than a movie. Anywho...here's the list of the 147 I did watch, for those who are interested.

Keeping with the tradition that goes back all the way to last year, I tried to narrow down the list to a top 10, but I couldn't bring myself to cut a couple of these from the top of the pile. So let's just say there was a three-way tie for first (Scott Pilgrim, Toy Story 3 and The Hurt Locker)...'tho most of the rest would tie for second, come to think of it.... Oh well. In the order I saw them, not a qualitative statement at all:

Trucker - James Mottern

The Hurt Locker - Kathryn Bigelow

Whip It - Drew Barrymore

Up in the Air - Jason Reitman

Red Cliff: International Version - John Woo

Crazy Heart - Scott Cooper

Pirate Radio - Richard Curtis

Toy Story 3 - Lee Unkrich

Scott Pilgrim vs. The World - Edgar Wright

Ondine - Neil Jordan

Easy A - Will Gluck

How Do You Know - James L. Brooks

Young @ Heart - Stephen Walker

Eagle vs. Shark - Taika Cohen

City Island - Raymond De Felitta

Flipped - Rob Reiner

Anyone see these? What didn't make my list that should've?

Planning my 2011 Reading

2011-01-04T05:43:00.005-07:00

One of the things I've been thinking lately is that I'm not as well read as I want to be--or even used to be. That's not to say I don't read a lot (anyone who knows me knows better), like the guys over at Unshelved say, I read irresponsibly and encourage that in others. But I think I need a tad more responsibility in my reading.

I read a lot, and I mean a lot of detective/mystery fiction, urban fantasies, etc. Many people would disdainfully refer to it as, "genre fiction" (totally ignoring the nagging detail that everything fits in at least one genre). Don't get me wrong--I don't plan on stopping, maybe just cutting back a little to make some time for more mainstream fiction, "serious" literature and some classics.

Back in college, I read a lot more along those lines -- and not just for class ('tho certainly that was a part of it), but after graduation, I shifted my reading focus and only read fiction as entertainment and escape. Before I knew it, I got lazy, and only occasionally did any heavy lifting. It's time for me to try to fix that.

So in addition to new books by the likes of Michael Connelly, Patricia Briggs, Carrie Vaughn, Jim Butcher, Robert B. Parker, Jim C. Hines, Anton Strout, Seanan McGuire and knocking out back lists of Zoë Sharp, Lee Child, James Lee Burke, Lawrence Block, Patricia Briggs (that looks like a lot of Briggs), and others I haven't stumbled across yet; I need to add some more serious reads. I'm thinking about some Austen, Franzen, Updike, Salinger, maybe even Dickens (if I get desperate)...but I'm looking for some more ideas.

So, friends, readers, countrymen...lend me your reads. The comment section is wide open--fill 'er up.

Life in Idaho

2010-12-31T03:10:00.003-07:00

Frankly, I just don't get the appeal of the little stick figures/Jesus-fish/whatever on the back of car windows showing your family make-up. But when I walked past this Pathfinder the other day, I had to snap this picture. What epitomizes Idaho life more than this? Guns and family.

I Know You're Dead and All, But . . .

2010-12-08T06:37:00.005-07:00

Dear Stieg Larsson,

Until you become a much, much better writer than you are, you really need to get to the hook earlier than page 245 of 640. Dude, that's 40% of your book.

Just sayin',

Me

Moonlight Mile by Dennis Lehane

2010-12-07T05:34:00.003-07:00

I don't think I've the original context of the remark, but I've seen it often enough that I don't doubt the veracity. But at some point Dennis Lehane characterized his Kenzie/Gennaro series as the kind of books that a guy in his twenties would write, as an explanation for why he'd moved on. Now, first of all, I don't blame a guy for not wanting to get stuck in a rut, to only write one thing his entire life (no matter how good he is at it). But that always struck me as an uncharacteristically dumb thing to say. What's that say about 1. the authors outside of their 20s who are writing the same kind of thing and 2. those of us out of our 20s who like to read that kind of thing.

Frankly, I thought that Shutter Island was more like something a guy in his 20s would write (particularly the ending) than anything else he wrote.

But hey, it's his opinion, and he's entitled to it -- as long as he writes things more interesting than The Given Day (which, to be fair, I haven't been able to get too far into, it's fully possible that if I'd read another two pages, I'd have loved it).

Still, imagine my surprise when I learned that a new Kenzie/Gennaro book was coming out.

It's a lighter read than the previous five books in the series, but it still carries that trademark Lehane punch. This book sure seems like a self-conscious attempt to stress the fact that our heroes, like the author, aren't in their twenties. They've aged, matured, get tired more easily want nothing to do with the violence that so marked their younger years. They're not the only ones who aged, Amanda McCready, the kidnapped girl from Gone, Baby, Gone is missing again, and again, he aunt calls upon Kenzie to find her.

By the end, Lehane takes his characters to an interesting (and predictable place) that probably closes the door to future installments -- not unlike what Riordan did to Tres Nevarre and what Koryta may have done to his PIs. I hope it's not the last I see of these two, but can understand why it would be.

In the end, a satisfying read. Better than many PI novels that came out this year, but not as good as it could've been.

Not at all what I had in mind

2010-12-02T23:36:00.003-07:00

So yesterday when I said, "there'll be something different [than incessant NaNoWriMo bleating] tomorrow" I was thinking something different. I was just about done with an amusing little post when the whole day went sideways.

Well, technically, it was my van, not the day.
And, technically, it went across the road and did a 180 into a ditch and a fence, not sideways. But why get pedantic?

So you can get a glimpse of most of the damage there. Nothing major. It still drives (I think, need to get that confirmed), but it ain't pretty -- who cares? Makes it more like its primary driver.

The Princess, Arnold and Wonder Mutt were with me, and we're all fine. It took an hour and a half to get us out of there. The kids did well -- Arnold was pretty shaken up, but getting to sit in the tow truck seemed to help.

But that was it for me for the day . . . I couldn't focus, couldn't relax, couldn't work. I was just shot.

oh yeah, and I accidentally increased the font size on my cell phone's text messages and can't figure out how to fix it. Talk about annoying.

What's worse, is that I reacted this way to what's in all likelihood a minor inconvenience. It's just not that big of deal, ultimately.

Speaking of things that aren't big, friend/coworker (well, until he got laid off last month) of mine is going through a tumor scare, he's going in for an operation in a couple weeks. Got an email from him this evening after a consult with the surgeon. Apparently the tumor is of a borderline size. If it's size A, it's a pretty quick, simple, but painful surgery. If it's size B, it's invasive, will require some reworking of an internal system, probably some radiation or chemo, and well, something tells me the pain is in a different Area Code than the other option. What's size B? 2 mm or more.

One more time, that's two millimeters. For you philistines that don't grasp the beauty of the metric system, that's 0.0787401575 inches.

Roughly the size of the head of a pin.

So yeah, I get that little things can mess up your day, and I accept that. It's just that some little things are bigger than others.

like the song says...

Let the headlines wait,
Armies hesitate.
I can deal with fate
But not the little things.

NaNo Post Mortem

2010-12-01T00:19:00.004-07:00

All righty, I'm now 3 for 4 on NaNoWriMo (not even sure you can count 2007's pathetic showing as a try). As much as I loved the 2008 story, I think this year's is better. Now, how I got from a Science Fiction comedy in the vein of Hitchhiker's or Red Dwarf that I couldn't see past chapter 3 of to a mystery that I couldn't see past Chapter 1 of to a Hornby/Tropper-esque coming of age tale to an Urban Fantasy that morphed mere hours before I started into a straight-up Fantasy, I have no clue. But I really, really like what resulted.

The way the plot developed sorta surprised me, I'd envisioned three parts. Part I took place in 1985, would go on for maybe three or four chapters. Then Part 2 would be a chapter -- a little longer, maybe. And then Part 3 would make up the majority of the novel. Yeah, well, best laid plans and all that, right? I never got to part 2 (I wrote a bit of it tonight at work, after the month was over), part 1 just was too interesting. I'm still trying to decide if I make Part 2 an epilogue, and then pick up part 3 next November, or if I keep plowing away. You can see a short bit about it here.

So anyway, what about Frodo? Well, he didn't win this year, he had a hard time shuffling priorities around and it bit him (tho' he did put up a valiant effort the last night in two hours, writing about twice what he spent all day Saturday composing). So he's 2 for 3. BUT, I will say this about what he wrote, it's a whole different kind of writing than he's done before. His first two NaNo's were pretty cartoonish, with flat characters, and rather slapdash and out of control--the second was a great improvement over the first. But it wasn't until I read this year's work, that I realized how far he hadn't come then. His protagonist this year -- and a couple of the secondary characters -- were people, who acted like people. They thought, they spoke like someone you'd actually meet. Not a family of 4 who'd eat 500 pizzas a day for dinner or something. Does he have a long way to go? Yes. Is he a better writer than his old man was at that age? Probably. Anyway, not technically a win as far as the rules go, so chalk this one up as a moral victory.

I got a good deal of help along the way--back in August I threw up a post that got some interesting suggestions here and in other places. My old high school pal, Brent, saw something I said on Facebook and hooked me up with a great book about writing about fighting (I'll talk more about that some other time). A friend from college, Erika, who also also does this 30 day mad-dash, was a great source of encouragement -- not only in what she said, but also by leading me in the word count for most of the month, giving me something to shoot for. My kids were always supportive, even when (especially when?) they were distracting me from the work. And, of course, TLoML who listened to me moan about how impossible it was this year, pretended to give a crap when I babbled in the vaguest manner possible about minor victories I'd made, and generally indulged me in this for the month. Thank you all of you.

Enough about this for now...on to other things, there'll be something different tomorrow, like something about Neti Pots or...I dunno. We'll see.

Writing Quote of the Day - Nov 30

2010-11-30T06:00:00.002-07:00

What better way to end this little series than with something from my old writing professor...I'd have typed this one out, but why bother, when there's this handy-dandy video already made?

From Lance Olsen's novel Burnt:

Need More Words

2010-11-29T11:00:00.003-07:00

my favorite NaNo-based NaNo-distractions have come from NaNoWriMo Toronto this year -- last year I disocvered the great NaNoToons via the work of Debbie Ohi (who's a heckuva encouragement for aspiring/wannabe writers) and then this year I discovered Errol Elumir's songs. A lot of fun -- pretty good music and video work, too. Here's his latest, a song I can truly, truly identify with.

Writing Quote of the Day - Nov 29

2010-11-29T06:00:00.001-07:00

In writing, don't use adjectives which merely tell us how you want us to feel about the things you are describing. I mean, instead of telling us the thing is 'terrible,' describe it so that we’ll be terrified. Don't say it was 'delightful'; make us say 'delightful' when we've read the description. You see, all those words (horrifying, wonderful, hideous, exquisite) are only like saying to your readers, 'Please, will you do my job for me?'
C. S. Lewis

Writing Quote of the Day - Nov 28

2010-11-28T06:06:00.000-07:00

It is damned hard to write things that make blank sheets better.
Ludwig Wittgenstein

Writing Quote of the Day - Nov 27

2010-11-27T06:00:00.000-07:00

Stuff like this [articles on fiction writing] can be really, really useful. But here's what drives me totally nuts about it. It drives me nuts when writers insist on framing 'what works for me' as 'here is the only correct way to do this'.

Because that's rubbish.

The way I write isn't the way other people I know write. And yet somehow we all manage to turn out books that work for us and our readers. There are many, many ways a writer can get from idea to published novel. There are many many styles and techniques and voices and tools that can be used in the successful telling of a story. The trick with articles like this is to cherry pick them. Suss out the techniques that mesh with your style and borrow them ... and ignore the rest.
Karen Miller
(who also writes as K E Mills)

Writing Quote of the Day - Nov 26

2010-11-26T06:00:00.000-07:00

Writing just takes practice and a clear idea of what tone you want your books to take. I happen to like people who are smart mouthed, tough, and upbeat. I learned a long time ago that you can't write and be critical at the same time -- uses a different part of your brain. So when you write, turn off the critic. Wait a few days and then read what you've written with a more critical eye. If you can't change it to read the way you'd like it to -- find one of your favorite authors and figure out how they handle what you're trying to do. Pay attention to viewpoint, logic, and voice (is this something my character would say?). If it still doesn't work, set it aside for some other day and try writing a different story. That's what I do (grin).
Patricia Briggs

Writing Quote of the Day - Nov 25

2010-11-25T06:02:00.001-07:00

my rules for good writing...:

1. Don't be afraid to suck. It's easier to fix something that's broken than it is to create something from nothing.
2. Write your first draft "with the door closed."
3. Don't try to make everyone happy. If you try to make everyone happy, you end up with According To Jim. Write what you're passionate about, and write to entertain, amuse, and satisfy yourself. To borrow a phrase from Joel Hodgeson, the creator of MST3K: don't ask yourself, "Will anyone get this?" Instead, tell yourself, "The right people will get this."
4. If you're going to write, you have to read. If you're going to write screenplays, you have to read, and you have to watch lots and lots of movies, both for entertainment and for education..
Wil Wheaton

Writing Quote of the Day - Nov 24

2010-11-24T06:00:00.001-07:00

I learned then and have relearned many times since, that the best part of a writer's life is actually doing it, making up characters, filling the blank page, creating scenes that readers in distant places might connect to. The thrill lies in the rush of sentences, the gradual arrivals of characters who at once seem to have their own life.
Larry McMurtry

Writing Quote of the Day - Nov 23

2010-11-23T06:00:00.000-07:00

Since the day my first novel was published in 1992, I have told people that writing was like surfing. The hardest part was paddling out there, the longest part was waiting for the right set and the best part was getting up on the wave. You live for the wave, and you wish you could ride it forever. That was writing.

The only problem with that was I had never ridden a real wave. I was simply riding a metaphor: When the writing is good the story surrounds you like a swirling barrel of water. It's all you can think about. Your desire to stay in it wipes out all the rest of the world. I figured that's got to be what surfing is like, so that's what I told people writing was like.

That explanation worked all right for me until I turned 50 a couple of summers ago and decided to see if I'd had it right. I went to Maui with my family to learn how to surf. I can't say I ever saw the inside of a tube, but I rode enough soft waves on a soft top longboard to know that all along I had been on to something with that metaphor.
Michael Connelly

Writing Quote of the Day - Nov 22

2010-11-22T06:00:00.001-07:00

Read, read, read. Read everything--trash, classics, good and bad, and see how they do it. Just like a carpenter who works as an apprentice and studies the master. Read! You'll absorb it. Then write. If it is good, you'll find out. If it's not, throw it out the window.
William Faulkner

Writing Quote of the Day - Nov 21

2010-11-21T06:00:00.000-07:00

Twain's Rules of Writing
(from Mark Twain's scathing essay on the Literary Offenses of James Fenimore Cooper)
1. A tale shall accomplish something and arrive somewhere.

2. The episodes of a tale shall be necessary parts of the tale, and shall help develop it.

3. The personages in a tale shall be alive, except in the case of corpses, and that always the reader shall be able to tell the corpses from the others.

4. The personages in a tale, both dead and alive, shall exhibit a sufficient excuse for being there.

5. When the personages of a tale deal in conversation, the talk shall sound like human talk, and be talk such as human beings would be likely to talk in the given circumstances, and have a discoverable meaning, also a discoverable purpose, and a show of relevancy, and remain in the neighborhood of the subject in hand, and be interesting to the reader, and help out the tale, and stop when the people cannot think of anything more to say.

6. When the author describes the character of a personage in his tale, the conduct and conversation of that personage shall justify said description.

7. When a personage talks like an illustrated, gilt-edged, tree-calf, hand-tooled, seven-dollar Friendship's Offering in the beginning of a paragraph, he shall not talk like a Negro minstrel at the end of it.

8. Crass stupidities shall not be played upon the reader by either the author or the people in the tale.

9. The personages of a tale shall confine themselves to possibilities and let miracles alone; or, if they venture a miracle, the author must so plausably set it forth as to make it look possible and reasonable.

10. The author shall make the reader feel a deep interest in the personages of his tale and their fate; and that he shall make the reader love the good people in the tale and hate the bad ones.

11. The characters in tale be so clearly defined that the reader can tell beforehand what each will do in a given emergency.

An author should

12. _Say_ what he is proposing to say, not merely come near it.
13. Use the right word, not its second cousin.
14. Eschew surplusage.
15. Not omit necessary details.
16. Avoid slovenliness of form.
17. Use good grammar.
18. Employ a simple, straightforward style.
Mark Twain
(source)

Writing Quote of the Day - Nov 20

2010-11-20T06:00:00.000-07:00

A manuscript, like a foetus, is never improved by showing it to somebody before it is completed.
Unknown

So Have You Seen this Fan-Made Hunger Games Clip?

2010-11-19T11:12:00.003-07:00

I don't know if you've seen this yet, but if you've read The Hunger Games you really, really should--it almost perfectly captures one of the best scenes in the book. If you haven't read it, and are considering it (and you really should), stay away from the clip 'cuz it'll ruin one of the best scenes in the book.

Other than the fact they got Rue's ethnicity wrong...can't think of a problem with this. I'd gladly fork over $10 to buy a ticket to this group's version of the whole book.

Watching this made me realize one major problem with making a movie of book: How does Hollywood expect to do this flick and get a PG-13?

Writing Quote of the Day - Nov 19

2010-11-19T06:00:00.002-07:00

First of all, realise that it's very hard, and that writing is a grueling and lonely business and, unless you are extremely lucky, badly paid as well. You had better really, really, really want to do it. Next, you have to write something.
Douglas Adams

Writing Quote of the Day - Nov 18

2010-11-18T06:00:00.000-07:00

Even in literature and art, no man who bothers about originality will ever be original: whereas if you simply try to tell the truth (without caring twopence how often it has been told before) you will, nine times out of ten, become original without ever having noticed it.
C. S. Lewis

Having "The Talk" with your Kids (not that one)

2010-11-17T23:48:00.003-07:00

I admit it, and it brings me great shame to do so...I messed up with my older two (despite my good intentions), and am trying to do better with my younger two, but it's so hard when their older brothers have it so messed up...

Parents, don't make the same mistakes I did... talk to them about Star Wars from an early age.

somehow this post feels like it should end with this: