Filched completely off RAWK:

( Why Xabi Alonso is staying in Liverpool. )

I'm not much at reviewing books, but here goes.

A very simple, easy, and quick read with sooooo much symbolism and emotion hidden in it. It tells the tale of a father and son wondering across the country, following a road, during a post-apocalyptic time. Something has happened that has destroyed the world, and the father and son are walking towards the ocean with the idea that perhaps it will be better there. I won't go into the details of what happens, but the simple structure makes this book so easy to read and so powerful. It could be considered depressing by some though.

Lois Lowry is a well-known and prolific author of children's books. She has won the Newbery Medal on two occaisions, for Number the Stars, The Giver, both of which are excellent.

Gossamer is the story of a being named Littlest One. She is one of a family of dream-givers. They breathe good dreams into the ears of humans while we sleep. Littlest One is trying to do her job and not get too involved with the people she helps. But the plight of an angry foster child will stir her to her core - and bring her dangerously close to the malevolent givers of nightmares.

This book was written for older children, but held my interest as an adult as well. It is fast-paced but believable. I enjoyed the human and non-human characters. The writing is memorable and poignant. Four stars. If you are looking for a book to give a child, or if you like children's literature yourself, give it a try.

Tomorrow, I'm off to Tulsa Oklahoma, to either die in a twister or from the heat, I haven't decided. And all for the Conestoga 12 and Fangs, Fur and Fey Minicon. Here's my schedule, for those who'll be there and want to track me down.


Fri 02:00 PM - Executive Urban Fantasy: It's Not Just for Chicks
Sat 09:00 AM - Executive The Elusive Snark
Sat 11:00 AM - Signing
Sat 02:00 PM - Chairman Reading: Happy Hour/Road Trip of the Living Dead?
Sat 03:00 PM - Executive The Business of Being a Writer
Sun 10:00 AM - Executive Dark UF/Horror

Along with some speed dating, boozing it up and racing across the street for some Sonic!

Speaking of being there. Who's all going?

Or, if you prefer, Vimeo. Images taken from the author's and publishers websites, and Stock Exchange (a free stock images site). Text is made up by me, taken from the summary...and song lyrics ;-)

Enjoy my amateurism! :-)

Biking to Work by Rory McMullan. Chelsea Green, 2008.

Greening Your Office: From Cupboard to Corporation: An A-Z Guide by Jon Clift & Amanda Cuthbert. Chelsea Green, 2008.

Chelsea Green publishes a series of guides, each featuring a different aspect of environmental awareness. These handy little booklets explain how to use energy and resources in cleaner, more efficient ways for a healthier culture and planet.

Biking to Work first lists the benefits and how to tell if biking will be practical for you. Then it covers buying an appropriate bike and other things you’ll need. It explains how to get started, including basic bike maintenance. There is a detailed discussion of biker-friendly features that a workplace can have, useful not just to employees but also to employers wishing to encourage this practice. Finally, the book discusses biking as recreation and offers leads for further information.

Greening Your Office is aimed at individuals and companies who desire to improve their workplace’s use of energy and resources. It’s organized alphabetically by topic. There are tips on reducing waste, converting to Earth-friendly materials, and making sustainable choices. Especially useful are the sections on renewable energy and new construction – those move a company away from dependence on nonrenewable resources.

Remember always that the economy and the environment are not in conflict; rather, the economy is a subset of the environment. Thus, the economy can only thrive in a healthy environment. These two books offer concrete steps, ranging from simple to challenging, that people can take toward a sustainable society. Most highly recommended.

For those who are yet to be initiated into Ms. Novik's wonders, she has just finished writing a fantastic series which is an alternate history of the Napoleonic War, in which both sides use dragons as their Aerial Corps. Fans of military fantasy are sure to enjoy it. Fans of dragons are sure to enjoy it. Fans of military sci fi who have always wondered why people read fantasy are sure to enjoy it. Fans of Victoriana... sorry, I'll stop now. :) If you haven't heard of the series before, you should start with His Majesty's Dragon (as soon as possible, in my opinion). In this particular case, it's very important to read the series in order.

So, you already read the other four books, and you want to know how book five was?

The short version? It was great. Go read it right now.

( The slightly longer version - no spoilers. )

Chasing Silver
Writer: Jamie Craig
Genre: Romantic Suspense
Pages: 282

I rather enjoyed this book, even though it didn't take long to figure out that despite the time-travel element, this book pretty much was NOT SF/F, which is the shelf you'll find it on in bookstores. No, this book is for those readers who enjoy romance, romantic suspense/thriller, but really, and I'm going out on a limb here because I'm not FAMILIAR with the following genre, erotica. Because this book is sex, sex, and more sex.

Fortunately for me, I don't mind. But I'm afraid some SF/F readers would, hence the warning. :)

The premise: Remy is on a heist in Washington, DC trying to make a frantic getaway when she's suddenly transported back in time to the year 2008, in LA. Not only does she have to reconcile her new surroundings with how she's used to living, but she also has to reconcile her feelings and desires for the man who finds her. More important, she's still running from her "futuristic" past, and if she's not careful, it's going to catch up with her.

The full review, which does include spoilers, can be found at my LJ. As always, comments and discussion are most welcome.

REVIEW: Jamie Craig's CHASING SILVER

Happy Reading!

Chasing Silver
Writer: Jamie Craig
Genre: Romantic Suspense
Pages: 282

I rather enjoyed this book, even though it didn't take long to figure out that despite the time-travel element, this book pretty much was NOT SF/F, which is the shelf you'll find it on in bookstores. No, this book is for those readers who enjoy romance, romantic suspense/thriller, but really, and I'm going out on a limb here because I'm not FAMILIAR with the following genre, erotica. Because this book is sex, sex, and more sex.

Fortunately for me, I don't mind. But I'm afraid some SF/F readers would, hence the warning. :)

The premise: Remy is on a heist in Washington, DC trying to make a frantic getaway when she's suddenly transported back in time to the year 2008, in LA. Not only does she have to reconcile her new surroundings with how she's used to living, but she also has to reconcile her feelings and desires for the man who finds her. More important, she's still running from her "futuristic" past, and if she's not careful, it's going to catch up with her.

The full review, which does include spoilers, can be found at my LJ. As always, comments and discussion are most welcome.

REVIEW: Jamie Craig's CHASING SILVER

Happy Reading!

Childhoods (Should) End
The Iron Dream Is Alive and Well
by Geoffrey Dow

There's little in this world quite so insulting as the realization one has been played for a fool. Whether in affairs of the heart or of the mind, discovering one has been suckered creates anger and embarrassment, resentment and shame.

(Cross-posted from my journal and to _bookish analogsf, bookcafe, genrereviews sciencefiction and sf_book_reviews.

( Cut for length and spoilers; click to continue. )

The Cat Who Could Read Backwards
 

Oh wait. It's me that's been gone. Silly.

Caroline has been chastising me for the past week to blog. It seems I've brought blog dishonor to my family. The conversation, though, is not nearly as formal and polite as would proceed a samurai's hari kari. More like: "It's been ten days, Mark. What are you doing with your time, beating off?"

Sigh...

So here it is. What I expect is what people read this blog for...


So our tale comes to an end and I promise to be around more often. After all, Conestoga is this week and there's sure to be all sort of travesty lurking in Tulsa. I'll go warm up trigger finger.

Cell by Stephen King

A pulse sent out over cell phones turns everyone who hears it into violent, inhuman zombies.  The 'phoners' get progressively weirder as the survivors blunder around trying not to die.  Blah blah blah humanity.  Blah blah blah technology.  Blah blah blah our brains are like computers.

Your basic, run of the mill Stephen King pulp.  It isn't his best work, it isn't his worst, it's just ... meh.

Hi all,

I have been reading the Pandora Prescription lately. Its a good read, and now theres this treasure thing on youtube about it..

could this be real?


www.youtube.com/watch?v=rbx3qnKKC0Q

Or, if you prefer, Vimeo. I can't find anyone of you on YouTube, though I managed to find 4 on Vimeo. Please let me know your usernames, so I can keep an eye on your cinematic prowess...

Which is something I sincerely lack. I've just cobbled together something to try out Windows Movie Maker. Cover art, the logo and the author photos are from the publisher's and the authors' websites. The text comes from the summaries, or mish-mashed from my brain. (Note: I've only read two of the books so far, so I...uh, made some stuff up ;-))

Enjoy my amateurism! :-)

Publisher: Harlequin, 2000
Genre: Romance
Sub-genre: Contemporary



Cross-posted from genrereviews.

Alright, I have to be honest with you. I picked up this book in an "everything you can stuff into a bag for 5 bucks" sale, and I mostly grabbed it because I couldn't stop laughing at the cover. Why do cover artists insist on using men in drag as their cover models? No amount of eyeshadow is going to cover that "she" has a stronger jaw than the man who seems so intent on sniffing her forehead. what's even more disturbing is the prominent baby bulge. I don't know how many of you heard about the world's first pregnant man a little while ago, but this couple have him beat by about 8 years, it looks like.

The book is published under Harlequin's Intrigue line, which are marketed as romantic suspense. However, I personally wouldn't categorize Hers To Remember as suspense. It has similar elements, but it's very low-key, without a gunfight, explosion, or car chase in sight. There no mystery or sense of danger, and the antagonist doesn't even show up until the last 25 pages. No, really, I counted.

( Now we've got that out of the way, let's dig into the meat of the story, shall we? )

I can't actually remember if I have already posted this, so if so please ignore.

Anyway, what a fantastic book, I know it is not meant to be a sequel etc but it was so good to catch up with all the old characters and meet a couple of new ones.  Mouse was one of my favourite characters anyway so it was great to see his return.

Sorry i don't have much else to say about the book, but if you loved the Tales of the City books then you're going to love this one too.

Next up: Wintersmith - Terry Pratchett.

So I have two computers - one in the back room, and one where I am now. I usually use the back room one, which is actually a laptop with a PC monitor (because the laptop screen doesn't work).

Anyway, only audio (for the webcam) is working in the back room. I think the laptop's too old for the visual, or I don't know.

As for this computer...the CD drive is sideways. Usually CDs go in fine. But the webcam installation CD is a mini. So it can't stay up. I tried Blu-Tacking it to the tray, but the CD wouldn't load. And only one bit of Blu-Tack came out. So there's a tiny bit of Blu-Tack still somewhere in the PC. Uh-oh...

So I guess my plan is to find a CD burner on the laptop, copy the installation CD onto a normal-sized CD, and then see how it goes on the computer.

Oh, and I hate my voice. But at least you won't have to see that I never wear make-up, and my hair needs washing now ;-)

But if you're willing to risk hearing my awful voice with a not-so-slight speech impediment, send me a list of things you'd like me to pronounce. I'll have to read from paper or the screen, because I'm not good talking off the top of my head, even if I have a general idea of what I want to say. I need specifics, y'all!

Oh, and I spotted another typo in what lezlishae calls my lol!webcam instructions: "Progams". If only the company had hired me as a proofreader...

Anyway, I don't feel like trying anymore today. Will perhaps try on Thursday. Stay tuned...

It's a specific author's birthday today. Find out whose here.

My webcam's box, CD and manual have strange English and/or typos. See my Twitter for the full list.