Sunsets, Stars, West, Wind
Publishers Weekly (@PublishersWkly) tweeted at 5:11 AM on Thu, May 09, 2013:
Amazon Warehouse Workers Sue Over Security Checkpoint Waits http://t.co/tKyxMfRLne
(https://twitter.com/PublishersWkly/status/332437707131330561)
More fodder for my Amazon boycott fire.
And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie
(aka Ten Little Indians)
Read in December 2008
I don’t read mysteries very often, but perhaps I should pick them up more frequently. And Agatha Christie is definitely one of the masters of the mystery writing craft.
I could not put this book down. I just had to know what came next. I was even a bit confused after finishing the epilogue and still not knowing for sure who had orchestrated the elaborate scenario that resulted in ten murders and one suicide. But like nearly all serial killers, the murderer craved recognition and left us a message in a bottle.
Ten people stranded on an island a mile off the coast all of whom have skeletons in their closets. A nursery rhyme rewritten as a prophecy (self-fulfilling in more than one case) of doom. Mix the ingredients and let it bake in the August sun for two to three days and wallah! No survivors and many unanswered questions.
Definitely a must read for any mystery aficionado.
Master and Commander by Patrick O’Brian
Read in March 2009
Warning: Spoilers
This is the first of twenty novels in the Aubrey/Maturin series where we meet Jack Aubrey, master and commander of the sloop Sophie and Stephen Maturin, ship’s surgeon of the same vessel. Their friendship has a rocky start and seems perplexing to me. Stephen is a scientist and a naturalist, exceedingly curious about avians and reptiles, and agrees to embark as the Sophie’s surgeon with the understanding of furthering his research and studies. Jack Aubrey, on the other hand, has his sights set on attaining a promotion to post captain as quickly as possible. While he is at ease on the deck of his sloop, Jack often stumbles while ashore, committing social gaffes that inhibit his political prospects.
The Sophie is missing several sailors and a key officer when Jack is awarded her. The Admiralty assigns James Dillon as his lieutenant. Surprisingly, Stephen knows James from the United Irishmen, a rebel uprising they were both involved in. This shared background also causes tension and a point of honor issue for Dillon about midway through the tale. Dillon is forced to choose between loyalty to the Irish and loyalty to his captain and it very nearly tears him apart.
The first third or so of the book is devoted to getting the crew, officers and sloop in top running order. At first, the flood of nautical terms was nearly too much for this landlubber, but with the help of Wikipedia, I managed to make sense of them. By the end of the book, I was becoming quite enamored of them.
The Sophie is cruising around the Mediterranean intent on take prizes – other ships that are French or allied with French – and has a great run of luck initially. But Jack falls afoul of an Admiral thwarts Jack’s headlong rush to post captain. As a direct result of the Admiral’s severely limiting orders, Jack finally meets his match against three French ships-of-the-line. After throwing the guns overboard and all the stores in a vain attempt to out run the French ships, the Jack strikes the colors of the Sophie and surrenders her.
It’s almost anticlimactic after this point. Jack and his officers, including Stephen Maturin, are held as prisoners and are eventually sent to Gibralter for a prisoner exchange, after which Jack will face court-martial for losing his ship. The trial and the verdict are the ending of the novel.
The author claims to have taken many of the battles and engagements directly from the naval log entries from the Napoleonic period. Again a case of truth being strange or at least more interesting than fiction.
I enjoyed this nautical adventure. I can’t say that I was drawn to any of the characters – I didn’t feel their pain or anger or despair – but I did enjoy the ride.
The Quiet Invasion by Sarah Zettel
Read in August 2010
Great first contact story. Zettel’s vision of Earth’s political evolution and expansion to several colonies on nearby planets and satellites painted a grim future for civil rights and personal liberties. My only small quibble with the aliens stems from their mental motivations, which seemed similar to human beings. Besides that, I couldn’t put the book down, especially that last hundred pages or so (which I need to re-read to make sure I didn’t inadvertently skip something in my mad dash to the finish).
Update May 2013: I met Sarah recently at a convention book fair and she assured me the ebook for Quiet Invasion would be released very soon. Her Isvalta series was recently released to ebook as well.
Barnes & Noble announced a couple of days ago that the latest editions of their ereader tablet, the Nook HD and HD+, would receive a software update that included the addition of the Google Play app store. I was not amused.
I own a Nook Color. In fact, by the end of this month, it will be two years old and the extended warranty I purchased from Barnes & Noble will expire. The last software update issued by B&N came nearly a year ago (see my post on version 1.4.3 from last June/July).
Not only am I not feeling the Nook Color love from B&N, I’m also noticing the ereader showing its hardware age. I often must power it completely down to ‘correct’ a situation that frequently arises when it can’t seem to locate my home’s wifi. Come June, if B&N hasn’t issued some olive branch of an update that would open up Google Play to my NC, I may just wipe it and finally convert it to an Android tablet.
Later this year, I’ll probably invest in an Android tablet, possibly a Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0. Not another B&N knockoff. While I’ve enjoyed reading ebooks on my Nook Color and using it for the occasional web surfing, Tweeting or reading e-mail, my experience with my Note II has opened my eyes to the limitless Android possibilities.
MOVIE REVIEW: Iron Man 3 (2013)
http://www.sfsignal.com/archives/2013/05/movie-review-iron-man-3-2013/
Terry and I watched this ‘hot mess’ last night. I’d give it a 3.5 star rating. And I agree with Sfsignal’s observations (follow the link above).
Strange first week of May so far for 2013.
My apple trees started blooming on May Day:
Terry and I celebrated (as best we can on a Wednesday) our 27th anniversary. He bought me a bouquet and card and a gift (which I won’t share here but greatly appreciate):
The very next day, May the 2nd, it snowed. For real. Since I had to drive through it, I didn’t take any photographs, and most of it melted as it hit the ground. Visiting authorial dignatory John Scalzi commented on the situation via Twitter:
Just landed in Kansas City. Yes, it is snowing. I DID NOT PACK FOR SNOW, KC. Someone get me a Snuggie.
— John Scalzi (@scalzi) May 2, 2013
Seriously it’s like I got on a plane in May and am getting off it in February.
— John Scalzi (@scalzi) May 2, 2013
Kansas City slush. twitter.com/scalzi/status/…
— John Scalzi (@scalzi) May 3, 2013
My own photo taken after dropping off my Hallmark riders at 7:10 a.m. on Thursday morning, May 3rd, facing north with the Sheraton (fka the Hyatt) where Mr. Scalzi was probably still snoozing:
Saturday morning, May the 4th (officially or unofficially international Star Wars day), I put $20 worth of gas in the Bonneville.
Why is this significant? I wanted to meet a couple of authors signing during a book fair at the RT Booklovers Convention hosted by the Sheraton at Crown Center.
Because I drive a vanpool, Terry and I don’t fill up our personal vehicle but once a month or every six weeks. From long experience, I know I need a minimum of three gallons of gas to make a trip to Kansas City and back home. Three gallons of premium (required for both of our Pontiacs) is close to $4 a gallon (I think I paid $3.699 at Quick Trip yesterday), so I rounded up to the nearest $10 increment. I also grabbed $20 cash from an ATM so I’d be able to buy the book fair pass ($5 at the door). Parking at Crown Center is free on the weekends (Huzzah!).
So, for $10 in gas, $5 at the door and free parking, I got to meet two of my favorite authors:
John Scalzi, author of The Human Division, recently released in hardcover and earlier released as a serialized ebook. Shown here signing the only print edition of one of his books that I own, Zoe’s Tale. Oddly, it’s also the only one I have yet to read. I own all the rest of his books, but in ebook format, and didn’t think having my Nook Color or new Samsung Note II signed would be a good idea.
Sarah Zettel, author of The Quiet Invasion, one of the best first contact stories I’ve ever read, and the Isvalta series.
I almost didn’t find Sarah in this chaos:
Authors were spread out across a dozen rows of tables in alphabetical order, except for headline authors like Scalzi, who were segregated along a back wall (or a quiet corner in Scalzi’s case):
Sarah should have been on the last row near Scalzi, but only one other “Z” author sat there and it wasn’t Zettel. I despaired of traipsing slowly through all the rows, mostly because all these other authors really didn’t have anything I would go out of my way to read. The entire convention was sponsored by “Romantic Times,” a genre I normally avoid like the proverbial plague. I’ll tolerate a well written romance, if it’s a subplot in a fantasy or science fiction novel. Otherwise, I’ll pass.
I did find Sarah, in a special section devoted to young adult readers. Her latest book, Dust Girl, is apparently in that subgenre.
I returned home, arriving back before noon. Terry and I topped off our anniversary celebration by grabbing the last two available VIP seats for the 7:30 p.m. showing of Iron Man 3 at the Legends 14 Theaters. We liked it and we sat through the credits to watch the Easter egg final scene. Cute. The only thing missing was Black Sabbath or even some AC/DC in the sound track. I think it would have been a nice touch over the final montage before the credits rolled.
His Majesty’s Dragon by Naomi Novik
Read in November 2008
Why do I love tales of adventure on the high seas? Is it because I’ve always lived in Kansas, thousands of miles away from the ocean? And the icing on the cake? Dragons!
We meet Captain Laurence as he’s defeated and captured the French ship Amerité. Within its hold is a peculiar and very precious cargo, which Captain Laurence transfers immediately to his ship, the HMS Reliant. The Reliant‘s surgeon confirms the cargo is a dragon egg. Due to the recent stormy weather, which blew the French ship off course, the egg is hardened to the point of imminent hatching. Captain Laurence gathers his officers to discuss their options. The dragon egg is too great a prize for England to let the hatchling turn feral, so Laurence has his officers draw straws to present one of them as a handler for the dragon. However, the dragon, once hatched, has other ideas and refuses everyone … except Laurence. Laurence names the dragon Temeraire and their adventure begins.
Laurence immediately resigns or transfers his commission as Captain to his second lieutenant and spends the time on the return voyage to England in caring for Temeraire. Once they arrive in England, Laurence and Temeraire are transferred from the Royal Navy to the Royal Air Corps to being their training immediately. England may dominate the oceans with her Navy, the Napoleon waits across the channel with 100,000 men and his own dragons, waiting for the perfect opportunity to invade.
Naomi Novik does a fantastic job of drawing me into the early 19th century. She weaves the existence of dragons and their military applications into our history flawlessly and believably. I am looking forward to reading more of this series.
Friday (May 3, 2013) Steal: Ebook edition on sale for 99 cents!
The Eye of the World by Robert Jordan
http://www.kclibrary.org/blog/kc-unbound/eye-world-robert-jordan
Reblogging to shout out to my favorite library … Kansas City Public Library. And a plug for the Wheel of Time Series as well.
Furies of Calderon by Jim Butcher
Read in July 2010
The first half and the end (last chapter or two) reminded me strongly of young adult fantasy fiction. Only the core of the book dealt with mature adult choices and consequences. World building sacrificed to action for the most part. No one character grabbed me. Of the cast, Tavi and Isana rose to the top.
The burgeoning romance between Bernard and Amara stretched my belief. Why would a widower, a decade celibate, pine over a young teenager? Otherwise, Bernard proved to be a steady, upstanding, heroic figure for the plot.
I also became annoyed by video game-like healing and non-death. Basically, if you didn’t lose your head (think Highlander), you could survive even the most fatal of wounds, thanks to the water fury crafters. Without a real death threat for any of the main characters, I quickly became jaundiced to their fates.
Tavi, being fury-less, journeyed the farthest as a character, having the most obstacles to overcome by his wits, skills and strengths alone.
With respect to the Aleran Empire, which bears a shocking resemblance to the Roman Empire even down to the use of Latin names and words, I did not feel the political corruption at a visceral level, like I did in Gardens of the Moon or A Game of Thrones. The epic quality for this fantasy series didn’t manifest for me in this first volume of Codex Alera.
The vilest elements involved the backwater steadholder secretly torturing slaves right under the noses of his neighbors. I’m thankful Butcher restrained himself from showing or telling overmuch about Kord’s obsessions, leaving my imagination to fill in the horrifying blanks.
I may read the next volume, or not, depending on if it falls into my hands easily enough (like, say, through a swap or a mooch). I’m not compelled to follow Tavi through school at the Academy (yet another YA aspect I’m not fond of). The fate of another empire hinging on the seemingly untalented (magically speaking) young ‘chosen one’ lost it’s shine a couple of decades ago with Eddings’ Garion.