Rage Issues

OK, so this Portrait Of A Killer: Jack The Ripper book is turning out to be a pretty interesting read. The only problem I'm seeing though is that the author, Patricia Cornwell, is thoroughly convinced of her theory. As such she's being something less than impartial in presenting her case, for a lack of a better way to phrase it.

Personally when I know that I'm reading something where we can never beyond a shadow of a doubt prove a point, at least not on current evidence, I find it off putting when the author presents the theory as though it were cold hard fact. I'd rather just have the evidence presented and be allowed to make my own mind up. Maybe that's just me.

At the end of the day though, I think there's a pretty damn good chance she's correct.

Labels: Books

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Well, I'm in a reading sort of mood right now. I really haven't been for the last few months but it's hit me the last few days. I guess it's the weather or the writers strike or some such. What ever it is, I've felt like reading.

That being the case, I've killed two books in the last couple of days. First was the one I'd been slowly chewing on since October (I told you I hadn't been in much of a reading mood), Dies the Fire. All in all I can't say it was a bad book. I can say however that while the premise grabbed my attention right up front, it didn't really hold onto it. There are two or three more books in the series. I won't be bothering to read them.

The premise as I said, grabbed my attention. The general idea is that one day, technology simply stops working. No electricity, no firearms, not even steam engines. There's really no viable explanation as to what works and what doesn't but the author does a good job in acknowledging that fact and moving on. In the end it's just a thought experiment. It just wasn't one interesting enough to keep my attention longterm.

So, I finished that one up at long last and moved onto a recently procured copy of Night Watch. Night Watch held my attention. A book of roughly the same page count as Dies the Fire, I flew through it (relatively speaking) in 3 or 4 days. Having seen and somewhat enjoyed the movie of the same name, I enjoyed the more in depth explanation of the Night Watch universe.

I finished that up last night and almost immediately picked up Portrait Of A Killer: Jack The Ripper. This one looks to be extremely interesting. Patricia Cornwell, the author, took all the Jack the Ripper evidence and data she could get her hands on and applied modern forensic technology and processes. She's convinced she knows who he was. I'd have to say, from what little I've read so far, it seems pretty damn convincing.

Top all of this off with a book club meeting tonight and the world seems pleasantly "booky" right now.

Labels: Books, Reading

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OK, I've got nothing really interesting to post tonight. Frankly I'm just bored and feel like babbling a little, so just put up with me....

So, it's 3 days until Christmas and I'm here at my folks' place. Now, for anyone reading this that doesn't know I live at an altitude of around 500'. My parents live 180 south of me and another 4000' up in the air. December in the norther hemisphere, specifically the pacific northwest of the US, means snow in the mountains. Usually the drive is just about 3 hours (180 miles at 60 miles an hour, do the math). Yeah, not so much yesterday.

Knowing that the roads were crap and weren't likely to change for the better I decided I'd be better off to leave sooner than later. That 3 hour drive took me an extra 2 and a half.

In case you don't know this already, 5 and a half hours in the car by yourself blows. The only thing keeping me sane was my iPod and the good people of the podcasting world. If you are a podcaster and for some strange reason reading this, thank you...

Anywhoo, I survived and now I'm here.


BOOKS!

I know I made a feeble attempt to turn this into a book blog some time back. It was working decently until October rolled around. October saw me take 2 weeks of vacation and spend almost none of that time reading. Then November hit and I didn't read anything to speak of then. Not reading anything kills the idea of running a decent book blog.

There are some better points of my printed word obsession to report however. Point number one is that I dropped 2 new books into my Librarything account and wouldn't you know, it put me up to 400 books. OK I know that 400 books isn't really all that much, but keep in mind I own all of those books right now. That's not just the books I've read. Every one of those is sitting in my house right now.

Is it so bad that I want my own library? Ikea has a set of books shelves with a sliding ladder. Come on, that's cool.

Other thing is that I've killed a couple more books in the last few days that I haven't reported here. Number one, Goldfinger. The Bond books are still a lot of fun, but holy crap, you could not get away with writing some of what Fleming put in there in this day and age.

The other book, OK, I admit I haven't finished it yet, but I'm reading the Sherlock Holmes stories. Barnes and Noble has their classics collection "The Complete Sherlock Holmes" vol. 1. First I feel the need to say that the idea that "the complete" anything volume XXX amuses me. If it's one of a number of volumes, it isn't complete, now is it?

The point though, is that I am indeed reading it. And you know what? They read really well. I was a bit afraid that they might be.... um, a bit shall we say, overwhelmingly Victorian. Not so, not so at all. If you don't believe me, just hit the Project Gutenberg web site and pick up a free copy of A Study in Scarlet and give it a read.


OK, enough already. I should go to bed...

Labels: Books, Boredom, Travel

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I've been on the go quite a bit the last couple of weeks. Sadly that hasn't left me much time to read, nor the energy to focus.

I have been doing a little reading though. I bought a copy of "The Savage Tales of Solomon Kane" some time back and have been getting in bits of it here and there. While not as good as Conan, it has been enjoyable.

Labels: Books, Reading

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Believe it or not, I finished a book last night. I know that's a hard one to believe, but it's true.

Which of the three or four I'm reading you ask? Asimov's Foundation, as it is the topic of discussion for the book club tonight. I think I mentioned that the other day.

What's more, last night I hit one of the other thrift shops and found a copy of Mirrorshades. I've actually been looking for it for quite some time now, only I've been to lazy to just order one online. But it worked out well in the end as I payed all of a buck for it. Go team!

I also mentioned the other day that I had picked up a couple other new books that I would mention at a later date. As it's officially a later date, let's take a look. The first was Diamonds Are Forever, another if you do not already know, in the James Bond series. I almost hate to admit how much I've enjoyed the others I've read thus far. They are just good old fashion mind candy.

No I don't want to lead anyone to believe that I'm not well rounded however. The day after I bought Diamonds I picked up A Guide to the Ancient World. This is an interesting book that I admit I haven't really gotten any time with as yet. I suppose it could best be described as a single volume encyclopedia of the ancient world. I read the article on the Scyths (or if you prefer Scythians) and if that is any indication, the book as a whole should be good.

Last, and I admit I'm reluctant to admit I bought this one, I picked up the box set of Quidditch Through The Ages and Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them. Ok, yeah, I know. I'm a giant frackin geek. What's your point. I'm already writing a blog primarily about my vast collection of Sci-Fi novels.

They are fun, what more can I say....

I'm sure there are other books I've purchased lately that have missed my attention here, but life goes on. Now if I could just quit my job to take some time to read them all. Who wants to give me a couple million dollars? Come on, let's see some hands... Anybody?

damn.

Labels: Books, History, Potter, Reading, Sci-Fi

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Well I've been moving at the rate of frozen pudding. I haven't finished any of my reading in the last few weeks. Quite the opposite actually. Instead of finishing one thing, I've just started more. I'm reading 3 books at the moment, Forty Ways to Look at Winston Churchill, The Histories, and Foundation.

I must admit, it's been a good few years since I've read Foundation and I'm quite enjoying the excuse to read it again.

Then on top of all that, I've bought no less than 7 new books in the last 2 days, 8 in the last 4. I think I might have a problem. I'm not sure I'll ever get the chance or take the time to read them all. What's worse, I'm not sure I care. I love having books around though. Lots of books. You never know what you might want to read at any given time...

So, what have I purchased you might ask. Well I've been to the thrift store today and had quite a lot of luck.

First at bat, Dragon's Egg. I couldn't tell you anything about it. It's simply one from the big big list of science fiction. Actually most of what I'm about to list falls into this category.

That being the case, the second is Brave New World Revisited. I'm actually a bit upset about this one. It's my own fault. I didn't look close enough at what I had picked up. I thought I was getting a copy of Brave New World. Ah well, it was a buck.

Let's see, next is Way Station. Another from the list, if it's cover is to be believed it appears to be about alien grave robbers. That is to say people robbing alien graves not aliens robbing graves... Yeah, I know. It's a horridly weak description. Somehow it seems pretty sad that I'm too lazy to actually read a review to see what a book is all about. Anyway...

Fourth is Lord of Light and being that I don't really know any more about it than Way Station, I'm just going to move on.

Fifth, and final of the thrift books, is Cosm. From Amazon, this seems to be about a researcher creating a universe in the lab. I think I saw that episode of the Simpsons. Something with a tooth, static electricity, and cola. I doubt that it happens quite like that in the book.

As I said I've actually picked up a couple other books, but I think I'll go into that later. I suppose I should put some time into getting some reading done. Yay for books!

Labels: Books, Reading, Sci-Fi, Thrift

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