Rage Issues

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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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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As I mentioned last week, I recently purchased a copy of the Quidditch Through The Ages and Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them box set. I'm sure this makes it pretty obvious that yes, I am a geek and yes, I did read Harry Potter this weekend.

I'm not going to go into any detail as I hate spoilers and don't want to ruin anything for anyone else who may have as yet not read it. I will say that I enjoyed it and am happy with the ending.

The book itself, all 785 pages of it, showed up on my doorstep (literally) at about 9:30 Saturday morning. From that point on, I largely did nothing but read. I took time out for a shower and some food, but that's about it. I finally finished just before 2:00 in the morning.

My sister on the other hand, didn't get her copy until some hours later. I'm pretty sure she saw the sun rise before she finally finished and went to bed.

Labels: Potter, Reading

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Wow! I've finished another of the three books I was reading. What's with that?

Being that it was in reality a quick read, I busted out the last of Forty Ways to Look at Winston Churchill last night. May I say, that Churchill was a hell of an interesting guy. If you haven't read anything about him I highly recommend you do. This book, Forty Ways to Look at Winston Churchill, seems to be to be a good place to start. Never having read anything about the man before myself, I highly enjoyed this book. The author presents a nice range of viewpoints, making the very specific point of trying to show both sides of the coin when discussing several aspects of the man that was Winston Churchill.

My only complaint is that, as the book is quite short, and as there was a great quantity of information to impart, at times if feels almost like reading a high school student's report about Churchill. Mind you a well written report, but still quite simple and largely a high level overview. None the less, there is a lot of information conveyed to the reader and it has only served to interest me further. I will doubtlessly be reading more on Churchill in the future. What's more I'll likely now read some of Churchill's writing.

And when in doubt you can always default to Wikipedia: Winston Churchill

Labels: History, 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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