Rage Issues

I'm a bad bad man...

Brandon — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 05:50:00 +0000

Looks like I've created a crack head... I have a friend in New Zealand, one Philippa Ballantine (check out her web site www.pjballantine.net). She's releasing a new podcast starting, listen to it... I've heard the first episode it's good stuff.

http://www.chasingthebard.com/

Anyway, I've got her hooked on pixie stix. They can't get them there. MUHAHAHAHA

Also, as I know she has Google Alerts set up, I'm not mentioning this post. I'm curious how long it will take her to find out about this.

I'm still here...

Brandon — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 18:45:00 +0000

Another month gone by, and then some. Damn I'm lazy.

Ok if I haven't mentioned this already, though I think I have, I'm addicted to Twitter. If you aren't on there you should be. My ID is Gutshot, look me up. What's Twitter? Just think internet cocktail party.

So, Easter this weekend. You know what that means right? Peeps and Cadbury eggs. I need to stock up. I'm pretty much hooked this year. Worse than the last couple. I'm considering actually trying Easter turducken. That's where you wrap a Cadbury egg in peeps and shove it inside a hollow bunny.

A junky always wants a fix.

Brandon — Mon, 11 Feb 2008 17:59:00 +0000

Yeah, so... I kind of started playing City of Heroes again yesterday. I'd been clean for 18 months. Dammit, it's fun though.

Jack the Ripper

Brandon — Fri, 08 Feb 2008 19:03:00 +0000

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.

On a roll

Brandon — Tue, 05 Feb 2008 18:48:00 +0000

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.

Brandon — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 18:40:00 +0000

So I think we are going to give it a shot. My best friend, Lawboy, and I have been discussing this on and off for quite a while now and it's never gone anywhere. Now I think we are actually going to go for it. I think we are going to start a podcast. We've got a couple ideas.

I won't say what we're going to do yet, and probably shouldn't even mention it. If we end up not getting it done, well now I've got a record of our failure. What the hell...

So, wish us luck and maybe you'll actually be listening in a few weeks. Let's hope it doesn't sound like crap.

It's that time of year again.

Brandon — Mon, 21 Jan 2008 23:25:00 +0000

Just like last year and the year before, and before, and before, January hits and I get cabin fever. I'm back looking at hiking, backpacking, and otherwise outdoor websites. What's more, the sun is actually shining today. Remember the sun? It's that funny little glowing ball that sometimes appears in the sky. We generally turn it off around here in the winter so having it on for a day or two is a neat change.... I need to be in the woods.

Stream of consciousness

Brandon — Sun, 23 Dec 2007 23:23:00 +0000

It's another day and frankly I'm still bored. That being the case, how about a little stream of consciousness blogging. I haven't done this in a while. Heck I've only done it once before. But then again, I haven't done much blogging lately anyway. So I might as well babble some... It takes up the time.

I should have thrown in some games or something. I have a couple big tote boxes full of board games that were in the back of my car a week ago... scratch that. They were in the back of my car up until a week ago. They had been there for a few weeks. I'm pretty lazy and had just left them there since, well, Thanksgiving.

Heck of a way to take care of my things, huh? This is why I can't have nice things. It's probably also the same reason I shouldn't have bought a house. My yard looks like crap. It's tiny, but I am horrible at taking care of it. The lawn need mowing, there are leaves everywhere. It generally looks like crap. I should talk to the neighbor kid and get him to mow it again. He's done it some in the past, but as weather has been wet he hasn't been doing it the last few.

I get so sick of the rain some times. It's been so gloomy in Eugene lately. I don't think we've had but a day or two of dry weather in the last 2 months. Sunshine comes in 1 or 2 hour blocks if your lucky. I don't think I've actually seen the sun in a week. Damn clouds. I feel like I'm growing mold.

I'd like to be out doing something. I know I did the same last year. If you were to go back and check the archive I know last January I was whining about being caught in the house then as well. I get cabin fever something horrible every year. I'd like to go hiking to tell you the truth.

I nearly grabbed the pack and headed out a couple of weeks ago. It was raining but I know a shelter that is in good shape, and would be more than dry enough to keep me happy. I was on the verge of going for it when I realized that by sleeping bag isn't rated that low. I'm pretty sure I'd have frozen to death. I can handle a little cold, but I know I've gotten cold in that bag in late August. I guess I could just buy a winter bag.

What's worse, if I buy a new winter bag I'll have got get another ground pad too. I'm using a short length Thermarest trail lite pad at the moment. With nothing under my legs, I don't know that I'd ever be comfortable in the winter. A thicker pad might be nicer too. My father is working with one of the inflatable pads at the moment that is pretty sweet.

Oh and since I'm spending the cash I suppose I'll need a 4 season tent too. My newest tent is pretty nice, but it is only a three season. Again, if I was under the shelter I wouldn't have to worry about snow load... But why let that stop me. I need something I can sit up in properly anyway.

On a totally unrelated subject, I think I should write a book. I have a few ideas bouncing around the back of my head. Nothing with any substance, but they are indeed there. The problem is, anything I ever write sounds way better in my head than it does on the page. 1:00 in the morning, lying in bed, half awake, the material I compose always sounds bad ass. When it's on the page, no, not so much... Maybe I'll make it a cook book...

Enough already.

More to come later I'm sure.

Ahoy!

Brandon — Sun, 23 Dec 2007 06:23:00 +0000

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...

Holy crap it's been a long time since I've posted!

Brandon — Wed, 12 Dec 2007 17:38:00 +0000

It's been since August second.

I'm not abandoning my blog if that's what you are thinking. Actually you probably aren't thinking anything as you aren't reading this or even thinking about this blog having long ago given up reading it as it appeared dead.

Truth be told, I'm not sure what to do with this space. My blog has always lacked any focus. I tried the book thing for a while... but my time for reading has been little as of late. Not enough to keep up a decent site. So things are just going to hang as they are for a while as I try to decide what, if anything to do with this space.

Busy busy busy

Brandon — Wed, 08 Aug 2007 18:42:00 +0000

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.

Sleep is for the weak!

Brandon — Mon, 23 Jul 2007 18:08:00 +0000

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.

It's like a magic trick!

Brandon — Tue, 17 Jul 2007 17:17:00 +0000

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

Hooda thunk it?

Brandon — Tue, 17 Jul 2007 16:33:00 +0000

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.

Big Haul

Brandon — Sat, 14 Jul 2007 16:42:00 +0000

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!

For what it's worth...

Brandon — Fri, 29 Jun 2007 15:50:00 +0000

If anyone actually still reads this site, here's a fun little link: http://www.google.com/reader/shared/12573809407908842058

I've been using Google reader for a couple of months now, and they allow you to flag items to share. The above link is the list of items I've shared. There is some fun and interesting things in there.

Did you know...

Brandon — Fri, 29 Jun 2007 15:22:00 +0000

Woo! New record. I'm posting two days in a row. This hasn't happened since the mid 16th century.

Speaking of the mid 16th century, I'm on a history kick right now. Anyone who knows me, knows that I do this. I get all excited about some given subject, history, art, brewing, hiking, fishing... and think about nothing but for a couple of weeks. Then something else catches my fancy and I move on to it for a few weeks. I've done this for years.

Well right now it's history. Why history? Well, early last week while out at lunch a coworker (Skippy) made a comment of some ilk that got me thinking about the potential for some interesting history pod casts. When we got back to the office I did a quick search and BAM! I found this gem:

Dan Carlin's Hardcore History

So, by Friday afternoon I had listened to everything Dan has posted. And you can't very well have a history podcast without mentioning your sources. And that brings us back to my standby subject around these parts: Books.

As of current moment I've purchased 3 books Dan has referenced. That only amounts to something like 1500 pages...

Not having had much time to read in the last few weeks, I haven't gotten that far into any one of the three as yet but I have started two of them. The first is one I've actually had my eye on for quite some time. Admittedly however I've been a bit intimidated by it: The Histories by Herodotus. The copy I picked up however, the Barnes and Nobel classics series edition, has had a good, easily read translation. Still it's not something I see myself finishing quickly.

As everyone needs a break from Herodotus now and again, I started reading Forty Ways to Look at Winston Churchill in tandem. Before the Hardcore History episode on Churchill, I admit, I'd never been particularly interested in the man. That has officially changed. How can you not find a man who born 10 years after the civil war and died in the 60s, anything but interesting. Hell, he took part in the last British cavalry charge (with lances no less). I find myself boggled by the changes in the world this man saw and experienced. I have little doubt I'll come back to this topic more when I've finished the book.

And last but not least I found a copy of A Distant Mirror at the thrift shop for a buck. You can't beat that kind of a deal, not even with a stick. Plus, how can the plague be anything but interesting?

So now, I suppose I've got my work cut out for me. On top of that I need to reread Foundation in the next two weeks for the book club. Guess I should just have my cable turned off.

Technorati: Podcast, History, Herodotus, Churchill, Plague, Asimov

Back from the brink.

Brandon — Fri, 29 Jun 2007 00:30:00 +0000

BOOKS!

With all my talk of "book club posts" I suppose it was only a matter of time before I got involved in an actual book club. A like minded friend of mine got the wild idea to start a local group for the purpose of reading a top 100 SciFi list. Now it's not the exact same list as mine (the list), but it's close

So far we've covered "Who Goes There", "334", and "Stranger in a Strange Land". It is so nice to be around like minded individuals on occasion.

Now I'm on a history kick, but I'll get to that tomorrow. I hope...

Technorati: Club, SciFi

I'm Krakens fan of the week...

Brandon — Thu, 03 May 2007 23:32:00 +0000

How cool is this! http://www.galacticfootballleague.com/jerseys.htm

Technorati: Rookie, Sigler

A clockwork what now?

Brandon — Wed, 11 Apr 2007 15:33:00 +0000

So yeah, I'm still at it. While I've been straying heavily from "The List" I have been reading a few titles from it now and then. That little link up there in the top left of pane of this site is still technically correct. I haven't finished "Timescape" as of yet, mostly as I haven't tried to hard. I have however read several others.

First, this post's title namesake: A Clockwork Orange. I'm afraid I have to admit something though. While I enjoyed the read and don't feel that I had any real problem following the major points of the storyline, the heavy use of invented slang really threw me. Half the time I felt I had no idea what the narrator/protagonist was saying. I suppose I should read it a second time.

Also in the weeks since my last book related post, I finally got the chance to pick up and read one of Anthony Bourdain's Books. I was lucky recently to be gifted a copy of The Nasty Bits. Having watched Bourdain's show for the last two years, the book made for a fun companion read. If you've seen the show, just think about the possibilities of Bourdain unedited.

In my last post, well the last book related post, I also mentioned picking up copies of Moonraker and Trojan Odyssey. Having had a chance to read both now I suppose a few more words are in order.

Moonraker is the 4th of the Bond books I've read. I must say, that book and the Bond movie by the same title share almost nothing more. Not to take anything away from either, but I'd have to say the book is better. Well at least the book is far more believable.

Trojan Odyssey was the first of Cussler's Dirk Pitt novels I'd read. And well, I enjoyed it. I enjoyed it enough that I've already read a second. I've read a second and I'm looking for the third. I want to read the rest in order so now I've got to find or order a copy of Iceberg. I think that's the second, right?

I've also added a few more Doc Savage titles to my collection but I won't go into that now. I've droned on enough as it is. Plus, hey that gives me more post material later. Maybe I can build back up to a post a week. I'm at every other right now.... wow I suck.

Technorati: Books, Dirk Pitt, Bourdain, Clockwork Orange

Related Posts: Book club, again. Sorry (The List), Hey hey...

Hello China

Brandon — Tue, 03 Apr 2007 23:41:00 +0000

Well according to www.greatfirewallofchina.org this site is not blocked in China. That being the case, hello China.

Now I wonder if I can get myself banned....

Hey hey...

Brandon — Tue, 13 Mar 2007 21:08:00 +0000

Well I did a pretty good job coming back and posting the next day didn't I (see the date on my last post).

I feel really bad that I've gotten so bad at posting here. On the other hand I do feel that there is an awful lot of crap out here on the infoweb dot com or what ever they kids are calling the internets these days. And with so much crap already out here I hate to add to the confusion by posting more crap just for the sake of posting. As an example of this, let me point you toward this post. It's generally crap.

All that being said, onto the new stuff.

Books! Yeah for books and reading. I'm still reading on "Timescape" though I haven't picked it up in a couple weeks. I've gone back to an old habit of reading several books at once. I used to feel kind of bad about it, but I guess there's no reason. I read what I'm in the mood for at any given moment. If I start feeling like Sci-Fi, I'll pick Timescape back up.

In the meantime, I just finished reading "Riding the Iron Rooster" yesterday. It's another of Paul Theroux's travel books. This one about time spent in the late 80s touring China by train. It was an interesting read. I also picked up and read the first of the "Doc Savage" books, "The Man of Bronze". Something as of late has put me in the mood for pulp fiction and Doc fit the bill nicely.

Oh and last night I picked up "Moonraker" and "Trojan Odyssey". Both should feed my pulp appetite nicely. I'll let you know.

Technorati: [Books], [Bond], [Pitt], [Theroux]

Crap it's been a month again..

Brandon — Tue, 20 Feb 2007 01:39:00 +0000

I'll try and post something of substance tomorrow. Until then however: http://www.myspace.com/gutshot4570

Technorati: [tagname], [tagname]

Books and more....

Brandon — Wed, 17 Jan 2007 21:07:00 +0000

Well, the holidays have more than come and gone. I can't really use that as an excuse for not posting, what with New Years being better than two weeks ago...

So, what's happened in the interim? We for starters I picked up a pretty nasty cold around Christmas. I spent 4 days on the couch, not moving any more than I had to. But that's for the most part behind me now. I do have a cough, but I generally feel human.

So, onto the books. First and foremost, Christmas saw me receiving perhaps the greatest book known to man. Actually it's two books, hard bound and in a box set. My family, loving people that they are, got me The Complete Far Side. It's a thing of beauty. Every Far Side comic ever drawn. I about wet myself.

Beyond that I'm a bit afraid to admit I haven't gotten much reading done. I finished up The Bourne Identity Monday evening. After that I jumped into Timescape, which I haven't gotten far into as yet.

Bourne was a good read, and I would recommend it without hesitation. The movie was good and all, but the book is substantially different and I'd say substantially better. In all reality the two aren't that similar.

I have found a new book store in town. Well new to me, the book store itself has been around for years. They have a pretty dang good selection of older Sci-Fi (it's a used book store). I managed to pin down 4 more books from "The List".

And last but not least I found Library Thing. What of my library I've so far entered can be found here. It's far from complete as yet. It's based on an importation of my library wiki which is of course itself incomplete. All things in time I suppose.

Technorati: Books

Have I told you lately that I love Friday?

Brandon — Fri, 08 Dec 2006 17:17:00 +0000

It's been the better part of a weeks silence. That is a trend I've been fighting the last few weeks. Fortunately for the sake of content, I missed commenting on a couple things on Monday.

First and foremost, I did pick up a few more books last weekend. After last weekends reading extravaganza, I haven't had much time to sit and read this week. That being the case I haven't actually touched anything I bought last weekend as yet. None the less, in no particular order, here is what I found.

Beggars in Spain - Now I'm assuming here that the title is probably a little misleading, but I don't actually know. Amazon says: "Many of us wish we could get by with less sleep. Beggars in Spain extrapolates that wish into a future where some people need no sleep at all. Nancy Kress, an award-winning author of novels, short stories, and columns on writing, has created another thoughtful but dramatic statement on social issues."

Berserker - I have no witty comments at this point, though truthfully, my witty comments aren't always so much witty as simply comments. Again I'm forced to default a quote stolen from Amazon. "Created for a long-forgotten conflict, the berserkers are implacable, inimical killing machines that have been programmed to rebuild and redesign themselves. Their computer cunning and mechanical evolution present ever-greater challenges to humanity's scattered colonies." Actually, that sounds pretty damn cool. But then I'm a giant geek.

And finally, The Shadow of the Torturer - Unfortunately this time I have no editorial comments from Amazon to use as a crutch. I guess I'm forced to make something up in this case.... "Shadow of the Torturer is the gripping tale of a Torturer, standing between a light bulb and a blank white wall." Sounds thrilling!

Technorati: Books, SciFi