The Book of Labrysinthe

22) When the Wind Blows by James Patterson
-Mystery, suspense, action (416 pages)
-After the mysterious death of her husband several years before, Frannie retreated to an isolated life in her Colorado practice. But a series of bizarre events suddenly disrupts her lonely routine. She is shaken by her new tenant--Kit Harrison. Kit's too handsome and too friendly. He's also recovering from a devastating personal tragedy, and, as Frannie eventually learns, he's really an FBI agent using his vacation to follow a crucial lead. But Kit isn't the one that's got Frannie concerned. As she says after stopping her Suburban one night to check out something on the side of the road a girl with wings. The girl is Max, and the mystery of her wings leads Frannie and Kit into a massive conspiracy involving secret genetic research and the scientific manipulation of the human species. - amazon
- It's been a good 5-6 years since I've read this and I still like it. (2.5/5)

23) Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones
- fantasy, magic, adventure, fairytale (448 pages)
-Sophie Hatter reads a great deal and soon realizes that as the eldest of three daughters she is doomed to an uninteresting future. She resigns herself to making a living as a hatter and helping her younger sisters prepare to make their fortunes. But adventure seeks her out in the shop where she sits alone, dreaming over her hats. The wicked Witch of the Waste turns her into a old woman, so she seeks refuge inside the strange moving castle of the wizard Howl. Howl, advertised by his apprentice as an eater of souls, lives a mad, frantic life trying to escape the curse the witch has placed on him, find the perfect girl of his dreams and end the contract he and his fire demon have entered. Sophie, against her best instincts and at first unaware of her own powers, falls in love. So goes this intricate, humorous and puzzling tale of fantasy and adventure which should both challenge and involve readers. - amazon
- I watched the movie last week and decided to read the book. I LOVED it. Fun quick imaginative -great read (5/5)

24 - 33) Southern Vampire Series, True Blood series, Books 1-9 by Charlaine Harris
- vampires, romance, paranormal (292, 291, 258, 320, 320, 342, 336, 336, 312 pages)
-The series is narrated in first person perspective by Sookie Stackhouse. She is a barmaid and telepath in the fictional town of Bon Temps, Louisiana. In this world there are vampires, shape shifters, and all other magic creatures.
- Watched a episode of True Blood and decided to check out the first book. Then I quickly read the next 8. I really enjoyed all of them. (4/5)

34 - 38) Dresden Files books 3-8 by Jim Butcher
Grave Peril, Summer Knight, Death Masks, Blood Rites, Dead Beat, Proven Guilty, White Night, Small Favor, Turn Coat
-Urban Fantasy (352, 371, 378, 372, 448, 496, 480, 560, 432 pages)
-Harry Dresden--Wizard
Lost items found. Paranormal investigations.
Consulting. Advice. Reasonable rates.
No Love Potions, Endless Purses, Parties, or Other Entertainment.
Harry Dresden is the best at what he does. Well, technically, he's the only at what he does. So when the Chicago P.D. has a case that transcends mortal creativity or capability, they come to him for answers. For the "everyday" world is actually full of strange and magical things--and most of them don't play too well with humans. That's where Harry comes in. Takes a wizard to catch a--well, whatever.
- I read the first two last year and just got back to reading the series. Dresden = Love. Stalled after reading 5 in a row, but great series (4/5 overall)

39 - 43) The Chronicles of Elantra 1-5 by Michelle Sagara
-Sci Fiction, Fantasy, urban, mystery, magic (512, 512, 528, 490, 464 pages)
- Epic fantasy meets fast-paced supernatural novel where law enforcer Kaylin Neya investigates crime armed with magic and a sharp wit. (horrid summery)
- First 4 are re-reads the 5th just came out :-) Definitely worth the wait. (5/5)

44 - 47) Stray, Rouge, Pride, Prey by Rachel Vincent
- Fiction, urban paranormal (624, 400, 400, 400 pages)
-Faythe Sanders is a Texas grad student with a secret: she's a shape-shifting werecat. After she's attacked by a Stray—a werecat without ties to any pride—Faythe's father, the Pride Alpha, orders her to return to the family compound. As it turns out, two other werecat tabbies have gone missing, indicating an organized effort by the formerly go-it-alone Strays. -amazon
- The last just came out and I loved it. I wasn't sure after the first or the second book if it was really worth it to keep reading. I'm really glad I did. Warning about Prey - there is a character death. It was one of my favorites in the book, but the death really moved the plot. I can't wait for the next in the series. (3.5/5)

President Kennedy took the short view, according to Harvard's Niall Ferguson. The thesis of his The War of the World: Twentieth-Century Conflict and the Descent of the West is that the beginning of World War II is difficult to establish, although the September 1939 German invasion of Poland is probably too late, and that the spring and summer 1945 surrenders did not end many of the other conflicts spawned by the same forces that led to the main event itself. Thus Book Review N^o. 49, which will recommend the book for the author's provocative and often contrarian assertions about the tensions in the European colonial system that led to both World Wars and that contribute to the ongoing clash of civilizations, if that is, indeed, a proper description of the current state of world affairs.

( Read more... )

(Cross-posted to Cold Spring Shops.)

Matchless, by Gregory Maguire
This was charming, and I liked the illos (by the author himself) especially - but I had somehow tricked myself into expecting a big, adult, incredibly elaborate retelling a la Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister, Wicked, etc. And I got a short 3 chapter children's story. Albeit one I would happily read to children. Still. I am in a state of yearning for the Matchless I thought I was getting.
(255/275)

The History of the Snowman, by Bob Eckstein
Funny and kept my interest, but boy could it have used a more thorough fact-checking / typo-edit. But it was interesting enough that I'd recommend it anyway, just don't get irritated when the same numerical fact is restated 2 or 3 times with a different number used each time on the same page. Or you know, distract yourself from your irritation by cooing at the many many fascinating historical illustrations - that's what I did.
(256/275)

Finger Lickin' Fifteen, by Janet Evanovich
Meh. This was a "B"-lister, not an "A"-lister, for this series. It was still fun and all, but I felt like Grandma and Lula were not up to their usual levels of hilarity - and since the book focused on them to an unprecedented degree, this was a problem. Plus the Ranger/Morelli thing was awfully by-the-numbers. And Stephanie spent too much time explaining stuff I already knew about. Who on earth would be starting the series with the fifteenth book and needing all these explanations?
(257/275)

Love, Loss, and What I Wore, by Ilene Beckerman
Surprisingly poignant little book that was nonetheless fluffy enough to keep company at a VERY LOUD Red Robin where I couldn't concentrate on any of my "real" books. I know just the person I will be purchasing a copy of this for, though. Nifty and copiously illustrated series of recollections about the outfits worn at various times in the author's life (starting in the 1940s). The recollections are quite short and matter-of-fact; the poignancy sneaks in sideways.
(259/275)

The Way Out, by Craig Childs
I was not as in love with this as I was with The Animal Dialogues, but it was still very good. At times it was just too lyrical for me; I had trouble keeping up with the author's train of thought. But there is a strong narrative through-line (well, actually a few of them) that pulled me past the bogged-in parts. If you're interested in survivalist hiking/climbing, dysfunctional families, and Denver cops, it's definitely worth a read. Or if you just really really like people waxing rhapsodic about rock formations.
(260/275)

La Perdida, by Jessica Abel
Bought this because Sherman Alexie said it was "funny, politically astute, and heartbreaking" and I can't really put it better than that myself. Got silly amounts of pleasure from not needing the English subtitles in the subtitled parts, but even without that I would have found this totally absorbing. At times the plot is kind of obvious but I felt like the reader was supposed to feel tension about the main character not having seen these blindingly obvious things yet, so I didn't mind.
(261/275)

1. Animal Collective: My Girls
2. Yeah Yeah Yeahs: Zero
3. Fucked Up: No Epiphany
4. Flaming Lips: Watching The Planets
5. Thao with the Get Down Stay Down: Know Better Learn Faster
6. Atlas Sound: Quick Canal (with Laetitia Sadier)
7. The xx: Crystallized
8. Yo La Tengo: Here To Fall
9. Japandroids: Heart Sweats
10. Windy & Carl: My Love
11. Yoko Ono: Waiting For The D Train
12. Morrissey: Something Is Squeezing My Soul
13. Fucked Up: Crooked Head
14. Wilco: You & I (with Feist)
15. Jandek: Houston Sunday (bootleg)
16. MGMT: Kids
17. Animal Collective: What Would I Want? Sky
18. Sonic Youth: Antenna
19. Japandroids: Sovereignty
20. Fuck Buttons: The Lisbon Maru
21. Midnight Juggernauts: Shadows
22. Vivian Girls: Tension
23. The xx: VCR
24. Ladyhawke: Magic
25. Alice In Chains: Check My Brain
26. Fiery Furnaces: Lost At Sea
27. Wilco: You Never Know
28. Thao with the Get Down Stay Down: Body
29. Rancid: Last One To Die
30. Shonen Knife: Time Warp
31. Matthew Sweet & Susanna Hoffs: All The Young Dudes
32. NASA: Spacious Thoughts (with Tom Waits & Kool Keith)
33. Sleigh Bells: Crown On The Ground
34. Valley Lodge: Sentimental Lady
35. Flaming Lips: I Can Be A Frog
36. Big Boi: Shine Blockas
37. Bob Dylan: Must Be Santa
38. Japandroids: I Quit Girls
39. Neko Case: This Tornado Loves You
40. Booker T: Hey Ya

Questions?

http://www.snopes.com/risque/adultery/tigerwoods.asp

E-mailed account purportedly tells the real story of Tiger Woods' auto accident.

92. Peril and End House, by Agatha Christie. I've seen the David Suchet video version of this story twice, so it was interesting reading the book and picking up on all the little clues along the way. Without giving away too many spoilers, there's even a clue Hastings picks up early on -- and Poirot disregards. Heh! Christie is the mistress of the surprise endings and red herrings and I admit I did not see the ending coming the first time I watched the video.
In this story, the famous detective Hercule Poirot is faced with an unusual task -- he has to prevent the murder of a young, naive woman who has had a few too many "accidents" of late. The Belgian detective finds his "little gray cells" going into overtime as he tries to figure out a motive behind the attacks and who is responsible.

93. Cleveland's Greatest Disasters, by John Stark Bellamy II. This is a collection of 16 disaster tales, told from Bellamy's other considerable books on famous (and infamous) Cleveland-area events. This is a noce collection for local history buffs to have on hand. Bellamy had a narrative writing style that is easy to follow, filled with a dry wit and a no-holds barred attitude when reflecting on what went wrong. That is the tragedy in so many of these cases -- isn't that usually the case though? There were usually hints that something bad could happen, and they could have been prevented. The hardest story to read was the 1908 Collinwood Fire tragedy, where 172 died in a schoolhouse fire. Another heartbreaker was the 1916 waterworks collapse, and the story of arguably the biggest hero, inventor Garrett A. Morgan, whose invention -- the gas mask -- allowed the possibility for any rescue at all.

As I doubt that I will finish my book by midnight tomorrow, I thought I would jump on the bandwagon and post my 2009 book list.

It was a slower year reading wise. I usually read between 60-70 books in the last few years that I have been participating in these reading challenges. However, I do have a few books that are not something I would normally read and some took longer to get through then others.

Most Surprising Read: The Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R. Tolkien. This one was recommended to me by a friend. I didn't expect to like it but I did and I can't wait to have a free moment to keep reading the second and third parts.

Favourite Reads: I had a pretty good year reading wise. If I had to pick a few favourites, they would be: The Sookie Stackhouse series by Charlaine Harris, The Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R. Tolkien, Angels and Demons by Dan Brown and The Christmas List by Richard Paul Evans.

Worst Reads: Sleepless Nights by Sarah Bilston, 3 Willows: The Sisterhood Grows by Ann Brashares.

Anyways, here is my reading list for 2009.

1. Daddy's Little Girl by Mary Higgins Clark
2. The Prenup by Beth Kendrick
3. Nighttime is My Time by Mary Higgins Clark
4. Dead Sleep by Greg Iles
5. Good Luck by Whitney Gaskell
6. Second Chance by Jane Green
7. Plum Spooky by Janet Evanovich
8. Everyone Worth Knowing by Lauren Weisberger
9. One Fifth Avenue by Candace Bushnell
10. The Associate by John Grisham
11. Born to Run by James Grippando
12. Run For Your Life by James Patterson & Michael Ledwidge
13. While My Sister Sleeps by Barbara Delinsky
14. Handle With Care by Jodi Picoult
15. Don't Look Twice by Andrew Gross
16. 3 Willows: The Sisterhood Grows by Ann Brashares
17. Angels & Demons by Dan Brown
18. Still Life by Joy Fielding
19. Pursuit by Karen Robards
20. Marked by P.C. Cast & Kristin Cast
21. Betrayed by P.C. Cast & Kristin Cast
22. Chosen by P.C. Cast & Kristin Cast
23. Untamed by P.C. Cast & Kristin Cast
24. Hunted by P.C. Cast & Kristin Cast
25. Love the One You're With by Emily Giffin

( Books 26-57 are under cut )

Here's is my book poll.

Summaries taken from back of books.

19. The Letters of Abelard and Heloise

Summary: The story of Abelard and Heloise remains one of the world's most dramatic and well-known love affairs. It is told through the letters of French philosopher Peter Abelard and his gifted pupil Heloise. Through their impassioned writings unfolds the story of a romance, from its reckless, ecstatic beginnings to the public scandal, enforced secret marriage, and devastating consequences that followed. These eloquent and intimate letters express a vast range of emotions from adoration and devotion to reproach, indignation, and grief, and offer a fascinating insight into religious life in the Middle Ages.

Genre: Medieval, Letters

Thoughts: Hmm, I don't know what to think about this one. I liked it. Heloise's letters were far better than Abelard's The story itself is very interesting which is pretty much summed up in Letter 1: Historia calamitatum. As far as recommendations if you're into Medieval history specifically Medieval religion than it's a solid read. For me, it's still all about Chaucer.

Rating: 3 out of 5.



20. The Invisible Man by H.G. Wells

Summary: With his face swaddled in bandages, his eyes hidden behind dark glasses, and his hands covered even indoors, Griffin—the new guest at the Coach and Horses—is at first assumed to be a shy accident victim. But the true reason for his disguise is far more chilling: he has developed a process that has made him invisible and is locked in a struggle to discover the antidote. Forced from the village and driven to murder, he seeks the aid of an old friend, Kemp. The horror of his fate has affected his mind, however, and when Kemp refuses to help, he resolves to wreak his revenge.

Genre: Science Fiction

Thoughts: Again this book left me a little bit underwhelmed. I liked it but I wasn't crazy about it. For me, it falls more in the vein of Dr. Jekyl and Mr. Hyde where I feel no sympathy for Dr. Jekyl rather than Frankenstein where the monster is so sympathetic and his story is just so tragic and compelling. When Griffin was telling his story to Kemp I just couldn't muster up much sympathy. Yes, I did feel bad in the end but at the same time I wasn't surprised by the ending. Seeing what Griffin had become I don't think the story could of ended any differently.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.


21. Fireside by Susan Wiggs

Summary: Baseball hopeful Bo Crutcher is about to get his shot at the majors. That is, until life throws him a curveball. When AJ, the son he's never met, lands on his doorstep, Bo's life becomes a whole new ball game. He needs help—fast.
Enter Kimberly van Dorn. Hired to smooth Bo's rough exterior for the media, she expects the kind of shallow pro athlete she's used to handling. But Bo is willing to sacrifice everything for his vulnerable son. Kim can train him to hit a home run with the press, but over a breathtaking winter on frozen Willow Lake, she realizes he has far more to teach her about the game of life…and putting love first.


Genre: Romance

Thoughts I can't say I was disappointed with this book because I went into with very low expectations. I wanted a fast read, set in the winter (I know I'm a dork, let's move on). The love story between Bo and Kimberely...average. There was some sparks but nothing where I couldn't wait to see them finally get together. Sandra Brown's Adam's Fall was waaay better in that respect. The only saving grace of the story was A.J. His story was soo well done. Actually, let me clarify A.J. emotional story was fascinating. A young teenager going through losing his mother and finding a father he didn't know anything about. The rebellion. Nothing original but I think A.J. was by far the most interesting character in the book.

Rating: 2.5 out of 5.


Well that's it for me and 2009. 21 books read. For next year's challenge I'm not setting a number just to read as much as I can and surpass this years number.

Have a Happy New Year!

• 10:39 Wednesday morning sketchbook action: bit.ly/7SKuGf #
• 14:46 @92YTribeca Kill! is such an awesome, awesome movie. #
• 17:26 Finished the third draft of the graphic novel script. 176 pages. Hoping to cut to 144 pages with fourth draft. But I've already cut so much! #
• 17:46 @thephilwells I believe that is spelled "OW OW OW OW OW OW." Gvie or take an ow. #

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Ten years ago I was in the middle of a grad program in rhetoric theory, wondering when the hell I would finish reading all this crap and start publishing some crap of my own. At the same time, I was working three jobs — assistant director of a school aged child care program for a Title Eight school in East Ridge, Tennessee, graduate assistant to the rhetoric department head, and teacher of two sections of second-level writing at UTC — and living in a townhouse with a couple of roommates. I spent much of my free time (ha!) hanging out at a coffee shop in downtown Chattanooga.* This coffee shop had closed and reopened, and upon reopening it was managed by a guy named Jym who became a friend of mine. On the side, I wrote, and wrote, and wrote.

Lots happened between then and now.

Sometime in 2001 Jym and went to NOLA with a couple of friends, and what happened in NOLA didn’t stay in NOLA. We started dating. A year later, we moved in together; six months after that, my cat died. We went to St. Augustine. We adopted Spain the Cat (who sits in my lap this very moment). I wrote, and wrote, and wrote.

In 2003 I sold my first book to a micro-press based outside Atlanta, Marietta Publishing. It went badly. To this day, the publisher refuses to tell me how many copies were sold or provide the documentation. He used to claim I owed him money. Last I heard, he could be arm-twisted into admitting that he did owe me a little cash, but he insists that he has no idea how to reach me. In the publisher’s defense, I guess I’m kind of hard to find. I didn’t know what else to do, so I wrote, and wrote, and wrote.

Shortly after that book was published, I was contacted by an editor from Tor, Liz Gorinsky — who found my years-old query in a slush pile in an office she was cleaning out (or I believe that’s the story). Warren Ellis gave me a leg up with a recommendation. My then-agent wrestled rights away from Marietta, and in 2005 Tor released a revised, expanded edition of Four and Twenty Blackbirds. Around this same time, I was lucky enough to fall in with Subterranean Press. My previous agent and I parted on friendly terms, and I signed with Jennifer Jackson over at Donald Maass. Six more of my books were published. I wrote, and wrote, and wrote.

I produced a real estate magazine for about a year, sharing an office with a cranky but awesome saleswoman with a southern drawl that would stop a clock. I worked as head writer/copyeditor for the data aggregate that runs Sears.com for four years; it was a great company with the best damn coworkers a girl could ask for. After hours, I wrote, and wrote, and wrote.

Jym and I came and went from several apartments in Chattanooga. In 2006 we got married and moved to Seattle. I went to work for a firm that essentially share-cropped freelance writers for Amazon.com, where I was ultimately told that I couldn’t write about power tools because I was a girl, so I quit. Then I freelanced, mostly writing about power tools for people who correctly figured that four years of writing about Craftsman products made me qualified to do so. That gig eventually dried up. I took proofreading gigs for Bill at Subterranean; and last year he made the arrangement more official, giving me steady work and a salary, as well as the title of associate editor (wee!). I wrote, and wrote, and wrote.

I struggled with Seattle. I’m a Gulf Coast girl at heart (never mind the 12 years in Tennessee) and while some people get SAD, I got what could best be described as seasonal psychosis. Winters and springs were especially difficult. People who recommended special lights could expect a punch in the face. However, I found things to love about the place — as the song goes, “with a little help from my friends.” I was befriended by some truly exceptional souls; and of course, Seattle gave me Boneshaker — which simply could not have been written anywhere else, about anyplace else. So I wrote, and wrote, and wrote.

Boneshaker became my lucky number seven. I snuck my way into a Consortium (my second, though the first is a secret), and wrote a contribution to the next Wild Cards mosaic. I fought my way up the learning curve of short stories, and sold a few. In addition to the work with Tor and Subterranean, I sold two books to Bantam. Everything on this page happened. Because I wrote, and wrote, and wrote.

Jym changed his name (back) to Aric, and went to work for Amazon.com, giving us a measure of stability, fiscal security, and lots of weapons-grade health insurance, thank God. While riding his motorcycle, Aric was hit by an SUV. I came down with a catastrophic eye infection that marked the end of my contacts-wearing days, and the beginning of days wearing glasses that cost more than my laptop. I spent the night in the ER with kidney stones. I bashed my face in on a Portland sidewalk I got into a knife fight with a pirate. Spainy ate a hair twistie and had it removed the hard way (through an incision in her belly), but that wasn’t covered. I wrote, and wrote, and wrote.

A few months ago, Aric announced his intention to quit his job at Amazon. After much hoop-jumping and strife, he came to co-own a coffee shop and its roasting arm out in the Fremont neighborhood of Seattle. His last day at Amazon will be New Year’s Eve. His first day as a full-time small business owner will be January 1. As for me? I’m telling myself that this will be an adventure, and I guess I’ll just write, and write, and write.

Happy New Year, everyone.
Happy New Decade, too.

---

* I spent much of the mid/late nineties hanging out at this same shop; but as time passed, many of my friends moved on/moved away, and the scene wasn’t quite the same. By the time the shop closed, it was scarcely a shadow of its former self anyway. Even so, when it reopened, a number of us wandered back to sniff around and see what’d become of the place. Thus I began hanging out there again, and thus I met Jym.

[Crossposted to/from my website. If you'd like to comment, you can do so either here or there.]

There are seven short novels in this series of mysteries by art historian turned novelist Iain Pears written between 1990 and 2000. Although titled the 'Jonathan Argyll Mysteries' they as easily could be titled the Flavia di Stefano Mysteries for she plays a leading role in the stories as a member of Rome's Art Theft Squad. I tackled these out of order, as although I own all books I had access to these three on audio via the library, which assisted me as I am currently having problems with my vision.

Book 144: The Raphael Affair (Book 1).
Author: Iain Pears, 1990.
Genre: Art History. Mystery.
Other Details: Paperback. 208 pages. Unabridged audio book, Length: 6 hrs 15 mins. Read by Daniel Philpott.

The first in the series introduces Flavia and her boss General Bottando of the Italian National Art Theft Squad. Jonathan Argyll is a young Englishman in Rome finishing up his degree in art history. He believes that he may have discovered a lost work of Raphael concealed under a painting by Mantini in a failed attempt to smuggle the Raphael out of Italy during the 18th century. This claim sets off a chain of events including a shocking act of vandalism and murder.

In many ways this is a gentle old-fashioned mystery with Jonathan, Flavia and Bottando making a charming trio of characters and served as a promising opener for the series. Philpott does an excellent job with the voices of main and supporting characters including the gentle inflections of the guileless and sweet-natured Argyll.

Book 145: The Titan Committee (Book 2)
Author: Iain Pears, 1991.
Genre: Art History. Mystery.
Other Details: Paperback. 248 pages. Unabridged audio book, Length: 6 hrs 20 mins. Read by Daniel Philpott.

A member of the famous research group, the Titian Committee, is found stabbed to death in a Venetian public garden. Flavia is sent by her boss to help the local carabinieri with the case though he doesn't expect she'll be doing more there than filling in her expense claims. At first the woman's death is thought to be a simple mugging but Flavia believes there is more going on. Jonathan Argyll is also in Venice seeking to buy some paintings for an English art dealer and the two team up when another member of the committee turns up dead.

Despite its short length Pears packs in quite a lot of plot and again the book is peppered with references to Italian art.

Book 146: The Immaculate Deception (Book 3)
Author: Iain Pears, 2000.
Genre: Art History. Mystery
Other Details: Paperback. 288 pages. Unabridged audio book, Length: 7 hours, 25 mins. Read by Daniel Philpott.

In the final book, Flavia is now Acting Chief of the Art Theft Squad while General Bottando is reassigned pending his upcoming retirement. When a famous painting on loan from the Louvre is stolen, the Italian Prime Minister leans hard on Flavia to get the painting back quickly and quietly before it becomes an international incident. Coupled with this Jonathan Argyll is undertaking an investigation of his own into the provenance of a small painting, an Immaculate Conception, owned by Bottando. He wants to present his findings as a gift for the General's retirement. However, both investigations led to the uncovering of a series of astonishing secrets and yes of course there is a murder too.

I do plan on reading the four other books in the series and I didn't feel particularly spoiled by knowing the final outcome for the three protagonists. Overall I found it a charming series with very likeable characters and a thread of warm humour. The relationship between Flavia and Jonathan is nicely developed and though I know its conclusion I do look forward to seeing how they got there. Certainly a series that is a delight for lovers of art history.

• 10:32 @jen_k Read: Dune and Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. Watch: Firefly and LOST. That's a pretty well-balanced sci-fi diet. #

Got at ya with LoudTwitter

I didn't start my challenge until April, but I was hoping to finish up by the end of the calendar year. I came really close -- but the ~2 months I was without my Kindle did me in.

Oh well, quick reviews of the last half of the books I read below the cut.

Ratings:
***** CHANGED MY LIFE OMFG READ THIS BOOK NOW
**** A+; will read again
*** it was better than most of the stuff on fanfiction.net
** at least i'm not dumber for having read it
* my brain has been devoured by the stupid of this book.

( Read more... )

Good luck in 2010 everyone! 

My grandfather recently gave me some Japanese postcards to translate. They are from the 1940s and I believe his uncle got them when he was over in Japan for World War II. They all talk about Hokkaido. I examined them and it took a while for me to comprehend the text because I realized that even though the text was horizontal the characters were still from right to left.

( postcard and text )

I was wondering if anyone knows if there is a specific time period where they wrote right-to-left horizontally or if this is a unique thing. I've never heard or seen this before so I can only assume it was a transitional period in the Japanese writing system. Anyone know more? Thanks!

http://www.snopes.com/media/goofs/heywood.asp

Ubiquitous press prankster returns for the holiday season to bedevil newspaper editors.

#50 - The Fixer Upper by Mary Kay Andrews (2009, 422 pages) 

Dempsey Jo Killebrew is a woman on the way down. She just found out her boss and one of his most important clients are being investigated by the FBI and that she has been implicated as well. Fired from her job as the crap hits the fan, she takes up her father's suggestion to flip a house he just inherited in Guthrie, GA, as a way to keep herself busy until things blow over. But Dempsey didn't realize she'd also have to care for the cantankerous old cousin squatting in the house, along with the cousin's equally terrorsome dog, Shorty.

Dempsey comes to face her problems head on, and it's something that I have really come to enjoy about Andrews' books. Her characters are put through pretty crappy situations and through their sheer determination, come out on top. In this particular case, it's especially fun to see how Dempsey gets even with her former boss, the man who put her in this situation in the first place.

I love all of Andrews' books, and she always includes a little bonus that helps endear her to me - recipies that were mentioned throughout the book. She not only finds her way into your heart, but into your stomach, which is why I give this book a great four out of five dinners.

Total Books Read: 50 / 50 (100 percent)
Total Pages Read: 14,663 / 15,000 (98 percent)

Monday, I met up with Ian & Bruce (the Captain of his Flight crew) for Italian food, then coffee, beer, & Glog (in that order).[0] We exchanged travel stories and had general conversations about American life.

Earlier in the day, I rented a bicycle at a shop in the central train station. After Ian & Bruce departed, I took off on bike and just rode around all over Copenhagen. I felt perfectly comfortable in the streets with the Indigenous Danes. A couple of times people asked *me* for directions. *lol*

Copenhagen is a bicycle Utopia. There are dedicated bicycle lanes everywhere a car goes and more. The lanes are pot-hole free and well maintained, even a salt car is employed to keep the lanes ice free. There are separate traffic signals for bicyclists, and in one place, yellow ground lights that flash as a bicyclist approaches an intersection warning right turning cars. Bicycles are traffic and people obey all the laws.

The Danes ride heavy duty all weather bikes with chain guards, internal hubs, disc brakes, fenders, but rarely go more than 10mph, so weight isn't much of an issue. Their lights are dainty, but visible to attentive drivers. That's the stark contrast to American drivers and bicyclists. American cars are designed to isolate a person from their environment as much as possible [1], and consequentally urban bicyclists have huge, annoying lights in attempt to pentrate their mobile box of non-interaction.

Admittedly, I prefer my 300 lumen headlight, which I brought with, b/c it allowed me to tear up the asphalt on dimly lit Copenhagen streets. The night was so cold, and beautiful, the air so clean. I've never seen so many stars in a capital in all my travels. I just rode and rode all over the city, until my lungs burned, along the seashore, up & down bridges, through residential areas, the red light district, Latin Quarter & Cristiania. I rode until midnight and stopped only b/c i had to pee. It's such an exhilarating feeling riding a bicycle on a dark, wet, cold moonlit night, navigating by starlight & moon reflecting on seemingly black water.

I boarded my train to Berlin via Hamburg and did get my wish of crossing into Germany via ferry, b/c unbeknownst to me, the train crosses by ferry. That's right, they loaded the entire ICE train onto a big Fuck Off Cruise Ship, made the passengers disembark onto to Ship deck and hauled all of it over the Sea. I withstood the biting cold to sip hot coffee out on the "Sundeck." Again, black water reflecting moonlight, the bone-chilling cold wind on my face. It's one of those moments best shared with someone to keep warm, both huddled together & gazing into the darkness.

I transferred at Hamburg Hauptbahnhof. It's very much like the Berlin's hauptbahnhof, except there is a sex shop smack in the center. Ya know in case you forgot your butt plug in the WC on the last train, you can easily obtain a replacement.

Tonight, I go straight to the venue where Frank & Justin are playing. I'll dump my luggage in a pay locker until tomorrow.

I'm on the Train from Hamburg, en route to Berlin. Laptop, I-pod, a belly fully of Kartoffeln & champignons. So far my trip has been spectacular.
jv

[0] I like the Danish glog which isn't quite so sweet as German Glog. I like the roasted almonds & raisins at the bottom.
[1] cup holder, dvd player, cruise control, heated seats, everything designed to allow you to do lots of things besides paying attention to the road.

Total for year 75 (but I have four books on the go, and might finish one in the next 28 hours).

My reading (well, book-reading) has dropped dramatically since I started work -- proofreading e-books, non-fiction, fabulous job but means I am much less inclined to read for fun in the evenings. I'm getting to read snippets of some really interesting stuff though!

Shall aim for 50 again next year, but may cut the reviews shorter, as it's becoming a chore (which is simply due to less time).

What I've read since, er, September I think: *s out of 5, links to reviews on my LJ.

2009/65: The Time-Traveller's Wife -- Audrey Niffenegger (reread: spoilery notes rather than a proper review) *****, SF, romance

2009/66: Halting State -- Charles Stross ***** SF, humour

2009/67: The End of Mr Y -- Scarlett Thomas ***** SF, existentialism, Big Mysterious Book

2009/68: Boating for Beginners -- Jeanette Winterson *** humour

2009/69: The Light Ages -- Ian MacLeod *** SF / alt hist, not as good as Song of Time

2009/70: Lavinia -- Ursula Le Guin ***** Feminist version of the Aenead, ha.

2009/71: Measuring the World -- Daniel Kehlmann **** Historical / travel / science

2009/72: Song of Kali -- Dan Simmons ** Supernatural horror

2009/73: The Demon's Lexicon -- Sarah Rees Brennan ***** Horror / YA: great fun

2009/74: Kindred -- Octavia E. Butler *** race, historical, SF. Powerful, disturbing.

2009/75: The Minotaur -- Barbara Vine

105. Lyrics- Gerald Gould, 3/5
This wasn't a bad collection of poetry considering it's by a poet that I'd never heard of but it wasn't my sort of thing.

106. A Month at the Front: The Diary of an Unknown Soldier, 5/5
This was an interesting account written by a private in the East Sussex, of a life in the trenches, including his capture by the Germans and the beginning of the details of his escape. I thought it was a quick but fascinating read.

107. The Kite Runner- Khaled Hosseini- 345 pages, 4/5
This was a good book but also a very depressing story. It's an interesting portrait of one mans life in Afghanistan and America but the things that happen to his friends and family can be quite upsetting.

108. Bonjour Tristesse- Francoise Sagan, 108 pages, 3/5
This was a very short book about a confused young girl who spends her summer holiday sabotaging her father's relationship. Sagan was eighteen when this was first published and I think were I that age I would have enjoyed it a bit more than I did.

109. War Poems- Edited by John Hollander- 243 pages, 5/5
This collection of poems ranged from the classical, right up to modern warfare. It introduced me to a lot of new poets and poems about many conflicts including The American Civil War and Vietnam, neither of which I had read poetry about before.

Books: 109 Pages: 29949

That's me done for the year! I managed to read everything that has been struck off this list- 2009 reading list. Next year I intend to read all of these that are sat unread on the shelf- 2010 reading list.