In Conquest Born, Friedman. Yes. A book club recommendation, this first novel is somewhat longer than it needs to be, but the space opera struck me as worth the time. I was reminded of the Zelazny story “The Furies” by the sympathetic portrayal of (what might be expected to be) unsympathetic characters, though there was […]
The local alternative medicine college is offering a course on Basic Cadaver Anatomy, with a special focus on Acupuncture and Acupressure points. A few highlights (as if you needed them!) 1. No mention that you will be unlikely to find any physical structures in the body related to the flow of qi that is the […]
Have a listen to a calm and even automated voice telling you about the weather.
Cuckoo’s Egg, Cherryh. Yes. I don’t know why I had chosen never to read Cherryh over the years, but this came up as a book club selection, and I rather enjoyed it. I am a sucker for books that keep me wondering what the hell is going on without cheating, and this one executed that […]
Dead Mann Running, Petrucha. Yes. Sequel to Dead Mann Walking (will Flying be next?). Petrucha’s world continues to entertain me. I will be interested to see how sustainable the various premises will be, assuming Petrucha continues to write in this world. I would like to be optimistic, despite some reservations. On the other hand, maybe […]
Lost and Found, Jeffers A very very very sweet picture book about a boy and a lost penguin– or is he found?? Oh my goodness, so great. The Incredible Book Eating Boy, Jeffers I liked this picture book, too, and the backgrounds for the paintings are book pages and covers. The Hueys in The New […]
The Best American Crime Writing, 2006 I’m working my way through the volumes I haven’t read, now that the series seems to have ended. One essay made me wonder if I had read and then forgotten this one. Nope, it was an essay on someone who had been in a previous volume for a previous […]
The Player of Games, Banks. Yes. Not the fastest-moving, and there is a particular plot point that annoyed me at the time and that I’m still not sure I get the point of, but overall a fine book.
Mercury: An Intimate Biography of Freddie Mercury, Jones. Non-fiction. This seemed at least as much a survey of other writings as an intimate biography, though Jones does eventually get down to a substantial amount of original reporting. I was pleased that there is less tittle-tattle than I feared there might be; with the subject’s prodigious […]
Death at La Fenice: A Commissario Guido Brunetti Mystery, Leon. Yes. I was reasonably sure I was going to like this when I reached this part, fairly early: It seemed, in this moment, that he had spent his entire life … telling someone that someone they loved was dead or, worse, had been killed. His […]