Motivational Monday

RIP - Diana Rigg

    Well crap.  Emma Peel died earlier this week.  At the ripe old age of 82.  RIP, Diana Rigg.

Book Excerpt for the Day

    “Miss Shirl,” he said, “I don’t want you to come in but I think it would be for the best if you just took a look in the bedroom.”

    She was afraid now, knowing something was terribly wrong, but she followed him obediently, through the living room and into the bedroom.

    It was strange, she thought that she was just standing there, doing nothing when she heard the scream, until she realized that it was her own voice, that she was the one who was screaming.

    (from Make Room! Make Room! by Harry Harrison)

 

    7½*/10.  The complete review is here.

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Friday Ewww

Facebook Quizzes

    Why I don't do well on any of those Facebook quizzes such as "what kind of dog are you?"

Masks

    Well that's it then.  Ima gonna hafta get me one of these masks.

Book Excerpt for the Day

    “Hello.”

    “Janice.”  Her mother’s voice, even and harsh.  “I just got back from shopping in Brewer and your father’s been trying to reach me all morning.  He thinks Harry’s gone again.  Is he?”

    Janice closes her eyes and says, “He went to Allentown.”

    “What would he do there?”

    “He’s going to sell a car.”

    “Don’t be silly, Janice.  Are you all right?”

    “What do you mean?”

    “Have you been drinking?”

    “Drinking what?”

    (from Rabbit, Run by John Updike)

 

    5½*/10.  The complete review is here.

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Hieronymus Bosch

    We are committed to posting any cartoon that mentions Hieronymus Bosch.

Bookshelf Envy

    I admit it.  I suffer from Bookshelf Envy.

Political Debates

    Something to ponder at 3 AM when you can't sleep, Libertarian edition.

Book Excerpt for the Day

    Evil seldom takes shape immediately.  It is often little more than a whisper at first.  A glance.  A betrayal.  But then it grows and takes root, still invisible, unnoticed.  Only fairy tales give evil a proper shape.  The big bad wolves, the evil kings, the demons, and devils…

    (from Pan’s Labyrinth by Cornelia Funke & Guillermo del Toro)

 

    8*/10.  The complete review is here.

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Synonyms

    This is why some people shouldn't be trusted with a thesaurus.

Art Appreciation Tuesday

    Personal Hygiene edition.

Diversity Monday

Book Excerpt for the Day

    “Hey, if we stay up here you need to give me one of your knives.  I could take care of the next stray hiker.  You got that first guy clean, though, I’ll give you that .  (…)  By the time anyone stumbles over him, there’ll be nothing left but bones and a wallet.”

    Jacobson shrugged.  “The boss didn’t want anyone dead, but hey, there he was, staring at us, and you could see he was going to talk to the first ranger he saw.  What could I do?”

    “That was good of you to leave his wallet so they’d be able to identify him.”

    “”Yeah, I’ve got the milk of human kindness running in my veins.”

    (from Enigma by Catherine Coulter)

 

    9*/10.  The complete review is here.

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Dusting Day

    It was Dusting Day today.  My back is killing me.

Learning a new language

    Ooooo.  I'm gonna take me some classes to learn this language.

Zoology Thursday

Book Excerpt for the Day

    In Part III, we explore the possibility that, under extreme circumstances, space may be stretched until it rips or tears.  In other words, hyperspace may provide a means to tunnel through space and time.  Although we stress that this is still highly speculative, physicists are seriously analyzing the properties of “wormholes”, of tunnels that link distant parts of space and time.  Physicists at the California Institute of Technology, for example, have seriously proposed the possibility of building a time machine, containing a wormhole that connects the past with the future.  Time machines have now left the realm of speculation and fantasy and have become legitimate fields of scientific research.

    (from Hyperspace by Michio Kaku)

 

    9*/10.  The complete review is here.

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Editing

    It's true!!

Worst Ending

    Robin Cook's Chromsome 6.  Worst ending to an otherwise good novel ever.

Gifted Child

 

Touching

 

    Seriously.  I fear this.

Book Excerpt for the Day

    “So … are you a cop?  Because this conversation can stop now.”  She’d been read her rights.  She liked having rights.

    The man shook his head.  “If you must identify me by a career, I used to be a physicist working for the army.  Then, I blew up the world.  Then I rebuilt it.  So, I guess my job description is god.”

    “I thought they had a separate ward for psychos.”

    (from Burn Baby Burn by James Maxey)

 

    7½*/10.  The complete review is here.

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New Hat

 Must get one of these!

Art Appreciation Tuesday

     Let's call this "The Beachles".

Book Excerpt for the Day

   

    While her head was much improved, her stomach wasn’t so sure.  For his part, Simon looked rested and content.  He’d warned her not to drink the Scrumpy and the fact that he wasn’t saying ‘I told you so’ was really just a sneaky way of saying ‘I told you so’.  She glared across the small compartment at Simon.

    “What?” he said.

    “You don’t have to rub it in.”

    “I didn’t say anything.”

    “Your face is saying it.  It’s ‘I told you so’ing’ all over the place.”

    “On behalf of my face, I apologize.”

    (from Fragments by Monique Martin)

     7*/10.  The complete review is here.

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Whitesnake

Self-Esteem

 

    This is why self-analysis is not recommended for improving self-esteem.

Support your local Indie Author

 

    Indie authors depend on your support to sustain their careers.  If you liked reading one of their books, do one or more of the above, especially #2.

Dinosaur Extinction

     The real reason that dinosaurs became extinct.  Science marches on.

Book Excerpt for the Day

     “We’re the military.  We remember everything.  For instance, we remember how the Russians defeated Napoleon and his Grande Armée after he invaded Moscow in 1812 with overwhelming force.”

    The robot was silent.  It stared into Stern’s eyes without expression.  Stern blinked first, necessarily.

    “They burned everything, Dr. Kline,” he continued, voice dropping.  “They destroyed their own homes to starve out the enemy.  Without shelter, the French troops froze.  Without anything to eat, they starved.”

    “And so did the Russian peasants,” replied Kline.

    (from The Andromeda Evolution by Daniel H. Wilson)

 

    8*/10.  The complete review is here.

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Enlightened Maskers

 

    It is indeed an unusual sight.  Those who eschew masks usually project a "mad at the world" attitude to others.

Spoilers

 

    It's actually a very good book.

Friday Skeptic

 

These are the bear facts.

Book Excerpt for the Day

    “This (doctor’s) appointment hadn’t been my idea.  It had been my wife Sarah’s.  And “idea” is probably the wrong word.  “Ultimatum” would probably be a better one.  “Go see Harley.” She said, “or I’m going to call a divorce lawyer.  Or smother you in your sleep.”

    The threat about the divorce lawyer didn’t worry me that much.  Sarah has a low opinion of the legal profession, and would probably choose sticking with me over engaging the services of one of its members.  But the smothering-me-in-my-sleep thing, that seemed within her range of capabilities.

    (from Bad Guys by Linwood Barclay)

 

    8½*/10.  The complete review is here.

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Ella Minnow Pea

    If you want to see this concept skillfully developed into a 200-page novel, pick up Ella Minnow Pea by Mark Dunn.

Riddle-Me Monday

Family Trivia via Zoom

    Played Family Trivia via Zoom for the first time tonight, and thoroughly enjoyed it! Even if I didn't know the name of Willie Nelson's guitar.

Book Excerpt for the Day

    “We have beauty, too.  We call it ‘scenery.’”

    “’Scenery,’” Mhoram echoed.  “The word is strange to me – but I do not like the sound.”

    Covenant felt oddly shaken, as if he had just looked over his shoulder and found himself standing too close to a precipice.  “It means that beauty is something extra,” he rasped.  “It’s nice, but we can live without it.”

    “Without?”  Mhoram’s gaze glittered dangerously.

    And behind him Foamfollower breathed in astonishment.  “Live without beauty?   Ah, my friend!  How do you resist despair?”

    “I don’t think we do,” Covenant muttered.  “Some of us are just stubborn.”

    (from Lord Foul’s Bane by Stephen R. Donaldson)

    5*/10.  The full review is here.

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