Reading anything?

[pennywise37]

i finally got around to finish A Spell for Chameleon by Piers Anthony. i had put it down a few months ago and i had read other stuff at the time. i forget what though it's written down somewhere i'm sure. but i only had 3 chapters left anyways that's 67 pages i think i had left to throw a random number in there.
and it's still not one of his best books but not his worst either. i don't think the book is terrible by any means but i dunno if it's cause the 1st book i read by him and in the series was the 10th book Vale of the Vole way back in i think (1995) so reading the 1st novel a few years later may change my opinion on it i dunno.

but reading it a 2nd time it's not a book that i think got worse the 2nd time i read it like some books can sometimes. you read a book years later you love and end up what the hell was i thinking? no it was nothing like that. it was a decent book that took forever for things to happen in it. it has a really slow start much like The Source of Magic the 2nd book in the series that i read only the 1st couple of pages so far.

this one i downloaded as i own the 1st novel but not the 2nd one yet. i use to own it but i think i lent it to someone but i never got it back i just can't remember to whom it was? don't you just hate that?  i know I do!

[BoyScoutKevin]

Going back to the old standbys - the Thrawn trilogy novels by Timothy Zahn.  The original Episode VII.



Damn that man can write.

This is what Is Star Wars canon--at this time.

7 films
Episodes I to VII.

2 TV shows
The Clone wars
Rebels

and 11 books in the order in which they take place in the Star Wars universe.

Dark Disciple
Lords of the Sith
Tarkin
A New Dawn
Heir to the Jedi
Battle Front : Twilight Company

the Aftermath trilogy
Aftermath
Life Debt
Empire's End

New Republic : Bloodline

and the e-book original "The Perfect Weapon."

Thus, Thrawn, who is part of the EU or Expanded Universe,  is not part of the canon. Still . . .?! He is such a popular character, that there is some talk, with an on-going TV series and an "X" number of films still out there, he'll become part of the canon.

And I agree that the Thrawn trilogy is well written, as are some of the other non-canon books, but . . .?! I have found (IMHO) that they are the exception and not the rule to what is "good." No, if one wants something "good" to read in Star Wars, then stick with the canon books. Excluding the last 5 canons, I have read or skimmed in preparation of reading the 1st six, and they are, on average, better than the non-canon, much of which I find unreadable. The only problem I have found with the canon is that the villains are often far more interesting than the heroes.

And some final thoughts.

1st. Actually, my favorite character in Star Wars, canon or non-canon, is in the Thrawn trilogy. Not Thrawn, but . . .?! Captain Pellasson, who--as my wont--with my favorite characters nicknamed "The Old Man."

2nd. The Thrawn trilogy is well written and well worth reading, except . . .?! The graphic novel version of the trilogy is not. Which is the opposite of most books I have seen. The graphic novel version of a book being far more readable than the book itself.

And 3rd. If one is looking for something. Star Wars or not Star Wars. Film or TV show. There are no better introductions to any of those, then those published by the British publishing house Dorling Kindersley, which is named after the 2 men who found the publishing house. I cannot espouse any of those published more highly, if one is looking for an introduction to an hither unknown subject in Star Wars or not Star Wars. Film or TV show. But . . .?!

We'll see what we'll see!

[BoyScoutKevin]

Ye-es, I promised you all a half dozen of the others--non-mysteries, but . . .?!
I think I'll postpone that to next time, and instead . . .?!
Open myself up to you all and reveal a little bit about myself.

As I posted previously, one of my favorite pastimes is to think up nicknames for some of my favorite fictional characters. Here are some more.

Crosscut
Get Up and Go
The Gold Dust Twins
The Human MacGuffin
Moon Calf
Mr. Unlonely
Poster Boy
Pretty Boy
Prince Giggler
Reject
Smiley

And here are a dozen more from films and TV.

Brain Trust
Dead Meat
Deep Closet
Dummy (as in stupid)
Innocence Personified
The Little Marquis
Little Snot
Master Mind
The Oh Yeah Kid
Squid Bait
Underage Father
The Virgin Stud

As one can see, I like my characters, and I like 'em dead. Almost 70% are killed off sometime during the story or the next story. And here's some ways on how they were killed.

bayoneted -- black magic -- drowned in the tub -- giant squid -- knifed -- neck broken -- shot -- unknown -- and vehicular accident.

Otherwise . . . they are . . .

Young. Old.
Villain. Hero. Neither.
Every time period.
Every nationality.
and Every economic class.

Next time: a half dozen of the other--non-mysteries

[RCMerchant]

BERLIN DIARY by William Shirer-Want to hear a first hand account of the rise of a meglomaniac? Here ya go-and its very similar to whats going on in this country with Trump.
THE RISE AND FALL OF THE THIRD REICH by William Shirer-another great book on the history of Nazi Germany. Scary as hell-this aint ancient history,people-it could happen today.

[Newt]

If one is looking for something. Star Wars or not Star Wars. Film or TV show. There are no better introductions to any of those, then those published by the British publishing house Dorling Kindersley, which is named after the 2 men who found the publishing house. I cannot espouse any of those published more highly, if one is looking for an introduction to an hither unknown subject in Star Wars or not Star Wars. Film or TV show.

Agreed.  Dorling Kindersley does an outstanding job producing introductory books on any subject.  I know their publications in my areas of expertise are top notch.   Highly recommended.

[BoyScoutKevin]

Ye-es!

A half dozen of the other--non-mysteries.

01. Gerald Posner's
God's bankers :
a history of money and power at the Vatican
10 more non-fiction

02. Dave Steven's
The rocketeer

One (IMHO) of the few times the film is superior to its source material, for the following reasons.

a. The film's story is clearer, because it is less convoluted.
b. The film's characters are more likable.
c. The film's story is more straightforward and thus less disjointed.
d. The film's characters are less stupid.
e. The film has fewer plot holes.

3. Michael Farquhar's
Bad days in history :
a gleefully grim chronicle of mistakes, mayhem, and misery for every day of the year.
6 more non-fiction
From 210 B.C. to 2014 A.D. or 2224 years.

4. Jack D. Ferraiolo's
Sidekicks
1 more juvenile fiction

5. Ray Fawkes'
One soul :
the graphic novel

18 children
both boys and girls
from birth to death
from every time period
from every nationality
from every economic class

in memory of the author's son,
who died the same day he was born,
and no child has ever had a better memorial.

6. Adam Rockoff's
The horror of it all :
one moviegoer's love affair with maniacs, frightened virgins, and the living dead
1 more non-fiction

Next time: Doctor Who

[BoyScoutKevin]

Ye-es!

5 writers
Doctor Who :
the visual dictionary
updated and expanded to 2009
up to and including the 10th doctor
32 episodes not previously discussed

The writers wrote themselves into the corner, when they wrote that the Doctor was restricted to only 12 regenerations, but . . .?! There are ways around that.

1st. He can receive more regenerations from someone who can also regenerate.
2nd. He can be given more regenerations by the other Time Lords.
3rd. The other regenerations need not count against the total.
4th. Once he reaches his 12th regeneration, the whole regeneration cycle can begin over again.
5th. When out of regenerations, do not regenerate, but inhabit someone else's body.

7 writers
Doctor Who :
the visual dictionary
updated and expanded to 2014
up to and including the 12th doctor
27 episodes not previously discussed

Next time: reasons the TV show has been around so long. Your reasons may differ.

[pennywise37]

well i finished 'From a Potters Field' by Patricia Cornwell and i really loved that book. it i think anyways one of the best in the series so far. i hope the next one is even better but the reviews on bookbub is telling me otherwise sadly. i'm not reading the next one anyways i'm reading 'the bone collector'' by Jeffery Deaver' and i'm really loving it! i have loved the film for years and i finally am getting around to read the book the film is based on and it's a great book so far.

[FatFreddysCat]

Right now:

Reckless: My Life as a Pretender by Chrissie Hynde

On deck:

Snakes! Guillotines! Electric Chairs!: My Adventures in the Alice Cooper Group by Dennis Dunaway

[BoyScoutKevin]

Ye-es!

Continuing with the 2 visual dictionaries posted above, or reasons from them why "Dr. Who," has continued for almost 50 years. Both during the time period covered by the dictionaries and previously.

I. Bigger
A. Budgets

Though, the "cheap jack" earlier budgets never seemed to detract from the show, but seemed to add to its appeal.

II. Complexity
A. The characters
1. bad gone good
2. good gone bad
3. neither bad nor good, but both.

III. Flexibility
A. Where
1. earth
2. parallel earths
3. other planets

B. When
1. from Roman Pompeii to today to sometime in the future.

C. What
1. mostly science fiction, but also . . .
2. adventure
3. historical
4. horror
5. and even western

IV. More
A. Women, including female villains, which broadens the possibilities
B. People of color
C. Non-heterosexuals
D. Children

From a program seemingly made to appeal to children to a program that appealed to adults to a program that continues to appeal to adults, but with more children as characters. With over 2 dozen of them featured in the dictionaries.

children normal and abnormal and normal with abnormal powers -- the sick: both physically and mentally -- and those thought to be possessed and/or in danger.

Next time: back to 6 of 1 mysteries and a half dozen of the other non-mysteries

[BoyScoutKevin]

Ye-es!
6 of 1 mysteries

01. Anthony Horowitz
award winner
Moriarty
either a prequel or sequel to the author's previous "House of Silk."
Though, if children should seldom be the villain, as they are not credible, these should not be the hero. They can be as good as the hero, they can even be better than the hero, but they should not be the hero, because they are just not credible as heroes.

02. Rhys Bowen
The Edge of  Dreams
14th in the Molly Murphy series

03. Peter Robinson
award winner
In the Dark Places
in the Inspector Bank series

04. Antonio Manzini
translated from the Italian by Anthony Shugaar
Black Run
2nd in the Deputy Police Chief Rocco Schiaure series

05. Martin Walker
American ex-pat
The Children Return
7th in the Bruno, Chief of Police series
9 more non-fiction

06. Ann Cleeves
award winner
White Nights :
a thriller
2nd in the Shetland Island quartet
If you want something to watch, then watch "Shetland."

[BoyScoutKevin]

Ye-es!
A half dozen of the other (non-mysteries.)

01. Batman '66.
v.3.

7 new stories. 7 new villains from the '60's TV series.

The Black Widow (Tallulah Bankhead)
The Archer (Art Carney)
False Face (Malachi Throne)
Hilda (Estelle Winwood)
Louie, the Lilac (Milton Berle)
Marsha, Queen of Diamonds (Carolyn Jones)
The Minstrel (Van Johnson)

02. James Lucano
Star Wars : Tarkin

The problem with the new books that are officially canon is that the villains are far more interesting than the heroes, and this is no exception. Though, it does answer 1 question: "How many people died on the Death Star?" 300,000 of your best and brightest. Or enough to man 100 Star Destroyers. I don't care how many people you have, that has got to hurt.

03. De Connick and Lopez
Captain Marvel :
Higher, Further, Faster, More.

04. Ian James Ross
War at the Edge of the World
1st one in the Twilight of the Empire series
and 1st novel

While not the central figure in the story, this is the story of the Emperor Constantine, as seen thru the eyes of our hero. One hopes the series continues, if only because, whereas, most writers cannot write an action scene to save their lives, the action sequences here are surprisingly good. Though, if there is another in the series, one does not know whether we will continue with the same hero, as in this one, or we will get a series of revolving heroes.

05. Star Wars :
the Clone Wars Character Encyclopedia

06. Adam Bry
Star Wars :
Rebels - the Visual Guide

While one has seen clips from both animated TV shows, one has never seen a full episode of neither one. Thus, one cannot say whether one show is better than the other. Though, one can say people are right about one thing. "Rebels" is more geared to children than "The Clone Wars." Of the 206 characters featured in #05, only 5 or 2% can be considered to be children, while of the 17 characters featured in #06, 4 or 24% can be considered to be still children.

Next time: again 6 of 1 (mysteries) and a half dozen of the other (non-mysteries)

[pennywise37]

well i finally finished the bone collector last nite and i really loved it. for those who love a great mystery check it out cause it's a MUST read!

[BoyScoutKevin]

Ye-es!
6 of 1 (mysteries)

01. Elly Griffith
award winner
The ghost fields
7th in the Ruth Galloway series

02. Kathy Reich
Flesh and bones
14th in the Temperance Brennan series

03. J. P. Sendler
Whispering shadows
translated from the German by Christine Lo
German version published in 2007
English version published in 2015
1 more non-fiction
1 more fiction
from author

04. Lindsey Davis
Deadly election
3rd in the Flavia Albia series

One thing about her books, they are seldom about the mystery, being about something else. This one is about elections and auctions. The other great writer (IMHO) about mysteries in ancient Rome is Stephen Saylor. We'll get to him later.

05. Carol Miller
A Nip of murder
2nd in the moonshine mystery series

The one writer who rivals Chibnall in incomprehension on how the police operate in a case of murder. Still, this writer knows the area in which the story takes place, and the plot, which sets all in motion, is one of the more cleverer ones out there.

06. Conner Brady
A June of ordinary murders
1st novel
1st in a series?

And I do hope it continues as a series, as I did enjoy this one very much. I just hope he stays away from political murders. From the 1880's, when this one takes place to almost the 1980's, a century of political murders, and darn--that's ugly.

Next time: a half dozen of the other--non-mysteries

[indianasmith]

I just finished two historical works - THE QUEEN'S BED: An Intimate History of Elizabeth's Court by Anna Whitelock, and COLUMBUS: THE FOUR VOYAGES by Laurence Bergreen.

THE QUEEN'S BED draws heavily on the diaries and letters of the Ladies of the Queen's Bedchamber, a group of noblewomen who attended Elizabeth's most private moments: dressing and undressing her, talking with her when she could not sleep, and applying the makeup and wigs she used to disguise her aging countenance.  Overall, very well done and quite readable.

COLUMBUS is a fascinating tale about a very complex man.  Bergreen portrays Columbus as neither the one-dimensional villain so thoroughly despised on today's university campuses, nor the saintly bearer of the light of civilization as he saw himself, but as a deeply divided, almost schizophrenic man, a brilliant navigator, and a poor judge of human character.  I learned a great deal from this book and highly recommend it.