I'm Tired and Cranky. This Is What You Get

I had a couple of book reviews I wanted to write up tonight.

And I wanted to talk about my love of the new show GCB (totally my guilty pleasure).

And how I'm five episodes in to rewatching the entire Star Trek: The Next Generation because that show was such a huge part of my childhood so I've decided to watch an episode a night for the next, oh, eight months or so until I'm done. (Eight months is longer than it should take me at an episode a night, but I'm allowing for nights of going out.)

And how Game of Thrones comes back on Sunday but I won't be able to watch it because I'll be in Seattle ::sadface:: for the Emerald City Comicon ::happyface::

And that if I don't end the weekend with Wil Wheaton phoning security to remove me from his room, I've totally failed in my objectives.

I'm kidding!

I just plan to hang around his table until he gets creeped out and asks security to remove me from the entire convention.

Again, just kidding!

Kinda.

Obviously, I had a lot I wanted to write about, but my computer is being a total twat and just ate my last post before crashing... twice. So instead, you get this:

On the Origin of Species by Charles Darwin
Been on my too-read for a long time. Really glad I did. Found it fascinating. Recommend it if you have an interest in science... otherwise it can be a bit dense and dull. I highly recommend getting an annotated edition because he often references other scientists/science papers from that era.

They Fight Like Soldiers, They Die Like Children by Romeo Dallaire
Started reading this last year. Got a little emotional so I put it down... for 11 months. So, so good (but I will always recommend Shake Hands with the Devil first). I tip my hat because the man can also craft some good fiction in amongst his fabulous non-fiction.

Malachy McCourt's History of Ireland by Malachy McCourt
Loved it. It was written very much like an oral history. I felt like I was sitting down with Mr. McCourt at a table in a bar as he told me the stories. My dad, who is no big fan of the McCourt brothers (and I'll talk about that in another post with another book review), even loves it. There's a line in the book which sums it up nicely (and I'm paraphrasing because my dad has the book at the moment): You should know by now that in Irish history, whether or not something is true is not as important as whether or not it makes a good story.

Playing With Fire by Theoren Fluery
If you like hockey, read this book. If you are curious of the thought process of someone dealing with being sexual abused as a child, read this book. If you want to better understand the mind frame of an addict, read this book. I'm not going to talk about him being some great writer (because he's not, although he is good), but his honesty and openness about what he went through is incredible. He lays his entire life out for everyone to view and he doesn't sugar coat any of it. Loved this book.

There are more books but these are the only ones I feel like mentioning now that I'm tired, cranky, and hating my computer so why write about the books I wasn't enamoured with? And, because no one wants to end on a downer, I found another craft project online that I want the pattern for:

They even put a bumb on Worf's forehead! *squee!*

Things I Think Are Awesome: Part One

I’ve seen these lists posts on other blogs so I decided to do one here... mostly because I really don’t know how to segue through all the things I want to talk about. Although normally I think a well-crafted segue is awesome.

Not segways, though. They kinda suck.

(The only good thing to come from segways was G.O.B.)

1. Stir It Up

I wanted to give some love to a new-to-me restaurant in Fernwood, Stir It Up. I was finally enticed into trying the restaurant one day after smelling of their delicious food. It's Jamaican and Caribbean food. Sadly, the kitchen is very small and does not allow for prep in the space so some of the items are premade and then reheated but it tasted so delicious, I got over that very quickly.

GET IN MY BELLY!!

[Photo from their site]

It is cash only so hit up the ATM before you go (there's one across the street at the Fernwood Inn, so, you know...) and you either need to go on a sunny day when you can sit outside or get take out as the inside has about two 'cozy' seats. Meals run about $10.

2. XKCD

So, this webcomic is something that I always love but I was a little enamoured with this particular comic:

[Permanently borrowed from XKCD]

I know I may get some haters but based on the people I know who attend Burning Man, I have come to decision that the majority of attendees are socially obnoxious d-bags. Also, based on the number of stories those same people have told me about cheating or being cheated on at Burning Man, they're d-bags who can't stay faithful so... yeah...

3. THR

This falls into the list of things I always love but THR (who is also crafty) is back from her trip Down Under to see her family and she linked up to a great link of free organization tools. I thought it was so awesome, I decided it needed to be shared over here too. She linked to some crafty person who also had links to fee name tags/crafty items. The part I liked most is here. It's all free and all cute. What's not to love?

4. Star Trek (TOS)

Thanks to Darla over at Bakingdom (that girl is seriously talented and you should all have her in your reader even if only to look at the pretty pictures of things you'll never make... like me!) I learned that today is the 45th anniversary of the airing of very first episode of Star Trek.

I don't know if you guys have noticed but I am a huge nerd! I watched every single episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation growing up. I read a couple of the books (which I would only read at home so I wouldn't accidentally be caught with one by a 'cool' kid and mercilessly mocked for) and even dressed up as Counselor Troi for Halloween one year.

I dyed my hair black with one of those 'one wash' dyes and then I curled it.

The curls were gone in about 30 minutes (stupid poker straight hair) and

I was still washing the black dye out two weeks later. One wash my *ss!

I was a late-comer to The Original Series (called  TOS by those 'in the know' aka geeks) only starting to watch it about five years ago. I love it. Some day, when I meet my sugar daddy (so, you know, never), I plan to buy the entire series on DVD because I'm nerdy awesome like that.

Back to Darla's awesomeness. Also being of the geek-persuasion, Darla made these awesome TOS sugar cookies.

[Credit: shamelessly stolen from Bakingdom]

Seeing them in my reader this morning made my heart go pitter-patter! Also, she insinuated she was going to make some Firefly baked goods so that's my day made.

Captain Mal in edible form? If you insist!

So, those are some things I think are awesome right now. I have more to talk about but a) I have a lunch meeting I have to get to and b) The Guild isn't going to watch itself in the next 20 minutes before I have to leave, so, you know...

GBC Book Review: A Dance With Dragons

The fifth book in George R.R. Martin’s epic A Song of Fire and Ice fantasy series begins by running parallel to the fourth book, A Feast For Crows, for roughly 2/3rds of the story before characters from AFFC begin to have narration in ADWD.

After all my raving about the first three books in this series and my excitement about the fifth book coming out despite a so-so fourth book, I was very disappointed with A Dance With Dragons. I found, as I did with AFFC, that it felt like much of the book was moving players around the chess board with no clear idea of how to get them where Martin wanted them to end up.

While the story telling was, as it always is, fantastic (and Martin has created such a believable fantasy world for his characters to inhabit) I found myself pleading with the story to do something. I was waiting for it to start. As the book moved further and further along, it became very apparent that many of the story lines weren’t actually going anywhere worth getting excited about.

I did feel, however, that ADWD ended with a much bigger promise of a pay off in the next book than AFFC did (although I will concede that this may be because ADWD is leading into the next part of the story, not leading to a book which runs parallel). Many of the principle characters are now set up to make their move. The chess pieces, so to speak, are ready for their final moves of the endgame.

I don’t require that every book be packed with action, but it’s possible to move the story along while you set up the upcoming plot lines (which Martin did excellently in A Game of Thrones so we know he is capable of doing it) but what I read here felt more like floundering in many parts.

On the positive side, I really enjoyed the chapters told from Reek’s perspective (if you’re reading the series and have reached book five: I always wanted him to have a chance to redeem himself after some of his previous actions and I really enjoyed watching him turn back into the man he could be.) And despite all my criticisms with ADWD, it’s still leaps and bounds ahead of almost any chick lit book I’ve ever read.

GBC Book Review: Death From the Skies!

I originally found Phil Plait, Ph. D. through the magic of twitter and have been an avid reader of his blog, Bad Astronomy, ever since. Through the science blogging world that I like to pretend I pay attention to, I heard wonderful things about his book ‘Death From the Skies!’ which deals with the science behind the end of the world so I bought the paperback version in January.

Then it sat on my side table for six months. (I like to think that it was collecting lots of protons and electrons which arranged themselves in the form of dust.)

When I finally did get around to reading it (mainly because I still had a month to go before book five of The Song of Ice and Fire series was released *cough*) I loved it. From the very first sentence in which he asserts that the universe is trying to kill you (but don’t take it personally, it’s trying to kill everybody) to his final summation regarding the odds of these events occurring in our lifetime, the book was a complete joy to read.

Trust him, he's a Doctor. Well, he has a Ph. D. He's not that type of Doctor.

[Source]

While it is very science-y (yes, that is totally a word) and Plait doesn’t shy away from going into a couple of head scratcher theories, the book is clearly written for the layman who has little to no knowledge of astronomy or astrophysics. The theories are laid out in relatively simple English and there is no assumption that you will remember the theory two chapters later (which I really appreciated when I put the book down for two weeks to work on a couple of projects).

The book, while about a very serious subject, is peppered with Plait’s sense of humour. It is not often that I can say a science book made me laugh out loud but this one definitely did. And despite its serious topic, I found the book oddly reassuring regarding the likelihood of meteor impacts and gamma-ray bursts.  (I still feel threatened by the zombie apocalypse but that’s why I’ve taken up running as a pastime.)

I can’t stress how much I enjoyed this book. The only downside is that I now I have questions regarding some of the theories which means that maybe it’s time I finally gave “A Brief History of Time” a go.

Or maybe I’ll warm up with a few simpler science books first.

GBC Book Review: Stardust

Stardust begins in the village of Wall. A young Tristran Thorn, consumed by love, sets off on an adventure through the mythical land of Faerie (located on the other side of the rock wall which runs along the village) to find the falling star for the young lady. Little does he know that when a star falls in Faerie, it appears in its human form and Tristran is not the only person who wants to find it.

Six out of seven ghost brother's agree: Stardust is fabulous!

I saw the movie for Stardust shortly after it first came out on DVD. My roommate at the time and myself watched the movie and when it ended at roughly 9:00pm, we agreed that we had enough time before bed (it was a work night) to watch it again. Since that time I've read some of Neil Gaiman's writing but never any of his full novels. I've always enjoyed his writing so I don't know why it took me so long to read this book but I'm so happy that I finally did. Mr. Gaiman creates a beautiful fantasy world and weaves its existence into every day life with ease. The descriptions of both places and characters are detailed and in depth without being laborious and plot-delaying.

I would highly recommend this novel to anyone. It's sure to delight teenagers and adults alike which is not easy to do. I also recommend the movie, but approach it as a separate body of work.

GBC Book Review: A Study in Scarlet

I recently watched the BBC version of Sherlock and was inspired to go back and read the original works by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. A Study in Scarlet is the first book in the series so it seemed like a good place to start. After the small formality of learning how Dr. Watson and Holmes meet, the reader is taken along on the journey of Dr. Watson’s first foray into being Holmes’ sidekick when a man is found to have ingested poison in an abandoned house.

This novel serves as the basis for the first episode of the updated Sherlock, so I knew who the killer was before I had even started the novel. In that sense, it didn’t grip me trying to figure out who the culprit was (although it did in the TV episode so I’m sure if I had read the novel first, it would have as well). What I really enjoyed about the novel (and all the Sherlock mysteries) is that it’s told from the point of view of Dr. Watson and so Holmes is slowly unveiled to you as if you were also meeting him for the first time. It’s a great way to introduce a character as dynamic and yet socially inept as Sherlock Holmes.

I’m part way through the third book in the series (I don’t have the second book) and I can honestly say that I’m really enjoying them. Doyle has created some really memorable characters and some very interesting mysteries of which I’ve had varying degrees of success in solving. It has also given me a great appreciation for the amazing effort that went into updating the stories for their use in Sherlock. The series is incredibly true to the original stories in tone and pacing and suspense with lots of little running gags that pay homage to Doyle’s work (much more so than the recent movie version).

GBC Book Review: A Holiday for Murder

I found this Agatha Christie novella in my laundry room almost a year ago. I’m a big fan of whodunits and it’s a quick read. It centres around the murder of an old disliked patriarch who has assembled his family for Christmas after years apart. In true Christie style, there’s a huge cast of characters who almost all have motive and opportunity and the book abounds with red herrings. Written in a way that makes me want to beat Stephanie Meyer about the ears with the book screaming “this is how you write a plot driven novel while filling in back story”, I was guessing the whole way through changing my mind every few pages.

It wasn't an earth-shattering book, but it was quick and enjoyable. Like many of her works, it's a great option if you want something just a little more involved when you're on a plane or sitting on a beach. I don't want to give away the ending but I will tell you that the butler didn't do it.

GBC Book Review: The Girl Who Kicked at the Hornets' Nest

I’m well behind in my novel reviews because I finished this one on Christmas Day! It also means that I don’t really remember a lot of the details I wanted to talk about except that I enjoyed it. Most of the things I do remember would give away plot points for those who haven’t read it yet and that’s just a cruel thing to do. Stieg Larsson had created some really interesting and unique characters without turning them into clichés; I would really have enjoyed seeing where the series would have gone had he been able to finish it.

GBC Book Review: The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency

First off, multiple people recommended this book to me because I've lived in Africa. Little geography lesson: this book is set in Botswana, I lived in Tanzania. Not the same place. Botswana is in southern Africa, Tanzania is in east Africa. Although they share more in common than they do with many west or north African countries, it's like telling someone who lived in BC that they should read Anne of Green Gables because they spent time in Canada.

Having said all that, one of things I did really like about The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency was its imagery of Africa. Without going overboard on the sentimentality, Alexander McCall Smith did a good job on creating a vivid image of Botswana. There was a balance of both the good and bad aspects of living there which I appreciate. It is so common for books, both fiction and non-fiction, to sway to either end of the spectrum when it comes to life in Africa. Smith does tend to look more at the good, but he doesn't shy away from talking about the bad.

Given all the talk and praise I had heard for this series, I actually wasn't that blown away by the first book. A series of unconnected mysteries which are often solved with very little fuss are held together by the overarching story of Mma Ramotswe, who has opened Botswana's first detective agency run by a woman. I love a good detective novel. I love trying to solve the crime before the protagonist but this book didn't really allow for that and that stopped me from really getting into it.

I have the second book in the series and I'm sure I'll get around to reading it, but it has moved down my list in order of importance. Overall, if you're looking for a light read for the beach or your daily bus commute into work, this is a good mindless diversion. If you're looking for a gripping whodunnit that you can sink your teeth into, stick with Agatha Christie.

GBC Book Review (Bonus Book): The Girl Who Played with Fire

The Girl Who Played with Fire is the second book in the Millennium Trilogy by Stieg Larsson. It picks up roughly a year after the last book to find Lisbeth Salander living abroad in the Caribbean before returning to Sweden where she again becomes embroiled in a mystery when she's accuse of a triple murder.

I didn't find this book as engrossing as the first one for a few simple reasons: there were a lot of secondary characters whose necessity to the story line is never really apparent to me, and there's a lot of plot points which weren't paid off by the end of the book. I know the story does continue so I'm hoping that these issues will become mute by the end of the third book. That's not to say I didn't thoroughly enjoy the book, I just felt like it could have down with a bit of editing to tighten it up.

The book succeeded like the first one in keeping me guessing. My initial thoughts on where it was headed turned out to be very wrong which always the sign of a good 'whodunnit' for me. The amount of background research which must have gone into making this book possible is incredible. From complex math equations to the staggering figures of Sweden's illegal immigration for the sex trade, Larsson really knew his stuff. Yet the moral message which was woven throughout the book wasn't overtly in-your-face which I liked. It's easier to get people to your side when you're not beating them over the head with an obvious-stick.

Overall, I enjoyed the book and would definitely recommend it (but only if you've read The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo).

GBC Book Review: Long Way Round

Long Way Round was actually one of the second hand books I bought for my trip to Africa and then promptly left on my bed. I had enjoyed the TV series when I had caught it on OLN and figured the book's always better, right?

Long Way Round follows close friends and motorcycle enthusiasts, Ewan McGregor (yes, that Ewan McGregor) and Charley Boorman as they embark on the journey of travelling from London to New York by motorcycle via Europe, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Russia, etc, etc. Originally, Ewan and Charley wanted to do the whole thing on their own, but upon research found that, as actors with families to support, they didn't have the time to do all the leg work involved in setting up the trip. A decision was made to make a documentary about their journey to fund the process of making the trip possible. The book is written by Ewan and Charley. They switch off on narration duties and their voices are distinct enough that I could often pick it up mid-narration and know who was doing the writing.

My biggest problem with the book is the fact that I had seen the TV show... twice... so there were no real surprises left for me while I read it. I knew the people they were going to meet who would impact them; I knew the big arguments they would have; I knew the outcome of every crash. While I enjoyed reading it, it didn't have the excitement to it that reading Long Way Down had. I read Long Way Down (their second journey from John o' Groat's, Scotland to Cape Town, South Africa) before I saw the TV series and I really think that made all the difference.

One reason I did really enjoy the book was that you got a better sense of what they were thinking along the way. Although they do personal video diaries, often those can be somewhat jumbled as they try to work out everything in their memory from that day, whereas the book was written after the fact, using journals and memory so it's much more thorough. I also liked that Claudio, their always hungry, motorcycle-riding-and-crashing Swiss cameraman, became much more of a figure in the book than the silent partner you rarely see in the mini-series.

Both Long Way Round and Long Way Down offer a great chance to do some armchair travel, but I'd recommend reading them before seeing the mini-series. Get ready to fight the desire to get a motorcycle license until after you've finished reading.

GBC Book Review: The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo

I stayed up late last night to finish this one because I knew if I didn't, I'd be back into the work week. No way I was putting this book down so I could fulfill my legal obligation to go to work!

A million people had recommended this book to me before I read it (okay, eight people, but it seemed like a million because it came up in every single book conversation I've had since April) but the thing I remember most about the recommendations was my step-mom telling me "it starts slow as he lines up the cast of characters, but stick with it." I'm the type of person who will stick with a book even when I hate it unless it actually becomes painful to read (*cough*Twilight*cough*)so I didn't really need the advice but I can definitely understand what she meant by it. I'm a huge fan of the old school murder mysteries where it's more about the detecting (think Agatha Christie, I love her 'And Then There Were None') so this was right up my alley. I was trying to figure it out along with the two main protagonists right up until the reveal. Without spoiling it, I will say that there are enough red herrings to really keep you unsure of the final outcome.

I was really happy that there was a little snippet of the next book at the end of this one. Although I would have gladly read the next book with no hesitation, but the little snippet really wet my whistle, so to speak, and I want that next book rightnow!  Oh, Stephanie, my lender of addicting books, I really hope you're home this afternoon...