Tag Archives: books

Chewing Up “The Renegade Star” by J. N. Chaney

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Courtesy Mr. Chaney’s Facebook Page

Typically, you can get a decent feel for a new book from the first few lines. The Renegade Star begins:

‘”I’ll fucking kill you!” screamed William Emmerson as he ordered his security personnel to fire in my direction.

“Good luck with that!” I returned, running as fast as my feet would carry me.’

Now, I don’t know about you, dear reader, but this screams pedal to the metal to me.

Clearly inspired by Firefly, Chaney’s The Renegade Star is super charged action with intelligence to back it up. Spoilers abound.

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Chewing Up “Molly’s Game” by Molly Bloom

This was an interesting choice for me to read. I am not a poker guy. I am not a non-fiction guy. 

Ms. Bloom is an intelligent woman – she is great at reading an audience and then delivering what they want. In the case of this book, she gives the audience a portrait of an All-American girl made good. It’s a compelling tale of a strong woman dating influential people. I just wish I could believe it all. 

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Quote of the Day 15-Sept-2017: On Honor

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Game of Thrones by George R R Martin

“You wear your honor like a suit of armor, Stark. You think it keeps you safe, but all it does is weigh you down and make it hard for you to move. Look at you now. You know why you summoned me here. You know what you want to ask me to do. You know it has to be done … but it’s not honorable, so the words stick in your throat.”

– Lord Petyr Baelish, Master of Coin, to Lord Eddard Stark, Lord of Winterfell, Warden of the North, Hand of the King, and Protector of the Realm, from Game of Thrones by George R R Martin.

 

Chewing Up “Gray Part I” by Lou Cadle

The idea of a post-apocalyptic world has been rampant the last few years. Zombies? Check. Being put into an arena to kill others your age? Check. The apocalypse is fashionable these days. Enter Gray: Part I by Loud Cadle. The first of a trilogy, this book has what others lack: reality.

Details below (spoiler alert, of course).

Gray Part I

 

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Chewing up “Ascend Online” by Luke Chmileriko

Ascend Online, whose name sounds like a beloved game I used to play called Eve Online, was immediately appealing to me for that reason. When I read some other online reviews, the book hearkened back to Ready Player One by Ernest Cline – a nostalgia piece aimed at video games the way that Cline’s work was a love letter to pop culture of the 1980’s.

Sadly I was disappointed. 

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In Which Light Became Easy

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Mr Thomas Edison courtesy of Wikipedia

So I had a bright idea. It really illuminated my way of thinking, and and helped to bring me out of the dark. After all, it is better to light a candle than to curse the darkness.

Today, dear friends, we honor… the light bulb! On this day in 1879, our beloved Mr. Thomas A. Edison accomplished a miracle that I use every night to read by.

The light bulb is one of those inventions that we all take for granted. Without it, however, life around the world would be vastly different. Can you imagine trying to read by candle light? Or imagine life without movies, or televisions? What about the simplicity of the alarm clock? Without Mr. Edison’s invention, we would still be in the Dark Ages. (Tired of the cliche’s yet?)

In seriousness, Mr. Edison gave us many gifts, and many insights (come back for tomorrow’s quote of the for an example.). Today, I honor the man who lets me read myself to sleep at night. Mr Edison, I thank you for your contribution to worldwide advancements, and for all of the inventions that came after based on your simple idea.

Conversations with Riley #25: Books and Snacks

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Remember the Pizza Hut Book Club?

Me: Ah! It feels good to sit down and take my shoes off!
Riley: <sits at attention, looking me in the eye> Hello sir
Me: Hmm… very formal

<Riley rests a paw on my knee>

Riley: Sir it’s been a long and quiet day and even though I’ve been bored I was a good girl and didn’t get into anything I shouldn’t or even eat one of those tasty morsels I love so well.
Me: And by tasty morself you mean… a book, don’t you?
Riley: Mmmmmmm book…
Me: Riley, did you eat a book?
Riley: I love you

In Which I Had Malicious Intent

Friday night, with malicious intent, I drove down the highway.

Friday night,  with malicious intent, I made a couple of pit stops along the way.

Friday night, with malicious intent, I cracked open a new book.

Tis a harrowing tale that brings us here. A tale of such frightening aspects like counting, and buying, and staying in on a Friday eve! Proceed with caution, if you dare to proceed at all.

After waking on Friday morn, I felt the urge to… correction… I felt strongly compelled (!) to count – yes COUNT – the number of books on my bookshelves. The tally: 303. But oh frightening part, the truly truly truly knee-shaking hair-raising turning-you-into-a-quivering-mass scary part is that I realized I needed more. More!

With malicious intent I counted and knew the number 303 was vastly too small. With malicious intent, I vowed to increase this number.

And so, with no compunction for those around me or for myself, on my way home that evening, I stopped at Half-Priced Books. I had the singular goal, the goal of filling in a gap in my collection. I needed Terry Pratchett‘s Small Gods. (You may have noticed the plethora of Pratchett quotes lately – this has been the result of this growing uncontrollable urge to re-read this very book.)

Alas, Half-Priced Books failed me on this occasion. They had precious few of Pratchett’s books, and Small Gods was not one of them. So I had to settle with the following:

Having been disappointed in my quest, I pressed on. Next on my barrage of book buying: Barnes (and his friend Noble). Surely a full priced book store would help me quench my lust for the printed word. “Surely!” I exclaimed as I fishtailed into my designated parking spot at the front of the lot (Summer’s Shadow had grasped the importance of my mission – she’s a good girl and how I love to hear her growl!).

Barnes quickly pointed me to the malicious intent section (which encompasses the entire store) and I managed to find not one, not two, but three (thank you Count, ah ah ah) books that I absolutely had to have:

And so when I arrived home, after feeding myself, and feeding Riley, (Summer’s Shadow wasn’t hungry), I proceeded to do something dangerous.

With malicious intent, I cracked opened a new book to feed my mind.