Remember that guy that used to write here? Yeah, he was cool.

So how is everybody doing? It's been a while. Why? I don't know. Well, that's not entirely true. I know that I have been lazy and that Twitter has become my Internet outlet lately. You can follow me there if you want. All the cool kids are doing it. (Except, Cookie, and she really should.) Look, there is a link over there on the right. Go poke it and follow my wit and wisdom over there.

What else? Oh, I updated the blog a little. It was due for a change. I added my currently reading widget from Goodreads. I've been reading a lot lately. I've read Feed and Deadline by Mira Grant (AKA Seanan McGuire). They are zombie novels, but not your average zombie books. They are great and you should really read them. I mean it.

As you can see, I'm reading Robopocalypse by Daniel H. Wilson right now because it's a great name for a book, and we all know it is coming eventually so I might as well be ready. I wonder if the zombie apocalypse or the robopocaplyse will come first? Maybe they will team up and completely wipe us out. Who wants to write that mash-up novel?

I've been watching a lot of TV, too. It's been very rainy here the last month, so there hasn't been a lot to do. One show I recommend is Finding Bigfoot on Animal Planet. These researchers are looking for bigfoot, of course, but they are totally gung-ho on this. It's not that they just want to track down reports from people, they believe bigfoot is out there for sure and keep mentioning all these "facts" about them. Now, correct me if I'm wrong, but we have never actually found a bigfoot, right? So, there is no way we know how they sound, how big they are, etc. Right? Unless Harry and The Hendersons was based on a real life situation I didn't know about. Seriously, watch it. Just once. It's fun!

Oh, I also have a new music review up at Functional Nerds. So you should probably read that this weekend. What else do you have to do? There is a lot of other cool stuff over there.

Okay, go have a good weekend. I promise to be back soon. I know you have all been waiting.

I'm somewhere else today

I'm filling in for Florinda as she heals from shoulder surgery. She let me talk about my favorite book that I've read over the past year; The Breach by Patrick Lee. Go to Florinda's site and read it quick. With the loss of readership she'll get from me filling in, she might not keep the post up long!

I'm kidding of course, she would never pull the post down. I don't think.

Packing for Mars by Mary Roach: A Sort of Review

No, I don't review books here often, I leave that to the professionals like Florinda, but I enjoyed Packing for Mars so much that I wanted to talk about it.

First, let's step back a little. I haven't read any of Mary Roach's books before, actually I've never heard of her. Sad I know. Anyway, I happened to catch her on The Daily Show with John Stewart back in August. Normally when I watch The Daily Show I skip the interview part, but when John Stewart mentioned the book was about space exploration, I knew I had to watch. Wow, was I glad I did. After watching the funny interview Jenn even told me that the book was right up my alley. She wasn't kidding.

So, now to the book. I will warn you about spoilers now; humans have been in space and to the moon. You knew that, right? Good. Packing for Mars, as the name suggests, is a look at the science of space travel, what we've done already and what we need to study in order to make it to Mars. But this isn't written by your average science teacher-type person who puts you to sleep after a page or two. Nor does it look at the types of things you normally think about when you hear about space travel. Let's say it's more a long the line of everything you always wanted to know about space travel but were afraid to ask.

What do I mean by that? Let's just say there is a lot of talk about poop in space. Actually poop, urine, food and vomit which, when you think about it, go hand-in-hand. Now, it's not all poop talk, because that would get old, and gross. There is a lot of talk about gravity and how it screws with your body, as well. But Mary Roach takes a decidedly different approach to the space program than your average author would. This is what makes the book great, in my opinion. Who wants to read another boring book about thrust vectors and approach angles and all that stuff? I want to know what happens what a poop ball gets loose in space! Or, would I chock to death if I barfed in my space suit?

I'm not saying this book makes fun of NASA or the space program. Not at all. It's quite the opposite. You can tell Mary Roach appreciates all that's been a accomplished, and the things she writes about are just as important as the rocket that sends the astronauts up. Without the wast collections systems, food systems, space suits, etc., they would never be able to stay up there more than a few days. But, there is also no reason that we can't read about these things and have fun at the same time, right?

So, if you want to read about all the science behind the space program that you never even thought about, go out and buy Packing for Mars. It is a really fun read. Also, it looks like Mary Roach is on tour. If you live in California you can still catch her, but at only one event it seems. Sorry I'm late on that. Looks like she didn't come to Chicago this year, which is probably good since I'd go and look like a dork laughing at the poop talk.

I have developed a problem.

I'm not sure if I mentioned this here, but for Father's Day the kids got me an iPad. Okay, Jenn got it for me, I mean, how much money do the kids have that isn't ours?

Anyway, I really like it. It's great to take to work so I can keep in touch with e-mail, Twitter and the various blogs I follow. Also, and this is one reason I wanted to get one, was that you can read books on it. Here is where the problem started.

See, Apple came out with it's own book reader called iBooks, but they aren't the only one. There is also the Amazon Kindle app, the Barnes and Noble e-reader, Stanza and Borders app. I don't have the Borders one yet, though I'm sure I'll get it since I have a rewards membership with them and the Barnes and Noble rewards blows. So I have all these reader apps and each one has some books, many samples and none have duplicates. I have developed Book Attention Deficit Disorder (BADD). I am in the middle of several books, which doesn't include a book or two that I have on my phone but not synced to my iPad. It's out of control.

So now when I get to a boring part of a book I switch over to another one, then that one gets boring and I switch again. So right now I'm reading a book about Martians attacking earth in the late 1800s while a kid, with a pet dragon type sentient being, runs around on a very wet planet all the while a secret society of bureaucrats keeps the creatures from other dimensions from slipping into own own. It's quite a confusing book.

So, yes, I have BADD, which I think should be in the next version the DSM.

Spread the word! People need to know of the affliction.

My friend sent me something cool the other day

Back in March, Florinda mentioned she was going to the Festival of Books out in LA, and as a half-joke I mentioned to her that Pamela Ribon was going to be there and it would be great if she could get me an autograph. Now, I didn't really expect Florinda to do that. Like I told her, I didn't have anything I could send her to have Pam sign. But, she was the only person I knew who was going. It was worth a shot.

Now, I found Pamela Ribon (AKA Pamie, Pamie.com, May Q. Holla, Wonder Killer) on the Internet several years ago, but she's been on there with her online diary since 1998. I didn't even have a computer that could go on the Internet back then, I think we got one in 2000 then all we had were those free AOL discs so I wasn't online a whole lot. Anyway, a couple of years after that I found out about blogs, I found hers and have enjoyed it since then. She cracks me up. But, besides being a blogger, she's also a TV writer (Samantha Who, Romantically Challenged), author and a Derby Girl in LA. I'm not sure when she sleeps, to be honest.

I'm going to stop with the background on Pam so I don't sound like some kind of stalker. I've been thinking how to write this without sounding that way. It's not easy. Really, I'm not. Florinda can vouch for me. Just check out Pamie.com to see what I'm talking about.

Anyway, back to the Festival of Books. As you can read on her blog, Florinda did go to see Pam who was speaking on a panel and got two books signed. Yes, she got one for me. How cool is that?

As Florinda knows, the book isn't my normal genre, so to speak, but if you see what Pam wrote in there, I really have no choice but to read it. It's almost like a threat. She'll probably get the Chicagoland derby girls to kick my ass if I don't.

So, that was my good news in the mail the other day.

Thanks for all your hard work, Florinda. And thanks, Pam, for signing it.

Dewey's back and needs your help

Dewey's back!

He needs you to help by donating books and other things to libraries, hospitals and wherever else books are needed.

Go.

Now.

Help.

Thanks!

Weekend Assignment #306: Famous Author

Carly is running the weekend assignment this week, and she wants us to pretend we are famous authors. Interesting.

So, the deal is it has to be something we don't normally read, or aren't known for. Since I'm not known for anything, I decided to have a little fun. I hope that is okay.

Weekend Assignment #306: You're A Famous Author, Whats The Name Of Your Book?

My book is a young adult romantic fantasy novel. I named it "We'll Meet Under the New Moon at Harry Potter's House." I figure this might draw some attention on the shelves at the bookstore. Not a bad idea, am I right.

Extra Credit: Write the opening paragraph of your best-seller!

Here is a taste:

Katie wanted Harry Potter bad. Really bad. It was like that time when she saw the

commercial for the new Porsche and wanted it but couldn't have it. But even worse. Much worse.

Even though she never talked to him, she new she loved him. Maybe it was the cute scar on

his head, or the fact that he turned Evil Sheila into a newt. She wasn't sure, but whatever

it was, she loved him for it. Sure, it could be a spell he cast on her, but that didn't matter.

What mattered was she loved him and she couldn't have him. In other words, she was sad.

Also, she thought her life seemed a little like that Romeo and Juliet thing she had to read

for Mrs. Johnson's class. Ick. She hated that class. And Mrs. Johnson. She hated them both.

Also, her parents, she didn't like them much either. They always made her do stuff. Ugh, stuff!

Riveting, no? Makes you want to go out and buy it, doesn't it?

(I apologize to all the women out there. I'm not making fun of teenage girls. Really.)

Finally read 'Under the Dome'

Yes, I've been wanting to read Stephen King's Under the Dome since I first heard about it in November and I'm finally done. I got it for Christmas and really got a chance to get into it until last week. After near 1,100 pages it is finished.

In short, it was a good book. I highly recommend it. No, you don't have to like horror, because it really isn't horror. No, you don't have to like SF, because that is such a tiny bit of the story it doesn't matter. Sure, you have to suspend belief a little bit, but don't you have to every time you read a novel?

It's a story of what would happen if a small town was suddenly cut off from from the rest of the world. I know, that doesn't sound so exciting. Now, throw in the fact that the guy in charge of the town is a fool and is actually just a figure head and the second in charge is really the man running the show. Also, some not so legal things are going on in town and said things are being run by the people in charge of the town. Also, the second in charge is a power hungry man who decides that the dome is a good thing for him. This is why things get interesting.

The real man in charge is "Big" Jim Rennie. Local car dealer, religious man, who always looks out for the best of the town while making sure his secret illegal operation is making him rich. After the dome comes down the town police chief (Big Jim's mortal enemy) dies, allowing the man Big Jim trusts to become the chief. Which leads to Big Jim filling the officer ranks with people that will do anything he says, and not really follow the code of conduct one would expect a police officer to follow. Basically the town is eventually under martial law with Big Jim as the dictator. All for the good of the people of course. Not to mention that this is set into motion based on a small riot set up by Big Jim himself. Yes, he is kid of a dick. You really get to hate him. This is what King does well. He can really flesh out a character so much that you know if you met this guy in real life you'd want to punch him.

On the other side we have Dale Barbara, Barbie to his friends. Baaaarbie to is enemies. We meet Barbie as he's trying to leave town after a confrontation with Big Jim's son. He's on the Rennie's shit list and knows it's best to get out of town. He almost makes it out of town before the dome comes down, but instead he's at the edge of town when the dome clamps down on the town. He sees a woodchuck cut in half and a small plane crash into it. He knows this isn't going to be a good situation. He's right.

It turns out nothing can bring the dome down. The US Army tries several things but nothing works. This doesn't help the stability of the town. Nor, do the actions of Big Jim. Eventually, the town starts getting split up into two factions. Those against Big Jim and his cronies in the police department, and those for. But, due to some tactics by Jim and his police, the side against him is much smaller. He knows how to play to the towns people's fears.

The President tries to put Barbie in charge by executive order, but Big Jim gets Barbie locked up on some false murder charges. That sets into motion the climax which includes a jail break and some bad stuff that I don't want to describe here and give away. It wasn't unexpected, but the scale was larger than I expected.

Like I said before, this is one of the books where King gets deep into the characters. You really get to know them. You cheer for them. You sneer at some of them. You want good things to happen, it doesn't always work out.

Was the book perfect? No. I had a few quibbles. I had one aviation related problem with it. (If anyone out there is writing a book or movie and needs some information on aviation stuff, let me know. I'll be glad to help because this stuff always bugs me.) And I wasn't impressed with the very end, but it didn't ruin the book for me. Not one bit.

I think this is one of King's best books in a while. Based on the reviews I've seen, I'm not the only one. Go out and check it out. Just leave some time to read. It's long.

Death Troopers sounds like a great idea

A few weeks ago a happened across a post on SF Signal about a book called Death Troopers. I'm not a Star Wars book reader, I'm not sure if I've ever read one, but this was a Star Wars horror novel. That sounded very interesting to me. I read a a little more about it, derelict ships, horrific disease, possible zombies...what's not to like? Just check out the cover!

The book is written by Joe Schreiber. Now, I'll admit it, I hadn't heard of him before, but the idea of the book was just too good. I checked out his site and noticed that he was going to be at a Borders close by yesterday, so I went. I thought it would be a good idea to see what he had to say about the book, and what it was like writing a book in the Star Wars world was like. It turns out, it was a lot of fun.

Joe was lead out by some Stormtroopers and others from the 501st. And they guarded him during the talk. See:

Now, like I said, I've never read a Star Wars book, nor gone to s Star Wars signing, so I don't know if this is normal. I also think it was safe to say I was the only one there who hadn't read any other Star Wars novels. These people knew there stuff. I'll leave it at that.

Joe himself was super nice. After the short reading he made it more of a conversation with the audience. Always a good idea in my opinion. He also took his time with each person who got their book signed. I mentioned how my son was getting into Star Wars now, but I have to hide this book and paraphernalia that I got since it was not meant for a boy of seven. It turns out he also had a son the same age, but he also said how when he was the same age when the original Star Wars movie came out he was pretty scared by it. Which does make sense, there was some scary parts there for kids that age, like me. It was a PG movie, so that only makes sense. But, yeah, Darth Vader is a bit scary, not to mention Jabba the Hut, or many of the characters from the Cantina on Tatooine. (Sorry, my inner geek just popped out.)

I haven't read the book yet, I just got it that day, but I think it is a safe purchase if you are an Star Wars or horror fan. Even better if you are both. (No, I didn't get anything for free to say that.)

By the way, I haven't told my son where I went Monday night. I don't think he'll understand that it's something he can't read yet. I can't show him the pictures either, he'd be extra mad if he knew there were Stormtroopers there.

Look! I got a book in the mail!

This book came in the mail yesterday:

And I didn't have to pay for it.

Here's what happened. Jason Sanford, who wrote The Ships Like Clouds, Risen By Their Rain that is included in this collection, had a contest on his website. He was submitting a story to a magazine and he asked people to guess how long it would take to get a rejection. I thought that was an interesting contest, so I submitted my guess and, obviously, I won. I never win anything. Also, Jason was nice enough to sign it for me. Somehow I forgot to ask him if he would sign it, though I did remember after I knew that it was in the mail.

So now I have some new stuff to read, which is good since I'm almost done with the book I'm currently reading. Also, since Jason was nice enough to give the book away, I'll be sure to read his first. It looks like a good batch of stories.

I like these kind of contests. I think they are a great idea. To be honest, I didn't follow him before, I think I saw the contest on SF Signal, but now I do and I'll be more open to buying something from him in the future. It's all about good Internet karma. I know a lot of authors do this, and I hope they keep it up. It's an easy way to get more readers who will buy your stuff.

By the way, I seem to be more lucky on these kind of things then things like the lottery. It's nice to get some free books, but a few hundred million dollars would allow me to buy any book I want.

Anyway, go and check out Jason Sanford's site. Pointing you over there is the least I can do.

Science Fiction and Fantasy Day? Count me in

I got this from Florinda last week who said she probably wasn't going to participate since she doesn't read a whole lot of Science Fiction or Fantasy. So, I thought I'd help her out and write a post and link back to her, you know, to pinch-hit for her. Well, she went and wrote her own post; that's the last time I try to help her out. I'm kidding (mostly). But since I started planning this post I figured I should write it up anyway. Plus, you get a break from my vacation talk. I'm almost done with that, I promise!

This idea came from Sharon Lee:

In my Official Capacity as a writer of science fiction and fantasy, I hereby proclaim June 23 Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Day! A day of celebration and wonder! A day for all of us readers of science fiction and fantasy to reach out and say thank you to our favorite writers. A day, perhaps, to blog about our favorite sf/f writers. A day to reflect upon how written science fiction and fantasy has changed your life.

I figured the best thing to write about is the series I'm currently in the middle of at this time. It's the Coyote series from Allen Steele, and I'm really liking it. See, I have a problem starting with authors I've never read before. I'm always afraid I'm going to buy a book by a new (to me) author, get halfway through it, then give up because I can't read it for one reason or another. But, sometime last year I took a chance. I happened to see Allen Steele's Spindrift in my usual SF/F aisle of the store and the back cover copy grabbed me:

June 1, 2288-Europe's first starship, the EASS Galileo, launches on its maiden voyage to investigate an unidentified object, code-named Spindrift, which is traveling outside our solar system. An object that may be alien in origin. The Galileo disappears soon after...

February 1, 2344-The Galileo's shuttle returns to Earth carrying three surviving expedition members, who still appear to be the same age they were when they departed. They report that they have, indeed, made contact with an extraterrestrial race-and become enmeshed in a conflict that brought them face to face with the most apocalyptic force in the galaxy.

It is up to Director General John Shillinglaw to piece together the puzzle created by these events- for the survivors tell their stories from their own conflicting perspectives. And the truth is more difficult to glean than it appears.

Now, this is the kind of stuff I like. It had it all, space exploration, possible alien technology, a minor mystery on top of it. It was perfect. So, I bought it and read it, and loved it. It gave me the sense of awe and wonder I used to get when reading Isaac Asimov books as a kid.

Now this book wasn't technically part of the Coyote series, this was, as they say, only in the Coyote universe. Actually the planet itself, actually a moon, wasn't in it until the end, so I knew I had to start from the beginning.

The next time out to the bookstore I bought Coyote, and was not let down. Again, it had all my favorite elements in it. This time we had a ship ready to go on the first mission to place a colony on another planet. Again, like I said, it's actually a moon of a gas giant, but you know what I mean. But, things don't go quite as planned, at least for the government. Unbeknownst to them, the crew, including the captain, plan to steal the ship and fill it with their own people who want to get away from the overpowering government. They succeed, but it's not as easy as they thought.

I won't go into the details, but imagine trying to build a town from scratch. On a planet were the seasons are three times longer than on Earth, and you get there as fall is approaching. No, it is not easy. Especially when there are giant, vicious birds, and not much in the way of tools and supplies.

The book was great, as was the second, Coyote Rising. In Rising, 3 more ships show up only a few years later, each carrying approximately 1000 new settlers. However, the plan to rule the planet their way. The original settlers leave their city and hide in a relatively unexplored part of the planet, knowing that if they stayed, it would be just like being back on Earth all over again. They are right of course. Fortunately, they eventually win over the planet as theirs, unfortunately many die in the process.

I'm currently in the beginning of the latest in the series, Coyote Frontier, so I can't say much about it yet. Maybe I'll let you know when I'm done.

I guess what I'm saying is, yes, I recommend these books. If you like SF, I think you will like these. Even if you don't, you might, too. Quite a bit of the books are just about surviving against the odds.

You can read about all the books in the series, and universe, here.

There is my contribution to SF/F day. I hope I didn't bore you.

Favorite Books of My Childhood

There are three books I remember that really got me into reading for pleasure, and the set the tone for the types of books I'd continue reading. I'm a genre guy, specifically a science fiction and horror guy, and I'm okay with that. At least I read. Isn't that the most important thing?

I'm not sure which book came first, so I will talk about them in random order. I hope that is okay with everybody.

The first is The Hero from Otherwhere, by Jay Williams. This is actually a fantasy book, which I don't normally read, but I loved it as a kid. I can't remember all of the story, it was over 25 years ago, but I remember what really clicked with me; the magic bowls. These two boys that were in this magical land were given two bowls, anything they wanted to eat would magically appear in them when the tapped them. As an added bonus the bowls cleaned themselves as well. As I young boy that was enough to get me hooked and keep me reading. I imagined all the cool food I could eat as I walked around my own little town. I didn't want to go to the magical landthey were in, it was a little scary.

Of course, being a young adult book, there was a message. From what I remember, the two boys were not friends by any means, but they had to learn to work together to get back home. This was accomplished by coming up with the perfect magical words to get two stone pieces to magically become one. From what I see on Amazon, it looks my memory is pretty good. See, it did stick with me!

The second book really got me stuck on science fiction. It was a series of books actually, the Lucky Starr series, by Isaac Asimov. I found the first one in the library at our grade school and ended up devouring the whole series. It was perfect for me, a series of books about a space ranger who fights crime on different planets in our solar system. So not only did I learn that crime didn't pay, but I learned about our tiny piece of the galaxy.

After reading that series I read science fiction books all the way through high school and into college. My advanced reading teacher in high school was kind enough to let me continue the trend, and even offered up some other suggestions. That's for a different post.

The last book was The Gismo from Outer Space, by Keo Felker Lazaruas. See the trend yet? I'm not sure where this fell in the timing of my "Big Three", all I know is I read this book a lot. I think I would pull it out and read it twice a year. It's not like I forgot what happened, I just enjoyed it that much.

In the book, two boys find a weird little gismo (that's how it is spelled in the book), and they have no idea what it is for. On a whim, one of the kids hooks into into his crystal radio set (the books is from the early 70's) and the end up communicating with somebody. After a while they realize they are talking to aliens who dropped this piece off of one of their spaceships. Eventually they meet the aliens and that is all I can remember. I think they keep the piece and can talk to them for a while, but I could be wrong. I'm pretty sure the book is in our garage; I may search for it. If I find it I will pass along the ending. I know you are on the edge of your seat.

So, those were the three books that got me into reading and I haven't stopped yet. If you have kids I recommend any one, or all, of these to get them to enjoy reading. Maybe you could try them out, too. If you do, let me know what you think.

This post was inspired by the Bookworm Carnival. This month's theme was young adult books and is being hosted by Florinda. She is going to post links to some posts on the same topic. Go check it out.

Book Binge -- I guess...

I signed up to be in the book binge because I thought it would be fun to read what I like, tell people what I read, and see what others read. I'm always looking for new authors, or books, to try out. The problem is that I failed miserably. May was probably not the best month to do it. Work was busier than normal because I was working with a new program we are testing out, and the house was busier. The kids had a lot stuff going on and our puppy, Quincy, does not like me sitting still while I read. (Yes, I'm blaming the dog). Enough excuses here are the two whole books I read:

Duma Key by Stephen King. This one was 600 pages, can that count as two? It wasn't my favorite King book. It seemed to drag a little in the middle. I actually put it down for a while while I read the following.

The Solaris Book of New Science Fiction: Vol 2. edited by George Mann.
It's a book of short stories, I hope that counts.
I like most of the stories, but there are a few I'd like to point out. Neal Asher has two stories, Mason's Rats: Black Rat and Mason's Rats: Autotractor, which I liked. I have never read his work before but, based on what I can tell, this is may not be the first of these stories of sentient rats on a farm that, at first, bother the farmer, then they end up working together. The were both fun stories.

The other story I wanted to point out was Evil Robot Monkey by Mary Robinette Kowal. The title itself made me want to read it, but the story was different than I expected, and better for it. It is about a chimp that has an implant that allows him to much smarter than average chimps. He can talk, as well as other things, but the story deals with the struggle within the chimp as he is not human, but not quite a chimp anymore.

There is my pathetic list. I'll do better next year. I wasn't going to post this, but Florinda made me. Go here to see what others read.