Thanksgiving, 2016
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Agent to the Stars, by John Scalzi
A great mixture of comedy and syfy. An alien race wants to introduce themselves to the human race, but because they’re physically repulsive, they hire a Hollywood agent to ensure that it goes well. And it does seem to be a pretty good move. Some complications arise, and we get treated to an alien entering the mind of a dying dog, and the dog is…
The Downside of eBooks
I saw a post on audiobooks, where a frequent contributor was lamenting the fact that he couldn’t find newly released books on Amazon, yet could find them on audiobooks.com (sells audio versions of books). That caught my attention, and it reminded me of another point that I’ve observed about the ebook phenomenon–high prices. And it’s mostly caused by the fact that publishers now pretty much…
The Devil’s Rock-excellent horror movie
It takes place during WWII, and is set inside a German gun fortress on an island somewhere north of Germany. The place is full of dark tunnels, so it’s spooky just trying to figure out what’s around the corner. A pair of Allied soldiers have snuck in to blow it up, and instead, hear lots of screaming and lots of dead soldiers. The Germans have…
The Litigators, by John Grisham
Remember the opening of the movie Falling Down, with Michael Douglas? That’s pretty much how this book starts out. Then after spending all day in a bar, our hero walks into an office, totally at random, and declares he wants a job. The particular office he has chosen is run by two total loser attorneys. Luckily, he happens to be a better one. And luckily,…
Whiteout, by Ken Follet
Stupid rabbit. Yes, the little bunny causes all kinds of headaches for this thief with the perfect plan. He’s deep in gambling debt, and he’s offered a way out. All he has to do is steal a deadly virus from his father’s laboratory. Reminded me of A Simple Plan, or Fargo. It’s got its own little slant though, and Follet does a great job with…
Snow Angels, by James Thompson
This book has one of the most horrific murder scenes you’ll ever come across. But, of course, I can’t give you the details–just trust me. As in Lucifer’s Tears, this book also takes place in the cold, cold north of Europe. Finland, to be exact, and because of the geographic and genre similarities, it seems like an extension of the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo…
Cancun 2012
With this kind of beginning, how can we go wrong? We managed to arrange our flight time so we didn’t have to get up while it was still dark. I couldn’t pass up this photo, stopping on the way into the airport. And it must have been a good omen–during the flight, our seats stayed bolted to the floor and everything. Here’s a tip if…
Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, by Seth Grahame-Smith
A very clever melding of the vampire myth with the life of Abraham Lincoln. The approach reminds me very much of The Da Vinci Code–there’s just enough connection with real events to hook you into believing that the nonreal parts could also be true. Thank goodness though, the vampires are not given the Twilight treatment–there’s no lovey dovey romance novel treatment. The gist of the…
Hacking Work: Breaking Stupid Rules for Smart Results, by Bill Jensen and Josh Klein
Got this for one penny at Amazon. Of course, shipping was $3.99, but it’s still a great deal. The book doesn’t have a boiler plate of tools to use for hacking, but it does give a good sales pitch about the risks and benefits. By the way, the work hacking is not the malicious kind–it’s about going around rules when you can get the job…
Old Man’s War, by John Scalzi
Excellent syfy–the first 50 pages of the book are very boring, and the so called repartee is on a teen age level. But, once the book gets going, it really rocks. In the future, the human race drafts people who are way over the hill, around 75 or so, and transplants their brain functionality and memories into young, cloned bodies. The bodies are almost super…