Eschewed Obfuscation

As of January 1st, 2008.
- denotes unfinished.


1. Singer in the Snow by Louise Marley
2. I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith
3. Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine 30th Anniversary Anthology by Sheila Williams (ed.)
4. Extras by Scott Westerfeld
5. The Ruby Dice by Catherine Asaro
6. The Blood of Flowers by Anita Amirrezvani
7. Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov
8. Wolf Who Rules by Wen Spencer
9. The Lions of Al-Rassan by Guy Gavriel Kay (reread)
- Song of the Sparrow by Lisa Ann Sandell
10. A Concise Chinese-English Dictionary for Lovers by Xiaolu Guo
11. Grimspace by Ann Aguirre (ARC)
- Falling Leaves: The Memoir of an Unwanted Chinese Daughter by Adeline Yen Mah
12. The Shamer's Daughter by Lene Kaaberbol
13. Princess on the Brink by Meg Cabot
14. The Mark of the Vampire Queen by Joey W. Hill
15. The Will of the Empress by Tamora Pierce (reread)
- The Undecided Voter's Guide to the Next President by Mark Halperin
16. Ragamuffin by Tobias Buckell
17. Fruits Basket vol. 18 by Natsuki Takaya
18. Beyond This Dark House by Guy Gavriel Kay
19. The Spymaster's Lady by Joanna Bourne
- Notes from a Minor Key: A Memoir of Music, Love, and Healing by Dawn Bailiff
20. Private Arrangements by Sherry Thomas (ARC)
- The Little Book of Atheist Spirituality by André Comte-Sponville
21. Reading Lolita in Tehran by Azar Nafisi
- The Crimson Petal and the White by Michael Faber
22. Cerulean Sins by Laurell K. Hamilton
23. Incubus Dreams by Laurell K. Hamilton
24. Cool Colleges for the Hyper-intelligent, Self-directed, Late Blooming, and Just Plain Different by Donald Asher
- Choosing the Right College: The Whole Truth about America's Top Schools
25. Fruits Basket vol. 19 by Natsuki Takaya
26. Micah by Laurell K. Hamilton
- Fiske Guide to Colleges 2007 by Edward B. Fiske
27. Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
28. A Great and Terrible Beauty by Libba Bray
29. Princess Mia by Meg Cabot
30. Logorrhea: Good Words Make Good Stories by John Klima (ed.)
- The Insider's Guide to the Colleges 2003 by The Yale Daily News (eds.)
31. Binge: Campus Life in an Age of Disconnection and Excess by Barrett Seaman
32. Monstrous Regiment by Terry Pratchett
- Mister B. Gone by Clive Barker
33. What Life Was Like in the Land of the Dragon: Imperial China, A.D. 960-1368 by Time-Life Books (Denise Dersin, ed.)
34. Blood Noir by Laurell K. Hamilton
35. Thud! by Terry Pratchett
36. The Heart of the Dragon by Alasdair Clayre
37. Night Watch by Terry Pratchett
38. Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mt. Everest Disaster by Jon Krakaeur
39. House of Many Ways by Diana Wynne Jones
- The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror: Ninth Annual Collection by Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling (eds.)
40. Sex as a Second Language by Alisa Kwitney
41. Colleges That Change Lives: 40 Schools That Will Change the Way You Think about Colleges by Loren Pope

Colleges That Change Lives: 40 Schools That Will Change the Way You Think about Colleges
by Loren Pope
382 pages (trade paperback)
Genre: Nonfiction/Self-Help/College

I kept hearing about CTCL schools in my arcane Internet researches, so I decided to finally read Pope's famous book. It was interesting and very different from the norm in college guides; only 40 schools are profiled, as the title suggests, and each receives a long (5-7 pages) essay extolling its virtues. While I subscribe to the principle that prestige is worth very little, and I generally agree with Pope, I do think his method of persuasion is flawed. He writes almost nothing negative about any of the 40 colleges, so that they seem like bastions of perfection. Also, he wastes breath (or space, I suppose) reviling the elite schools--certainly they aren't perfect, but neither are they terrible, and a bit more endowment goes a long way in terms of financial aid and campus quality of life.

Nonetheless, this was a fascinating read and one that I recommend as a matter of course.

Sex as a Second Language
by Alisa Kwitney
327 pages (hardcover)
Genre: Fiction/Romance

As a rule, I do not read contemporary romances. I find them easily outdated and boring because I'm not much interested in the contemporary world, and usually the characters can't carry the book by themselves. This was an exception; and ironically, Neil Gaiman gave a cover blurb that I didn't notice until after I checked it out from the library. (Buying a contemporary romance unread is so not happening.) On the shelf, the amusing title caught my eye, and I flipped it open briefly to the middle. When I found that I'd sat there for ten minutes reading, I knew I had to give Kwitney a chance.

And I'm glad I did. The story starts out a little slowly--I'm interested in Kat, not her two best friends--but becomes compelling as soon as Magnus walks in. Kat and Magnus are both flawed yet attractive. Divorced and jaded single actress mom (turning forty!) + divorced and jaded Icelandic CIA agent = a truly unique romance. Kwitney isn't afraid of portraying her unique heroine (the older hero is perhaps more common) and I found Kat's everyday struggles poignantly realistic. The plot is nothing special, a typical romance line with a Misunderstanding (although plausible) and some questionable points (why couldn't Magnus just talk to Ken Miner on the phone?), but the characters truly distinguish this book from the rest of the genre.

Also, there isn't nearly as much sex as I've found in other romances, the title notwithstanding. A refreshing and surprising change.

Dune (1984)
~3 hours

I read the first Dune book (upon which the movie is mostly based) a long time ago, and only now got around to watching the movie. In many ways, it's a classic SF film: anachronistic special effects (i.e. shielding), poor integration, classic setting, heavy-handed symbolism. (I did like the costuming.) Lady Jessica remains the most interesting character of all, although this portrayal stole much of her strength--she relies mostly on feminine wiles and is physically weak, even though she is of the Bene Gesserit. The plot works if you don't question it too much; why did Leto wander around the basement of the palace all by his lonesome? How did Alia get into the palace? How are the sandworms indestructible in the crucial climactic scene? Why do all of the "villains" feel compelled to laugh maniacally? And why is the Emperor's daughter narrating the story, when she seems to be largely irrelevant?

To be fair, the sandworms are beautiful and amazingly realistic for a 1984 production, and the fundamental messiah themes intrigue me. But Herbert does it so much better in his (lengthy) novel, so I see no reason to watch this more than once.

The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror: Ninth Annual Collection
by Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling (eds.)
534 pages (trade paperback)
Genre: Fiction/Fantasy/Horror

I've only read one story from this anthology--Ellen Kushner's "The Hunt of the Unicorn." In some ways it was disappointing because I'd expected a Riverside book; while the setting is reminiscent of the city, there are no overt references and it really is a standalone. The ending also had no punch for me although it might be better understood upon rereading. Kushner's weakest work to date for me; but it's old too (1995), so I'll cut her some slack.

Obviously not a review of the collection, or even a review for anyone other than myself.

The Arbitrary Compilation of Books by/about POC, not!live from your local Delaware library:
Part I
Part II [this one!]
YA Edition

As always, asterisks mark tentative recommendations, i.e. books that I would check out on a whim if I wasn't so overloaded with backlog.

Color of the Sea by John Hamamura
The Jasmine Trade by Denise Hamilton
*Sadika's Way: A Novel of Pakistan and America by Hina Haq
The Revenge of the Forty-seven Samurai by Erik Christian Haugard
The Mulberry Empire by Philip Hensher
The Last Chinese Chef by Nicole Mones
Empress of the Splendid Season by Oscar Hijuelos
Mr. Ives' Christmas by Oscar Hijuelos
A Simple Habana Melody by Oscar Hijuelos
*A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini [my review; rec'd]
*The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro
The 47th Samurai by Stephen Hunter
*Beasts of No Nation by Uzodinma Iweala [about war in West Africa]
The Two Hearts of Kwasi Boachi by Arthur Japin
The Blue Bedspread by Raj Kamal Jha
East into Upper East by Ruth Prawer Jhabvala
My Nine Lives by Ruth Prawer Jhabvala
Poet and Dancer by Ruth Prawer Jhabvala
The Crazed by Ha Jin
*Waiting by Ha Jin
War Trash by Ha Jin
Kagami by Elizabeth Kata
*The Swallows of Kabul by Yasmina Khadra
Trespassing by Uzma Aslam Khan
*Mirage by Soheir Khashoggi
Mosaic by Soheir Khashoggi
Tripmaster Monkey: His Fake Book by Maxine Hong Kingston
*The Budding Tree: Six Stories of Love in Edo by Aiko Kitahara
Flowers for Mei-Ling by Lorraine Lachs [warning: protag looks like the stereotypical "Oriental" woman]
Empress Orchid by Anchee Min [read before starting this journal; good story but tedious prose]
Katherine by Anchee Min
The Last Empress by Anchee Min
Wild Ginger by Anchee Min

The Arbitrary Compilation of Books by/about POC, not!live from your local Delaware library:
Part I
Part II
YA Edition [this one!]

More books by or about POC from the shelves of my local library. I wish I had time to go through and at least add Amazon review quotes to all of these. If anyone has written informative reviews of any of these books, please link to them in comments and I'll add a [note]. Asterisks mark books that I would tentatively recommend, mostly unread, to those on the flist looking to diversify their reading.

*Does My Head Look Big in This? by Randa Abdel-Fattah
The Sky that Changed Forever by Firyal Alshalabi & Sam Drexler
Before We Were Free by Julia Alvarez
Finding Miracles by Julia Alvarez
*The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing: Traitor to the Nation: Volume 1, the Pox Party by M.T. Anderson
Samurai Girl: The Book of the Sword by Carrie Asai [see magicnoire's cautionary comment]
In Beautiful Disguises by Rajeev Balasubramanyam
Marisol and Magdalena: The Sound of Our Sisterhoood by Veronica Chambers
Quinceañera Means Sweet 15 by Veronica Chambers
Wandering Warrior by Da Chen
Born Confused by Tanuja Desai Hidier
Wings by Julia Gonzales
*Book of a Thousand Days by Shannon Hale [my review; highly rec'ed]
La Línea by Ann Jaramillo
Breaking through by Francisco Jiménez
The Circuit by Francisco Jiménez
The Beat Goes on by Adele Minchin
*The Fold by An Na
Wait for Me by An Na
Fire in the Hills by Donna Jo Napoli
*Zahrah the Windseeker by Nnedi Okorafor-Mbachu
Cuba 15 by Nancy Osa
Sammy & Juliana in Hollywood by Benjamin Alire Sáenz
Eyes of the Emperor by Graham Salisbury
Getting It by Alex Sanchez
The God Box by Alex Sanchez
*Swimming in the Monsoon Sea by Shyam Selvadurai
Shiva's Fire by Suzanne Fisher Staples
Haters by Alisa Valdes-Rodriguez
Flight to Freedom by Ana Veciana-Suarez
*The Sunbird by Elizabeth E. Wein
Chu Ju's House by Gloria Whelan
Native Son by Richard Wright

House of Many Ways
by Diana Wynne Jones
404 pages (hardcover)
Genre: Fiction/YA/Fantasy

Charmain Baker, an utterly respectable young lady, is sent to house-sit for her Aunt-by-marriage's Great Uncle William, better known as the Wizard Norland. The house--of the title and thus many-wayed--is magic, of course; events are further complicated by the arrival of a clumsy (but not in the way you would expect) apprentice, and the danger of a purple insectoid creature called the lubbock lurks in the pretty meadows beyond. Howl and Sophie enter the story about halfway through; this is also where the action picks up and I really started enjoying the story. I didn't particularly care for Charmain at the beginning; she is appealingly bookish but also frustratingly naive. However, once the original HMC cast comes on stage, things really get interesting with palace intrigue (the royals, especially Princess Hilda, are delightful). There is a clear villain, as one might expect in a YA novel; I didn't find this too detracting. Overall, a strong Jones book that doesn't live up to Howl's Moving Castle (as no sequel can ever match the original) but is on par with Castle in the Air. The voice and style are very classic DWJ, and very British (I giggled every time Charmain said "shall"). The plot twists were excellently executed, fun and foreshadowed; I still love Howl/Sophie, and on top of all that, the cover is just beautiful. I do think, though, that a reader would get more out of this book if they were already familiar with HMC (either book or movie), despite its standalone status.

"La Serenissima" by Catherynne M. Valente is gorgeous. The plot meanders dreamily at first, but by the end it all makes perfect sense. Magic is woven throughout in the thread of words and I love the revised Church. I don't think I understand it but I admire and revel. Valente's short-form pieces seem to be working much better for me than her poetry or novel; I've read snippets of both and they fit together like made-in-China jigsaw pieces, unfortunately shaped the same and thus impossible to complete.

Happy birthday coalescent!

Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mt. Everest Disaster
by Jon Krakaeur
293 pages (hardcover)
Genre: Nonfiction/Memoir

The first of my three assigned-reading books over the summer. In 1996 Krakaeur summited Everest as research for an article commissioned by Outside magazine. The guided expedition went horribly wrong; less than half of the team made it back down the mountain alive, and all three guides perished. Krakaeur admits straightaway that he wrote the book as a kind of therapy, catharsis; while usually the bane of all writing, I think that it lends his account raw immediacy. The fact that Krakaeur is an experienced writer, not a fumbling amateur, helps too. His excellent prose blends seamlessly into the background, never obtrusive or flashy. I ignored all of the chapter dividers--the design is too busy and conducive to skimming--but the narrative flows well despite time jumps. The beginning is a little slow to get going; the climax, however, flies by so fast that I was surprised when Krakaeur-the-character was helicoptered to safety and the story entered an extended denouement, just like that.

This isn't the type of memoir I usually read, but on its own merits it succeeds admirably. I actually cared a little about mountaineering by the end and I empathized with the lure of such a risky hobby. The latter is a feat because personally (fiscally and morally, NOT politically) I am conservative and I usually sneer with disdain upon crazy people who go around climbing the world's tallest mountain. A good book; I wouldn't say it was great, but YMMV.

Night Watch
by Terry Pratchett
338 pages (hardcover)
Genre: Fiction/Fantasy/Humor

I'm apparently on a Pratchett binge; only The Light Fantastic is left at the local branch though, and hopefully I will resist requesting until I work through some of my personal TBR backlog. Annoyingly common typos in this volume as well; which speaks to sloppy copyediting. I hear this is the first Vimes book; if so, I"m surprised. It seems to hint at an uncommon amount of backstory and would be an awkward introduction. A great book for development of Vimes's character and discovering his history, but I'm more interested in the here-and-now characters. That said, I love the glimpses of young Havelock Vetinari--where is his aunt now? And I really want to read a Vetinari book, one that actually centers on him. Vetinari seems to be in the margins of everything, but never smack in the center foreground. I suppose that's appropriate.

The Heart of the Dragon
by Alasdair Clayre
281 pages (hardcover)
Genre: Nonfiction/Historical/China

I bought two books on China at the book sale in February--and see, they're coming in handy now! It's always nice to own reference books, rather than having to deal with library due dates. This one was very useful, although I skimmed the latter parts of every chapter once it got to the Cultural Revolution. And the inside covers have a pretty map spread, which I anticipate referencing in the future.

And bonus points for using Pinyin instead of Wade-Giles!

The Arbitrary Compilation of Books by/about POC, not!live from your local Delaware library:
Part I [this one!]
Part II
YA Edition

I'm going to keep a list of books found on my library shelf by or about POC; this post will be updated weekly until I get through the library's entire fiction collection. The advantage of assembling this through shelf-reading is that I get to look at covers and descriptions, from which it's easier to find such books than online. An exhaustive list would be way too impractical, so this is arbitrarily specialized. However, it's my hope that you will at least consider these books if you're looking for something to read. The library does not divide by genre, so there'll be a good mix. I have generally eschewed explaining the qualifying criteria, except in borderline cases, since I haven't read most of these books.

It's interesting to note that I found most of these books either through name (title/author) or cover. Especially with the Asian books, every cover seems to be a variation on paper texture and repeating floral or curlicue patterns.

Asterisks mark books that I would tentatively recommend to the flist.

*The Secrets of Jin-shei by Alma Alexander
*The Teahouse Fire by Ellis Avery
The Harmony Silk Factory by Tash Aw
*The Sari Shop by Rupa Bajwa
China Run by David Ball [adoption story set in China]
Daughter by Asha Bandele
The Last Friend by Jahar Ben Jelloun
Mystic Dreamer by Rosanne Bittner
*My Name is Sei Shōnagon by Jan Blensdorf
*Crystal Rain by Tobias S. Buckell [tobiasbuckell]
*Ragamuffin by Tobias S. Buckell [my review]
*Kindred by Octavia E. Butler
Inheritance by Lan Samantha Chang
American Woman by Susan Choi
Bruiser by Ian Chorão
The Saffron Kitchen by Yasmin Crowther
Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress by Dai Sijie
*The Tale of Murasaki by Liza Dalby
*For Matrimonial Purposes by Kavita Daswani
The Village Bride of Beverly Hills by Kavita Daswani
Plum White by Angela Davis-Gardner
The Point of Return by Siddhartha Deb
Queen of Dreams by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni
Dynasty by Robert Elegant
From A Far Land by Robert Elegant
Mandarin by Robert Elegant
The Samurai by Shusaku Endo
*Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro [my review]
When We Were Orphans by Kazuo Ishiguro
Dream of the Walled City by Lisa Huang Fleischman
India Gate by Lacey Fosburgh
The Eagle's Throne by Carlos Fuente
Licorice by Carlos Fuente
The Crystal Frontier by Carlos Fuente
Inez by Carlos Fuente
The Years with Laura Díaz by Carlos Fuente
*Cassandra French's Finishing School for Boys by Eric Garcia [not about POC, but looks like a great romantic comedy]
Bloody Secrets by Carolina Garcia-Aguilera
Luck of the Drew by Carolina Garcia-Aguilera
The Autumn of the Patriarch by Gabriel García Marquez
*Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel García Marquez
The Glass Palace by Amitav Ghosh
*The Syringa Tree by Pamela Gien [set in South Africa!]
Peking by Anthony Grey
The Painting by Nina Schuyler
Dragon Bones by Lisa See
*Peony in Love by Lisa See [my review]

livelongnmarry, co-modded by the lovely rachelmanija, is hosting a fandom auction to raise money for marriage equality, particularly the nasty bit of state-constitution revision coming up in California.

What is this?
Live Long And Marry is a fandom auction to benefit marriage equality. Bidding begins on July 1, 12:01 Pacific Time, 2008, and closes on July 15, 12:01 Pacific Time, 2008. Please do not bid until bidding opens.

What's the cause?
The auction will raise money for the fight against the California initiative which will legally destroy existing same-sex marriages and ban any further ones. If the initiative passes, it will write discrimination into the state constitution, annull existing marriages, and make Mr. Sulu cry.

How can I help?
You can bid on fanfic, original fic, vids, cookies, memorabilia, critique/betas, and much more! Or you can offer your skills and services as a writer, vidder, baker, knitter, or whatever else you'd like.

I'm really tempted by yhlee's PK!fic offer. Because Paper Knives is awesome!

Am contemplating an offer of my own, but I don't think any of my skills are really up to marketable quality. I can't write on demand (Yuletide was... scary), and my critting is very casual and amateur. Alas.

And yes, I'm tagging this 'sexism.' It does qualify under the etymological definition, perhaps maybe?

FF2 was stable for exactly one day; and then today I had the same problem. This leads me to believe that the problem isn't with Firefox, although it started shortly after I installed FF3. The blue-screen error is IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL and I also got MEMORY_MANAGEMENT once. Minidump file is full of junk and random Chinese characters.

In safe mode right now, and a few minutes ago Host Process for Windows Services shut down again. Strangely the computer is still working, probably b/c of the safe mode. svchost.exe is no longer listed in task manager processes.

I'm running Vista Home Basic on a Dell Vostro 1500 laptop. Don't know the hardware specs, but I can probably dig them up if I have to. Possible errors, from my guesswork and research: Logitech MouseWare driver (using a wireless Logitech mouse--but why would it just start malfunctioning now?) or flawed USB driver (didn't plug in the USB stick yesterday and did today--same question, why now?).

From event logs, dated today:

( Read more... )

Any help or even speculation would be GREATLY appreciated. And today I'd just gotten nice surprises in the mail too, DeepDiscount book order and BPAL from lisamantchev...

ETA: Adding links here for my reference.
Troubleshooting Windows STOP Messages

How to fix "Host Process for Windows Services Stopped Working and Was Closed" on Vista

My event logs aren't showing anything application-specific. I have gotten the error once in Safe Mode now, so that means it's either a problem with a Windows core driver or with hardware... ugh.

ETA2: Figured out the BCM42RLY error--it's some Broadcom driver. This person has the exact same problem, even down to the Dell Vostro 1500 with SP1. Unfortunately, no solution. Right now I'm running IE7 on normal boot, and Event Viewer is showing several BCM42RLY errors after the boot-time. Going to try Firefox next, but I have a sneaking suspicion that it's not the problem because I was using FF yesterday and this morning with no issues. Maybe it's the USB? Back shortly.

Now on the last stable FF2 with no visible errors. When I clicked the Event Log online help link, I did get this Windows Script Host error:

Script: C:\Users\\AppData\Local\Temp\tmp2CFA.vbs
Line: 2
Char: 1
Error: No application is associated with the specified file for this operation.
Code: 80070483
Source: (null)

ETA3: I'm just hanging around, monitoring Event Viewer to see what happens, and there are more errors. Multiple instances of The name "TOSHIBA01 :0" could not be registered on the interface with IP address 192.168.1.103. The computer with the IP address 192.168.1.101 did not allow the name to be claimed by this computer. Also more uncorrectable memory errors.

All via Greta Christina:

1. Would Creating Human-Animal Hybrids Be Immortal and Unethical? Not an answer to the question, but an argument that the question should be asked at all.

2. Help! There's an Atheist in My Garden! Why it's important to come out of the closet. The difference between "Atheists are evil, but fortunately I've never met one" and "Atheists are evil, although I know a couple that actually seem nice."

3. Of Life and Death; an atheist perspective on death: greater appreciation for life itself.

Running Vista Home Basic in Safe Mode right now. Otherwise Windows shuts down automatically with some weird error message. We don't have any important files on at the moment, so if worst comes to worst we'll just do a fresh install; but I'd like to figure things out before then.

FF3 has been crashing randomly in recent days, so I suspect that may be the problem. But it's Firefox.

Tips and things to try are much appreciated. First, I need to go Google how to find System Restore in Vista.

ETA: System restoring to 1AM (the last restore point) seems to have resolved the issue, whatever it was. Now let's hope Firefox has also fixed itself...

ETA2: I declared victory too early. The same problem has reared up--"Host Process for Windows Services" has shut down, and I think that may be the epicenter. Anyone know what the hell it is? 

ETA3: Uninstalled FF3 and using IE7 (yech) right now. It seems to be working fine, and my dad reports that he was browsing (on IE) earlier today. So now I need to find the latest version of Firefox 2... not exactly an easy task.

...reverted back now to v.2.0.0.1.4. Let's see how this goes.

Happy (belated due to time difference) birthday lordubiquitous!

Thud!
by Terry Pratchett
373 pages (hardcover)
Genre: Fiction/Fantasy/Humor

Damn title made me commit a sin of punctuation, up in the subject. Sigh.

I'm on a Pratchett binge, which will have to stop soon because my local library branch only has one more unread Pratchett on the shelf (Night Watch). Anyway, Thud! is about a historic troll-dwarf conflict, but also about werewolves vs. vampires, Vetinari vs. the rest of the political world, the Watchman vs. the Dark, good vs. evil (always, in this case often the same side), and Sam Vimes not-vs. Young Sam. Where's My Cow? is so cute, and I believe Pratchett has actually published it as a children's picture book. Hee.

I did notice several typos in this, which speaks to sloppy copyediting. Tsk tsk. The mystery plot was nicely suspenseful, and I'm now madly curious about the past histories of Nobbs, Carrot, Angua, and Vimes. Light, engrossing read; I think I personally prefer Monstrous Regiment, though.

Blood Noir
by Laurell K. Hamilton
340 pages (hardcover)
Genre: Fiction/Romance/Fantasy

Anita goes to Asheville, North Carolina, with Jason to see his dying father. Complications (i.e. political manuveurings) ensue, both mortal and supernatural. The Mother of All Darkness a.k.a. Mommie Dearest is mightily interested in Anita. Hamilton's books have come to pretty much pure erotica--there is less unnecessary sex here, but it definitely makes itself known. And thankfully, there's also substantive plot development. SPOILERS--Richard gains a version of the ardeur, Anita manages to reclaim her anger from Richard (but not having read the earlier books, I have a hard time believing that she really is this raging), Jason nearly dies...oh yes, Jason's father is magically cured of cancer (Authorial Device, anyone?) and Anita gains another hanger-on, Crispin the young white weretiger.

Essentially, typical LKH. I still prefer her faerie series, but this one's not bad. A quick read, at least.

Strange Horizons has a lovely new short story up, "In Lieu of a Thank You" by Gwynne Garfinkle. Butterflies wings and feminism, oh my! Also, an equally lovely sestina (which is horrendously hard to write, I know from experience) by Elizabeth Barrette, "Dancing with Stones."

Go forth and taste the loveliness!

Via Lifehacker: I'm still working on transferring my Bloglines Clippings to bookmarks so that I can switch over, but Google Reader has a very cool ninja Easter egg.

Via grrm: Apparently lisatuttle is the only person to ever refuse a Nebula award, in 1981. Interesting trivia tidbit.

Via the_chalk_bin: The Beijing '08 commemorative Olympics stamp is really pretty! Go look.

lisamantchev covets a gorgeous real-life castle.

Via yhlee: A beautiful poem, "Love in Jeopardy" by Humbert Wolfe. I'm not sure I quite understand it, but it references zithers!

Via catrambo: Fantasy Magazine presents "His One True Bride" by Darja Malcolm-Clarke.


Query: Anyone happen to know specifics about the five night watches signaled by drumbeats in Song dynasty Hangzhou?

What Life Was Like in the Land of the Dragon: Imperial China, A.D. 960-1368
by Time-Life Books (Denise Dersin, ed.)
144 pages (hardcover)
Genre: Nonfiction/Historical/China

This covers Song (including the Southern Song) to Tang dynasty, with emphasis on the Song and Mongol (Yuan) rules. A surprisingly helpful source of information on imperial China, especially regarding topics like culture and technology. I've used it well as a jumping-off point, although it is sometimes heavy on generalizations, being aimed at a mainstream rather than scholarly audience. Upper-class is covered in more detail than lower-class; unfortunate but only to be expected. As a plus, it is also excellently illustrated--lots of photographs of Song pottery and Tang painting. The ending is abrupt, lacking any type of conclusion; a full-page painting spread, and then nothing. Still, a good resource and one I would recommend if you happen to be also researching imperial China. I plan on seeking out the other books in the What Life Was Like series as well, for pleasure-reading.

Mister B. Gone
by Clive Barker
248 pages (hardcover)
Genre: Fiction/Fantasy/Humor

I picked up this book from the library on a whim; demons aren't exactly an original concept, but the voice was interesting. Alas, I can't be bothered to finish reading because voice is pretty much the only virture I can see. Jakabok Botch is a simultaneously devious and pitiful demon apparently trapped in the pages of his memoir; the plot apparently interlaces him talking directly to the reader with tales of his life up to the current point. Neither conceit, again, is particularly original. Jakabok was interesting at first, but his repetition and complaining gets annoying after a while (by which I mean, after 50 pages). The worldbuilding just doesn't feel like it has a lot of thought in it, and the plotting is subpar. Perhaps this is the wrong genre, though--I didn't realize that this was horror at the time, and so found the macabre descriptions needlessly extraneous.

Verdict: voice alone cannot carry a novel. However, the book design is beautiful.

Monstrous Regiment
by Terry Pratchett
353 pages (hardcover)
Genre: Fiction/Fantasy/Humor

A lovely, quick read that I needed; a refreshing break from Jon Krakuer's Into Thin Air and Valente (which I finally started reading). Polly Perks decides one day to enlist in the army, to find her brother Paul. Her country Borogravia, which is ruled by a dead Duchess and worships an officially insane god named Nuggan, happens to have involved itself in yet another war. This time Ankh-Morpork is also drawn into the conflict, and I get my first glimpse at the legendary Commandar Vimes. (Yes, I haven't read any of the Vimes books yet. Soon.) Of course, Borogravia prides itself on being strictly fundamentalist, aided by the regular issue of Nuggan's Abominations appendix. Polly finds herself now called "Oliver," nicknamed "Ozzy," and her squadmates are not quite whom they seem either. This Discworld book is a satire of religion and gender roles, which Pratchett draws often upon; some of my plot suspicions were confirmed but others were turned and twisted like only Pratchett can. The ending, especially, has a drawn-out falling action that actually works.

It's difficult to discuss the story without spoilers, so scissors please!

( Major book-destroying spoilers )

Lovely; in fact, almost equal to Small Gods, which remains my favorite Discworld novel. I think I'll end up favoring the Ankh-Morpork mini-verse over the witches'.

You--and this means everyone--should download Firefox 3 on Tuesday, June 17th. Because they're trying to set a world record for most downloads in 24 hours, and because you should be using FF3 regardless. (If you're on Opera, I may be willing to compromise.)

shikonsapphire managed to get me back on Neopets, playing games. The site is horribly commercialized now with ads everywhere, but the games remain excellent. I'd forgotten what it was like to play games for fun.

Said friend also made me try Fancy Pants Adventure World II, which is the real reason why I haven't practiced clarinet, done yoga, or made a novel-date with yhlee. It is perhaps the perfect casual game, IMHO. Do click the link and try, but be prepared to happily while away a few hours.

Via coalescent: The only debate on Intelligent Design that is worthy of its subject. [statement of faith] Also, the wife John McCain callously left behind. Look, Ma, religion and politics in one neat paragraph!

Daniel Abraham (bram452)'s excellent story "The Cambist and Lord Iron: A Fairy Tale of Economics" is now up online, albeit in a weird print-scan flash format. It's worth the hassle though, especially if you like the style of Theodora Goss or Ellen Kushner.

Definr is a super-fast online dictionary lookup; it works in the definr.com/whatever form, too, if you want to set up a keyword bookmark or just like working from the address bar.

Via coalescent: Strange Horizons, the free online magazine of fantasy and science fiction that you love, is holding their biannual fund drive. I'm too broke to contribute, but I'll gladly promote. During the fund drive, they're also offering cool goodies as prizes--both to donators and promoters. So go forth and help, however you can!

Binge: Campus Life in an Age of Disconnection and Excess
by Barrett Seaman
310 pages (hardcover)
Genre: Nonfiction/Education

An interesting enough book, again, if you happen to enjoy college research. It doesn't live up to the inflammatory title and is actually a documentary-like open look at college life. Seems impartial, too, with admitted and minimized biases (Seaman is an alumni and trustee of Hamilton College, one of the schools covered). Twelve diverse colleges and universities are examined in a neat extended journalism piece. From the title, you should be able to tell if you'd be interested; Binge obviously appeals to a certain specialized audience.