Tuesday Stuff

1. Got a nasty little sunburn yesterday, thanks to walking with Elayna and her troop in the town's Memorial Day parade. I'm damned proud of my kid's endurance; a year ago, half-mile walks tired her out. Yesterday, she managed over three miles with no problem (and that was in the hot sun). Yet another thing to like about small-town life.

2. zarhooie grabbed dinner with us on Sunday night, also crashing at our place and attending the parade. She was almost trapped in Boston for an extra day, but managed to escape.

2.5 We also got to hang out with dicotomygrrl on Saturday, which was of the good. She's leaving Boston way too soon (even if it's for very, very good reasons).

4. Caught up on Veronica Mars and Medium (and am only one ep behind on Bleach now). Still behind on Ugly Betty, Desperate Housewives, The Tudors, and Studio 60 (although the buzz I've heard on this last episode makes me wonder if it's something to look forward to or not).

4.5 The underappreciated star of Veronica Mars this year (and last, actually) has to be Ryan Hansen. Almost every scene featuring him was perfect (and usually hilarious).

5. Notice that it's possible to create a statue of a comic book and TV show character (one whose profession, in fact, entails quite a few sexual situations) without giving her the Supergirl/Mary Jane treatment. I'm just sayin' (although I'm also admitting that I'm not a huge fan of the actual facial design, if only because it just doesn't look much like Inara).

5.5 On a related topic, I posted a poll this weekend.

6. Amazon's got a Summer Family Movie Sale that's actually pretty decent. There's recent stuff like Monster House and Open Season for 50% off, and there are lots of classics, including Hook and Matilda (which belongs in every DVD collection) for 60% off ($5.99 each), and the Karate Kid and Fly Away Home for 40% off ($8.99).

7. Less than a month until NS13! Yay! Especially since I'm assuming that I should have my final HCO run wrapped up by then (I just hit level 9).

8. In sad news, Charles Nelson Reilly died. Rest in Peace, Bud Frump/Jose Chung.

Books Read: 2007

Once again, I've dropped the ball, with nearly a month since the last update, and I've likely let something fall through the cracks.

40-42. Cirque du Freak 8-10 (Allies of the Night, Killers of the Dawn, The Lake of Souls), by Darren Shan. Shan has mastered the art of making his lead character suffer by having shitty things happen to everyone he cares about. Although I was expecting the major twists at the ends of books 8 and 9, Shan still does a nice job of creating doubts about where things are going, and continues to develop a fascinating vampire mythology, and the otherworldly journey in book 10 offers a nice change of pace while still advancing one major character arc. Recommended

43. Little Gods, by Tim Pratt. This is just as enjoyable (if not as polished) as Pratt's more recent collection (Hart & Boot and Other Stories, as seen in this post). The title story alone is worth the price of admission, but since you can read that one online, you should buy this for the rest of the collection, including the never-before-published novella "Pale Dog," a really fun urban fantasy (and one whose characters are, I believe, set to pop up in his next series). Highly recommended.

44. Under my Roof, by Nick Mamatas. This is the novel that shocked dozens of community college students! At its core, it's the perfectly fun story of a pre-teen telepathic boy, his separatist father, and the all the fun stuff that happens when the latter declares his house a sovereign state. Wonderful satire (which, naturally, relies on good storytelling). Highly recommended.

45. The Jennifer Morgue, by Charles Stross. I like this one much, much better than The Atrocity Archives. Where TAA was a cute take on spy novels and Lovecraftian mythos, TJM is all that and a very witty deconstruction of the James Bond mythology as well. It's sharp, funny, and has some perfectly-delivered twists. Highly recommended, especially if you're a James Bond fan.

46. Acolytes, by Nikki Giovanni. Giovanni is far from my favorite contemporary poet (that'd be Louise Gluck), but her recent works continue to impress me. Acolytes isn't as good as Quilting the Black-Eyed Pea, but it still has its moments, and is certainly an enjoyable read. Recommended.

47. Gradisil, by Adam Roberts. I raved about Swiftly, a story collection by Roberts, years ago at Bookslut. Back then, I noted that Roberts had a talent for making the human reactions to the scientific (or fantastic) changes the focus of his best writing. Gradisil takes this a step further, showing the reaction of language itself over time, with the prose evolving over the course of a century (dropping silent letters like the "c" in "black"). In the hands of a lesser author, this would be a disctraction, but here, it flows right into the narrative stream, which is concerned with the development of a "nation" of folks living above the atmosphere and the political machinations undertaken by the title character. Although the developments (technological and political) drive the structure of the narrative, it's the tales told by Gradisil's mother, her husband, and others around her that pull the novel together. Highly recommended.

(Why is almost everything I read recommended or highly recommended? Because if a book blows from page one, I'm not about to keep reading it if I don't have to).