Now Reading...

It's a shame that Anne has become so frail.

They won't even let you shake her hand, citing that she bruises easily. I thought it was a little strange that they went to such controlling lengths, so my assumption is that they must have had a rowdy fan or two recently.
 
Too bad Todd will probably sell it for movie rights once Anne dies (Anne apparently doesn't want it to be made into a movie).
 
They won't even let you shake her hand, citing that she bruises easily. I thought it was a little strange that they went to such controlling lengths, so my assumption is that they must have had a rowdy fan or two recently.

Wouldn't surprise me at all.

I doubt she'd remember me from Adam, but if time permits I might try to say hello to her at Dragon*Con. My blue directors' ribbon oughtta be good for something! :)
 
I might have spoken too soon. :eek:

There's a character in Anne's book The Skies of Pern, a Lord Holder, with the name 'Kashman.'

My last name is 'Cashman.'

Coincidence?

Almost certainly. :lol:

Still, it gave me a bit of a shock, in view of this thread.
 
Not so much reading, but listening to the full cast audio of Dune.

I have to say it's a lot easier to listen to than read...and I've tried to read it a couple of times. The audio is well done and is even up for an Audie Award this year (the audiobook equivalent of the Grammys).

:Smokin:
 
Just finished Stephen King's new one "Duma Key" last week. I'm a big King fan, but admit some of his recent work wasn't up to snuff. I thought this one was very good.

Currently working through Robin Hobb's 'Ship' series.

Steve in Philly
 
Just finished Paulo Coelho's "The Alchemist." Absolutely lovely, and highly highly recommended for fans of a good story or excellent literature.
 
Just read Digital Fortress by Dan Brown.

Definitely dated stuff. Mid 90s. The plot is pretty simple and predictable. It's easy to read, the technical details will impress the average reader but anyone with small knowledge of computer networking will be above Dan's "wowing" facts and basic TCP/IP lingo. He even makes a few mistakes with acronyms like VLSI. Also some nonbelievability when some of his supposedly super smart NSA characters fail at a short 7 letter anagram. The convenience of plot details, and how imperceptive the characters are, frustrates the informed reader and raises questions for their ability to occupy such positions as lead programmer for NSA cryptology. Basically, it's a mass market paperback attempt at the cyber-terrorism genre dated to the 90s and written by an obvious non-programmer who did some short wikipedia research.

Mildly entertaining for a quick one-day read.

Very unlike my new book in progress: Thomas Pynchon's "Gravity's Rainbow", a tale of psychology, espionage and science set near the end of WW2 Europe. Pynchon's phrasing and imagery are true mastery, but his structure is nonexistent. It reads like a stream of consciousness, a chaotic disorganized collection of dream-thoughts that all run together. Yet, it does so with the brightest of color and the sharpest of resolution. Interesting so far. It won the Pulitzer Prize in 1974, was revoked upon review for graphic content, and reinstated later on.
 
Going to start American Gods on the way to Hawaii on Tuesday.

The climax of that book is so bizarre that it makes my head swim. It takes place in my home city, Chattanooga, TN. Why? It's the first thing I'd ask Gaiman if I ever had the chance. On the other hand, he sent two autographed copies of American Gods to my local Barnes & Noble and I got one of them!

I am currently read Chelsea Quinn Yarbro's Path of the Eclipse - so far, it is not as good as the other books I have read by her, but it is still good. It reads like a collection of novellas moreso than one full novel. Paul is right about Blood Games being excellent; I recently finished her book Tempting Fate (which is in the same series) and it was awesome. She really deserves the mainstream success that authors that have followed in her wake have gotten.
 
Just finished Stephen King's new one "Duma Key" last week. I'm a big King fan, but admit some of his recent work wasn't up to snuff. I thought this one was very good.

That's good to hear. I wanted to give up on King after From A Buick Eight, but have had an eye on The Cell and Duma Key for a read sometime soon.

Currently working through Robin Hobb's 'Ship' series.

I liked that series. I'm now into her Soldier Son trilogy. I've only read the first one so far, Shaman's Crossing, and it was strangely one of the best boring books I've read. I mean, the book was boring. She spent way too much time doing the whole "young man in a hostile school / academy setting" which has been done much better and more briefly by others - like David Feintuch or OS Card. And the ending was very anticlimactic. But nonetheless, she's such a good writer that I was drawn in to the characters, and am looking forward to the second book, Forest Mage.

Just read Digital Fortress by Dan Brown.

I'll give a more succinct summary as: One of the top 5 worst books I've ever read. I liked Da Vinci Code and Angels and Demons, but this one makes me afraid to try Deception Point.

Very unlike my new book in progress: Thomas Pynchon's "Gravity's Rainbow", a tale of psychology, espionage and science set near the end of WW2 Europe. Pynchon's phrasing and imagery are true mastery, but his structure is nonexistent. It reads like a stream of consciousness, a chaotic disorganized collection of dream-thoughts that all run together.

I had to read Gravity's Rainbow about 100 pages at a time, in between reading other lighter books. I may try to read it again in the future, after having a crack at Neal Stephenson's Baroque Cycle. To this day, when I try to recall events in GR, I often get confused between Pynchon's giant adenoid and the tennis-playing blacmange of Monty Python's Flying Circus.

Ken
 
The climax of that book is so bizarre that it makes my head swim. It takes place in my home city, Chattanooga, TN. Why? It's the first thing I'd ask Gaiman if I ever had the chance. On the other hand, he sent two autographed copies of American Gods to my local Barnes & Noble and I got one of them!

I am currently read Chelsea Quinn Yarbro's Path of the Eclipse - so far, it is not as good as the other books I have read by her, but it is still good. It reads like a collection of novellas moreso than one full novel. Paul is right about Blood Games being excellent; I recently finished her book Tempting Fate (which is in the same series) and it was awesome. She really deserves the mainstream success that authors that have followed in her wake have gotten.

The why is easy - Rock City. You can travel over a lot of the country and see the same mysterious signs (or at least you used to) - SEE ROCK CITY. It's painted on barn roofs, on billboards, on nicknacks sold in gas stations...and obviously the closer you get to Tennessee there are more of them. I remember as a kid going on trips all the time from Florida or South Carolina to Kentucky and seeing it everywhere and always wondering what it was...which is kind of the point. Stuff like that, the "tourist trap" occured to Gaiman as this distinctly American thing close to a kind of American Stonehenge, I guess...and Rock City is the mother of all tourist traps. There are interviews where he talks about it...in fact, I sort of remember there being info. on it in the back of the paperback maybe? Great book at any rate.
 
Just read Digital Fortress by Dan Brown.

Definitely dated stuff. Mid 90s. The plot is pretty simple and predictable. It's easy to read, the technical details will impress the average reader but anyone with small knowledge of computer networking will be above Dan's "wowing" facts and basic TCP/IP lingo. He even makes a few mistakes with acronyms like VLSI. Also some nonbelievability when some of his supposedly super smart NSA characters fail at a short 7 letter anagram. The convenience of plot details, and how imperceptive the characters are, frustrates the informed reader and raises questions for their ability to occupy such positions as lead programmer for NSA cryptology. Basically, it's a mass market paperback attempt at the cyber-terrorism genre dated to the 90s and written by an obvious non-programmer who did some short wikipedia research.

I'll give a more succinct summary as: One of the top 5 worst books I've ever read. I liked Da Vinci Code and Angels and Demons, but this one makes me afraid to try Deception Point.

Ugh. I refuse to read anything this guy has written, if for no other reason than all the obnoxious Dan Brown fellating I've been exposed to in the last few years. Well, that and I have next to no interest.

Some people in my school district wanted to add Digital Fortress to the curriculum for a class I was asked to help structure and plan, and I had to fight a few people to keep it off the list. They wanted something seniors could mow down at the end of their last semester, when they're pretty much checked out already, and assumed that because it's by Brown it must be good. Never mind that several other people I work with had read it in reaction to the news and came back with nothing pleasant to say. As an alternative, I was able to sell them on incorporating some post-apocalyptic literature into the curriculum. Thankfully.

Ken, if it's as bad as your succinct summary indicates, I feel good about putting it on my list of books I can't be bothered to read.
 
Just finished Paulo Coelho's "The Alchemist." Absolutely lovely, and highly highly recommended for fans of a good story or excellent literature.

I actually dug this book, but the more I've thought about it, especially through conversations with others, I've come to the conclusion that it's essentially a semi-preachy piece of work that could be considered a self-help book wrapped in a narrative.

If you dug The Alchemist, I would recommend reading Veronkia Decides to Die, also by Coehlo.