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To his son about to graduate from college:
... Toward the end of our meal I took a paper napkin and I wrote these words on it: "One excellent decision." I held it up for him to read and then I folded it in half and then in half once more. I handed it to him and said, "Put this in your wallet. You only get one of these. Use it when you are deciding who to marry."
I am not an a**hole. I am a hemorrhoid. I irritate a**holes!
Procrastination: Forward planning to insure there is something to do tomorrow.
Derails threads faster than a pocket nuke.
Just finished "Finder" by Suzanne Palmer. Well written, moves at a good pace, good world development.
Pulled this from the Amazon blurb:
Fergus Ferguson has been called a lot of names: thief, con artist, repo man. He prefers the term finder.
His latest job should be simple. Find the spacecraft Venetia's Sword and steal it back from Arum Gilger, ex-nobleman turned power-hungry trade boss. He’ll slip in, decode the ship’s compromised AI security, and get out of town. What was supposed to be a routine job evolves into negotiating a power struggle between factions. Even worse, Fergus has become increasingly—and inconveniently—invested in the lives of the locals.
It doesn’t help that a dangerous alien species Fergus thought mythical prove unsettlingly real, and their ominous triangle ships keep following him around.
There's no such thing as a stupid question... just stupid people.
Well-behaved women seldom make history. Good thing these women are far from well behaved . . .
Illustrated in a contemporary animation style, Rejected Princesses turns the ubiquitous "pretty pink princess" stereotype portrayed in movies, and on endless toys, books, and tutus on its head, paying homage instead to an awesome collection of strong, fierce, and yes, sometimes weird, women: warrior queens, soldiers, villains, spies, revolutionaries, and more who refused to behave and meekly accept their place.
This is a book that came from a popular Tumblr blog. The author kindly includes a key, so if you are triggered by abuse, rape, etc. then you know which entries to skip.
The book is funny and heart-breaking and inspiring and terrifying, much like the women being written about. The later entries are not easy to read, but it does shine a light onto women who have been written out of history, or edited to the point that they are unrecognisable.
Rejected Princesses is amazing. My fiancé got it for me for Christmas a couple years ago. I glance through it every once in a while for inspiration. The Disney-inspired art just sells the theme.
"I look at the stars. It's a clear night and the Milky Way seems so near. That's where I'll be going soon. "We are all star stuff." I suddenly remember Delenn's line from Joe's script. Not a bad prospect. I am not afraid. In the meantime, let me close my eyes and sense the beauty around me. And take that breath under the dark sky full of stars. Breathe in. Breathe out. That's all."
-Mira Furlan
Nearly finished with Sword of Kings by Bernard Cornwell, and OF COURSE i picked up the twelfth book in a series ...
It was a bit difficult to follow, as Cornwell uses the names of the time, so the reader is contending with Æthelstan and Ælfweard and Æthelflæd, and you find yourself wondering irritably why they couldn't simply use Jim and Bob and Susie (Æthelflæd is a woman; the other two are men).
And then there are the place names, also given as accurately as possible for the ties. Some are easy enough to deal with (the river Temes, which flows through Lundene, for example). Many bear enough of a resemblance to today's names that you can make an educated guess. But then you run across something like Werlameceaster, and it's current name is ... St. Albans?? (In Hertfordshire). He gives a list of the 'old' names with their current ones, and I found myself occasionally having to go back and check where exactly the characters were.
I still want to read the rest of the series, though.
Customer service: More efficient than a Dementor's kiss ~ Mr Hero
With the universe's wormholes collapsed, darkness has fallen across interstellar civilization, and superstition once again holds sway over the masses, until Dr. Karl Woodward, commander of the starship The Mountain, ventures to an uncharted world and into a terrifying confrontation with a ruthless gang of space pirates.
"I don't have to be petty. The Universe does that for me."
Been actually working my way through some of my backlog by having three separate books going at once. One at work, one in the bathroom at home, and one in the car, which I read while eating breakfast before work, or when I'm eating out in the car.
Recently finished Leviathan Wakes, the first book of The Expanse series, actually on recommendation from my Dad. He's not a sci-fi person at all, but he ended up getting the book somehow, and mentioned how it pulled him in. So I figured, if it'll keep his attention, then it's got to be good. And it was. Haven't picked up book 2 yet.
Currently working on the first Jack Reacher book, also a gift from my Dad. He likes the books, thought I'd like it. And so far I'm enjoying it.
At work, recently started Book 4 of the Wheel of Time series, which is a bit dense, and it's still early, so the book's plot hasn't really kicked off yet.
I've also been working on The Rook by Daniel O'Malley. The urban fantasy take here is interesting and I find myself looking forward to digging into the next chapter.
PWNADE(TM) - Serve up a glass today! | PWNZER - An act of pwnage so awesome, it's like the victim got hit by a tank.
There are only Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse because I choose to walk!
I finished Johnathan Strange and Mr. Norrell a couple weeks ago. It's the sort of book I should like. An alternate history set in late 1790s / early 1800s Europe (mostly England) with magicians influencing the outcome of events. It was... ok. I would have liked the women in the story to have more agency. But, then, most of the characters in the story had no agency. The real hero of the story [minor spoilers] is neither of the title characters, though they certainly think they are at the end.
Now I've started The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin. My fiancé got me the trilogy for Christmas. The worldbuilding is incredible. It's the sort of fantasy novel where there were prior civilizations with greater magic/technology that's largely been lost due to time and natural (or perhaps unnatural) disasters. It's definitely not a happy-go-lucky book, but the world and characters are intriguing and it makes me want to keep reading.
"I look at the stars. It's a clear night and the Milky Way seems so near. That's where I'll be going soon. "We are all star stuff." I suddenly remember Delenn's line from Joe's script. Not a bad prospect. I am not afraid. In the meantime, let me close my eyes and sense the beauty around me. And take that breath under the dark sky full of stars. Breathe in. Breathe out. That's all."
-Mira Furlan
Brandbilen som försvann by Maj Sjöwall and Per Wahlöö.
I'm rereading the whole series in the original language, just because I can .
Bought them for my Kindle at a Swedish booksellers homepage.
"Zoey Ashe, suddenly in charge of the most decadent city in the world is just trying to cope with nightmarish superhuman villains, an all-seeing social network; mysterious, smooth-talking power players; and her very, very smelly cat. But when a disembowled corpse rampages through her house and accuses her of murder, Zoey has to work out what she owns, who works for her, and if she was responsible... "
I just finished Mists of Avalon (3/5...some part were reallllllly boring). I felt weird about reading it but it seemed important to so many women I thought I'd give it a shot. I'm rather relieved I didn't love it, to be honest.
I am in a big Star Wars mood so my next book is a SW novel!
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