bookshelves: currently-reading
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LAKE WOBEGON DAYS, the fictional tales of a small Minnesota town, was written by Garrison Keillor in 1985. Keillor is the host of the popular “A Prairie Home Companion” radio show.
Lake Wobegon is full of hard-stock people of Norwegian and German descent, brimming with endearing quirkiness. There are the same locations mentioned on “Prairie”: the Chatterbox Café, Bunsen Motors, Ralph’s Grocery, the Lutheran Church, the Our Lady of Perpetual Responsibility Church.
The residents of Lake Wobegon go about their lives sometimes blissfully unaware of just how absurd they sound. Keillor’s narrator tends to let his mind wander when telling a story, and it makes for some humorous observations. He is also brilliant at pointing out the hypocrisies and the pleasures of living in a small town.
Although a few of the chapters are hit and miss, Keillor’s writing always makes me feel warm and fuzzy. ]]>
Stephanie
read and liked
Loz Cook's
review of Spike and Dru: Pretty Maids All in a Row (Buffy the Vampire Slayer):
"I loved everything about this book. I loved spike and Dru, i loved the slayer and her watcher, (not buffy and Giles), i loved the villain of the piece, and i loved learning about the slayers to be waiting for their time.
Skrymir Rocked as a vill...more "
"I loved everything about this book. I loved spike and Dru, i loved the slayer and her watcher, (not buffy and Giles), i loved the villain of the piece, and i loved learning about the slayers to be waiting for their time.
Skrymir Rocked as a vill...more "
‘Spike & Dru: Pretty Maids All in a Row’ is a novelization using two characters from the ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer’ television show. It’s written by prolific author Christopher Golden, who has also written for the Hellboy, X-Men, and Angel publication series, among others.
I’ve never watched the Buffy show, but I loved this book!
Spike and Drucilla are vampires who have made a deal with Skrymir (a demon), that if they kill off the girls in training to be Slayers, and then the reigning Slayer herself, they will get Freya’s Strand, a powerful necklace that lets vampires be shape-shifters.
The non-stop action is great – lots of bloody fighting – and the descriptions of surroundings such as Skrymir’s cave can’t be beat.
This is a fabulous story to escape into. It’s a fast read and after the first couple of pages you’ll be hooked in.
Thanks, Christopher, I needed this! ]]>
THE FOREVER WAR, a science fiction novel written by Joe Haldeman in 1974, is a pretty unremarkable book. I suppose it created a few waves when it was first published, but the themes of compulsory compliant females, and required homosexuality are not even titillating these days.
Descriptions of war strategy, armaments, and time travel through ‘collapsar jumps’ are the other main themes, with a few political statements thrown in.
The story follows Private Mandella as he quickly rises to Major Mandella. Unfortunately, we never get to a point where we actually care about him, and the ending seems too quick and easy.
I think there are better books to spend time reading, but if you want to experience 1974 sci-fi, then go for it. ]]>
bookshelves: to-read
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MEDIEVAL CITIES: Their Origins and the Revival of Trade, by Henri Pirenne and translated by Frank D. Halsey, is probably the toughest 167 page book I’ve ever tried to read. This classic of Medieval history grew out of lectures that Mr. Pirenne gave in the United States in 1922.
It would help the reader if they are already familiar with the some of the history between 800-1200, as the people and places mentioned are not elaborated on. If you can’t find Flanders on a map, and you don’t have a clue about the Merovingian monarchy, its best you read the book along side your computer (logged on to Wikipedia).
Mr. Pirenne's theories of the beginning of Medieval cities can be summed up even briefer than this slim title, but I won’t give it away. He was writing at a time when language was quainter, wordier, and he often throws in Latin words (of which I love to try to figure out, but my intention on reading the book was to learn history, not Latin). I learned a bit, but I really struggled with the verbosity.
If you’re interested in Medieval history, this is certainly something worth reading among other titles. The struggle is only 167 pages long! ]]>
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CALAMITY; The Heppner Flood of 1903, is written by Joann Green Byrd. A long-time journalist, Byrd did much research into a catastrophe that most survivors didn’t talk about.
Ms. Byrd delves into the lives of the victims, and she explains the hows and whys of the natural disaster itself. There is an almost minute-by-minute account of the path the flood took, stories of the resilience of the survivors, and lots of photos.
Not only is this book a good warning for us to consider the future effects of our actions today, but it is also helpful for genealogists with roots in Heppner, Oregon. ]]>
CAKE WRECKS: When Professional Cakes Go Hilariously Wrong, by Jen Yates, grew out of her website CakeWrecks.com. The website won the 2009 Bloggies awards for Best writing on a Blog, Best New Blog, and Best Food Blog. People from all over the world send Yates pictures of cakes with unfortunate errors, disgustingly oily frostings, or just plain weird messes, etc., to which Yates adds her snarky comments. Chapters have titles such as “Literal LOLs”, “Beyond Bizarre”, “Wedding Wrecks”, and “Holiday Horrors”.
When my daughter and I sat down to read this together, we knew it would be funny, but we had no idea that we would end up with our faces hurting from laughing so much!
WARNING! Do not read this book in a public place unless you don’t mind being stared at because of your hysterical laughing! ]]>