James Pyle's Blog, page 2

The Book I’ve Spent More Than a Decade Trying to Rip Off, or The Third Most Influential Book in My Life

So posts on the ol’ NR have slowed a bit as I’ve gotten back into the editing cycle.  For the curious, the next installment of Minding the Heavens will be titled: Part II: Transfiguration (and I should have the cover … Continue reading →

A Humble Plea for Reviews, More Places to Purchase Election, Part I of Minding the Heavens, and Ancillary Stuffs on the Way

As of this morning you can pick one of three sources for all your Minding the Heavens – Part I: Election needs, Smashwords, iBooks, and Amazon. If you have purchased/will purchase the book, I would greatly appreciate a few minutes … Continue reading →

The Writer I Most Aspire to Be Like, Though It Will Never Happen, or the 5th Most Influential Book in My Life, Erasure

So let’s recap “the list” and what pieces of it have been discussed thus far: The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn Good Omens Life of Pi — a consideration of the coming movie adaptation Erasure The … Continue reading →

Minding the Heavens Part I: Election

So it's a weird day for me in that I have finally released a little piece of my soul out into the world and I'm asking that people pay a neglible amount of money (2.99 if you want to get technical) in order to read said piece of soul. Continue reading →

I Had No Frame of Reference for What I was Getting Myself Into, or A Consideration of John Fowles' The French Lieutenant's Woman

As I slowly move up the list of most influential books in my life, I notice that even within a list composed of just 7 items, there are smaller lists within lists; 3 of the 7 novels are “coming of age stories,” two are comedic sci-fi/fantasy, and two are post-modern. Not surprisingly, all three of [...]

I Had No Frame of Reference for What I was Getting Myself Into, or A Consideration of John Fowles’ The French Lieutenant’s Woman

As I slowly move up the list of most influential books in my life, I notice that even within a list composed of just 7 items, there are smaller lists within lists; 3 of the 7 novels are “coming of … Continue reading →

Two-Week-Multi-National-Sponsorship-Driven-Sporting-Bonanaza Re-Cap

  I’m pretty sure these were published prior to 1920 in the US, so I don’t think I’ll get sued by using them…but please cross your fingers anyway. Once every two years a sporting event takes place…let’s call it the two-week-multi-national-sponsorship-driven-sporting-bonanaza, so … Continue reading →

From the Bottom Up, or The 7th Most Influential Book in My Life

So you might remember (or not, I suppose) that in my previous post I mentioned that Life of Pi was in the top books that have influenced my life. That post was more a rumination on the book and its … Continue reading →

Jumping the Shark, or a Very Early Film Review of Life of Pi

I’ve mentioned Life of Pi at least a couple of times on the ol’ NR, but never really in-depth, and now seems as reasonable a time as any given that the trailer for the upcoming film has recently become available. The … Continue reading →

The Long Earth, or Can’t We Just Make Terry Pratchett a Saint Already?

OK, yes, Terry Pratchett is an avowed atheist. So, I guess it is unlikely the Catholic Church (or any church) is going to bestow a sainthood on Pratchett. And, true, he was knighted. But I just feel like he deserves … Continue reading →