FF: Traveling and Reading
I was on the road this past weekend.�� This gave me a lot of time for stories ��� both via audio and in print.
Just in case you don���t know��� The Friday Fragments feature lists of what I���ve read over the past week. ��Most of the time I don���t include either short fiction or magazine articles.
Pack Me, Too!
The Fragments are not meant to be a recommendation list.�� If you���re interested in a not-at-all-inclusive list, you can look on my website��under Neat Stuff.
Once again, this is not a book review column.�� It���s just a list with, maybe, a few opinions tossed in.
Recently Completed:
Sammy Keyes and the Skeleton Man by Wendelin Van Draanen.�� Mystery interwoven with over-the-top junior high politics.�� Both were well-resolved.�� The author is showing a talent for sneaking in ���messages,��� without ever preaching.�� This time, the consequences of smoking were featured.
A Boy Named Shel by Lisa Rogak.�� I knew Shel Silverstein had written rock and roll lyrics, as well as the strange children���s books that are perhaps his most prominent current legacy.�� Had no idea he wrote ���A Boy Named Sue,��� or that he lived in the Playboy mansion or����� Well-written look at a very eclectic and diverse artist/writer.
Howl���s Moving Castle and Castle in the Sky by Diana Wynne Jones.�� Audiobooks.�� Inspired by Alan Robson and my recent Tangents, Jim suggested we listen to these during our drive.�� Both are very enjoyable; Castle in the Sky is not a ���sequel��� in the traditional sense to the first book.
Silver on the Tree by Susan Cooper.�� Fourth in her ���Dark is Rising��� sequence.�� I���d read before, but enjoyed the revist.
Naruto issue 69 by Masahi Kishimoto.�� Manga.�� Continues the climax to the storyline.
Nura: Rise of the Yokai Clan issue 19 by Hiroshi Shiibashi.�� Manga.�� Contemporary horror/ dark fantasy.
In Progress:
The Pinhoe Egg by Diana Wynne Jones.�� Audiobook. I left this one at home, so I haven���t quite finished.�� It���s interesting, though.�� The Egg of the title has been found, but that���s clearly not the only Pinhoe secret.
Nura: Rise of the Yokai Clan issue 20 by Hiroshi Shiibashi.
Also:
I���d like to re-read The Tao de Ching.�� Maybe make that bedtime reading?
And research has just gotten more complicated.
