FF: To Arizona and Back

Another busy week.  Last Sunday, Jim and drove over to the Phoenix, Arizona area so we could visit with my mom and a few other friends and family members.  Then, on Tuesday I took part in the inaugural SFAZ Premier Author Reading and Signing series along with Victor Milan and Melinda Snodgrass.

Arizona’s Signature Saguaro Cactus

During parts of the drive, we listened to audiobooks.  We also spent oohed and ahhed over the scenery.  This is spectacular, except between Windslow and Holbrook where – if it wasn’t for the fake dinosaurs –  it would be mind-numbing.

Even so, reading time has definitely been stretched thin.

The Friday Fragments lists what I’ve read over the past week.  Most of the time I don’t include details of either short fiction (unless part of a book-length collection) or magazine articles.

The Fragments are not meant to be a recommendation list.  If you’re interested in a not-at-all-inclusive recommendation 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 bit of descriptions or a few opinions tossed in.

Recently Completed:

Queen of Thorns by David Gross.  Sword and sorcery in the Pathfinder gaming universe.  Two highly diverse point of view characters give the story more depth than it might otherwise have.  I enjoyed.

The First Eagle by Tony Hillerman.  Audiobook.  We picked this one because we were driving through some of the areas in which the story is set.  When we drove by the Hopi Travel Plaza, I bounced up and down and pointed, because a character a chapter back had stopped there for coffee.

In Progress:

Ready Player One by Ernest Cline.  Audiobook.  Interesting start.  However, left at home, so haven’t gotten too far in.

Raising Steam by Terry Pratchett.  The formerly “medieval” into “Renaissance” Discworld seems to be entering the Industrial Revolution.

Also:

Some interesting articles, toward a potential future project.