Category Archives: books

I love to read, so normally that’s books. Some day I’ll probably switch to a Kindle or Nook, but I’ll still call them books.

It’s A Book! – review

I got a new book and it’s hysterical. But you’ve got to love books end enjoy technology to get all the jokes. If you’ve provided some technical support you’ll find it extra funny too. But it’s really for everyone who’s got a digital device but still reads…

It's a Book Lane SmithThere is a few pages from the book posted at Amazon if you scroll about a third of the way down it gives you a good feel for the book; there is also a video but the video really gives way too much away (and I don’t think it’s as funny).

The problem is there’s one line in it that might offend someone if you let kids read it (one of the character’s name is Monkey while the other is Jackass); it’s fine, but there’d be complaints if it was in a children’s library. While it’s presented as a kid’s book, it’s certainly for adults, especially for adults who read…

So if you’re looking for something else for the reader in your life who has trouble giving up books to get a KIndle, a Nook or some other digital reading device, they’ll appreciate this book.

Also, it’s really inexpensive. But Amazon always jumps their prices around, so I can’t promise the price, but today it’s listed at only $5.55, so it’s kind of a no-brainer if it stays that low…

Ten Ten Ten

10.pngToday is 10/10/10, even if you’re somewhere else in the world the date and do day/month/year or month/day/year it’s still 10/10/10! I just think this is kind of fun.

Anthony pointed out to me that 101010 in binary actually adds up to 42, which we all know is the secret to Life, the Universe and Everything (if you happen to be a Douglas Adams fan).

Vote for the 75 most memorable moments in DC Comics History

Wow, I just saw this list today for the first time, and it’s got some amazing tidbits from the past. I was suprised I’ve read most of them, in their original form or in reprints.

The Sandman Vol. 1: Preludes and Nocturnes Neil GaimanToday is the last day to vote, but it doesn’t mean you shouldn’t look at the list.

I voted for number 28 which from the Sandman Preludes and Nocturnes story, where he does a “verbal” battle to retrieve an item from hell.

My second choice was moment 43 from a short story “Luthor is a big, fat jerk” where is offer a country girl $1,000,000 to come be his “assistant” for a year, and gives her 10 minutes, basically just to screw with her mind.

The Sandman Vol. 4: Season of Mists Neil Gaiman, Neil Gaiman, Kelley Jones, Harlan Ellison, Mike DringenbergMy third was moment 88 where from Season of Mists where Lucifer (after kicking everyone out of Hell) gives the key to Hell (the largest piece of “psychic real estate”) to the Sandman and pretty much says “deal with it”.

And my fourth (and last for this list) moment is 88 (which might also have been a short story) where Lex Luthor refuses to believe Superman is Clark Kent. Maybe not as significant in the DC universe as some others, but when he realizes he missed his chance…

While my two Sandman choices are from the DC universe, it’s not from the popular DC universe. I predict the death of SuperGirl will rank high, as with the death of the Joker and another scene or two from the Dark Knight returns.

John Constantine, Hellblazer: Dangerous Habits Garth EnnisActually, I’ve got another pick, moment 10 when John Constantine (from Hellblazer: Dangerous Habits) giving the finger to the triumvirate that rules Hell because he manages to sell his soul to all three of the demons (to cure his cancer) and knows while they all want him dead, the battle that will ensue since all three want him, they likely won’t do anything to hasten his death…

Torchwood – Countdown

I’m not one for much fan fiction but this is a pretty good Torchwood story. It’s titled “Countdown” and I’d estimate that it takes place shortly before Children of Earth (season 3).

torchwood-countdown-fanfic.gif

It’s listed as Torchwood Virtual Series (Season) three, episode two so I guess I should look around for more.

If you read the story, but you’re not a huge Doctor Who or Torchwood fan, I’ll explain one detail that might not be clear in the story. UNIT stands for UNified Intelligence Taskforce (formerly United Nations Intelligence Taskforce) and is an Earth-based alien and paranormal task force; think of them as a more formal/military version of Torchwood. UNIT made a few appearances in the 2005+ Doctor Who series (recently and intergral to the plot of 2009’s Planet of the Dead special) and an occasional mention on Torchwood. UNIT is where Martha Jones has been working since she’s stopped traveling with The Doctor. I believe it was much more prominently featured in some of the older Doctor Who series (and might be make more appearances in the new 2010 Doctor Who).

Aaron Sorkin and Brad Pitt are doing MoneyBall?

I really liked Michael Lewis’s book Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game. It’s the story of how Billy Beane turned the Oakland A’s Baseball team around by picking players with statistics.

Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game Michael Lewis

The story of Oakland A’s general manager Billy Beane successful attempt to put together a baseball club on a budget, by employing computer-generated analysis to draft his players.

Plot synopsis at IMDB.com

It’s a great read if you like baseball or numbers, I’m not a big sports fan, but I’d recommend the book if you’re interested in either. But the numbers part was really interested. I originally read it because my dentist talked me into reading it.

So it turns out that they’ve decided to turn it into a movie. They’ve got Aaron Sorkin (West Wing) to rewrite it into a movie and they’ve got Brad Pitt to play the team’s general manager. And it looks like they’ve got some of the baseball players to play themselves.

Oops, not to get you all interested in it, but it doesn’t come out until 2011. So read the book in the mean time and you’ll enjoy it again in another two years when the movie comes out…

And looking up Michael Lewis at Amazon.com I see that he also wrote Next: The Future Just Happened, I’m pretty sure I’ve got that on my shelf (unread), now I know why I got that book!

I met Neil Gaiman!!!

Neil Gaiman was speaking in Toledo tonight and I was able to go. Another cool birthday present that can be considered to be priceless, the cost of the item has nothing to do with the value of it.

He was part of an author series put on by the Toledo-Lucas County Public Library and the local newspaper the Toledo Blade. If you don’t know who he is be sure to read some of my 18 earlier posts about Neil Gaiman; at least that’s who he is to me. Even though I’d read a few earlier things, it was The Sandman where I got hooked on him (thanks to Chad in college).

Coraline Movie Tie-in Edition Neil GaimanWhen we were looking for a place to eat I double-checked his Twitter feed to make sure he hadn’t mentioned where he was eating or doing something else beforehand. That might seem silly, but just hours before when he needed to be there he mentioned that he was looking for a cafe to write in* and a little while later that his phone was giving him problems and he was going to give it a factory reset* so he might not be reachable for a bit. That might seem a little silly, but I have got to eat somewhere, right? But no such luck.

There were a lot of people there tonight, it was at the Stranahan Theater in Toledo, Ohio, and I’d been there before; by strange coincidence I’d seen Tori Amos there. He was given a very nice introduction by someone at the newspaper who, I think most of the audience would agree, had no idea who he was; it’s too bad they couldn’t have had a big fan at the paper read something about him.

The Graveyard Book Neil GaimanHe then talked a bit, told us the story of how he heard he won the Newberry Award, did a delightful reading of the beginning of The Graveyard Book (the first 20 pages) and gave us the background of how he wrote the book. Then he did a really long question and answer session. He wasn’t doing autographs and he apologized for this (I knew this in advance so I wasn’t disappointed). It was a really nice evening and was glad I was able to attend.

When were leaving, there was a line-up of cars in front, so I tried to cut out around the back to avoid the traffic. And there he was leaving the building talking to a few fans! So I stopped the car and grabbed my envelope (this is where I stuck a few things to get autographed, I knew he wasn’t signing but I like to be prepared, I even had my own Sharpie!). So I ran over there and asked him for an autograph and shook his hand! He was super-nice and he actually commented on the non-typical item of his that I choose to have him autograph. Awesome!

I did only bother him for one autograph even thought I had a few things with me. But while I forgot all about getting a picture (of him or with him) since I was so excited, I did have the sense to introduce him to a friend (that I abandoned as I dashed from the car) to him as a recent fan; she’s thirteen and sometimes shy so I didn’t think she’d come over, I’m so glad she came over and that she even got to shake his hand. It wasn’t as big of a deal for her, but maybe she’ll tell all her friends at school tomorrow that she met the guy who wrote Coraline.

So it’s a few hours later and I’m still really really excited about it. Going somewhere when I knew he wasn’t giving autographs and getting the autograph and getting to meet him. What a great evening!

The Time Traveler’s Wife – Movie Review

I’ve read the book The Time Traveler’s Wife several times (and when I say several I’m thinking four or five times). This was the first novel by Audrey Niffenegger and it took her over five years to release her second novel, Her Fearful Symmetry, which is due out soon (end of September 2009). You can check out a review I wrote a few years back if you don’t know anything about it.

The Time Traveler's Wife SoundtrackIf you don’t know anything about it, know this: it’s not a science fiction movie! I know that it seems counter-intuitive, but the movie is about their relationship and how this “disease” affects it. Henry travels through time and can’t control it, he’s not some tinkering scientist with a lab in the basement. The main thing is that he generally travels to the same places, this is what makes the story work. When he travels to unfamiliar places that’s when there is trouble; did I mention that his clothes don’t travel with him?

I thought the movie was amazing! Obviously, they had to change a few things in the movie. It was so wonderfully done I can clearly remember the one scene I didn’t like and there was one scene that I thought should have been left in. I thought the character’s were aged okay, really more Henry’s character was necessary than Claire’s, since Henry was the traveler you needed to be able to figure out how old he was when he appeared.

The only other thing I’m saying before I offer some spoiler-like things is the only swearing I noticed was the word “shit” and you get to see Eric and Rachel’s butts, so it’s a pretty safe film if your wondering about it for your kids from that perspective (but it is about life and gets intense so it’s not happy-go-lucky for your younger kids). Reviews seem to score about 70-75% but it really seems as if people love it or hate hate it, not many people in-between (35% or 1,700 reviews on IMDB gave it a 10). And don’t watch the preview, it gives away way too much!

It’s a long book with a lot of craziness and depressing parts of life. The movie got rid of most of the bad/extra-depressing parts. It’s still there though: pain, life, suffering, death and it’s a lot more visual than the book. And it’s got lots of sad parts. I actually think it’s more emotional if you read the book since you now what parts are coming.

It really just worked. I thought everything came together very well. I’m not going to rave about it, since I’m sure I’ve oversold it already. There was that one scene in the middle that I didn’t like the way it went, it just didn’t flow right, if you see it remember to come back and leave a comment as to what you thought the worse done scene was.

They added/changed a few scenes too, one scene ended completely differently than I thought it would (but was done excellent). I was really disappointed that they cut a scene, had they not made a fore-shadowy reference to it I might have lived without it. And the way the movie put some parts together it might even have changed things a little bit, but still I missed it. I will say I stayed to the end of the credits just in case they ran that scene, it would have worked really well there, it is a time travel movie after all.

P.S. – Bring kleenex…

Wow! A FREE Kindle Application for the iPhone

Amazon released a Kindle for iPhone and iPod Touch application (that link is to the US iTunes store, not sure about international release).

With Kindle for iPhone, you can:
* Buy a Kindle book from your Mac, PC, or iPhone using a Web browser and wirelessly transfer the books to your iPhone.
* Read first chapters of any book for free before you buy.
* Download the Kindle books you already own for free (they are automatically backed up on Amazon.com).
* Adjust the text size, add bookmarks, and view the annotations you created on your Kindle device.

Kindle for iPhone also includes Whispersync, which allows you to seamlessly switch back and forth between your Kindle device and Kindle for iPhone while keeping your bookmarks and reading location synchronized between devices

kindleapp.jpgWow! Now you don’t even need a Kindle now to read the eBooks. I’m assuming the “digital paper” display is easier to read on the Kindle, but this is very cool. I wonder if the images look better than on the grey-scale Kindle? It looks like it will “show books in color that were developed that way“. I’ve liked the idea of a Kindle but not the cost and I’ve also been afraid of not having it with me everywhere; if I can start syncing to other devices that’d be very useful. Even if you don’t want to read a whole book on your iPhone/Touch, you can read the first chapter of all the Kindle books for free! ANd it doesn’t appear to sync magazines or newspapers, only books.

And did I mention that it’s free at the Apple App store? Of course you have to buy the books.

Update:

  • A lot of nice screenshots at the iPhone Blog.
  • It looks like to buy books you need to use Mobile Safari (or a computer) and not the Kindle software. That’s not ideal, but it’s workable.