The Friday 56 (May 20th)

Rules:
*Grab a book, any book.
*Turn to page 56.
*Find any sentence that grabs you.
*Post it.
*Link it to Freda's Voice.
*Add your (url) post to Linky on Freda’s post

This week the book is Then is the Power by Gerald W. Mills. Some of the characters are very close to being over the top but the story is pretty good so far.

The sentence:

Careful not to get any of the vial’s white powder on his shaking hands, he dusted all the remaining doughnuts, then flushed the empty vial down the men’s room commode.

Hey, no fair messing with a man’s doughnuts. That just doesn’t seem right.

Theme Thursday -- Male Person

Theme Thursdays is a fun weekly event that will be open from one Thursday to the next. Hosted by Reading Between Pages.

Anyone can participate in it.
The rules are simple:
•A theme will be posted each week (on Thursday’s)
•Select a conversation/snippet/sentence from the current book you are reading
•Mention the author and the title of the book along with your post
•It is important that the theme is conveyed in the sentence (you don’t necessarily need to have the word) Ex: If the theme is KISS; your sentence can have “They kissed so gently” or “Their lips touched each other” or “The smooch was so passionate”

This week’s theme is – Male Person (description of a man or boy)

Lyunov was a thin man, tall, with dark hollows in his cheeks and a wild shock of graying hair above cold brittle eyes. He wore neither uniform nor insignia. Other than a weak nod of stolid acknowledgement, he’d said nothing. By contrast, her once-skinny, insolent third cousin Boris had matured to become a stocky bull-of-a-man with bushy, dark reddish hair and a dominant forehead that gave him an evil profile. A man who was but one step from the top of the world’s largest intelligence organization, his manner could have been threatening…but it wasn’t. He, too, wore civilian clothes and was open-collared. In a certain way he still had the boyish look she remembered from the single time they’d met so long ago, but he was now a powerful man in a powerful organization that was itself the brains of a powerful army, in spite of his manner.

--Then is the Power by Gerald W. Mills

Journey to Promethea Review

Journey to Promethea
With Billy Zane

There is a tyrant on the throne and the people wait for the fulfillment of the prophecy that will bring back the spirit of an old hero in a young boy, who with the help of a special sword will bring about a time of peace.



It was rather amazing how bad this was. It starts with a little set up of the prophecy and then you watch three groups of people wander around in the forest badly delivering poorly written and sometime completely nonsensical lines and then getting into poorly choreographed and boring swordfights. Add to that a thin unoriginal plot, some really bad affects and costumes that look like they were cobbled together from what they could find in their closets and you have something not worth watching. The quality of the acting, writing and film itself suggest that a bunch of friends walked into the local woods with a video camera. Billy Zane tried but he had nothing at all to work with.

Theme Thursday -- Woman Relationships

Theme Thursdays is a fun weekly event that will be open from one Thursday to the next. Hosted by Reading Between Pages.

Anyone can participate in it.
The rules are simple:
•A theme will be posted each week (on Thursday’s)
•Select a conversation/snippet/sentence from the current book you are reading
•Mention the author and the title of the book along with your post
•It is important that the theme is conveyed in the sentence (you don’t necessarily need to have the word) Ex: If the theme is KISS; your sentence can have “They kissed so gently” or “Their lips touched each other” or “The smooch was so passionate”

This week’s theme is – Woman Relationships (relation that one can have with a woman like mother, aunt, grandmother, sister, girlfriend, etc.)

“You could go anywhere,” my mother said. Back then I thought she was the harder parent of the two and had had high hopes for me, so the disappointment weighed on her more heavily. I remember that my mother was a dry well at my trial when the jury brought back the verdict, although my father had wept loudly and wetly, and he was starting to cry now, too.

-- An Arsonist’s Guide to Writers’ Homes in New England by Brock Clarke

WWW Wednesdays (May 11)

To play along just answer the following three (3) questions...
*What are you currently reading?
*What did you recently finish reading?
*What do you think you’ll read next?

Leave a link to your post (or the answers themselves if you do not have a blog) in the comments of Should Be Reading.

What are you currently reading?

An Arsonist’s Guide to Writer’s Homes in New England by Brock Clarke
I’m liking it so far.

Then is the Power by Gerald W. Mills
Well, that’s what is on the cover of my book but I think he changed the title to No Place for Gods.

What did you recently finish reading?

Killing Girl Vol. 1: A Sister’s Love by Glen Brunswick
A graphic novel, the story is alright but I don’t like the artwork.

Hammer of the Gods: Mortal Enemies by Michael Avon Oeming
Another graphic novel, this one about Odin and Thor and such. I liked the artwork better in this one.


What do you think you’ll read next?

The Accidental Werewolf by Dakota Cassidy

Mockingjay Review

Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins

(from the book jacket)
Katniss Everdeen, girl on fire, has survived, even though her home has been destroyed. Gale has escaped. Katniss’s family is safe. Peeta has been captured by the Capitol. District 13 really does exist. There are rebels. There are new leaders. A revolution is unfolding.

It is by design that Katniss was rescued from the arena in the cruel and haunting Quarter Quell, and it is by design that she has long been part of the of the revolution without knowing it. District 13 has come out of the shadows and is plotting to overthrow the Capitol. Everyone, it seems, has had a hand in the carefully laid plans – except Katniss.

The success of the rebellion hinges on Katniss’s willingness to be a pawn, to accept responsibility for countless lives, and to change the course of the future of Panem. To do this, she must put aside her feelings of anger and distrust. She must become the rebels’ Mockingjay – no matter what the personal cost.



I think once again Collins does a great job of giving you characters you can care about. You worry about them. Their anguish, mental and physical, makes you upset. You are sad when they die. And there are, of course, the people you don’t like too but even they evoke a strong reaction. And these strong characters get you emotionally involved in the story. And once again Collins explores some big issues. Katniss and the others have to deal with the horrors of war and the damage that it does to those who survive. They are faced with choices about how far they are willing to go to win a just war. Can they justify using the enemies tactics themselves? Katniss is overwhelmed by the war, the loss of her home, the fear for those she loves and the expectations of those around her. You are thrown into turmoil with her as she is pushed into a role that she never wanted but no longer knows how to avoid. I had a little harder time feeling for Katniss this time but that was only because the trauma she goes through, the trauma that makes you hide in the corner, that makes you apathetic and unresponsive is harder for me to relate to or envision than the fight for her life that she has been in in the past. And because this is the struggle she is going through in the beginning of the book it has a slower start than the other two. Mockingjay gives you a sense of hope because finally the people are fighting back but it is still a dark and scary world. Collins never gives her heroine and cure-all answer to the woes of the world. All of her plans and actions do not miraculously make everything better. Her choices are not at all clear nor are they without consequences. It is a compelling story but I’m slightly ambivalent about the ending. I’m glad that Collins does not pretty it up into something that is unreal and unbelievable. But there was a point when it seemed like the story just stopped for a moment and then continued after jumping over some important parts. It was good to take a look into the future a little bit but still leave the possibility open for anything to happen so you get a sense that the effects of the war will not fade quickly. But part of me feels like certain things were glossed over and left oddly vague.

The Friday 56, The Accidental Werewolf

Rules:
*Grab a book, any book.
*Turn to page 56.
*Find any sentence that grabs you.
*Post it.
*Link it to Freda's Voice.
*Add your (url) post to Linky on Freda’s post

The book this week is The Accidental Werewolf by Dakota Cassidy. My sister gave this for my birthday recently but I haven’t gotten around to reading it yet.

The sentence:

If she told them the truth, they’d tar her with a crazy brush and call for the men with butterfly nets.

Theme Thursday -- Female Person

Theme Thursdays is a fun weekly event that will be open from one Thursday to the next. Hosted by Reading Between Pages.

Anyone can participate in it.
The rules are simple:
•A theme will be posted each week (on Thursday’s)
•Select a conversation/snippet/sentence from the current book you are reading
•Mention the author and the title of the book along with your post
•It is important that the theme is conveyed in the sentence (you don’t necessarily need to have the word) Ex: If the theme is KISS; your sentence can have “They kissed so gently” or “Their lips touched each other” or “The smooch was so passionate”

This week’s theme is – Female Person (Description of a woman/girl…)


They were hags with hairy faces and popping eyes. Their bodies were round as chariot wheels and studded with arms and legs, three of each. Scuttling on these arms and legs they would glide up the walls and spin webs – each web as big as the mainsail of a Viking ship.

- Fafnir by Bernard Evslin

WWW Wednesday (May 4th)

To play along just answer the following three (3) questions...
*What are you currently reading?
*What did you recently finish reading?
*What do you think you’ll read next?

Leave a link to your post (or the answers themselves if you do not have a blog) in the comments of Should Be Reading.

What are you currently reading?

The Sound of a Wild Snail Eating by Elisabeth Tova Bailey
It is interesting how attached to a snail someone can become.

Fafnir by Bernard Evslin


What did you recently finish reading?

How to Build A Robot Army by Daniel H. Wilson
After you build your robot army you will have to read his book How to Survive a Robot Uprising.

Immortality Inc. by Robert Sheckley
The basis for the movie Freejack. Although the two are not anything alike. Both interesting stories just not really the same story.


What do you think you’ll read next?

An Arsonist’s Guide to Writers’ Homes in New England by Brock Clarke

Books I Finished in April

It’s May 2nd. I meant to do this yesterday. Of course I also meant to do The Friday 56, the Theme Thursday, and the WWW Wednesday. And none of that happened either. Hopefully I’ll get back on track this month. Although it’s a bad sign that I’m already a day late.

Outlaw by Angus Donald
See my review here.

ExHeroes by Peter Clines
I wanted this to be better. I just didn’t find any of the characters all that interesting.

Rare Beasts by Charles Ogden
Nothing special. I can see why kids might like them but I don’t think I’ll be reading anymore.

The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle
This is so sad. I loved it though.

How to Survive a Robot Uprising by Daniel H. Wilson
Something everyone should know. A surprising amount of real information.

Blazin’ Barrels Vol. 1 by Min-seo Park
Part of my new Manga obsession.

Zeus: King of the Gods by George O’Connor
A graphic novel about Zeus. That’s good stuff.

Plastic Man on the Lam by Kyle Baker
Another graphic novel but this one was not my cup of tea.

The Tain by Thomas Kinsella
An Irish epic. And a lot of names I can’t pronounce.

Clatter Bash! Review

Clatter Bash! by Richard Keep

Graveyard skeletons shake, rattle, and roll in this spirited Day of the Dead celebration!

The illustrations are bold, colorful, fun and, even though they are skeletons, cheerful too. A lot of the words are sounds like ‘honk-whiz’ and ‘whoosh-sploosh’ that make it fun to read. And the addition of the Spanish words is nice too. There is a very good explanation of the Day of the Dead holiday that tells you why and how it is celebrated that is easily understandable to all ages. It is a fun and informative book.

The Friday 56, Let's Bring Back

Rules:
*Grab a book, any book.
*Turn to page 56.
*Find any sentence that grabs you.
*Post it.
*Link it to Freda's Voice.
*Add your (url) post to Linky on Freda’s post

The book this week is Let’s Bring Back by Lesley M. M. Blume. It is basically a list of things (words, customs, people, etc.) that have gone out of fashion that the author thinks should have a comeback. I’m only in the Bs but it’s interesting so far and I’ve even learned a thing or two.

The sentence:

She used to own Hollywood, and these days, all people can remember about her is the vague phrase “Bette Davis eyes” – the title of a grating song written in the 1980s that wasn’t even about Bette Davis.

It does seem unfair.

Theme Thursday -- Weather

Theme Thursdays is a fun weekly event that will be open from one Thursday to the next. Hosted by Reading Between Pages.

Anyone can participate in it.
The rules are simple:
•A theme will be posted each week (on Thursday’s)
•Select a conversation/snippet/sentence from the current book you are reading
•Mention the author and the title of the book along with your post
•It is important that the theme is conveyed in the sentence (you don’t necessarily need to have the word) Ex: If the theme is KISS; your sentence can have “They kissed so gently” or “Their lips touched each other” or “The smooch was so passionate”

This week’s theme is – WEATHER

As we near the Bastille, the rain drives harder. The streets have turned into rivers, carrying along mud and excrement.

- Madame Tussaud by Michelle Moran

Outlaw Review

Outlaw by Angus Donald

(from the back of the book)
In the bloody underworld of 12th century England, one man reigns supreme. Robin Hood steals from the Church and gives protection to the poor – but at a price. And the price is silence. Informers are mutilated, traitors are murdered, and all must submit to Robin’s justice. As Alan Dale, a young thief running from the law, is thrown into this violent world, he finds that to survive he must exploit his quick reflexes, light fingers and unique musical talent. Robin, a mentor and father-figure to Alan, teaches him how to fight and more importantly, how to win. But in the England of Henry II, dangerous forces are allied against Robin and his men and it will take more than luck, more than skill, if they are to survive the savage assaults by the Norman rulers and the treachery and betrayal from some of their own.


This tale of Robin Hood is dark, bloody and completely unromantic. This is not a story about a hero for the oppressed. Robin rules the forest and the people with an iron fist and is quick to dispense bloody punishment for transgressions. It could be an interesting concept but I had trouble seeing it. Robin has the loyalty of the people and Alan, the narrator of the story, loves him as does Friar Tuck but I don’t know why. The indefinable qualities that made him a leader of men, someone who draws people to him didn’t really come through. Alan was sympathetic at first but the more I got to know him the less I liked him and the less I wanted to see him succeed. I wanted to be able to root for someone in this story and I couldn’t. I wanted to want to know these people, and I didn’t. There is a lot of action. Sword fights, recues, betrayals, battles and lots and lots of killing. I like that Tuck was conflicted about his loyalty to Robin and there were some things he would not take part in. It gave a sense that Robin’s actions were not being totally excused. Donald does a good job of bringing the setting to life and by putting the meaning of some of the words right in the text (i.e. ‘he swung a heavy falchion, a thick bladed sword’) manages to keep it authentic without sending you to the dictionary. It is a harsh, grim, sometimes even vulgar story so don’t go looking for fairy tales here. There is enough fighting and blood to satisfy any action lover but it is the action that drives and carries the story and not the characters. And though I liked to book well enough I would have liked to see a little more balance between the two.

The Friday 56, Madame Tussaud

Rules:
*Grab a book, any book.
*Turn to page 56.
*Find any sentence that grabs you.
*Post it.
*Link it to Freda's Voice.
*Add your (url) post to Linky on Freda’s post

This week the book is Madame Tussaud by Michelle Moran.

The sentence:

“What should it matter who hands the queen her underwear so long as she’s wearing some?”

I quite agree but apparently it made quite a big deal to quite a few people. If it’s done wrong it starts all over. I can’t imagine having to get dressed like that.

Theme Thursday -- Emotion

Theme Thursdays is a fun weekly event that will be open from one Thursday to the next. Hosted by Reading Between Pages.

Anyone can participate in it.
The rules are simple:
•A theme will be posted each week (on Thursday’s)
•Select a conversation/snippet/sentence from the current book you are reading
•Mention the author and the title of the book along with your post
•It is important that the theme is conveyed in the sentence (you don’t necessarily need to have the word) Ex: If the theme is KISS; your sentence can have “They kissed so gently” or “Their lips touched each other” or “The smooch was so passionate”

This week’s theme is – EMOTION

“I did not know what she was until now,” he said. “But I knew the first time I saw her that she was something more than I could see. Unicorn, mermaid, lamia, sorceress, Gorgon – no name you give her would surprise me, or frighten me. I love whom I love.”

“That’s a very nice sentiment,” Schmendrick said. “But when I change her back into her true self, so that she may do battle with the Red Bull and free her people –“

“I love whom I love,” Prince Lir repeated firmly. “You have no power over anything that matters.”

-- The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle

WWW Wednesdays (April 13)

To play along just answer the following three (3) questions...
*What are you currently reading?
*What did you recently finish reading?
*What do you think you’ll read next?

Leave a link to your post (or the answers themselves if you do not have a blog) in the comments of Should Be Reading.

What are you currently reading?

The Last Unicorn by Peter Beagle

Madame Tussaud by Michelle Moran I finally started it for real. I like it so far. I think Moran writes great characters.

What did you recently finish reading?

Ex-Heroes by Peter Clines
Um… I like superheroes and I like zombies and there are a lot of both in this book and a lot of action but I didn’t find the characters very interesting.

Edgar and Ellen: Rare Beasts by Charles Ogden Okay. Fast and kind of fun but nothing spectacular.

What do you think you’ll read next?

How to Survive a Robot Uprising : Tips on Defending Yourself Against the Coming Rebellion by Daniel H. Wilson.
I hope it’s as much fun as it sounds.

A History of Food Vocab

A History of Food by Maguelonne Toussaint-Samat

Pogrom: an organized massacre of helpless people; such a massacre of Jews

Awn: one of the slender bristles that terminate the glumes of the spikelet in some cereal and other grasses

Rachides: the elongated axis of an inflorescence (2) : an extension of the petiole of a compound leaf that bears the leaflets

(aside)Inflorescence: the mode of development and arrangement of FLOWERS on an axis

Ruminant: an animal (such as a cow or sheep) that has more than one stomach and that swallows food and then brings it back up again to continue chewing it

Potation: a usually alcoholic drink or brew

Panicle: a pyramidal loosely branched flower cluster

Pergola: a structure usually consisting of parallel colonnades supporting an open roof of girders and cross rafters

Spatchcock: To prepare (a dressed chicken) for grilling by splitting open

Escalope: scallop

Flageolet: a small fipple flute resembling the treble recorder

Umbelliferous: of or relating to the carrot family

Coprophagous: feeding on dung

Bastinado: a blow with a stick or cudgel

Seraglio: a palace of a sultan

Batrachian: amphibian

Espalier: a plant (as a fruit TREE) trained to grow flat against a support (as a wall)

Febrifuge: an agent that reduces fever

Garum: a type of fermented fish sauce condiment that was an essential flavour in Ancient Roman cooking

Parthenogenesis: reproduction by development of an unfertilized usually female gamete that occurs especially among lower plants and invertebrate animals

Metonymy: a figure of speech consisting of the use of the name of one thing for that of another of which it is an attribute or with which it is associated (as “crown” in “lands belonging to the crown”)

Win The Queen's Rival

P.S. I Love Books is giving away 2 copies of The Queen's Rival by Diane Haeger.

Fill out a simple form to enter.

Are you a GFC follower of P.S. I Love Books? That's an extra entry or two.

You can get more entries by commenting on the interview, review and the guest post.

The giveaway ends April 21st. Open to the US only.

The Friday 56, Rare Beasts

Rules:
*Grab a book, any book.
*Turn to page 56.
*Find any sentence that grabs you.
*Post it.
*Link it to Freda's Voice.

The book this week is Edgar & Ellen: Rare Beasts by Charles Ogden. I’m still reading Ex-Heroes but I used that last week so I picked something else that was handy. I’ll get to it eventually. Just like all the other books in my ‘to be read’ pile. Really, I will.

The sentence: “Ten dollars?” repeated Ellen. “I say ten dollars is an awful lot less than fifteen hundred!”

Well, you can’t deny the logic of that.

Theme Thursday -- Beauty

Theme Thursdays is a fun weekly event that will be open from one Thursday to the next. Hosted by Reading Between Pages.

Anyone can participate in it. The rules are simple:
•A theme will be posted each week (on Thursday’s)
•Select a conversation/snippet/sentence from the current book you are reading •Mention the author and the title of the book along with your post
•It is important that the theme is conveyed in the sentence (you don’t necessarily need to have the word) Ex: If the theme is KISS; your sentence can have “They kissed so gently” or “Their lips touched each other” or “The smooch was so passionate”

This week’s theme is – BEAUTY

I had trouble with this one. A superhero/zombie story doesn’t have a lot of ‘beauty’ going on. I did the best I could. See what you think.

The woman on the roof, her outfit was that tight and showed off that much. And she had a lot to show off. I say this as someone who deals with some of the hottest women on Earth every week as part of my day job. Black straps and belts crisscrossed her body, accenting her curves, a lot like the utility harness I wore. But mine was store-bought and I don’t think there was a quarter-inch of material in hers that didn’t need to be there.

-- Ex-Heroes by Peter Clines

Coraline Movie vs. Book

Coraline by Neil Gaimen
Coraline with Dakota Fanning

Coraline is a story about a bored girl who discovers a secret door and on the other side finds a twisted copy of her own family and world.


The movie and the book have very similar storylines. There is the door that is sometimes open and sometimes not. There is the skewed version of Coraline’s world on the other side. There is the slow realization that it is not a good place to be. And then there is the battle to save herself and her parents. And everything in both is creepy and eerie. But although the book was a full, complete story with plenty of depth of its own the movie felt compelled to add elements to it. They were not bad exactly, but they were unnecessary and didn’t really add anything to the story so I don’t see the point. The movie adds a boy neighbor and a doll that looks like Coraline. They are both rather important to the movie but not in the book at all. There were a couple of scenes that were made bigger, more theatrical that worked in a movie that could not have been described well in a book. There are other things that got added as well that don’t detract from the story but I would have liked to see the movie stick more closely to the book. The characters are slightly different too. The mother is less just preoccupied and more angry all the time. The man upstairs has been turned into an eccentric gymnast always jumping and swinging instead of just the man upstairs with a mouse circus act. And Coraline doesn’t seem as clever in the movie. She has help she didn’t have in the book and she doesn’t figure certain things out that she does in the book. So I liked some of the characters more in the book. But not by a lot. They were both fun and creepy. The book edges out the movie in my opinion but the movie is good too.

Win, Win, Win

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The Friday 56, Ex-Heroes

Rules:
*Grab a book, any book.
*Turn to page 56.
*Find any sentence that grabs you.
*Post it.
*Link it to Freda's Voice.

The book this week is Ex-Heroes by Peter Clines. I like superhero stories and zombie stories too so I have high hopes for this one.

The sentence:

Lady Bee slammed her pistol into the back of its skull. She fired three rounds and it flopped on the carpet.

I haven’t started this book yet. I plan to read it next. I can’t wait to find out what ‘it’ is. I hope it's a zombie.

Books I Finished in March

Athena: Grey-Eyed Goddess by George O’Connor
A graphic novel about Athena and since I like both graphic novels and Greek mythology I liked it. If you aren’t a fan of both though I wouldn’t bother.

The Road of the Dead by Kevin Brooks
Rather dark and violent but I liked this.

The Spider: Robot Titans of Gotham by Norvell Page
Pulp fiction complete with a robot army. How much more fun can a story get?

The Arrival by Shaun Tan
This has absolutely no words but it has no trouble telling a wonderful story.

God of Beer by Garret Keizer About underage drinking and its effects and consequences, civil disobedience, peer pressure, and friendship. And somehow manages not to be overbearing and also gives you interesting characters you can care about.

Skellig by David Almond
Even though it is fantasy it is more about love and family.

Get Real by Donald E. Westlake
I love Dortmunder.

Chicken a la King and the Buffalo Wing by Steven Gilbar
I think my expectations were too high. I wanted unique and original stories about how food or dishes got their name. And I did get some of that but so many things are named after the location where they were first made or grown that it started to get dull after a while.

All’s Well That Ends Well by William Shakespeare
Not one of my favorite Shakespeare plays.

Blood Oath by Christopher Farnsworth
A vampire fighting on the side of good without actually being a good guy. I’ll be reading the second one for sure.

Bleach Chapters 1 - 443 by Tite Kubo
Manga I was reading online. A friend got me hooked on it even though I had never been a fan of manga before. I thought I would never catch up to the current ones but now that I have I’m upset because I have to wait for the next part of the story.