Since there's no way Word Nerd's going to finish any of the books she's reading today, it's safe to post the monthly stats.
For November:
8 books
2,742 pages
91 pages/day
YTD
89 books
30,142 pages
average book length = 339 pages
Interestingly, the November 2007 total pages is only 22 pages fewer than 2006's total.
30 November 2007
29 November 2007
Book Banter -- Twilight
Title: Twilight
Author: Stephenie Meyer
Length: 492 pages
Genre: paranormal YA
Plot Basics: When her mom gets remarried to a minor league ballplayer who travels alot, Bella Swan decides to move from sunny Phoenix to rainy Forks, Washington to live with her police chief father. Bella worries that she won't fit in at her new small high school, but as the new girl, she attracts plenty of attention. Including that of her biology lab partner mysterious, aloof Edward Cullen. Bella is determined to find out Edward's secret and why he strangely avoids her. And the truth she learns is that she is very appealing to her vampire lab partner...
Banter Points: Meyer's books (there are three in this series now) have been huge sellers among teen readers. Word Nerd first stumbled on them when the third one released and Barnes and Noble made a big end-cap display, and well, YA vampire books selling that well... Word Nerd had to find out why.
In Twilight, the book is compelling as Bella and Edward sort out this rather Romeo-and-Juliet-ish secret love. There's action plot that comes late in the book, but Meyer deftly keeps readers interested as she (through Bella) lets readers discover her world of vampires.
Bummer Points: This is still another book about a somewhat ill-fated romance between a human and vampire. In the post-Buffy/Angel wake, these stories are becoming somewhat commonplace and losing some of their intrigue.
Word Nerd Recommendation: She put book #2 (New Moon) on hold because she wants to know what happens next.
Author: Stephenie Meyer
Length: 492 pages
Genre: paranormal YA
Plot Basics: When her mom gets remarried to a minor league ballplayer who travels alot, Bella Swan decides to move from sunny Phoenix to rainy Forks, Washington to live with her police chief father. Bella worries that she won't fit in at her new small high school, but as the new girl, she attracts plenty of attention. Including that of her biology lab partner mysterious, aloof Edward Cullen. Bella is determined to find out Edward's secret and why he strangely avoids her. And the truth she learns is that she is very appealing to her vampire lab partner...
Banter Points: Meyer's books (there are three in this series now) have been huge sellers among teen readers. Word Nerd first stumbled on them when the third one released and Barnes and Noble made a big end-cap display, and well, YA vampire books selling that well... Word Nerd had to find out why.
In Twilight, the book is compelling as Bella and Edward sort out this rather Romeo-and-Juliet-ish secret love. There's action plot that comes late in the book, but Meyer deftly keeps readers interested as she (through Bella) lets readers discover her world of vampires.
Bummer Points: This is still another book about a somewhat ill-fated romance between a human and vampire. In the post-Buffy/Angel wake, these stories are becoming somewhat commonplace and losing some of their intrigue.
Word Nerd Recommendation: She put book #2 (New Moon) on hold because she wants to know what happens next.
27 November 2007
26 November 2007
Book Banter -- Fool Moon
Title: Fool Moon
Author: Jim Butcher
Length: 392 pages
Genre: Paranormal Fantasy
Plot Basics: Harry Dresden gets another call to consult for the Chicago PD in a crime of the weird. Arriving on scene, he discovers a mangled corpse and evidence that a werewolf of some sort is behind the killing. Turns out, Lt. Karrin Murphy of the Chicago PD tells him, it's not the first gruesome killing of its kind and she asks Dresden for his help. Werewolves, Dresden learns, come in several varieties and as he unravels the case, he learns he's got more than one kind on his hands. Besting them all will take a ton of magic and all of Harry's cunning.
Banter Points: Dresden is his usual wise-cracking, cynical self. The plot is taut and exciting and it's interesting to see how Dresden has to improvise at the end to keep himself and others alive.
Bummer Points: It's only book two, but Word Nerd gets the feeling that these books are pretty formulaic. Not that the formula is so bad, she just wonders if they will continue to stay interesting through the number of them that Butcher has written.
Word Nerd Recommendation: A good read that doesn't tax your brain overmuch. If you are a looking for something to cut through holiday schmaltz, this could be it.
Author: Jim Butcher
Length: 392 pages
Genre: Paranormal Fantasy
Plot Basics: Harry Dresden gets another call to consult for the Chicago PD in a crime of the weird. Arriving on scene, he discovers a mangled corpse and evidence that a werewolf of some sort is behind the killing. Turns out, Lt. Karrin Murphy of the Chicago PD tells him, it's not the first gruesome killing of its kind and she asks Dresden for his help. Werewolves, Dresden learns, come in several varieties and as he unravels the case, he learns he's got more than one kind on his hands. Besting them all will take a ton of magic and all of Harry's cunning.
Banter Points: Dresden is his usual wise-cracking, cynical self. The plot is taut and exciting and it's interesting to see how Dresden has to improvise at the end to keep himself and others alive.
Bummer Points: It's only book two, but Word Nerd gets the feeling that these books are pretty formulaic. Not that the formula is so bad, she just wonders if they will continue to stay interesting through the number of them that Butcher has written.
Word Nerd Recommendation: A good read that doesn't tax your brain overmuch. If you are a looking for something to cut through holiday schmaltz, this could be it.
20 November 2007
Book Banter -- The Grey King
Title: The Grey King (the Dark is Rising sequence book 4)
Author: Susan Cooper
Length: ~160 pages
Genre: Juvenile Fantasy
Plot Basics: After a bad case of the mumps, Will Stanton is sent to his relatives in Wales to recover. Will knows that there's something important that he's forgetting from before he was sick, but the illness has driven whatever it was from his mind. As he explores the countryside, he encounters a strange white dog and an equally strange boy, Bran Davies, who together trigger his memory and aid him in his quest as an Old One to find another object that will aid in the Light in the struggle against the rising Dark.
Banter Points: Another great book from Susan Cooper. This one won the Newberry Award and it's easy to see why. The plot is tight and compelling, the descriptions vivid and powerful. Will is a very neat character and it was nice to see him interacting with someone other than Merriman or the Drew children.
Bummer Points: It was pretty short. Word Nerd got caught up in this landscape Cooper painted and would have been more than willing to stay there for another 100 pages.
Word Nerd Recommendation: As she's said before, this series is worth reading, even if you are a grown-up.
Author: Susan Cooper
Length: ~160 pages
Genre: Juvenile Fantasy
Plot Basics: After a bad case of the mumps, Will Stanton is sent to his relatives in Wales to recover. Will knows that there's something important that he's forgetting from before he was sick, but the illness has driven whatever it was from his mind. As he explores the countryside, he encounters a strange white dog and an equally strange boy, Bran Davies, who together trigger his memory and aid him in his quest as an Old One to find another object that will aid in the Light in the struggle against the rising Dark.
Banter Points: Another great book from Susan Cooper. This one won the Newberry Award and it's easy to see why. The plot is tight and compelling, the descriptions vivid and powerful. Will is a very neat character and it was nice to see him interacting with someone other than Merriman or the Drew children.
Bummer Points: It was pretty short. Word Nerd got caught up in this landscape Cooper painted and would have been more than willing to stay there for another 100 pages.
Word Nerd Recommendation: As she's said before, this series is worth reading, even if you are a grown-up.
12 November 2007
When real life interferes
Word Nerd's got another blog going about her current real life adventures, in addition to the occasional posts here too about writing.
But today's post was enough about writing that she thought she should at least post a link here.
So, here it is.
A link.
But today's post was enough about writing that she thought she should at least post a link here.
So, here it is.
A link.
09 November 2007
Excited for a library
Word Nerd's a fan of libraries. Makes sense, given her avid reader status.
Here in the big city, the main, downtown branch of the library has been undergoing renovations. Big ones. Adding on to the building, shut down for at least a year kind of renovations.
It now will reopen in 30 days and Word Nerd can't wait.
Why?
First, there is a the practical side. The downtown one is closer to her apartment than where she's currently trekking off to one of the more suburban branches. Closer by many, many, blocks and literally, just down a block from her office. Guess where she'll be spending her lunch hours...
Second, this new library building is huge. Huge means room for books. Lots of books.
Word Nerd's a fan already and she hasn't even been inside.
Here in the big city, the main, downtown branch of the library has been undergoing renovations. Big ones. Adding on to the building, shut down for at least a year kind of renovations.
It now will reopen in 30 days and Word Nerd can't wait.
Why?
First, there is a the practical side. The downtown one is closer to her apartment than where she's currently trekking off to one of the more suburban branches. Closer by many, many, blocks and literally, just down a block from her office. Guess where she'll be spending her lunch hours...
Second, this new library building is huge. Huge means room for books. Lots of books.
Word Nerd's a fan already and she hasn't even been inside.
08 November 2007
Book Banter -- The Mark
Title: The Mark
Author: Jason Pinter
Length: 367 pages
Genre: mystery/thriller
Plot Basics: Henry Parker only wants one thing in life – to be a respected journalist in New York City. When he lands a job shortly out of college at the New York Gazette, he thinks he’s got it made… until his editor keeps him writing obituaries and fluffy features stories. He finally gets a chance to help veteran reporter Jack O’Donnell on a big story, interviewing a former convict. But after the interview, something doesn’t sit right with Parker about what he heard. He goes back to the con’s apartment and end up running from the NYPD and running for his life.
Banter Points: Pretty good chase novel, with Parker constantly working to stay one step ahead of the cops. Likely since Pinter himself is in his late 20s, Parker’s voice as a mid-20-something rang true.
Bummer Points: A couple of these, unfortunately. First, it’s a pet peeve for Word Nerd – she really doesn’t like switches in POV in the story. The subplot about the hitman was OK, but in her view, the subplot with the policemen didn’t add anything. There would have been other ways around that at the end when the reader needed to know some things about them. Second, Parker sounds like a 24-year-old, but not a reporter. Word Nerd has unbelievably high standards for how reporters should act in a novel (since she was one for a while.) Parker and his newsroom fail on most accounts there. If Parker was such a promising reporter, he wouldn’t have been stuck writing nothing but obits. When Word Nerd was an intern at a major daily, she covered everything from features to international news and wrote no obits. Third, this is the first book in a series. One of Pinters 2007 Killer Year colleagues, Marcus Sakey, said something at an appearance that some characters go through too much hell for there to be a sequel. Word Nerd would put Henry Parker in that category.
Word Nerd recommendation: It’s a good page-turner, airplane book. If you like thrillers, it’s worth the read, but if this genre isn’t your thing, this isn’t a good book to try to break in with.
Author: Jason Pinter
Length: 367 pages
Genre: mystery/thriller
Plot Basics: Henry Parker only wants one thing in life – to be a respected journalist in New York City. When he lands a job shortly out of college at the New York Gazette, he thinks he’s got it made… until his editor keeps him writing obituaries and fluffy features stories. He finally gets a chance to help veteran reporter Jack O’Donnell on a big story, interviewing a former convict. But after the interview, something doesn’t sit right with Parker about what he heard. He goes back to the con’s apartment and end up running from the NYPD and running for his life.
Banter Points: Pretty good chase novel, with Parker constantly working to stay one step ahead of the cops. Likely since Pinter himself is in his late 20s, Parker’s voice as a mid-20-something rang true.
Bummer Points: A couple of these, unfortunately. First, it’s a pet peeve for Word Nerd – she really doesn’t like switches in POV in the story. The subplot about the hitman was OK, but in her view, the subplot with the policemen didn’t add anything. There would have been other ways around that at the end when the reader needed to know some things about them. Second, Parker sounds like a 24-year-old, but not a reporter. Word Nerd has unbelievably high standards for how reporters should act in a novel (since she was one for a while.) Parker and his newsroom fail on most accounts there. If Parker was such a promising reporter, he wouldn’t have been stuck writing nothing but obits. When Word Nerd was an intern at a major daily, she covered everything from features to international news and wrote no obits. Third, this is the first book in a series. One of Pinters 2007 Killer Year colleagues, Marcus Sakey, said something at an appearance that some characters go through too much hell for there to be a sequel. Word Nerd would put Henry Parker in that category.
Word Nerd recommendation: It’s a good page-turner, airplane book. If you like thrillers, it’s worth the read, but if this genre isn’t your thing, this isn’t a good book to try to break in with.
07 November 2007
The Switch
Word Nerd doesn’t have an official November writing goal yet, but at least she’s put words on paper again this month.
And on the computer.
Yes. It was time to make the switch from hand-writing the current work-in-progress to the computer. Blame it, if you will, on the move to the big city. Things here take more time because they are farther away to get to. Like, say, the library, which until the new downtown Central Library reopens, means traveling some 30 blocks away which takes a good 15 minutes to go. This is an unfortunately far longer distance than when Word Nerd lived, literally, three doors up the street from the Oshkosh library.
The writing by hand was taking to long to get done in the midst of other things that take to long to get done. So, even before finishing the last notebook she was working in, Word Nerd made the switch.
When she was working on the last WIP, the goal was 1,000 words a day. That seems like a lot, presently, so Word Nerd’s shooting for about 500. If it’s anywhere from about 450 words up, that’s fine. The rest of November is a crazy month so Word Nerd’s not sure about what the goal for the rest of the month should be.
Missing October’s goal was tough and she doesn’t want to do that again. Maybe the goal will just be to get as far as possible.
And on the computer.
Yes. It was time to make the switch from hand-writing the current work-in-progress to the computer. Blame it, if you will, on the move to the big city. Things here take more time because they are farther away to get to. Like, say, the library, which until the new downtown Central Library reopens, means traveling some 30 blocks away which takes a good 15 minutes to go. This is an unfortunately far longer distance than when Word Nerd lived, literally, three doors up the street from the Oshkosh library.
The writing by hand was taking to long to get done in the midst of other things that take to long to get done. So, even before finishing the last notebook she was working in, Word Nerd made the switch.
When she was working on the last WIP, the goal was 1,000 words a day. That seems like a lot, presently, so Word Nerd’s shooting for about 500. If it’s anywhere from about 450 words up, that’s fine. The rest of November is a crazy month so Word Nerd’s not sure about what the goal for the rest of the month should be.
Missing October’s goal was tough and she doesn’t want to do that again. Maybe the goal will just be to get as far as possible.
06 November 2007
Book Banter -- The Yiddish Policemen's Union
Title: The Yiddish Policemen’s Union
Author: Michael Chabon
Length: 411 pages
Genre: literary fiction
Plot Basics: In an alternate history of 1948, the Jewish people are given part of Alaska to settle in for 60 years. Now, on the eve of the land reverting to the United States, Sitka police detective Meyer Landsman takes it as a personal affront when a chess-playing man is murderer in the building he’s living in. Though the Sitka police is ordered to try to close out all its unsolved cases, Landsman can’t let this one go. His investigation brings up the demons of his past and shakes several Jewish notions of Messiah and the promise the people will one day reclaim the Holy Land.
Banter Points: Chabon’s description of the Alaskan environment is spectacular, using vivid words in unexpected combinations.
Bummer Points: After reading Chabon’s other masterpieces (Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay and Wonder Boys), Word Nerd had high hopes for this book. It, simply put, did not live up to them. The book plodded along, mired in moroseness and the gray Alaskan cold. Only in the last 100 pages did the book start to get interesting.
Word Nerd Recommendation: Skip it, unless you are a die-hard Chabon fan.
Author: Michael Chabon
Length: 411 pages
Genre: literary fiction
Plot Basics: In an alternate history of 1948, the Jewish people are given part of Alaska to settle in for 60 years. Now, on the eve of the land reverting to the United States, Sitka police detective Meyer Landsman takes it as a personal affront when a chess-playing man is murderer in the building he’s living in. Though the Sitka police is ordered to try to close out all its unsolved cases, Landsman can’t let this one go. His investigation brings up the demons of his past and shakes several Jewish notions of Messiah and the promise the people will one day reclaim the Holy Land.
Banter Points: Chabon’s description of the Alaskan environment is spectacular, using vivid words in unexpected combinations.
Bummer Points: After reading Chabon’s other masterpieces (Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay and Wonder Boys), Word Nerd had high hopes for this book. It, simply put, did not live up to them. The book plodded along, mired in moroseness and the gray Alaskan cold. Only in the last 100 pages did the book start to get interesting.
Word Nerd Recommendation: Skip it, unless you are a die-hard Chabon fan.
05 November 2007
October Bibliometer
Surprisingly, October turned out to be a rather bumper month for reading.
Word Nerd is a bit surprised by this, seeing as how October was also the month for her to relocate more than 400 miles to a new city and new job.
Granted, the October bibliometer reading is inflated for a couple reasons.
One of the counted titles was really an audiobook and half of another one was. While packing, Word Nerd listened to “Over Sea, Under Stone” and half of “The Dark is Rising.”
Word Nerd finished “The Dark is Rising” in print and counted the whole book in the page count. Also in the count is the 147 pages of the third book in this wonderful children’s fantasy series.
Word Nerd was also reading Yasuhiro Nightow’s Trigun graphic novels. The first two volumes were more than 300 pages each, but that includes all the pages of pictures as well as the words.
The official stats:
13 books
3366 pages
108 pages per day average
YTD:
81 books
27,400 pages
Average book length: 338 pages
Word Nerd is a bit surprised by this, seeing as how October was also the month for her to relocate more than 400 miles to a new city and new job.
Granted, the October bibliometer reading is inflated for a couple reasons.
One of the counted titles was really an audiobook and half of another one was. While packing, Word Nerd listened to “Over Sea, Under Stone” and half of “The Dark is Rising.”
Word Nerd finished “The Dark is Rising” in print and counted the whole book in the page count. Also in the count is the 147 pages of the third book in this wonderful children’s fantasy series.
Word Nerd was also reading Yasuhiro Nightow’s Trigun graphic novels. The first two volumes were more than 300 pages each, but that includes all the pages of pictures as well as the words.
The official stats:
13 books
3366 pages
108 pages per day average
YTD:
81 books
27,400 pages
Average book length: 338 pages
01 November 2007
Back to the writing
If you’ve been paying any attention to the page count meter over --> there to the right, you will notice that it hasn’t moved up in days. DAYS.
Word Nerd missed her October writing goal, something she hasn’t missed since, oh, March, when she was laid up recuperating from an emergency appendectomy.
What happened, you ask?
Easy. Word Nerd moved. And without a real, pressing deadline and boxes to pack and then unpack, putting words on paper daily was put on hold. She set her October page goal low – only 20 pages – to try to make it more feasible to meet it. But, alas, no such luck.
Why was writing so hard? Well, it’s hard to pump big emotions (betrayal, jealousy, loyalty, self-sacrifice, etc.) into a story when the writer is going through a pretty big upheaval in her own life. Moving 400 miles to a new town, starting a new job is a big deal. In the evenings after her first week at the new job, Word Nerd was just still too drained from learning the new ropes and new town to put pencil to paper.
That changed Sunday. She wrote a whole page. Not amazing progress, but it’s something. Even getting back in the story required some work, rereading more than the 100 preceding pages to reminder herself what was going on and how characters behaved. Any hiatus in storytelling can be bad because it puts the writer out of the rhythm of the story.
Hopefully, Word Nerd will refind her writing groove soon, because this story needs an ending soon.
Word Nerd missed her October writing goal, something she hasn’t missed since, oh, March, when she was laid up recuperating from an emergency appendectomy.
What happened, you ask?
Easy. Word Nerd moved. And without a real, pressing deadline and boxes to pack and then unpack, putting words on paper daily was put on hold. She set her October page goal low – only 20 pages – to try to make it more feasible to meet it. But, alas, no such luck.
Why was writing so hard? Well, it’s hard to pump big emotions (betrayal, jealousy, loyalty, self-sacrifice, etc.) into a story when the writer is going through a pretty big upheaval in her own life. Moving 400 miles to a new town, starting a new job is a big deal. In the evenings after her first week at the new job, Word Nerd was just still too drained from learning the new ropes and new town to put pencil to paper.
That changed Sunday. She wrote a whole page. Not amazing progress, but it’s something. Even getting back in the story required some work, rereading more than the 100 preceding pages to reminder herself what was going on and how characters behaved. Any hiatus in storytelling can be bad because it puts the writer out of the rhythm of the story.
Hopefully, Word Nerd will refind her writing groove soon, because this story needs an ending soon.
31 October 2007
Book Banter -- Greenwitch
Title: Greenwitch (The Dark is Rising sequence, book 3)
Author: Susan Cooper
Length: 147 pages
Genre: juvenile/fantasy
Plot Basics: All the work that Simon, Jane and Barney Drew did to recover the grail seems to be lost when the artifact is stolen in a museum break-in. The children and their Great Uncle Merriman Lyon know that the theft wasn’t the work of just any thieves, but agents of the Dark, trying to reclaim one of the Things of Power. Merriman recruits the three Drew children and Will Stanton to accompany on a week-long holiday back in Cornwall. But the week is hardly a holiday as a local rite – the creation of the Greenwitch – is wrapped up in the next piece of the struggle between Light and Dark.
Banter Points: Again, this is a fantastic fantasy series for kids. It’s classic good against evil, with a fun dash of British mythology thrown in. Word Nerd really liked to see Will Stanton interacting with the Drew children in this book. He’s a compelling character and was a nice contrast to the sometimes whiny-seeming Drews.
Bummer Points: The Dark wasn’t nearly scary enough in this book. In “Over Sea, Under Stone,” Mr. Hastings and a few others were acting as the agents of the Dark. Same for the Rider in “Dark is Rising.” While there was a bad guy in this book, he never had a name. As is understood in most books dealing with some kind of magic, names have power, and leaving this character unnamed didn’t heighten the mystery, but made it harder to believe this character had malevolent intentions.
Word Nerd Recommendations: Adults and kids still yearning for something to read in the Harry Potter vein should check these out. The Dark is Rising sequence doesn’t have the humor of HP, but the basic good vs. evil plot should be appealing.
Author: Susan Cooper
Length: 147 pages
Genre: juvenile/fantasy
Plot Basics: All the work that Simon, Jane and Barney Drew did to recover the grail seems to be lost when the artifact is stolen in a museum break-in. The children and their Great Uncle Merriman Lyon know that the theft wasn’t the work of just any thieves, but agents of the Dark, trying to reclaim one of the Things of Power. Merriman recruits the three Drew children and Will Stanton to accompany on a week-long holiday back in Cornwall. But the week is hardly a holiday as a local rite – the creation of the Greenwitch – is wrapped up in the next piece of the struggle between Light and Dark.
Banter Points: Again, this is a fantastic fantasy series for kids. It’s classic good against evil, with a fun dash of British mythology thrown in. Word Nerd really liked to see Will Stanton interacting with the Drew children in this book. He’s a compelling character and was a nice contrast to the sometimes whiny-seeming Drews.
Bummer Points: The Dark wasn’t nearly scary enough in this book. In “Over Sea, Under Stone,” Mr. Hastings and a few others were acting as the agents of the Dark. Same for the Rider in “Dark is Rising.” While there was a bad guy in this book, he never had a name. As is understood in most books dealing with some kind of magic, names have power, and leaving this character unnamed didn’t heighten the mystery, but made it harder to believe this character had malevolent intentions.
Word Nerd Recommendations: Adults and kids still yearning for something to read in the Harry Potter vein should check these out. The Dark is Rising sequence doesn’t have the humor of HP, but the basic good vs. evil plot should be appealing.
24 October 2007
Book Banter -- Storm Front
Title: Storm Front
Author: Jim Butcher
Length: ~320 pages
Genre: sci-fi/paranormal
Plot Basics: Harry Dresden is a wizard. And he advertises his services as such in the Chicago Yellow Pages. He also consults for the Chicago PD when they get the weird crimes. Like a recent pair of murders. Harry's called up to investiage two deaths at the same time he's hired by a woman to investigate her husband's growing interest in magic. As Harry starts to uncover the truth, he puts his own life and those of some of the people he works with, in danger.
Banter Points: Word Nerd's heard good things about the Dresden Files books, so she wanted to check it out. This first one is so-so. There's enough potential there that she sees why an editor/agent would have be interested in this series, but there's also a lot left unexplained.
Bummer Points: A little bit more background on how Dresden's mystical Chicago works would be nice.
Word Nerd Recommendation: She's been told the books get better after the third or fourth one, so she's got book 2 on hold.
Author: Jim Butcher
Length: ~320 pages
Genre: sci-fi/paranormal
Plot Basics: Harry Dresden is a wizard. And he advertises his services as such in the Chicago Yellow Pages. He also consults for the Chicago PD when they get the weird crimes. Like a recent pair of murders. Harry's called up to investiage two deaths at the same time he's hired by a woman to investigate her husband's growing interest in magic. As Harry starts to uncover the truth, he puts his own life and those of some of the people he works with, in danger.
Banter Points: Word Nerd's heard good things about the Dresden Files books, so she wanted to check it out. This first one is so-so. There's enough potential there that she sees why an editor/agent would have be interested in this series, but there's also a lot left unexplained.
Bummer Points: A little bit more background on how Dresden's mystical Chicago works would be nice.
Word Nerd Recommendation: She's been told the books get better after the third or fourth one, so she's got book 2 on hold.
18 October 2007
Book Banter -- The Dark is Rising
Title: The Dark is Rising (The Dark is Rising sequence book 2)
Author: Susan Cooper
Length: 218 pages
Genre: juvenile/fantasy
Plot Basics: Will Stanton just wants snow for his 11th birthday, but what he gets is far more adult and dangerous. Will discovers that he is the last of the Old Ones, a group of people withheld from Time who are the guardians of the Light and in constant struggle against the Dark. But as Christmas approaches, and the darkest time of the year, the powers of the Dark are growing stronger and Will is given a mission to collect and join the six Signs of Power as a weapon against the Dark. As Will comes into his power, he has a collection of mentors, including Merriman Lyon.
Banter Points: Word Nerd got interested in this series first after reading an interview with Cooper and then seeing the trailers for "The Seeker: The Dark is Rising" movie. (The movie is based on this book.) But, what she has found is a great kids' fantasy series that's good reading for adults too. High adventure and mysticism await in this book as Will learns what it means to be an Old One.
Bummer Points: Sometimes, Word Nerd really thought she needed to brush up on English mythology. There were a few references that she thought she should have known to stuff that was likely legend from Celtic/British mythology.
Word Nerd Recommendation: Though you don't have to read "Over Sea, Under Stone" to understand the action in this book, it's still good to start with that one first.
Author: Susan Cooper
Length: 218 pages
Genre: juvenile/fantasy
Plot Basics: Will Stanton just wants snow for his 11th birthday, but what he gets is far more adult and dangerous. Will discovers that he is the last of the Old Ones, a group of people withheld from Time who are the guardians of the Light and in constant struggle against the Dark. But as Christmas approaches, and the darkest time of the year, the powers of the Dark are growing stronger and Will is given a mission to collect and join the six Signs of Power as a weapon against the Dark. As Will comes into his power, he has a collection of mentors, including Merriman Lyon.
Banter Points: Word Nerd got interested in this series first after reading an interview with Cooper and then seeing the trailers for "The Seeker: The Dark is Rising" movie. (The movie is based on this book.) But, what she has found is a great kids' fantasy series that's good reading for adults too. High adventure and mysticism await in this book as Will learns what it means to be an Old One.
Bummer Points: Sometimes, Word Nerd really thought she needed to brush up on English mythology. There were a few references that she thought she should have known to stuff that was likely legend from Celtic/British mythology.
Word Nerd Recommendation: Though you don't have to read "Over Sea, Under Stone" to understand the action in this book, it's still good to start with that one first.
16 October 2007
Book Banter -- Over Sea, Under Stone
Title: Over Sea, Under Stone (The Dark is Rising Sequence, book 1)
Author: Susan Cooper
Length: audiobook... no page count this time
Genre: juvenile/fantasy
Plot Basics: Simon, Jane and Barney Drew are on holiday with their Great Uncle Merry in Cornwall, England. The big house where they are all staying holds many secrets and one day, while exploring the attic, they find a ancient manuscript. The manuscript, Merry tells them, dates back to the time of King Arthur and could lead them to a great treasure, an item that will help the powers of good ward off the growing Dark. But the Drew children aren't the only ones looking for clues in Cornwall and they find themselves in a race to understand the manuscript, chased at every step by those who serve the Dark and would like to see them fail.
Banter Points: First, Alex Jennings' narration of the book was great. He did a wonderful job of reading the story making it truly enjoyable to listen too. Second, Word Nerd doesn't know how she missed this book as a kid. Since she enjoyed it now as a grown-up, it would have been even better then! Cooper keeps the action up in the story, writing great chase scenes and description that really take the reader to southwest England.
Bummer Points: Simon, Jane and Barney were, at times, a bit wooden. They seemed sort of like the stock British sibling characters on holiday.
Word Nerd Recommendation: If you like Harry Potter, these are worth checking out.
Author: Susan Cooper
Length: audiobook... no page count this time
Genre: juvenile/fantasy
Plot Basics: Simon, Jane and Barney Drew are on holiday with their Great Uncle Merry in Cornwall, England. The big house where they are all staying holds many secrets and one day, while exploring the attic, they find a ancient manuscript. The manuscript, Merry tells them, dates back to the time of King Arthur and could lead them to a great treasure, an item that will help the powers of good ward off the growing Dark. But the Drew children aren't the only ones looking for clues in Cornwall and they find themselves in a race to understand the manuscript, chased at every step by those who serve the Dark and would like to see them fail.
Banter Points: First, Alex Jennings' narration of the book was great. He did a wonderful job of reading the story making it truly enjoyable to listen too. Second, Word Nerd doesn't know how she missed this book as a kid. Since she enjoyed it now as a grown-up, it would have been even better then! Cooper keeps the action up in the story, writing great chase scenes and description that really take the reader to southwest England.
Bummer Points: Simon, Jane and Barney were, at times, a bit wooden. They seemed sort of like the stock British sibling characters on holiday.
Word Nerd Recommendation: If you like Harry Potter, these are worth checking out.
15 October 2007
Book Banter -- The Fourth Bear
Title: The Fourth Bear
Author: Jasper Fforde
Length: 378 pages
Genre: mystery/comedy
Plot Basics: Nursery Crime Division Detective Chief Inspector Jack Spratt is off the job. His boss says it's because Jack is too crazy. But Jack's craziness is nothing compared to that of the serial killer Gingerbreadman who has recently escaped from prison. Top it off with some porridge smuggling, a Friend to Bears who may have been murdered, the world's worst idea for an amusement park and Jack is knee-deep in a bizarre case that he, technically, isn't authorized to solve.
Banter Points: Only Jasper Fforde could write this book and pull it off. At times laugh-aloud funny and filled with literary witticisms, The Fourth Bear is still a great mystery book. Obviously, Fforde knows both the genre and his audiences and the book is a delight to both.
Bummer Points: Word Nerd has now read her way through all of Fforde's back list and wishes there were more left for her to read.
Word Nerd recommendation: A must-read for anybody who loves books.
Author: Jasper Fforde
Length: 378 pages
Genre: mystery/comedy
Plot Basics: Nursery Crime Division Detective Chief Inspector Jack Spratt is off the job. His boss says it's because Jack is too crazy. But Jack's craziness is nothing compared to that of the serial killer Gingerbreadman who has recently escaped from prison. Top it off with some porridge smuggling, a Friend to Bears who may have been murdered, the world's worst idea for an amusement park and Jack is knee-deep in a bizarre case that he, technically, isn't authorized to solve.
Banter Points: Only Jasper Fforde could write this book and pull it off. At times laugh-aloud funny and filled with literary witticisms, The Fourth Bear is still a great mystery book. Obviously, Fforde knows both the genre and his audiences and the book is a delight to both.
Bummer Points: Word Nerd has now read her way through all of Fforde's back list and wishes there were more left for her to read.
Word Nerd recommendation: A must-read for anybody who loves books.
12 October 2007
Book Banter -- Trigun Vol. 1
Title: Trigun, Vol. 1
Author: Yasuhiro Nightow
Length: 357 pages
Genre: sci-fi/manga
Plot Basics: Vash the Stampede, also known as the Humanoid Typhoon, the legendary gunman, has a $$60,000,000,000 (that’s 60 Billion Double Dollars) price tag on his head for the damage that’s caused when he’s been around, including the total destruction of Third July City. Given his destructive wake, the Bernardelli Insurance Society sends two agents, Meryl Stryfe and Millie Thompson, to try to avert the risks and damage Vash causes. But they can’t believe at first that the donut-loving man they find is really such a phenomenal gunman until he stops the infamous Nebraska family, saves people and a town and does it all without actually killing anyone… a position Vash adamantly upholds that no one has the right to take another life.
Banter Points: Word Nerd decided to read the actual manga series after having watched the anime series and thoroughly enjoying that. So far, while the manga mostly follows the plot in the anime (or the other way around, technically), it’s fun to see the little things in the original story that didn’t make the TV show version.
Bummer Points: It’s not a true bummer, but this is the first manga that Word Nerd’s read, so it’s taken a while to get used to the format. Manga are read back to front, right to left, even in English, to mirror the original Japanese format. For at least the first half of this book, Word Nerd really had to work to follow the series of comic panels.
Word Nerd recommendation: If you’ve ever wanted to check out manga, but didn’t know what to pick up, try these. The stories have a fun old West flavor to them, with a good dose of sci-fi. Or if you’re disinclined to read a graphic novel, the anime TV series is good too.
Author: Yasuhiro Nightow
Length: 357 pages
Genre: sci-fi/manga
Plot Basics: Vash the Stampede, also known as the Humanoid Typhoon, the legendary gunman, has a $$60,000,000,000 (that’s 60 Billion Double Dollars) price tag on his head for the damage that’s caused when he’s been around, including the total destruction of Third July City. Given his destructive wake, the Bernardelli Insurance Society sends two agents, Meryl Stryfe and Millie Thompson, to try to avert the risks and damage Vash causes. But they can’t believe at first that the donut-loving man they find is really such a phenomenal gunman until he stops the infamous Nebraska family, saves people and a town and does it all without actually killing anyone… a position Vash adamantly upholds that no one has the right to take another life.
Banter Points: Word Nerd decided to read the actual manga series after having watched the anime series and thoroughly enjoying that. So far, while the manga mostly follows the plot in the anime (or the other way around, technically), it’s fun to see the little things in the original story that didn’t make the TV show version.
Bummer Points: It’s not a true bummer, but this is the first manga that Word Nerd’s read, so it’s taken a while to get used to the format. Manga are read back to front, right to left, even in English, to mirror the original Japanese format. For at least the first half of this book, Word Nerd really had to work to follow the series of comic panels.
Word Nerd recommendation: If you’ve ever wanted to check out manga, but didn’t know what to pick up, try these. The stories have a fun old West flavor to them, with a good dose of sci-fi. Or if you’re disinclined to read a graphic novel, the anime TV series is good too.
11 October 2007
Book Banter -- The Pardon
Title: The Pardon
Author: James Grippando
Length: 406 pages
Genre: legal/thriller
Plot Basics: Jack Swyteck is a high-profile defense attorney, helping criminals avoid sentencing. His estranged father, Harry, is the law-and-order governor of the State of Florida, committed to enforcing the state’s death penalty when applicable. But after Jack defends – and wins a trial – for the notorious killer Eddy Goss, both Jack and Harry start receiving threatening messages. As they try to stay steps ahead of the blackmailer, Jack finds himself back at the defense table in a courtroom, but this time, as a defendant in a first-degree murder case. Jack knows he’s being framed, but it’s going to take reconciling with his father to catch another killer on the loose.
Banter Points: This is a great legal thriller read, reminiscent of early John Grisham books like The Firm and The Pelican Brief. Grippando makes both Jack and Harry believable characters instead of stock character-cut outs (the hotshot attorney, the governor only concerned with reelection). The plot has some interesting twists.
Bummer Points: This is one of Word Nerd’s recurring pet peeves in thrillers – the chapters written from the POV of the killer/bad guy. Word Nerd just doesn’t find this an effective technique. Most often for her, it doesn’t make the killer/bad guy any scarier, in fact, it breaks from the rising tension building for the main characters.
Word Nerd recommendation: Grippando’s got quite a list of titles out featuring Swyteck and Word Nerd’s excited to keep reading his back list based on his initial showing.
10 October 2007
Author Answers with Ben Bova
This week's authors is one of the top names in science fiction today, Ben Bova. Bova has written many books, looking at the exploration of our own solar system, nanotechnology and green energy.
For more on Bova, check out his website.
WN: Your latest novel, "The Aftermath" is part of your Asteroid Wars/Grand Tour books. How did you get the idea to do a series looking out further and further into space?
BOVA: I’ve been an advocate of space exploration and development just about all of my life. I worked on the Vanguard program, the first US satellite effort, two years before the creation of NASA. So it was quite natural for me to write a series of novels about how the human race will expand through the solar system. My readers dubbed the series, “Bova’s Grand Tour of the Solar System.”
WN: You are categorized as a science fiction writer, but from your perspective, how much of what you write is fiction and how much is science, or possible future science? What kind of research do you do for your novels?
BOVA: I’m researching all the time. Fortunately, I have many friends in various scientific and technical fields, and I know where to go to find the information I need. My novels are solidly based on what is known, but I feel free to go beyond that – as long as no one can prove that I’m wrong. For example, in my novel JUPITER I postulated giant creatures living in a world-spanning ocean. The conditions on Jupiter are based on current information, but the ocean and the creatures in it are my extrapolations of existing data. The human characters are what makes a novel interesting, and I try to pattern my human characters on real, living human beings, with all their emotions, strengths and weaknesses.
WN: How do you think science fiction has shaped or influenced technology for things like space exploration and nanotechnology?
BOVA: Many top researchers and industrialists started reading science fiction as youngsters. I know that all the astronauts who walked on the Moon did. Their early readings convinced them, I think, that working in science or technology can be fun – and much more interesting than selling insurance.
WN: When you look at recent developments like SpaceShipOne being the first private craft to reach sub-orbit, where do you think space exploration or space travel is headed?
BOVA: I think private, profit-oriented entrepreneurs will push the development and exploitation of space, while government and university efforts will focus on scientific research – and defense.
WN: Were you a reader as a kid... what turned you on to reading/writing books and science fiction in particular?
BOVA: I was an asthmatic (still am), so I was reading when most of my friends were playing at sports. Science fiction excited me. That old “sense of wonder” hit me from the very first.
WN: After writing the number of books you have written, does the process get easier or harder? Why?
BOVA: It gets easier AND harder. Easier, in the sense that you have acquired the skills needed to tell a story; harder, because you are always trying to stretch your abilities and reach new territory.
WN: What is the best/most influential book you have ever read and why did it inspire you?
BOVA: There isn’t any single book, there are dozens, hundreds. Among the top are THE STORY OF MAN by anthropologist Carleton S. Coon, THE MAN WHO SOLD THE MOON by Robert A. Heinlein, and THE SUN ALSO RISES by Ernest Hemingway. Not necessarily in that order.
WN: What's next for you as a writer?
BOVA: I want to do an historical novel set in the time of the Trojan War
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