It's the Great Pumpkin!

Can a book about people who grow giant pumpkins be more of a page-turner than a James Patterson novel? And the answer is . . . YES! Backyard Giants by Susan Warren mostly follows a father and son team as they attempt to set the yearly record for largest pumpkin. And by large, we're talking over well over 1,000 pounds. Will they finally win? Will their pumpkins fall apart at the last minute (as happened before)?

You'll never look at a pumpkin the same way again.

Nepotism 101: Or Blogs My Family Made

Unlike this family member, some of my family members do update their blogs on a regular basis. You may want to take a look . . .

My dad was dragged kicking and screaming onto the internet and now we can't get him off. His blog is http://www.elisteincartoons.com/ and is updated weekly with his wry cartoons. One of my favorites is:
www.elisteincartoons.com/?cat=71

My brother's blog http://www.litkicks.com/ has been around since the dawn of time, er, the internet in different formats. He writes under the name of Levi Asher on all things literary including a weekly review of the New York Times Book Review. He doesn't hesitate to say what he thinks and the blog can be opinionated too. Other people write for the blog too so feel free to comment and join the fun.

My Traumatic Tiny Life

Back in the prehistoric internet days I wandered into the text-only MOO called LambdaMOO. All went well for the first few minutes until I moved into the kitchen. "Hi there!" said a friendly resident. Then he put me in the microwave and cooked me.

Strangely enough, I have never participated in a MMPORG since then.

(picture is K.K. Slider from Animal Crossing: A friendly game where no one would EVER try to cook you. Though they may plant a pitfall in front of your door.)

Good Reads

Good in an entirely addicting kind of way. Enter in the books you've read, rate them and possibly review them. Friends do the same. You get an e-mail every time your friends update their page and vice versa. Soon you are winging 100+ lists of books back and forth, creating new lists of to-be-read books but having no time to read them because you have to add JUST ONE MORE BOOK to your list.

Try it. If you dare.

www.goodreads.com

London walks podcasts

To go with the Bertie Wooster walk, I found a website that has oodles of London walks podcasts:

http://londonwalks.libsyn.com/

I picked the Regents Park walk as we'll be staying nearby. No all dog alert included.

http://media.libsyn.com/media/londonwalks/regentspark.mp3

Right Ho! A Mashup (I think?)

"Borrowing" from a description of a walking tour by the P.G. Wodehouse Society in London, I created a Google map walking tour of Bertie Wooster's London. Clicking on the tabs gives more information on each location. Anyone want to join me for a w.?


View Larger Map

Read it and cringe

Were you alive in the '70s? Did you wear any of the "fashions" shown in these catalogs? You can admit it, you're among friends.

www.wishbookweb.com

RSS Feed leads to Cool Tools leads to Cool Book

Until I subscribed to the RSS feed, I'd forgotten how cool Cool Tools (www.kk.org/cooltools/) is. It's a web version of the Whole Earth Catalog (yes, I'm dating myself). As they say, "A cool tool can be any book, gadget, software, video, map, hardware, material, or website that is tried and true."

One Cool Tool is Rule the Web by Mark Frauenfelder from www.boingboing.net. Worth taking a look at if you use those interwebs all the kids are talking about.

One tip from the book: to send all the pages on your desktop to the toolbar hit CTRL + D. To bring them back again hit CTRL + D again. Cool, huh?

Kindling

My newest toy. Highly recommend it except the buttons for "next page" are way too large. Try holding the device without accidently hitting the buttons - almost impossible unless you use the case. I'm sure this will be fixed in Kindle 2.0. But being able to instantly download books is perfect for someone like me who wants it now, now, NOW. I won't give up my library card because free is better than paying for a book. But I love the Kindle for traveling about. You can easily carry multiple books with you and even access the internet. Can't wait to go on vacation with my Kindle instead of suitcase full of books. Because you have to bring at least one book for each day you're away, right?

One of my first downloads was a complete set of all the Sherlock Holmes stories and novels.

I enjoy Sherlock Holmes stories, both the original and some of the pastiches. My first Kindle book read was Study in Scarlet and it seemed shorter than I remembered but maybe that was because I was clicking through the pages so quickly to see what happened next.

Now I just need to wait for the Hello Kitty model . . .

The Black Bird

No, not for the cats to chase. Just listened to The Maltese Falcon. Sam Spade is tough, brutal and he won't play the sap for you. Seriously. Not even if you ask really, really nicely.

Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go watch the movie again. Here's looking at you kid.

Oh . . . oops . . . wrong movie . . .

Simon Green Update

I've read two more of the Nightside books in as many days. I stick with my previous comments: they are funny, easy reads and will keep me busy until the next Kim Harrison book shows up.

Of course, my idea of a happy read seems to include houses that absorb people and lots of gory deaths. Sort of a Stephen King happy read. So enjoy at your own risk.

Penguin

Pros: Smartest cat, loves to flop and cuddle

Cons: Totally neurotic, after two years still thinks Fluffy (see below) is the Evil One and has a hissy fit whenever he comes near her. Of course, if we hadn't named her after an aquatic water fowl, maybe he wouldn't chase her so much.

Dave

Pros: Very friendly - greets everyone who enters our home, patient with children, total sweetie

Cons: Creative non-use of litter box

The Fluffinator

Fluffy aka Sir Albert aka The Fluffinator

Pros: He's gorgeous - just look at him

Cons: Tendency to splay - very embarrassing when the vicar comes to call

Urban Fantasy: We discovers a new author

I very much like urban fantasy. I know, I know, trashy books, whatever. Just like any genre some of them are better than others especially because everyone is now trying to hone in on the popularity. Some are more straight fantasy, some are more fantasy/romance. Some are edgier than others. Jim Butcher is about the outer limits of what I can read. Holly Black writes for teens but her stuff is edgier than some of the "adult" writers (her Tithe/Valiant/Ironside faerie books, not Spiderwick). Kim Harrison's series has definite creepiness going on while Charlaine Harris is a little lighter (except for the last book).

I found Simon Green by accident while shelving (don't ask). His Nightside series is reminiscent of Jim Butcher's Dresden Files, though a little less gory and a little less deep. Sort of Dresden-lite. I've only read the first book (Something From the Darkside) so I'll post again after a few more and see if I still like them.

For those who *gasp* don't like Hello Kitty

You'll love this website:

www.kittyhell.com

My new toy!

OK, it's Ally's new toy, but I'm sure she'll let me use it if I ask nice.

Whine, whine, whine

How come ("Why is it" for Andy Rooney fans) that there are two great websites for romance readers with lots of reviews and fun for all but no good websites for other genre fiction?

Why?

www.likesbooks.com (takes romance seriously)

www.smartbitchestrashybooks.com (takes romance not quite so seriously)

People did come with me . . .

Ally came with me to Dave Barry/Ridley Pearson (she was also struck speechless) .

Melinda and Ally went to Janet Evanovich, though Ally only lurked around the bookstore.

We see an AUTHOR. And our power of speech leaves us.

Went to a Dave Barry/Ridley Pearson book signing for Peter and the Secret of Rundoon. Fun kids books except for the gross parts meant for little boys (biting someone else's toenails? I don't think so). I have never been so nervous meeting an author in my life. Must have been Dave's uber-cool guitar playing in the Rock Bottom Remainders. I did babble something to Mr. Pearson and got away before I made a total fool of myself.

Let me contrast that with my recent Janet Evanovich experience. Waited three hours in a bookstore while she signed over 700 books. When I got up to her I blurted out "good job signing all these books - can't believe you didn't take a break". She said in an adorable voice, "I . . . am a professional". Very cute. And the book wasn't bad either.

Just so you know my blog contract requires me to use the word "adorable" at least once a week.

Update on The Name of the Wind

It is a trilogy. Part Two will be out April 2009 (too long!). But Mr. Rothfuss explains why on his blog:

http://www.patrickrothfuss.com/blog/blog.html

In which I read The Name of the Wind in two days

Let me tell you why this book annoyed me:

1. Flashback. The whole book is a flashback.

2. Even more annoying: you don’t find that out until 46 pages in when Kvothe (our hero) starts telling the story of his life to the Chronicler.

3. The use of made-up words for regular words. I get it. It’s a fantasy. Still, I think it would be ok to use the proper word for tree instead of calling it an oakling. Which this book doesn’t do. But it does use “span” for a specific measure of time. A week? A day? Two hours? I read the whole book and I’m still not sure.

4. You get to the end. 662 pages until the end. And then you realize that the story has stopped in the middle and a sequel is in the offing. Or two sequels. Who knows? Though at least this one didn’t end on a cliffhanger.

5. If the author doesn’t have the next book out within the year I will be at his house pulling the manuscript out of his hand and publishing it. The book is that good.

If you like fantasy, Tolkien-type fantasy, you will enjoy this book. There is adventure, more adventure, magic, a little romance and a very smart, very talented hero. The author, Patrick Rothfuss, weaves a picaresque tale that is impossible to put down.

When Disney isn't saccharine and artificial enough

. . . you can go here:

http://www.puroland.co.jp/english/welcome.html

The Uncommon Reader

"The Uncommon Reader" by Alan Bennett is the most adorable book I've read all year. Queen Elizabeth II wanders out the back door of Buckingham Palace, finds a bookmobile, starts reading and hilarity ensues. At 128 pages, it's a quick read. Fun for the whole family!