ewee (05/26): Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them: A Fair and Balanced Look at the Right by Al Franken

Leading up to the election, I needed some good liberal bias to keep me from sinking into a CNN-sponsored overload. This fit the bill nicely. Al Franken is at times absurd, but with a very serious liberal agenda.

It was also very interesting to note that when this book was written, McCain was still a bit of a moderate/independent Republican--and going up against Bush Jr. Remember those days?

Not sure if I'd recommend it, unless you're a bleeding heart liberal who needs to balance out a daily diet of conservative main stream media. In that case, it's a helps offset the hours spent screaming at the TV.

Ok, a little bit from the book:

Yes, I'm a liberal, and I'm proud of it. It's a term we need to reclaim. Because I believe most Americans are liberals like me. Most Americans believe in helping people. And most Americans believe that the government has a role to play--to create opportunity, to protect the environment, to provide for the common good.

...We have to fight. But we can't fight like they do. ...They fight with lies.

We can't do that. We have to fight them with truth. Our added entertainment value will have to come from being funny and attractive. And passionate. And idealistic. But also smart.

And on that note, here's to the dawning of a new, smarter era in American politics!

ewee (04/26) War Talk by Arundhati Roy

Later in October, I started needing some political fiber in my diet. Something to keep me on point, and even keeled. This slim tome was thoughtful and well-written. And despite the fact that it was written a few years ago, I was blown away by how relevant it remains, especially with this election, change, and all the continued work we have ahead of us.

I'll let her words speak for themselves:

"Fortunately, power has a shelf life. When the time comes, maybe this mighty empire will, likfe others before it, overreach itself and implode from within. ...For all the endless empty chatter about democracy, today, the world is run by three of the most secretive institutions in the world: the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, and the World Trade Organization, all three of which, in turn, are dominated by the United States. ...A world run by a handful of greedy bankers and CEOs who nobody elected can't possibly last.
...

Corporate globalism--or shall we call it by its name?--Imperialism...
...

What can we do?

We can hone our memory, we can learn from our history. We can continue to build public opinion until it becomes a deafening roar.

...We can re-invent civil disobedience in a million different ways. In other words, we can come up with a million ways of becoming a collective pain in the ass.

...Our strategy should be not only to confront Empire, but to lay siege to it. To deprive it of oxygen. To shame it. To mock it. With our art, our music, our literature, our stubborness, our joy, our brilliance, our sheer relentlessness--and our ability to tell our own stories. Stories that are different from the ones we're being brainwashed to believe.

The corporate revolution will collapse if we refuse to buy what they are selling--their ideas, theif version of history, their wars, their weapons, their notion of inevitability.

Remember this: We be many and they be few. They need us more than we need them."

- From "War Talk" by Arundhati-kickass-Roy.

ewee (04/26): Fingersmith by Sarah Waters

Ho hum. BOooooring. Not even interested in the movie. What was all the hype about? Wasn't even sexay in the least.

Guess it was good that it was such a fast and easy read. Made for good commuter distraction, but not sure I'd recommend it, tho lotsa people told me it was a must read...

ewee (03/26): Buddha, Volume 1: Kapilavastu by Osamu Tezuka

Ok, finally going back and posting. Been reading! Just not been able to post...this one is from mid October...]

Well, you might recall that I started with book 3 in this series. It was so good, I went insane and bought them all. In my usual geek/pake/supporting small booksellers fashion, I bought them online from independent booksellers and in hardback/used when I could (a couple of them ended up coming from Amazon, but only because they weren't available elsewhere). And now, I have the whole series.

So now I'm rationing them, and saving them for emergency situations (when chips and beer won't calm the upset, I find that these do the trick).

I can't possibly tell you how amazing these are. Osamu Tezuka is the Father of Anime, the Father of Manga, and a prolific and inspiring author/artist. His drawing style is at times poetic, and sometimes mischievous and playful. The distillation of such an enormous narrative is mindboggling, and yet he accomplishes it with grace and obvious joy.

If I could draw 0.125% as much as this man has, I will have achieved something.

Best read when you have the luxury of staying up all night (I can never seem to put it down)...or if you're up all night anyway, and need to chase away any other thoughts.

ewee (02/26): The Chronoliths by Robert Charles Wilson

(Pictured here with the nice succulents Sy planted last weekend. While finishing this book, I sat here on the deck, nursing a sprained ankle and bruised ego).

This was much better than Darwinia, but still nothing like Spin. Swingbeat's review sums it up quite well.

Essentially, this is an interesting story--time travel is woven into the fabric of the landscape, but in good storytelling form, the real meat of the story has to do with relationships and character development. Good gripping stuff--life's failures, growth, synchronicity (I loved tau turbulence and the idea that nothing is truly coincidental). RCW does his best to make an international and political/economic map of the world.

As Swingbeat mentions, the end of the book is a bit too quick and pat, but the bulk of the story is well-written, and a fast, pleasant read.

Recommended with coffee to while away the hours stuck in traffic on the way to work.

ewee (01/26): Darwinia by Robert Charles Wilson

Ho hum...sadly, nothing has come close to RCW's Spin, and this is further from it than most.

Overall, I found it hard to finish this book, fairly stiff pacing and character development. There were glimmers of interesting ideas (overlapping time, large sentient databases in the sky, mortality, and edenic alien invasion), but unlike RCW's usual style, I found this book a bit dull and best for putting myself to sleep on transit.

The photo is just before I chucked it back into the bin to return it to the library. Yay libraries!

ewee 26/26: The Perseids and other stories by RCW

Just under the wire, finished up with some more low-hanging fruit. tip o' the nib to the tissue box, cuz without my cold, I prolly wouldn't have chewed my way through all those books. This one was ok, not great, interesting ideas, but nothing compelling enough to recommend it.

Thanks for a great year of reading!

ewee (25/26): catching up...

still nowhere near able to post anything of substance, but thanks to the cold i've been fighting, i've managed to *almost* catchup. one more book this week? new book reports?...stay tooned. in the meantime, here's the listing thus far.

[warning: many books with pictures. and even some without words...also at least a couple of these completely sucked.]


18/26: Axis by Robert Charles Wilson
- good to ok. nothing like Spin, but ok.

19/26: The Dog Who Loved Too Much by Robert Dodson
- completely sappy waste of time. and tho i love sap and dogs, don't bother with this one.

20/26: The Big Squeeze by Steven Greenhouse
- excellent. took me forever to read, because i had to chew on it all (and take notes along the way). might go back and buy this one.

21/26: Bios by RCW
- another ok RCW fix. quick read, good airplane fodder. (and if it hadn't've been a library book, i'd've happily jettisoned it for the luggage space on the way home...)

22/26: Gordon Yamamoto And The King Of The Geeks by Gene Yang
- Gene Yang brought us American Born Chinese. loved that, loved this. quirky, odd, and sweetly deep. well drawn and written.

23/26: The Lost Ones by Steve Niles
- Ugh. you get what you pay for...this was a freebie at Green Apple. some misguided microsoft art thing. anyone want my copy? ugh.

24/26: Robot Dreams by Sarah Varon
- Beautiful, poetic, sweet. Buying more for friends. No words, kinda sappy, but in a really lovely touching way.

25/26: Devadatta (Buddha, Vol. 3) by Osamu Tezuka
- Amazing. Stayed up till 3am to read this. Beautiful line work, amazing amazing amazing. Gonna get all of the volumes as soon as I can...

update: been reading, honest!

i'm on book 20. not quite the number i'd hoped i'd be on by now, but i'm still reading! just been too swamped to post. i'll follow up with my posts as soon as i can...and i love reading all your postings.

ewee (17/26): A Bridge of Years by Robert Charles Wilson

(Can it be?...I'm caught up! woohoo!)

One more in the ongoing RCW-fest. Surprisingly, I'm not sick of him yet, and I'm still finding his books and enjoyable diversion from the other more serious books I've got going. This one is lightweight, doesn't come anywhere near Spin, and might be one of the weaker RCW books I've read (ok, in some ways, it's the weakest of them so far). Some of it's descriptions are a bit gruesome (but, again, I'm a baby when it comes to that), and the storytelling is a bit jerky. But overall, RCW has some interesting ideas and a fairly nice way with words. His characters are a bit different from some of the usual sci-fi protagonists, and he goes out of his way to include a bit of diversity. Well, this one wasn't diverse racially (that I could tell), but I do like that the women talk in his books, and tho it's sometimes awkward, I do appreciate that he includes people of color in his novels. Not sure if I'd recommend it, unless you weren't able to sleep, and needed a fast book to get up to quota.

ewee (16/26): Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini

Ok, there's not much I can say that kw hasn't already said (and better'n I could...). And I'm almost caught up (got waylaid by a coupla self-help books this weekend that might just be too eh to finish...).

So, suffice to say, I'd been putting off reading this book cuz I knew it wouldn't be easy--I had an inkling that there'd be some content that was emotionally difficult. But when I finally sat down with this book (on a Friday after work), it was very literally unputdownable. I never skip ahead...or I never used to...this book had me flipping forward and then chastising myself for looking ahead. In the end, I stayed up all night to finish it. It's worth savoring and reading slowly, but I'm not sure I could have.

Complex characters (the protagonist is painted in an unforgiving, yet very compassionate, light), gripping plot (not so much written as tightly woven from several strands of story lines), tragedy, redemption (but not a simple, or even complete, redemption), and complete immersion into the world of this story...I'm not even going to bother watching the movie. There's no way it could compare to the book, and I'm not sure I want or need someone else's visuals in the way of my experience of this story.

Ok, nevermind me, check out the links
(warning: links contain spoilers):

• Google books: Kite Runner.
• Wikipedia's Kite Runner listing.
• The author's website, khaledhosseini.com.
• A summary on Wikisummaries
• Salon.com's review of the movie.
• NYTimes on the movie (and the story of the actors who had to flee the country).
• "killer kites" photoessay on wired.

ewee (15/26): Blind Lake by Robert Charles Wilson

At this rate, miz shiny-eye's gonna finish this book before I get this post done (woohoo! read, sy, read!).

Well, nothing I've read of Wilson's books has matched Spin and this is no exception. But it's good. Really interesting ideas, pretty good plot and character development, interesting ideas. Worth the read. And as Miz Lucky-duck points out, my recommendations tend toward the couch + snuggly dog(s) + beverage formula. This one's not much different.

Let's say: Recommended with a cold beer, a sunny deck (or porch) with hammock, and two dogs alternating between sleeping in the sun and running amok through the garden.

Since I'm not getting to any helpful reviewing, here's some links:

• Review of Spin, Axis, and Blind Lake on whats.all.this.brouhaha.com.
• Review of Blind Lake on sfreviews.net.
• Wikipedia on RCW.
• Interview with RCW on Spin.

ewee (14/26): Listening Is an Act of Love by Dave Isay

Ok, all you readers out there. Read this book. Just pick it up, and at least give it 5 minutes of attention. Doesn't matter where or how or when. Just open it, let your eyes wander, and read something. If you have 15 minutes, read a bit about StoryCorps and their vision.

It is pure beauty in its simplicity and power. I started reading it randomly, letting myself be pulled in by stories, photos, whatever. And in the end, I couldn't put it down. I was sobbing through some of it (keep in mind, I am a sap), and smiling/laughing through other parts.

Here's a tidbit:

"These stories are a reminder that if we spent a little less time listening to the racket of divisive radio and TV talk shows and a little more time listening to each other, we would be a better, more thoughtful, and more compassionate nation.

...someday StoryCorps may even succeed in creating a change in our culture, shaking us out of a reality TV-induced slumber and redirecting out energy toward careful listenting, honoring our elders, and embracing our neighbors."

Check out kayan's proper review. And thanks (again!) to this list for another lovely find.

Best bought in hardcover, and read anywhere, anytime, with any beverage. And recommended that you share it, or just start talking to the people around you.

ewee (13/26): Gypsies by Robert Charles Wilson

Another RCW novel (waiting for my library to get Axis). Not bad, quick read, interesting and novel ideas--parallel universes, not new, but his handling of them quite good. The main characters were fairly nuanced, and I was pleased that he kept the supporting characters from becoming two-dimensional (which would still have worked, but would have left something out). Some interesting socio-political commentary, very intriguing bits on fear and the limits it puts on imagination/creativity, and ultimately life/death.

(I have scraps of notes for each book I read...been forgetting to jot them down on this blog. Mebbe I'll go back and add them all in.)

So for this book, here's a tidbit that caught my eye:

"...that home is not a place after all, but a thing you make, a territory you stake out. It was an act of will: a thing you did."

Beginning to suspect that nothing will match Spin, but will continue to enjoy a couple more RCW books before tiring of them.

Recommended in lieu of reality TV and cheesy magazines. Good with a hot cuppa coffee and a warm spot in the bed (preferably bookended by two sweet pups).

ewee (12/26): Singularity Sky by Charles Stross

Well, this book has interesting ideas, almost strong main characters, and almost enough plot. But in the end, it's ok. Only ok. But entertaining and a good commute companion on your casual carpool in, if the conversation is lagging.

It introduced me to the concept of the singularity, and when thought of as a bit of a farce and commentary on history and present time, it kinda works.

Recommended with a cuppa coffee and a bit of a commute or wait ahead. Much thanks to swingbeat for the lead...

ewee (11/26): Spin by Robert Charles Wilson

Ok, more catching up. I snagged this book from miz sy (who's finished a book! she just needs to post :-)). And from a casual browse, I was hooked. Enough so I was surprised at my unwillingness to return the book. Oh the rudeness of it...I finished it before she did. (she's working on it now...book two! go, sy, go!)

This was a surprisingly original and interesting sf book. The main premise of the book is refreshingly new (you don't want me to tell you, do you?), the writing was quite good, and the pacing was engaging enough to keep me up past my bedtime. But it was a fast enough read that I handily recovered from the sleep deprivation.

The characters are both typical and atypical. So much of sf is male dominated, and this book is not so different from the norm. The story centers on three main characters, and their very intertwined lives. Unfortunately, the woman has the least developed and simplest characterization. Refreshingly, the novel strays from typical sf ground with its continued reference to both class and race.

Worth a read, if you're into this kinda thing. Best read, cozy in bed (with a small light, so your partner doesn't get irritated that you stole her book), with a quiet snack (again to avoid losing the book), and possibly a nice cuppa tea or cocoa.

ewee (10/26): Invasion of the Dykes to Watch Out For by Alison Bechdel

(Been a little slow at posting, found this book with the Adriane Tomine graphic novel, and polished it off in February. Slowly, but surely, catchin' up...)

I was thrilled to find a book in the dykes to watch out for series that I'd missed. So I happily devoured this book. That in turn sent me into a bit of an obsessive nostalgia trip, and I found the dtwof comics archive (I'll go back and purchase the books I need to complete my Alison Bechdel collection.)

I've posted about Bechdel before, so I'll save you the rehashing. It was good escapist fun. Better'n cable. Possibly too particular an audience to recommend generally. But if you read comics, and have a fairly wide spectrum, you might like this.

Best read curled up in a comfy chair, with a bag of sour cream and onion potato chips. Beverage may vary.

ewee (09/26): Shortcomings by Adrain Tomine

Those of you with long memories might recall that I read 10 issues of Optic Nerve and had the gall to count it as a book. Well, I'm gonna top that (the gall, that is). Tomine has finally finished the series and pulled the story he started in Optic Nerve #9 into a book. This is that book. And I'm counting it. Again.

Wait wait wait. Before you get all into a tizzy, I followed the rules. I started it (again) AFTER the Sept 8th 2007 start date, and finished it before the Sept 7th 2008 end date. So, true, some of it is a repeat. But it was worth the revisiting.

Tomine's story is agonizingly beautiful. The crisp drawings, the embarrassing truthfulness, the beauty (in spite of? because of?) all the squirmy truthfulness. I couldn't help but devour it. Tomine's protagonist, Ben Tanaka, is someone I feel like I already know...and loathe. And yet, there's an element of self-hatred and negativity that's all too familiar (thus the squirminess). It's all very real, and of course, I was taken in by all the deets from the bay area (one of my fave brekkie joints!). But what will happen now that Tomine is in the big apple? (And how much of this story is really real? Wait. Don't answer that. I don't wanna know.)

Eh, click any of the links above (in the title or text) for better reviews. Gorgeous, worth owning. And highly recommended as a Sunday evening read in your cosiest chair, while surrounded by dogs and love.

[Gentle readers might note that if I had found the last installment of Optic Nerve (#11) before I came across this book, I'd still be on book 8. But I'm hoping that our gentle readers will continue to be forgiving--especially as I'm still 3 books behind!]

ewee (08/26): In Defense of Food by Michael Pollan

One more Michael Pollan book, and I'll admit I'm a groupie (and, yes, I've got my eye on The Botany of Desire next...). In the meantime, this was a good, albeit, lightweight follow-up to The Omnivore's Dilemma.

In Defense of Food offers a prescription (of sorts) for the dilemma presented in his previous book. It's a good fast read, tightly woven enough to keep you engrossed, and detailed enough to own, rather than borrow from a library (tho that does remind me, I need to get my copy of Omnivore back...)

As always, Pollan makes excellent observations and astonishing connections (from my notes--p.118: Industrial agriculture has made tremendous strides in getting more calories from the land, so why is there still hunger? and--p.166: Livestock creates more greenhouse gases than the entire transportation industry worldwide...). And in this book, he takes pity on us, the overwhelmed reader, and loosely constructs an outline of what it is we can eat. (The oft quoted intro: "Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.")

A couple tidbits to whet your appetite (so to speak):

"Culture, which, at least when it comes to food, is really just a fancy word for your mother."

"...historically, people have eaten for a great many reasons other than biological necessity. Food is also about pleasure, about community, about family, and spirituality...eating is as much about culture as it has been about biology."

"...[it's] worth keeping in mind...[that a] far more powerful predictor of heart disease than either diet or exercise is social class."

"Don't eat anything incapable of rotting."

"Don't eat anything that your great grandma wouldn't recognize."

"...a glass of wine a day is better for your health..." [ok, I admit that last one is taken out of context, but only slightly.]

No time to read the whole book? Try his article Unhappy Meals from the NYT (this article is the seed from which the book was born...).

In a full-circle-cool-web kinda way, this book takes me back to my original thanks to mahna mahna--it's because of him that I read Unhappy Meals, which lead me to discovering Omnivore, which lead to In Defense and perhaps onward to Botany...

And in a pass-it-forward kinda way, buy the book from your local friendly bookseller. Bookshops have it tough these days, and if you have one in your hood, give it plenty o' love.

(Stepping offa soapbox now...)

ewee (07/26): Salt, A World History by Mark Kurlansky

Eh, it was ok. Good snippets. Nice bit about Gandhi (embarrassed to admit, didn't know about the connection with salt), and great to finally know what the colorful bits at the bottom of the sf-bay were about.

But overall, mediocre. Too bad I'll have library fines on it (again!).

Here's a good review i agree with -- better as little snippets. neither enough science or history. not enough flow. but definitely great factoids.