Okay, so I have been a proud "never-watched-Game-of-Thrones-don't-know-what-all-the-fuss-is-about" person for a couple of years now. But on a whim I decided to read the book to see if I would like it.
I loved it.
It's like historical fiction, except the Seven Kingdoms are made up places (although there is a sense in the background that they are sort of mapped on to actual places), and some of the stuff that happens could never happen in real life. But the intrigue! The characters! The battles! I got sucked into it right away and I couldn't put it down.
But honestly, the book doesn't particularly make me want to watch the TV series. I did go to the IMDB page to see what the characters look like (Tyrion Lannister being the only one I had really ever heard of). I'll probably put it on my Netflix though.
And I'll definitely keep reading the book series.
Game of Thrones
Tuesday, December 13, 2016
Thursday, November 10, 2016
Modern Romance
So, I was expecting this book to just be Aziz Ansari's funny take on dating in the age of Tinder and texting. What I didn't realize was that he was working with sociologists and cultural anthropologists and doing an actual (sort of) scholarly study. And it's still hilarious.
If you are at all familiar with Ansari's work - I believe he is required to be a roaster on all roasts on Comedy Central - you'll recognize his voice in the book immediately. He's quirky and dry and and a little nerdy. Here's one of my favorite lines from the book: "We want a lifelong wingman/wingwoman who completes us and can handle the truth, to mix metaphors from three different Tom Cruise movies." And that's not even the funniest bit.
Anyway, Aziz and many experts conducted focus group around the world (including Tokyo and Buenos Aires), and set up a subreddit, to learn about people's experiences and feelings regarding the world of dating. Besides being funny it is SUPER interesting, and a must read for anyone currently maneuvering their way through it.
Modern Romance
If you are at all familiar with Ansari's work - I believe he is required to be a roaster on all roasts on Comedy Central - you'll recognize his voice in the book immediately. He's quirky and dry and and a little nerdy. Here's one of my favorite lines from the book: "We want a lifelong wingman/wingwoman who completes us and can handle the truth, to mix metaphors from three different Tom Cruise movies." And that's not even the funniest bit.
Anyway, Aziz and many experts conducted focus group around the world (including Tokyo and Buenos Aires), and set up a subreddit, to learn about people's experiences and feelings regarding the world of dating. Besides being funny it is SUPER interesting, and a must read for anyone currently maneuvering their way through it.
Modern Romance
Monday, October 31, 2016
Me Before You
I adored this book! JoJo Moyes has written a beautiful, funny, sad, deep, and I think most importantly, realistic story about two people coming to terms with their lives.
Will Traynor has lived a "big life," but when he is struck by a motorcycle and becomes paralyzed from the chest down, his world becomes confined to his motorized wheelchair. Louisa Clark has lived a very small life, still living with her parents at age 26, long-time boyfriend with whom she has almost nothing in common, and no ambition. Then Lou is hired to be Will's companion for six months.
Lou and Will come to be friends as well as employer/employee, and they each give the other something that's missing from their lives - Lou gives Will fun and adventures and tenderness, and will gives Lou confidence and determination and, in a way, hope. But the realities of life are still there, and Lou and Will need to come to terms with those realities - for better or worse.
Me Before You
Will Traynor has lived a "big life," but when he is struck by a motorcycle and becomes paralyzed from the chest down, his world becomes confined to his motorized wheelchair. Louisa Clark has lived a very small life, still living with her parents at age 26, long-time boyfriend with whom she has almost nothing in common, and no ambition. Then Lou is hired to be Will's companion for six months.
Lou and Will come to be friends as well as employer/employee, and they each give the other something that's missing from their lives - Lou gives Will fun and adventures and tenderness, and will gives Lou confidence and determination and, in a way, hope. But the realities of life are still there, and Lou and Will need to come to terms with those realities - for better or worse.
Me Before You
Wednesday, October 26, 2016
Written in my own Heart's Blood
This is the eighth and (currently) last novel in Diana Gabaldon's Outlander series. It was awesome - a 1,200-plus page romp through Revolution-era America (Philadelphia, New York, Savannah), interesting goings-on in 1980's Scotland, and even a trip to late 1730's Scotland.
I'll try not to give anything away, but here's where everyone is: Jamie is alive and he and Claire are with General George Washington's troops, as is Ian as a scout. Lord John's son (Jamie's natural son) William is on the British side, though not permitted to fight. In the 1980's, Bree and Roger's son Jem has been kidnapped and they fear he's been taken back in time for the family treasure, so Roger and his time-traveling kinsman Buck go back through the stones - but they wind up in the wrong year, going back to a time when Jamie's father was still alive and Jamie and his sister Jenny were teenagers.
Roger finds a way to communicate to Bree when his is, and she works to reunite her family. Meanwhile Claire and Jamie, Ian and his soon-to-be-wife Rachel, William, Lord John, and everyone else, are dealing with some very real Revolutionary War battles. But all Claire wants is to go home to Fraser's Ridge.
I think this is one of my favorites in the series since the first book. I don't know why, maybe just because it's the most recent one I read. Given that it takes Diana a few years to do all the research and writing for a novel, I'm going to have to wait to see what happens next. I'm thinking I may go back to read one of the earlier novels, but for now I've got a bunch of other stuff piled up on my reading list to catch up on.
Written in my Own Heart's Blood
I'll try not to give anything away, but here's where everyone is: Jamie is alive and he and Claire are with General George Washington's troops, as is Ian as a scout. Lord John's son (Jamie's natural son) William is on the British side, though not permitted to fight. In the 1980's, Bree and Roger's son Jem has been kidnapped and they fear he's been taken back in time for the family treasure, so Roger and his time-traveling kinsman Buck go back through the stones - but they wind up in the wrong year, going back to a time when Jamie's father was still alive and Jamie and his sister Jenny were teenagers.
Roger finds a way to communicate to Bree when his is, and she works to reunite her family. Meanwhile Claire and Jamie, Ian and his soon-to-be-wife Rachel, William, Lord John, and everyone else, are dealing with some very real Revolutionary War battles. But all Claire wants is to go home to Fraser's Ridge.
I think this is one of my favorites in the series since the first book. I don't know why, maybe just because it's the most recent one I read. Given that it takes Diana a few years to do all the research and writing for a novel, I'm going to have to wait to see what happens next. I'm thinking I may go back to read one of the earlier novels, but for now I've got a bunch of other stuff piled up on my reading list to catch up on.
Written in my Own Heart's Blood
Thursday, September 15, 2016
An Echo in the Bone
OKAY, people, this is Book 7 in the Outlander series. It's about 1,200 pages long. At this rate the TV series (which I don't watch) will go on for about twenty years, even cutting out a lot.
And there is a lot to cut out. I love Diana Gabaldon's detail but I admit to skipping over a bunch of it too. I read the books for the wonderful characters, the history, and the action. And Echo does not disappoint in those regards.
To update you on where (when?) everyone is now: Jaime and Claire are in the Colonies in 1778 or so. Brianna and Roger and their kids are in Scotland in 1980ish. The action switches back and forth from time to time, and the voice changes from character to character, but it's not at all hard to follow. We do spend most of our time in the 18th century with Jaime and Claire, and Ian, Jaime's nephew. Lord John Grey and his son William are there too (who is actually Jaime's illegitimate son). In the 20th century, Brianna gets a job as an engineer, and Roger's ancestor William MacKenzie has come forward in time inadvertently, and comes seeking answers (and a way to go back) from Roger.
Normally I take a break between Outlander books because they are just so consuming, but with the way Gabaldon ended this one (I won't spoil it), I NEED to read the next one. She left a bunch of loose ends!! So off I go to BN to download Book 8.
An Echo in the Bone
And there is a lot to cut out. I love Diana Gabaldon's detail but I admit to skipping over a bunch of it too. I read the books for the wonderful characters, the history, and the action. And Echo does not disappoint in those regards.
To update you on where (when?) everyone is now: Jaime and Claire are in the Colonies in 1778 or so. Brianna and Roger and their kids are in Scotland in 1980ish. The action switches back and forth from time to time, and the voice changes from character to character, but it's not at all hard to follow. We do spend most of our time in the 18th century with Jaime and Claire, and Ian, Jaime's nephew. Lord John Grey and his son William are there too (who is actually Jaime's illegitimate son). In the 20th century, Brianna gets a job as an engineer, and Roger's ancestor William MacKenzie has come forward in time inadvertently, and comes seeking answers (and a way to go back) from Roger.
Normally I take a break between Outlander books because they are just so consuming, but with the way Gabaldon ended this one (I won't spoil it), I NEED to read the next one. She left a bunch of loose ends!! So off I go to BN to download Book 8.
An Echo in the Bone
Sunday, August 7, 2016
The Girl on the Train
So I have heard about this book for a while - it's been a NY Times bestseller for the longest time - but I just got around to reading it. And I just have to say wow.
Rachel is the girl on the train. She lives in suburban London and has lost her husband and her job because she has a drinking problem. But everyday she rides the train back and forth so her flatmate thinks she is going to work. One of the places where the train always stops has a row of houses where a seemingly perfect couple - and also Rachel's ex-husband, Tom, new wife, Anna, and baby - live. Then the woman from the perfect couple disappears.
So Rachel knows that she was there at that train station the night the woman, Megan, disappeared, but she was so drunk she doesn't remember what happened. But she thinks she can help clear Megan's husband, Scott, of any suspicion, so she contacts him. Then the whole Rachel-Megan-Scott-Tom-Anna thing just gets crazy. I don't want to give anything away.
The novel is written from the different perspectives of the three women, mostly Rachel and Megan but a bit from Anna as well. I wasn't completely surprised by the ending but it did take me a bit to catch on. There's a very Gone Girl quality to the story that's quite appealing. It will be interesting to see how they make the movie work.
This was a great book, and I couldn't put it down.
The Girl on the Train
Rachel is the girl on the train. She lives in suburban London and has lost her husband and her job because she has a drinking problem. But everyday she rides the train back and forth so her flatmate thinks she is going to work. One of the places where the train always stops has a row of houses where a seemingly perfect couple - and also Rachel's ex-husband, Tom, new wife, Anna, and baby - live. Then the woman from the perfect couple disappears.
So Rachel knows that she was there at that train station the night the woman, Megan, disappeared, but she was so drunk she doesn't remember what happened. But she thinks she can help clear Megan's husband, Scott, of any suspicion, so she contacts him. Then the whole Rachel-Megan-Scott-Tom-Anna thing just gets crazy. I don't want to give anything away.
The novel is written from the different perspectives of the three women, mostly Rachel and Megan but a bit from Anna as well. I wasn't completely surprised by the ending but it did take me a bit to catch on. There's a very Gone Girl quality to the story that's quite appealing. It will be interesting to see how they make the movie work.
This was a great book, and I couldn't put it down.
The Girl on the Train
Monday, August 1, 2016
The Martian
I really enjoyed this movie, and my cousin's rocket-scientist kid recommended the book. He wasn't wrong, this is a great read.
If you are unfamiliar with the story, astronaut Mark Watney gets left behind on a manned mission to Mars when the rest of his crew thinks he has died. When he realizes he is alive and alone, he has to figure out how to survive. The problems - and there are many - include the fact that there is only enough food for 6 people for 100 days (or sols as they call them on Mars), and there is no way to get a rescue crew to Mars that quickly. Eventually he figures out how to establish communication with the folks at NASA, and a plan is established to get him home - provided he can keep himself alive long enough.
Mark is a great character with a wry sense of humor and amazing intelligence. I admit to skimming some of the more involved mechanical and scientific passages, but this was a thoroughly enjoyable read. If you saw the movie you'll notice that they left a bunch of stuff out, but they had to - it would have been a four hour movie if they hadn't.
The Martian
If you are unfamiliar with the story, astronaut Mark Watney gets left behind on a manned mission to Mars when the rest of his crew thinks he has died. When he realizes he is alive and alone, he has to figure out how to survive. The problems - and there are many - include the fact that there is only enough food for 6 people for 100 days (or sols as they call them on Mars), and there is no way to get a rescue crew to Mars that quickly. Eventually he figures out how to establish communication with the folks at NASA, and a plan is established to get him home - provided he can keep himself alive long enough.
Mark is a great character with a wry sense of humor and amazing intelligence. I admit to skimming some of the more involved mechanical and scientific passages, but this was a thoroughly enjoyable read. If you saw the movie you'll notice that they left a bunch of stuff out, but they had to - it would have been a four hour movie if they hadn't.
The Martian
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