| Books, end May |
[May. 31st, 2009|07:08 pm] |
'Nightfall' LJ Smith (2/5)
'Dead and Gone' Charlaine Harris (Southern Vamp #9) (3/5)
'Magic in the Blood' Devon Monk (Magic #2) (3/5)
'The Turning Tide' Diana Pharaoh Francis (Crosspointe #3) (1/5)
'Blood From Stone' Laura Anne Gilman (Retrievers #6) (2/5)
'Sins and Shadows' Lyn Benedict (Shadow Inquiries #1) (2/5)
'Storm Glass' Maria V Snyder (Glass #1) (3/5)
'All Shall Be Well' Deborah Crombie (Kincaid #2) (3/5)
'Mourn Not Your Dead' Deborah Crombie (Kincaid #3) (4/5)
'Leave the Grave Green' Deborah Crombie (Kincaid #4) (3/5)
'Relentless' Jack Campbell (Lost Fleet #5) (2/5)
'The Trouble With Demons' Lisa Shearin (Raine Benares #3) (3/5)
'The Awakening' Kelley Armstrong (Darkest Powers #2) (4/5)
'Graceling' Kristin Cashore (3/5)
'The Loving Daylights' Lynsay Sands (1/5)
'Lightbreaker' Mark Teppo (Codex of Souls #1) (2/5)
'Some Girls Bite' Chloe Neill (Chicagoland Vampires #1) (2/5)
'Blue Diablo' Ann Aguirre (Corine Solomon #1) (2/5)
'Turn Coat' Jim Butcher (Dresden Files #11) (4/5)
'Ghostland' Jory Strong (1/5)
'Curse The Dawn' Karren Chance (Cassandra Palmer #4) (3/5)
'Being Nikki' Meg Cabot (Airhead #2) (3/5)
'Hope's Folly' Linnea Sinclair (Dock 5 #3) (3/5)
'Spell Games' TA Pratt (Marla Mason #4) (3/5)
'Bloodhound' Tamora Pierce (Beka Cooper #2) (3/5)
'Magic Strikes' Ilona Andrews (Kate Daniels #3) (3/5)
'Secret Life of A Vampire' Kerrelyn Sparks (Love at Stake #6) (2/5)
'City of Glass' Cassandra Clare (Mortal Instruments #3) (2/5)
'Hunted' PC / Kristin Cast (House of Night #5) (2/5)
'Angels' Blood' Nalini Singh (Guild Hunter #1) (3/5)
'Skin Hunger' Kathleen Duey (Resurrection of Magic #1) (1/5)
'White Witch, Black Curse' Kim Harrison (Hollows #7) (5/5)
'Ghost' John Ringo (1/5)
'Kildar' John Ringo (1/5)
'The Shadow Pavilion' Liz Williams (Detective Inspector Chen #4) (4/5)
'Death's Daughter' Amber Benson (2/5)
'Once Dead, Twice Shy' Kim Harrison (Madison Avery #1*) (3/5)
'House of Many Doors' Dianna Wynne Jones (Howl #2?) (3/5)
'The Modern World' Steph Swainston (Fourlands #3) (4/5)
'Going Under' Justina Robson (Quantum Gravity #3) (2/5)
'Evernight' Claudia Gray (2/5)
'Third Claw Of God' Adam Troy-Castro (Andrea Cort #2) (4/5)
'Demon's Librarian' Lilith Saintcrow (2/5)
Re-Reads
Oh, dear. A lot!
'Flora's Dare: How a Girl of Spirit Gambles All to Expand Her Vocabulary, Confront a Bouncing Boy Terror, and Try to Save Califa from a Shaky Doom (Despite Being Confined to Her Room)' Ysabeau S Wilce (Califa #2)(5/5)
'Heroes Adrift' Moira J Moore (Heroes #3) (2/5)
'The Tomorrow Log' Sharon Lee & Steve Miller (3/5)
'Conflict of Honor' Sharon Lee & Steve Miller (Korval #1**) (4/5)
...um, those were the last four - can't remember prior to that...
DNFs
'Desire Unchained' Larissa Ione (Demonica #2) - Didn't really like the first Demonica book, the start of this seemed worse...
'Economics 2.0' Norbert Haring & Olaf Storbeck - Sorry, guys, if this is 'entertaining' economics, I dread to think what the standard stuff's like...
Comments: Yes, reading has been a bit light the last couple of months. I bought myself a wii and have been busy with things not nearly as interesting as reading.
*There was a short story in "Prom Nights from Hell" (ed. Meg Cabot, I think?), called 'Madison Avery and the Dim Reaper" which precedes this book (and is probably a very good idea to read first...)
**In story time, anyway. It was the 2nd Korval/Liaden book to be published, I think. |
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| Books Read 2009 #2 |
[Feb. 21st, 2009|04:03 pm] |
'Ransom My Heart' Meg Cabot (Princess #10 tie in) (4/5)
'Primal Needs' Susan Sizemore (Prime #7, I think) (2/5)
'Kiss of a Demon King' Kresley Cole (Immortals After Dark #6) (3/5)
'Star of the Morning' Lynn Kurland (9 Kingdoms #1) (4/5)
'Mages Daughter' Lynn Kurland (9 Kingdoms #2) (3/5)
'Princess of the Sword' Lynn Kurland (9 Kingdoms #3) (3/5)
'Bad Kitty' Michelle Jaffe (4/5)
'Seraph of Sorrow' Mary Janice Davidson (Jennifer Scales #4) (1/5)
'Pleasure Unbound' Larissa Ione (Demonica #1) (2/5)
'Kitty and the Dead Man's Hand' Carrie Vaughn (Kitty #5) (4/5)
'Goblin Hero' Jim C Hines (Goblin #2) (3/5)
'Goblin War' Jim C Hines (Goblin #3) (2/5)
'Undone' Rachel Caine (Outcast Season #1; Weather Warden spin-off) (5/5)
'Bone Crossed' Patricia Briggs (Mercy Thompson #4) (5/5)
'Mortal Sins' Eileen Wilks (Lupi #5) (4/5)
'With The Lightnings' David Drake (Lt Leary #1) (3/5) (Baen Free Library)
'Lt Leary Commanding' David Drake (Lt Leary #2) (3/5) (Baen Free Library)
'The Far Side of the Stars' David Drake (Lt Leary #3) (3/5)
'The Way to Glory' David Drake (Lt Leary #4) (3/5)
'Some Golden Harbour' David Drake (Lt Leary #5) (3/5)
'March to the Stars' David Weber, John Ringo (March Upcounty #3) (3/5)
'We Few' David Weber, John Ringo (March Upcountry #4) (2/5)
'Horizon' Lois McMaster Bujold (Sharing Knife #4) (5/5)
'The Devils Due' Jenna Black (Morgan Kingsley #3) (2/5)
'Red' Jordan Summers (2/5)
'Lord of Misrule' Rachel Caine (4/5)
'Sucks to be Me' Kimberly Pauley (3/5)
'Midnight Sun (partial)' Stephanie Meyer (3/5)
Re-Reads
'The Hero Strikes Back' Moira J Moore (Hero #2) (3/5)
DNFs
'Affinity Bridge' George Mann
Book of the Month is probably 'Bone Crossed', surprisingly beating 'Horizon' to the title; Special mention has to go to Cassiel, the protagonist of 'Undone', who is simply an awesome character, and a 'Most Improved' goes to Eileen Wilks for 'Mortal Sins'.
And Also! A heads-up for excerpts from the next book in Jim Butcher's Dresden files: A new chapter every Tuesday until chapter 5: here
And Another! First five chapters of Kim Harrison's upcoming 'White Witch, Black Curse' here (admittedly via HarperCollins vile online reader; these things can't be helped, alas.) |
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| and again... |
[Feb. 7th, 2009|06:34 pm] |
Sorry, I've just read the article I linked to. Some of the quotes are hilarious. For ex, from a 'ACMD spokesman':
"Professor Nutt's academic work does not prejudice that which he conducts as chair of the ACMD"
One would hope that, on the contrary, his academic work (He's a professor of neuroscience, and has _many_ letters after his name) informs his work as chairman of the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs. After all, if it didn't, you might as well get any thicko of the street. Or an MP, if there's a detectable difference (other than the increased likelihood of the latter to have a fraud conviction or two, of course)
The other that jumped out is from a Telegraph rent-a-quote, David Raynes (of the National Drug Prevention Alliance, no less, whoever they are. I wonder what their stance on caffeine or aspirin is?)
"He is entitled to his personal opinion, but if his personal view conflicts so very strongly with his public duties, it would be honourable to consider his position... If he does not, the home secretary should do it for him."
...sort of depends on what his 'public duties' are, really, doesn't it? If it's to inform the government of some actual research and knowledge, then it sounds like he's fulfilling them admirably, doesn't it? If, however, his duty is to pander to the tabloid press, then Mr Raynes is entirely correct - he should be fired immediately. It'll be interesting to see what happens next week! |
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| Ecstasy vs Horseriding... |
[Feb. 7th, 2009|06:04 pm] |
I almost feel stupid for posting this, because everyone (all, what, one of you?) know what my reaction will be, but hey. There you go.
Story here. Ecstasy causes 1/3 the deaths (and this isn't the figure to be interested in. It's the deaths per user that would be) that riding a horse does. Of course, that's not the whole story; Ecstasy, if you take enough of it, for long enough, _probably_ causes some neurological disorders, whereas horse riders... well, they're probably mad to begin with.
But. Anyway. What actually made me post this is...
Listening to BBC News, the interviewer (John Simpson? sumat like that, anyway) asked the talking head (presumably prof David Nutt, who made the comparison),
"Wouldn't downgrading ecstasy send the wrong signal? You may double, triple the number of deaths..."
And I thought, what figures is that based on? Would the numbers of ecstasy users really increase dramatically if it were (gasp!) a class B rather than a class A drug? Somehow, I'm sceptical.
But what did get me is that having ecstasy as a class A drug probably _does_ send out the wrong signals. Hundreds of thousands of people take ecstasy every month (can't seem to find a report to link to but all the secondary sources (here or here, for example) seem too go for this level of regular useage). The current government position says that ecstasy is as dangerous as heroin or cocaine. So for all of those people - who are clearly convinced (as are, at a guess, the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs) that ecstasy isn't that risky - the government is saying that heroin is no more so. Isn't _that_ the truly dangerous message to send? |
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| Books so far this year, #1 |
[Jan. 15th, 2009|05:31 pm] |
Given that it's quite early in the year, this should still be doable...
New to me
Night Mischief Nina Bruhns (3/5)
The Graveyard Book Neil Gaiman (4/5)
I Kiss Girl Gina Harris (3/5)
Wondrous Strange Lesley Livingstone (3/5)
Forever Princess Meg Cabot (4/5)
Just Another Judgement Day Simon R Green (3/5)
Branded Rachel Bo (2/5)
Full Moon Jennifer St Clair (2/5)
The Stepsister Scheme Jim C Hines (3/5)
The Outback Stars Sandra McDonald (2/5)
Wolfsbane and Mistletoe (anotholgy; edited by Charlaine Harris) (2/5 - Not a huge short story fan)
The Catah Circle Gabrina Garza (1/5)
Re-reads
The Lost Fleet, books #1-4 Jack Cambell (aka John G Hemry) (2/5)
Resenting the Hero Moira J Moore (2/5)
Books I've failed to finish (DNFs)
FaeFever Karen Marie Moning
Tribute Nora Roberts
Frozen Morgan Q O'Reilly
I almost didn't include ratings, because they're are as much dependant on what mood I was in when I was reading the book as how good the book actually is. Generally speaking, 4/5 is a book I really enjoyed, with perhaps minor flaws (I thought The Graveyard Book had a relatively weak ending, for example, and a strange poorly connected sub-plot involving a group of monsters. Other than that, it was great). 2/5 means it might be an enjoyable book but has unavoidable flaws in character, plot, or general style (hence my re-reads so far being entirely 2/5s - The Lost Fleet suffers from wooden characters but has a fairly gripping plot; Resenting the Hero on the other hand has great characters but the plot feels more like a series of anecdotes). If there's stuff on there that people want more detailed reviews of, well, that's what Google is for. Or I might do one if bored, of course. |
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| Teachers are cleverer than I am |
[Jan. 5th, 2009|06:05 pm] |
Don't worry, I've not made a NY resolution to update the blog more frequently,just a 'saw this and thought of you' moment...
From the ever interesting UK Polling Report,
...Asked whether they [teachers] agreed with the statement “Creationism is completely unsupportable as a theory, and the only reason to mention creationism in schools is to enable teachers to demonstrate why the idea is scientific nonsense and has no basis in evidence or rational thought” 26% agreed and 54% disagreed...
Teachers are clearly more intelligent than I am, because 54% can identify evidence supporting creationism.
Well, either that or more than half of teachers are cretins incapable of thought, but that surely cannot be... |
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| phone buying hell |
[Jul. 9th, 2008|10:14 pm] |
Background: My Dell Axim X50v power supply is dying, and the SD slot is dead, so I'm looking to get a new ebook reader. At the same time, my phone (Tytn/Vario II, I think) is up for renewal, and whilst I'm at it, a new GPS could be fun...
So. I'm in the market for a new phone with a 3.5-4" (W)VGA screen (primarily for books, but also browsing t'web is a much nicer experience on a bigger screen) and a keyboard (for texting, emailing, and browsing). A GPS receiver would be a nice bonus. So I look around at the various devices, and NONE OF THEM (ok, excluding the Advantage, but at 5", that doesn't really count as a phone, dammit) has a screen larger than 3" - there's a huge number with 2.8", and then...
Well, there's the 3" LG Viewty, or I could wait for the HUGE 3.2" Samsung Omnia...(neither of which have a keyboard, so immediately lose out to the 3.5" iphone). I had high hopes for the Raphael/Touch Pro/Vario IV but that, too, only has a measly 2.8" screen. (the xperia will have a 3" screen, but, really...) I guess there is the Nokia E90, which does look good, but the decent size screen is only landscape (and isn't touch!), so isn't so good at ebooks...
Is it too much to ask for a 3.5-4" screen, with keyboard (hey, lets make it a Zaurus-style clamshell design, as well, while I'm dreaming)? Clearly, yes.
And yes, I could just abandon my hopes of a keyboard and go for the ridiculously good value 3G iphone (seriously, O2: £100 quid up front, 30 quid a month contract with 'unlimited' (probably 3GB/month) data? This is the closest I've ever been to buying an apple product...)
Grrr. I usually like doing this, safe in the assumption that the ideal gadget is around, but this time, I'm really stumped. Am I that much of a niche market? Really, all I'm after is an iphone with a keyboard (and ideally WM - but I could live with linux or symbian...)
I could get a 2nd hand Advantage, I guess, to replace the Axim, and then a cheapo PAYG phone...
Any advice? Anyone? Bueller? |
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| (no subject) |
[Jul. 8th, 2008|02:05 pm] |
I'd really like to say I'm in favour of the EU, but, alas, I can't.
(My favourite quote has to be "The interpretation of them is alarmist and scare-mongering and deflects from the intention which was to improve consumers' rights" - MEP Mr Malcolm Harbour clearly believing that all law obviously - and only - does what is intended*)
*This is generous. He could also be a lying twat, but he's a politician and is thus as honest as the day is long. |
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| (no subject) |
[May. 23rd, 2008|05:42 pm] |
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am at cam beer festival but not liveblogging due to popular request! |
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| balanced or biased? |
[May. 12th, 2008|07:17 pm] |
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Go read this and tell me if you think it's biased, or balanced (and why, if you can be arsed). I'm fairly sure it's one of the two, but I'm curious as to what others think... |
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| (no subject) |
[Apr. 18th, 2008|04:50 pm] |
Continuing on my theme of posting about stuff that no-one cares about, I'm looking to replace my aging (albeit still quite cool) Dell Axim X50v. My options are:
Archos 605 30Gb
Ipod Touch
Nokia N810
HTC Advantage X7510
What do people reckon? |
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| Oh, dear |
[Mar. 30th, 2008|07:47 pm] |
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'Government is in touch' says Jacqui Smith. She also describes a 42 day imprisonment without charge as "a win-win situation", proving her point admirably. |
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| More politics - sorry... |
[Mar. 16th, 2008|10:14 am] |
From The Sunday Telegraph:
'Philip Hammond, the shadow Treasury chief secretary, said... "When the money's piled up in the pot, then you give it away in tax cuts"'
Can anyone see where Mr Hammond is going wrong? |
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| (no subject) |
[Mar. 14th, 2008|01:51 pm] |
Quick question:
Does Labour have a moral right to impose legal sanctions on Tesco?
It's a seemingly stupid question - of _course_ they do, they're the _government_, fool - but there is a point to it (honest).
We elect a government every four years or so, and then have to live with it. Voting has no up-front costs. Labour got in with the support of 22% of the electorate.
We go shopping every week or so, and can change where we shop at the drop of a hat. Whereas voting is free, we actually pay to do our shopping. And something like 30% of people choose to do their shopping at Tesco.
Therefore Tesco surely has more popular support than Labour - and yet Labour seem to think they can take the moral high ground with the supermarket. What gives? |
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| (no subject) |
[Mar. 14th, 2008|11:27 am] |
"People should be fined £100 for being drunk in public, says a leading surgeon." says the 'latest news' scroll on the bbc website.
I would usually have a diatribe against the pillock suggesting this, but, really, that would be like having a go at water for being wet. Pillocks will be pillocks and there's little you can do to change that.
Instead, I'll have a go at the bbc. This is appearing on their front page, for gods sake. Why are we listening to a plastic surgeons view on public order? How are his views news-worthy when, say, a publicans are not? Particularly when his views are so out of synch with reality? When even Alcohol Concern - that paragon of balanced views - says "We would not support this"?
I'd say that the only reason for reporting this is so that the next article encouraging some anti-beer legislation appears relatively sane. But that would be cynical of me and downright biased of the bbc. Surely not? |
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