Jon's bookshelf: all en-US Thu, 10 Apr 2025 07:20:30 -0700 60 Jon's bookshelf: all 144 41 /images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg Puzzleheart 179031785 Get ready to solve the mystery at the heart of this middle grade adventure about family—and a house with a mind of its own.

Twelve-year-old Perigee has never met a problem they couldn’t solve. So when their Dad’s spirits need raising, Perigee formulates the perfect road trip to Dad’s childhood home to reunite him with his estranged mother. There's something in it for Perigee, too, as they will finally get to visit “Eklunds' Puzzle House,� the mysterious bed & breakfast their grandparents built but never opened. They arrive ahead of a massive storm and the House immediately puts Perigee’s logical, science-loving mind to the test. Corridors shift. Strange paintings lurk in the shadows. Encoded messages abound. Despite Perigee’s best efforts, neither the House nor Grandma will give up their secrets. And worse, prickly Grandma has outlawed games and riddles of any kind. Even the greatest of plans can crumble, and as new arguments fill the air, the House becomes truly dangerous. Deadly puzzles pop up at every turn, knives spin in the hallways, and staircases disappear. The answer lies at the heart of the House, but in order to find it, Perigee and their new friend Lily will need to solve a long-lost, decades-old riddle� if the House itself doesn’t stop them first.]]> 269 Jenn Reese 1250783461 Jon 5 3.77 2024 Puzzleheart
author: Jenn Reese
name: Jon
average rating: 3.77
book published: 2024
rating: 5
read at: 2025/04/10
date added: 2025/04/10
shelves:
review:
I thought this was charming as hell.
]]> <![CDATA[My Life as a White Trash Zombie (White Trash Zombie, #1)]]> 9640626
Living with her alcoholic deadbeat dad in the swamps of southern Louisiana, she's a high school dropout with a pill habit and a criminal record who's been fired from more crap jobs than she can count. Now on probation for a felony, it seems that Angel will never pull herself out of the downward spiral her life has taken.

That is, until the day she wakes up in the ER after overdosing on painkillers. Angel remembers being in a horrible car crash, but she doesn't have a mark on her. To add to the weirdness, she receives an anonymous letter telling her there's a job waiting for her at the parish morgue—and that it's an offer she doesn't dare refuse.

Before she knows it she's dealing with a huge crush on a certain hunky deputy and a brand new addiction: an overpowering craving for brains. Plus, her morgue is filling up with the victims of a serial killer who decapitates his prey—just when she's hungriest!

Angel's going to have to grow up fast if she wants to keep this job and stay in one piece. Because if she doesn't, she's dead meat.

Literally.]]> 320 Diana Rowland 0756406757 Jon 4 So why did I have the horrifying urge to grab a handful of that pink and grey mass and shove it into my mouth like movie popcorn?]]> 3.94 2011 My Life as a White Trash Zombie (White Trash Zombie, #1)
author: Diana Rowland
name: Jon
average rating: 3.94
book published: 2011
rating: 4
read at: 2025/04/09
date added: 2025/04/09
shelves:
review:
Yeah, that's all it was. I was just starving.
So why did I have the horrifying urge to grab a handful of that pink and grey mass and shove it into my mouth like movie popcorn?
]]> The Siege of Burning Grass 203362772 The Empires of Varkal and Med’ariz have always been at war.

Alefret, the founder of Varkal’s pacifist resistance, was bombed and maimed by his own government, locked up in a secret prison and tortured by a ‘visionary� scientist. But now they’re offering him a chance of freedom.

Ordered to infiltrate one of Med’ariz’s flying cities, obeying the bloodthirsty zealot Qhudur, he must find fellow anti-war activists in the enemy’s population and provoke them into an uprising against their rulers.

He should refuse to serve the warmongers, but what if he could end this pointless war once and for all? Is that worth compromising his own morals and the principles of his fellow resistance members?]]> 336 Premee Mohamed 1837860459 Jon 4 3.95 2024 The Siege of Burning Grass
author: Premee Mohamed
name: Jon
average rating: 3.95
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2025/04/01
date added: 2025/04/02
shelves:
review:
"You weren't praised much as a child, were you?"
]]> Monster 6665849
Monster runs a pest control agency. He's overworked and has domestic troubles -- like having the girlfriend from hell.

Judy works the night shift at the local Food Plus Mart. Not the most glamorous life, but Judy is happy. No one bothers her and if she has to spell things out for the night-manager every now and again, so be it.

But when Judy finds a Yeti in the freezer aisle eating all the Rocky Road, her life collides with Monster's in a rather alarming fashion. Because Monster doesn't catch raccoons; he catches the things that go bump in the night. Things like ogres, trolls, and dragons.

Oh, and his girlfriend from Hell? She actually is from Hell.]]> 315 A. Lee Martinez 0316049913 Jon 4 "No need," she said. "Yeti is eating it all."
He raised his head. "What?"
"Maybe not all of it," she said. "Doesn't seem to like the vanilla."]]> 3.75 2009 Monster
author: A. Lee Martinez
name: Jon
average rating: 3.75
book published: 2009
rating: 4
read at: 2025/03/27
date added: 2025/03/28
shelves:
review:
"I thought I asked you to stock the ice cream," he said.
"No need," she said. "Yeti is eating it all."
He raised his head. "What?"
"Maybe not all of it," she said. "Doesn't seem to like the vanilla."
]]> <![CDATA[Someone You Can Build a Nest In]]> 182775231
Shesheshen is a shapeshifter, who happily resides as an amorphous lump at the bottom of a ruined manor. When her rest is interrupted by hunters intent on murdering her, she constructs a body from the remains of past a metal chain for a backbone, borrowed bones for limbs, and a bear trap as an extra mouth.

However, the hunters chase Shesheshen out of her home and off a cliff. Badly hurt, she’s found and nursed back to health by Homily, a warm-hearted human, who has mistaken Shesheshen as a fellow human. Homily is kind and nurturing and would make an excellent an ideal place to lay Shesheshen’s eggs so their young could devour Homily from the inside out. But as they grow close, she realizes humans don’t think about love that way.

Shesheshen hates keeping her identity secret from Homily, but just as she’s about to confess, Homily reveals why she’s in the she’s hunting a shapeshifting monster that supposedly cursed her family. Has Shesheshen seen it anywhere?

Eating her girlfriend isn’t an option. Shesheshen didn’t curse anyone, but to give herself and Homily a chance at happiness, she has to figure out why Homily’s twisted family thinks she did. As the hunt for the monster becomes increasingly dangerous—and deadly—Shesheshen must unearth the truth quickly, or soon both of their lives will be at risk.]]> 320 John Wiswell 0756418860 Jon 4 "Can we not talk about it right now?"
"Yes. I love not talking."]]> 4.08 2024 Someone You Can Build a Nest In
author: John Wiswell
name: Jon
average rating: 4.08
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2025/03/24
date added: 2025/03/25
shelves:
review:
She said, "What is wrong?"
"Can we not talk about it right now?"
"Yes. I love not talking."
]]> A Sorceress Comes to Call 196600323 A dark retelling of the Brothers Grimm's Goose Girl, rife with secrets, murder, and forbidden magic

Cordelia knows her mother is unusual. Their house doesn’t have any doors between rooms, and her mother doesn't allow Cordelia to have a single friend—unless you count Falada, her mother's beautiful white horse. The only time Cordelia feels truly free is on her daily rides with him. But more than simple eccentricity sets her mother apart. Other mothers don’t force their daughters to be silent and motionless for hours, sometimes days, on end. Other mothers aren’t sorcerers.

After a suspicious death in their small town, Cordelia’s mother insists they leave in the middle of the night, riding away on Falada’s sturdy back, leaving behind all Cordelia has ever known. They arrive at the remote country manor of a wealthy older man, the Squire, and his unwed sister, Hester. Cordelia’s mother intends to lure the Squire into marriage, and Cordelia knows this can only be bad news for the bumbling gentleman and his kind, intelligent sister.

Hester sees the way Cordelia shrinks away from her mother, how the young girl sits eerily still at dinner every night. Hester knows that to save her brother from bewitchment and to rescue the terrified Cordelia, she will have to face down a wicked witch of the worst kind.]]> 336 T. Kingfisher 1250244056 Jon 4 4.24 2024 A Sorceress Comes to Call
author: T. Kingfisher
name: Jon
average rating: 4.24
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2025/03/21
date added: 2025/03/22
shelves:
review:
"I was not expecting this house party to involve quite so much premeditated murder," he muttered.
]]> Fearless (The Lost Fleet, #2) 96594 ]]> 295 Jack Campbell 0441014763 Jon 4 4.00 2007 Fearless (The Lost Fleet, #2)
author: Jack Campbell
name: Jon
average rating: 4.00
book published: 2007
rating: 4
read at: 2025/03/18
date added: 2025/03/19
shelves:
review:
Falco frowned deeper this time. He seemed to frown a lot, at least whenever things weren't happening exactly as he wished, and didn't seem used to being interrupted, either.
]]> <![CDATA[Last Orders (Dublin Trilogy publication order, #4; Dublin Trilogy chronological order, #8)]]> 38618329
Paul can't let an incident from his past go. When he finds out a rival detective agency played a key role in it, he drags MCM Investigations into a blood feud that they can't hope to win. Soon they're faced with the prospect of the company going out of business and Brigit going out of her damn mind.

When long-buried bodies are discovered in the Wicklow Mountains, Bunny's past starts closing in on him too. Who can he trust when he can't even trust himself? When he finds himself with nowhere left to run and nobody he can turn to, will the big fella make the ultimate sacrifice to protect the ones he loves?

When all that's left is the fall, the fall is everything.

And even the mighty fall.

Last Orders is the thrilling conclusion of the critically acclaimed Dublin Trilogy, which melds fast-paced action with a distinctly Irish acerbic wit. It's best enjoyed having read the other books in the series, particularly the prequel Angels in the Moonlight.
]]> 354 Caimh McDonnell 0995507570 Jon 4 "Maybe they are and we're too stupid to notice."]]> 4.44 2018 Last Orders (Dublin Trilogy publication order, #4; Dublin Trilogy chronological order, #8)
author: Caimh McDonnell
name: Jon
average rating: 4.44
book published: 2018
rating: 4
read at: 2025/03/16
date added: 2025/03/16
shelves:
review:
"Bloody hell," said Phil. "Did you ever wonder how women aren't running the world?"
"Maybe they are and we're too stupid to notice."
]]> Angels in the Moonlight 35967997
It’s 1999 and his hard won reputation amongst Dublin’s criminal fraternity, for being a massive pain the backside, is unfortunately shared by his bosses. His partner has a career-threatening gambling problem and, oh yeah, Bunny's finally been given a crack at the big time. He’s set the task of bringing down the most skilled and ruthless armed robbery gang in Irish history. So the last thing he needs in his life is yet another complication.

Her name is Simone. She is smart, funny, talented and, well, complicated. When her shocking past turns up to threaten her and Bunny’s chance at a future, things get very complicated indeed. If the choice is upholding the law or protecting those he loves, which way will the big fella turn?

Angels in the Moonlight is a standalone prequel to Caimh McDonnell’s critically acclaimed Dublin Trilogy, and it is complicated.]]> 320 Caimh McDonnell 0995507554 Jon 4 "I am, I just keep it hidden."]]> 4.29 2017 Angels in the Moonlight
author: Caimh McDonnell
name: Jon
average rating: 4.29
book published: 2017
rating: 4
read at: 2025/03/15
date added: 2025/03/16
shelves:
review:
"He's not normally this much of a gobshite."
"I am, I just keep it hidden."
]]> <![CDATA[The Day That Never Comes (The Dublin Trilogy #2)]]> 33783151
Dublin is in the middle of a heat wave and tempers are running high. The Celtic Tiger is well and truly dead, activists have taken over the headquarters of a failed bank, the trial of three unscrupulous property developers teeters on the brink of collapse, and in the midst of all this, along comes a mysterious organisation hell-bent on exacting bloody vengeance in the name of the little guy.

Paul Mulchrone doesn’t care about any of this; he has problems of his own. His newly established detective agency is about to be DOA. One of his partners won’t talk to him for very good reasons and the other has seemingly disappeared off the face of the earth for no reason at all. Can he hold it together long enough to figure out what Bunny McGarry’s colourful past has to do with his present absence?

When the law and justice no longer mean the same thing, on which side will you stand?

The Day That Never Comes is the second book in Caimh McDonnell’s Dublin trilogy, which melds fast-paced action with a distinctly Irish acerbic wit.]]> 341 Caimh McDonnell Jon 4 4.20 2017 The Day That Never Comes (The Dublin Trilogy #2)
author: Caimh McDonnell
name: Jon
average rating: 4.20
book published: 2017
rating: 4
read at: 2025/03/15
date added: 2025/03/16
shelves:
review:
It would dawn on Paul later that she didn't have a discernable accent. She spoke in a kind of purring, breathy voice that didn't exist in nature. It felt more like a crack team of female scientists had developed it to take advantage of the fact that all men are idiots.
]]> <![CDATA[A Man With One of Those Faces (Dublin Trilogy publication order, #1; Dublin Trilogy chronological order, #6)]]> 31817712
The second time was deliberate.

Now Paul Mulchrone finds himself on the run with nobody to turn to except a nurse who has read one-too-many crime novels and a renegade copper with a penchant for violence. Together they must solve one of the most notorious crimes in Irish history...

...or else they’ll be history.

A Man With One of Those Faces is the first book in Caimh McDonnell's Dublin Trilogy, which melds fast-paced action with a distinctly Irish acerbic wit.]]> 364 Caimh McDonnell 0995507511 Jon 4 "Yes."
"Super."
"You're certainly making it feel that way."]]> 4.07 2016 A Man With One of Those Faces (Dublin Trilogy publication order, #1; Dublin Trilogy chronological order, #6)
author: Caimh McDonnell
name: Jon
average rating: 4.07
book published: 2016
rating: 4
read at: 2025/03/14
date added: 2025/03/16
shelves:
review:
"OK, great. So you are totally alone," said Dr. Sinha. "I mean, other than this Mickey?"
"Yes."
"Super."
"You're certainly making it feel that way."
]]> <![CDATA[The Sapphire Sirens (Nuclear Bombshell, #7)]]> 6436987
]]> 340 John Zakour 0756405815 Jon 4 3.97 2009 The Sapphire Sirens (Nuclear Bombshell, #7)
author: John Zakour
name: Jon
average rating: 3.97
book published: 2009
rating: 4
read at: 2025/03/13
date added: 2025/03/14
shelves:
review:
You know your life is weird when a superhuman woman who considers herself a fairy princess thinks things are strange.
]]> <![CDATA[Paladin's Strength (The Saint of Steel, #2)]]> 57119466
When their paths cross at the point of a sword, Istvhan and Clara will be pitched headlong into each other’s quests, facing off against enemies both living and dead. But Clara has a secret that could jeopardize the growing trust between them, a secret that will lead them to the gladiatorial pits of a corrupt city, and beyond...]]> 445 T. Kingfisher Jon 4 "Drove its beak right into my hand. I was lucky. One of my compatriots took three geese to the head and we had to carry him out on a stretcher."]]> 4.21 2021 Paladin's Strength (The Saint of Steel, #2)
author: T. Kingfisher
name: Jon
average rating: 4.21
book published: 2021
rating: 4
read at: 2025/03/10
date added: 2025/03/11
shelves:
review:
"So he attacked you with a peacock?"
"Drove its beak right into my hand. I was lucky. One of my compatriots took three geese to the head and we had to carry him out on a stretcher."
]]> Where Furnaces Burn 16299282 A young woman needs help in finding the buried pieces of her lover... so he can return to waking life.
Pale-faced thieves gather by a disused railway to watch a puppet theatre of love and violence.
Why do local youths keep starting fires in the ash woods around a disused mine in the Black Country?
A series of inexplicable deaths lead the police to uncover a secret cult of machine worship.
When a migrant worker disappears, the key suspect is a boy driven mad by memories that are not his own.
Among the derelict factories and warehouses at the heart of the city, an archaic god seeks out his willing victims.
Blurring the occult detective story with urban noir fiction, Where Furnaces Burn offers a glimpse of the myths and terrors buried within the industrial landscape.

26 tales of the weird and frightening.]]> 210 Joel Lane 1848634854 Jon 4 4.41 2012 Where Furnaces Burn
author: Joel Lane
name: Jon
average rating: 4.41
book published: 2012
rating: 4
read at: 2025/03/09
date added: 2025/03/10
shelves:
review:
Well, this was something. Linked short story collection about an unnamed British cop operating mostly in 1990s Birmingham, dealing with supernatural menaces that mostly leave a lot of unexplained deaths in their wake as his personal life slowly falls apart. Overall the effect is bleak and intense.
]]> <![CDATA[Clockwork Boys (Clocktaur War, #1)]]> 36618062
If they succeed, rewards and pardons await, but that requires a long journey through enemy territory, directly into the capital. It also requires them to refrain from killing each other along the way! At turns darkly comic and touching, Clockwork Boys puts together a broken group of people trying to make the most of the rest of their lives as they drive forward on their suicide mission.]]> 230 T. Kingfisher Jon 4 "It's not. I've killed a lot of possessed cows."]]> 4.15 2017 Clockwork Boys (Clocktaur War, #1)
author: T. Kingfisher
name: Jon
average rating: 4.15
book published: 2017
rating: 4
read at: 2025/03/08
date added: 2025/03/08
shelves:
review:
"It doesn't sound very glamourous, demon hunting," she said.
"It's not. I've killed a lot of possessed cows."
]]> <![CDATA[Paladin's Grace (The Saint of Steel, #1)]]> 50702014 Stephen's god died on the longest day of the year�

Three years later, Stephen is a broken paladin, living only for the chance to be useful before he dies. But all that changes when he encounters a fugitive named Grace in an alley and witnesses an assassination attempt gone wrong. Now the pair must navigate a web of treachery, beset on all sides by spies and poisoners, while a cryptic killer stalks one step behind�

From the Hugo and Nebula Award winning author of Swordheart and The Twisted Ones comes a saga of murder, magic, and love on the far side of despair.]]> 366 T. Kingfisher Jon 4 "Blood?" said Stephen.
"Look, you can only have so many Sacred Order of the Wolfs in one region or it gets embarrassing. So then you have to be the Sacred Order of the Blood Moon, which still sounds impressive and you can keep all the wolf paraphernalia around and don't have to get new sword hilts and standards and whatnot."]]> 4.09 2020 Paladin's Grace (The Saint of Steel, #1)
author: T. Kingfisher
name: Jon
average rating: 4.09
book published: 2020
rating: 4
read at: 2025/03/05
date added: 2025/03/05
shelves:
review:
Istvhan nodded. "The sacred order of this and that and that other thing over there. Usually wolves. Or bears. Sometimes blood."
"Blood?" said Stephen.
"Look, you can only have so many Sacred Order of the Wolfs in one region or it gets embarrassing. So then you have to be the Sacred Order of the Blood Moon, which still sounds impressive and you can keep all the wolf paraphernalia around and don't have to get new sword hilts and standards and whatnot."
]]> The Wages of Sin 211859477
What if HIV started spreading in the early 1500s rather than the late 1900s? Without modern medicine, anybody who catches HIV is going to die.

A patriarchal society reacts to this devastating disease in the only way it knows it sequesters women as much as possible, limiting contacts between the sexes except for married couples. While imperfect, such drastic actions do limit the spread of the disease.

The ‘Wasting� (HIV) has caused devasting destruction throughout the known world and severely limited the development of technology as well, creating a mid-nineteenth century England and London almost unrecognizable to us. This is the world Viola is born into. Extremely intelligent and growing up in a house full of medical books which she reads, she dreams of travelling to far-off places, something she can only do via books since her actions and movements are severely restricted by both law custom.

Meticulously researched and exquisitely detailed in a way only a master like Harry Turtledove can do, this book is a tour-de-force from one of the best historical and alternate history writers ever to write in the genre.]]> 350 Harry Turtledove 1649731531 Jon 4 3.94 2023 The Wages of Sin
author: Harry Turtledove
name: Jon
average rating: 3.94
book published: 2023
rating: 4
read at: 2025/02/25
date added: 2025/02/26
shelves:
review:
Quite good, and very interesting.
]]> The Human Front 21454271 129 Ken MacLeod Jon 4 3.93 2001 The Human Front
author: Ken MacLeod
name: Jon
average rating: 3.93
book published: 2001
rating: 4
read at: 2021/12/11
date added: 2025/02/24
shelves:
review:
"Like most people of my generation, I remember exactly where I was on March 17, 1963, the day Stalin died."
]]> 1066 and All That 34538772 116 W.C. Sellar Jon 4 4.00 1930 1066 and All That
author: W.C. Sellar
name: Jon
average rating: 4.00
book published: 1930
rating: 4
read at: 2025/02/20
date added: 2025/02/21
shelves:
review:
Extremely British, and given that it was originally written in the thirties, it reads mostly like an extended inside joke to an American in 2025. So, take that as you will.
]]> Bad Magic 615097
In sheer self-defense, most of the human race long ago taught themselves to shut their magical Third Eye, blinding themselves to this supernatural world around them. As protection goes, it's not 100% effective, but it's still pretty If you can't see them, they can't see you.

Fortunately for the rest of us, a few people can deal with the weirdness. In San Francisco, a motley group of adventurers have banded together to fight evil. They're an uncanny mix of alchemists, thaumaturges, necromancers, and totemists, working their wildly different magics in a milieu where thaumaturgy is a laboratory science and raw pain can be kept in a flask of liquid nitrogen. They know they don't know what they're doing. And they have to save a world that doesn't know it's under attack from forces that they wish were beyond comprehension.

Poised, headspinning, and richly inventive, Bad Magic shows us what people really see when their third eye opens.]]> 256 Stephan Zielinski 0312878621 Jon 4 3.84 2004 Bad Magic
author: Stephan Zielinski
name: Jon
average rating: 3.84
book published: 2004
rating: 4
read at: 2025/02/15
date added: 2025/02/16
shelves:
review:
Well, this one is a trip. It's weird and funny and doesn't explain itself a lot of the time so you have pick things up from context. Plot's kind of haphazard, but that's all right because it's a good read. I am kind of surprised this is the only book this guy wrote, which makes me think it's a pseudonym for someone else.
]]> Bug-Eyed Monsters 497681
Stranger Station / Damon Knight
Talent / Robert Bloch
The Other Kids / R.F. Young
The Miracle of the Lily / C.W. Harris
The Bug-Eyed Musicians / Laurence M. Janifer
Puppet Show / Frederic Brown
Portfolio (cartoons) / Gahan Wilson
Wherever you are / Poul Anderson
Mimic / D.A. Wollheim
The Faceless Thing / Edward D. Hoch
The Rull / A.E. Van Vogt
Friend to Man / C.M. Kornbluth
The Last One Left / Bill Pronzini and Barry N. Malzberg
Hostess / Isaac Asimov]]> 273 Bill Pronzini 0156147890 Jon 4 3.88 1980 Bug-Eyed Monsters
author: Bill Pronzini
name: Jon
average rating: 3.88
book published: 1980
rating: 4
read at: 2025/02/12
date added: 2025/02/13
shelves:
review:
Interesting collection, with a number of stories unlikely to be elsewhere (yes, they're old, even so). My favorite was "Puppet Show," by Fredric Brown. YMMV.
]]> <![CDATA[Slow Productivity: The Lost Art of Accomplishment Without Burnout]]> 174136033 ~ Do Fewer Things. Work at a Natural Pace. Obsess over Quality. ~

From the New York Times bestselling author of Digital Minimalism and Deep Work, a groundbreaking philosophy for pursuing meaningful accomplishment while avoiding overload

Our current definition of “productivity� is broken. It pushes us to treat busyness as a proxy for useful effort, leading to impossibly lengthy task lists and ceaseless meetings. We’re overwhelmed by all we have to do and on the edge of burnout, left to decide between giving into soul-sapping hustle culture or rejecting ambition altogether. But are these really our only choices?

Long before the arrival of pinging inboxes and clogged schedules, history’s most creative and impactful philosophers, scientists, artists, and writers mastered the art of producing valuable work with staying power. In this timely and provocative book, Cal Newport harnesses the wisdom of these traditional knowledge workers to radically transform our modern jobs. Drawing from deep research on the habits and mindsets of a varied cast of storied thinkers–from Galileo and Isaac Newton, to Jane Austen and Georgia O’Keefe � Newport lays out the key principles of “slow productivity,� a more sustainable alternative to the aimless overwhelm that defines our current moment. Combining cultural criticism with systematic pragmatism, Newport deconstructs the absurdities inherent in standard notions of productivity, and then provides step-by-step advice for cultivating a slower, more humane alternative.

From the aggressive rethinking of workload management, to introducing seasonal variation, to shifting your performance toward long-term quality, Slow Productivity provides a roadmap for escaping overload and arriving instead at a more timeless approach to pursuing meaningful accomplishment. The world of work is due for a new revolution. Slow productivity is exactly what we need.]]> 256 Cal Newport 0593544862 Jon 4 3.99 2024 Slow Productivity: The Lost Art of Accomplishment Without Burnout
author: Cal Newport
name: Jon
average rating: 3.99
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2025/02/09
date added: 2025/02/09
shelves:
review:
Another argument for cutting down on the busy work of your day that divides your attention and takes up your time but doesn't necessarily help you get anything done.
]]> <![CDATA[When the Women Come Out to Dance]]> 531818
In this first collection of short pieces, including two novella-length works, since his western anthology Tonto Woman, Leonard demonstrates the superb characterization, dead-on dialogue, vivid atmosphere, and driving plotting that have made him a household name.

Sparks
Hanging out at the Buena Vista
Chickasaw Charlie Hoke
When the women come out to dance
Fire in the hole
Karen makes out
Hurrah to Capt. Early
The Tonto woman
Tenkiller]]> 228 Elmore Leonard 0060083972 Jon 4 3.78 2001 When the Women Come Out to Dance
author: Elmore Leonard
name: Jon
average rating: 3.78
book published: 2001
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2025/02/09
shelves:
review:
A collection of short stories, including "Fire in the Hole," which is effectively the pilot episode of "Justified." Adaptations are interesting things. The other stories are also quite good; of the rest of them, I liked "Tenkiller" the best.
]]> Chthon 23352267 A Nebula and Hugo Award The first novel by the New York Times-bestselling author of the Xanth series.

Chthon was Piers Anthony's first published novel in 1967, written over the course of seven years. He started it when he was in the US Army, so it has a long prison sequence that is reminiscent of that experience, being dark and grim. It features Aton Five, a space man who commits the crime of falling in love with the dangerous, alluring Minionette and is therefore condemned to death in the subterranean prison of Chthon. It uses flashbacks to show how he came to know the Minionette, and flash-forwards to show how he dealt with her after his escape from prison. The author regards this as perhaps the most intricately structured novel the science fantasy genre has seen.]]> 248 Piers Anthony 1497657342 Jon 3 to-read 3.18 1967 Chthon
author: Piers Anthony
name: Jon
average rating: 3.18
book published: 1967
rating: 3
read at: 2025/02/08
date added: 2025/02/08
shelves: to-read
review:
So this was slow going, honestly, and kind of hard to follow at points.. Some parts worked better than others, although I will easily admit that might have been me.
]]> Uncanny: The Origins of Fear 207298311
Horror manga legend Junji Ito has fascinated the world with his beautiful and strange tales, starting with his debut story “Tomie,� and followed by Uzumaki, Gyo, and many other famous works.

In this memoir/horror manga analysis, he tells all and digs into dark recesses—reflections on influences from his childhood, thoughts on manga, next-level idea generation techniques, character design, craftmanship, and more. Chock-full of never-before-told insider anecdotes and behind-the-scenes stories, this is a must-have book for fans to immerse themselves completely in the world of Junji Ito.　 　]]> 304 Junji Ito 1974747301 Jon 4 4.16 2023 Uncanny: The Origins of Fear
author: Junji Ito
name: Jon
average rating: 4.16
book published: 2023
rating: 4
read at: 2025/02/01
date added: 2025/02/01
shelves:
review:
An interesting autobiography of my son's favorite manga creator and how he ended up doing that, along with his theories and principles of creating his work. I haven't read much of his work, but what I have seen is quite creepy.
]]> Strange Stones 225363634 Cult authors Edward Lee and Mary San Giovanni’s novel follows an insufferable horror-con lurker as he spurns the wrong woman and is cursed to a monstrous dimension full of Lovecraftian creations.

Professor Everard, weird fiction scholar and proclaimed critic of H.P Lovecraft's works, is no stranger to making people mad. Giving convention presentations on the triteness and melodrama of Lovecraft's work pays the bills, though. Sometimes he even gets laid.

When he angers a beautiful but dangerous witch and devotee of Lovecraft's work, she casts a spell on him, sending him to a dimension where Lovecraft's works are very real � and very deadly. Everard must find a way through this alternate dimension to get home, before the worst of Lovecraft's horrors prove what a master of monstrosities he really was.

Edward lee’s humorous transgressive style meets Mary San Giovanni’s literary touch to carve out the Lovecraftian dimensions that is Strange Stones.]]> Edward Lee Jon 4 3.50 2025 Strange Stones
author: Edward Lee
name: Jon
average rating: 3.50
book published: 2025
rating: 4
read at: 2025/01/31
date added: 2025/02/01
shelves:
review:
Asks the question, "What if Lovecraft wasn't a writer of weird fiction, but an amateur journalist?" Creepy fun.
]]> <![CDATA[Emily Wilde’s Map of the Otherlands (Emily Wilde, #2)]]> 134119076 When mysterious faeries from other realms appear at her university, curmudgeonly professor Emily Wilde must uncover their secrets before it’s too late, in this heartwarming, enchanting second installment of the Emily Wilde series.

Emily Wilde is a genius scholar of faerie folklore who just wrote the world’s first comprehensive encyclopaedia of faeries. She’s learned many of the secrets of the Hidden Ones on her adventures . . . and also from her fellow scholar and former rival Wendell Bambleby.

Because Bambleby is more than infuriatingly charming. He’s an exiled faerie king on the run from his murderous mother and in search of a door back to his realm. And despite Emily’s feelings for Bambleby, she’s not ready to accept his proposal of marriage: Loving one of the Fair Folk comes with secrets and dangers.

She also has a new project to focus on: a map of the realms of faerie. While she is preparing her research, Bambleby lands her in trouble yet again, when assassins sent by his mother invade Cambridge. Now Bambleby and Emily are on another adventure, this time to the picturesque Austrian Alps, where Emily believes they may find the door to Bambleby’s realm and the key to freeing him from his family’s dark plans.

But with new relationships for the prickly Emily to navigate and dangerous Folk lurking in every forest and hollow, Emily must unravel the mysterious workings of faerie doors and of her own heart.]]> 370 Heather Fawcett 0593500202 Jon 4 4.28 2024 Emily Wilde’s Map of the Otherlands (Emily Wilde, #2)
author: Heather Fawcett
name: Jon
average rating: 4.28
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2025/01/30
date added: 2025/02/01
shelves:
review:
A charming read with, as with the last book, a number of unsettling implications underneath.
]]> <![CDATA[New Grub Street (Project Gutenberg, #1709)]]> 17188316 441 George Gissing Jon 4 4.20 1891 New Grub Street (Project Gutenberg, #1709)
author: George Gissing
name: Jon
average rating: 4.20
book published: 1891
rating: 4
read at: 2025/01/30
date added: 2025/01/30
shelves:
review:
I honestly can't remember the last time I read a book about writers that felt like it had done them justice. This one did, and feels surprisingly modern.
]]> Take Joy: A Book for Writers 122106 181 Jane Yolen 087116194X Jon 4 3.76 2003 Take Joy: A Book for Writers
author: Jane Yolen
name: Jon
average rating: 3.76
book published: 2003
rating: 4
read at: 2025/01/27
date added: 2025/01/28
shelves:
review:
Also good advice from Jane, although it's a bit more traditional. But she knows what she's talking about.
]]> <![CDATA[Gentle Writing Advice: How to Be a Writer Without Destroying Yourself]]> 119007180 Finally--a book of writing advice that accounts for all of the messy, perverse, practical, and inexplicable parts of being a human who writes

The truth is that all of the "writing rules" you've learned are bullshit. Sure, they work for some people, but the likelihood that they'll work for you--unique butterfly of a person that you are--is slim.

That doesn't mean you're out of luck! There is meaningful advice to be had in the writing world, and Chuck Wendig is here to deliver it. In this hilarious guide, Wendig will help you discover more about yourself as a writer, parse through your quirks and foibles, and help you figure out the best way for you to get words on the page--without destroying yourself along the way.

With behind-the-scenes stories of Wendig's own writing struggles, sections on debunking popular advice, self-care tips, and more footnotes than are strictly necessary (or legally recommended by scientists), Gentle Writing Advice will give the unvarnished truth about the writing process and remind you of what's actually important--taking care of the writer. (That's you, by the way.)]]> 256 Chuck Wendig 1440301204 Jon 4 4.30 Gentle Writing Advice: How to Be a Writer Without Destroying Yourself
author: Chuck Wendig
name: Jon
average rating: 4.30
book published:
rating: 4
read at: 2025/01/25
date added: 2025/01/28
shelves:
review:
Chuck gives good advice in these trying times. Although, aren't most times trying? Anyway, he knows what he's talking about.
]]> The John Varley Reader 49836 The Persistence of Vision, published in 1978, was the most important collection of the decade, and changed what fans would come to expect from science fiction.

Now, The John Varley Reader gathers his best stories, many out of print for years. This is the volume no Varley fan - or science fiction reader - can do without.
1 � Picnic on Nearside � [Eight Worlds] � (1974) � novelette by John Varley
24 � Overdrawn at the Memory Bank � [Eight Worlds] � (1976) � novelette by John Varley
53 � In the Hall of the Martian Kings � (1976) � novella by John Varley
91 � Gotta Sing, Gotta Dance � [Eight Worlds] � (1976) � novelette by John Varley
119 � The Barbie Murders � [Anna-Louise Bach] � (1978) � novelette by John Varley
146 � The Phantom of Kansas � [Eight Worlds] � (1976) � novelette by John Varley
180 � Beatnik Bayou � [Eight Worlds] � (1980) � novelette by John Varley
212 � Air Raid � (1977) � shortstory by John Varley
228 � The Persistence of Vision � (1978) � novella by John Varley
271 � Press Enter [] � (1984) � novella by John Varley
327 � The Pusher � (1981) � shortstory by John Varley
343 � Tango Charlie and Foxtrot Romeo � [Eight Worlds] � (1986) � novella by John Varley
409 � Options � [Eight Worlds] � (1979) � novelette by John Varley
437 � Just Another Perfect Day � (1989) � shortstory by John Varley
449 � In Fading Suns and Dying Moons � (2003) � novelette by John Varley
467 � The Flying Dutchman � (1998) � shortstory by John Varley
486 � Good Intentions � (1992) � shortstory by John Varley
502 � The Bellman � [Anna-Louise Bach] � (2003) � novelette by John Varley]]> 532 John Varley 0441011950 Jon 4 4.31 2004 The John Varley Reader
author: John Varley
name: Jon
average rating: 4.31
book published: 2004
rating: 4
read at: 2025/01/24
date added: 2025/01/28
shelves:
review:
This was excellent, including various award winners. I think I particularly responded to "The Flying Dutchman," but I had been traveling at the time. YMMV.
]]> Elektra: Assassin 13321913
COLLECTING: ELEKTRA: ASSASSIN 1-8]]> 272 Frank Miller 0785163565 Jon 4 3.65 Elektra: Assassin
author: Frank Miller
name: Jon
average rating: 3.65
book published:
rating: 4
read at: 2016/03/27
date added: 2025/01/27
shelves:
review:
It's a great story. But to be honest, I'm deducting a star because I lost track of how many times one of the character calls another one a whore.
]]> Three Miles Down 58724899
It's 1974, and Jerry Stieglitz is a grad student in marine biology at UCLA with a side gig selling short stories to science fiction magazines, just weeks away from marrying his longtime fiancée. Then his life is upended by grim-faced men from three-letter agencies who want him to join a top-secret "Project Azorian" in the middle of the north Pacific Ocean―and they really don't take "no" for an answer. Further, they're offering enough money to solve all of his immediate problems.

Joining up and swearing to secrecy, what he first learns is that Project Azorian is secretly trying to raise a sunken Russian submarine, while pretending to be harvesting undersea manganese nodules. But the dead Russian sub, while real, turns out to be a cover story as well. What's down on the ocean floor next to it is the thing that killed the an alien spacecraft.

Jerry's a scientist, a longhair, a storyteller, a dreamer. He stands out like a sore thumb on the Glomar Explorer , a ship full of CIA operatives, RAND Corporation eggheads, and roustabout divers. But it turns out that he's the one person in the North Pacific who's truly thought out all the ways that human-alien first contact might go.

And meanwhile, it's still 1974 back on the mainland. Richard Nixon is drinking heavily and talking to the paintings on the White House walls. The USA is changing fast―and who knows what will happen when this story gets out? Three Miles Down is both a fresh and original take on First Contact, and a hugely enjoyable romp through the pop culture, political tumult, and conspiracies-within-conspiracies atmosphere that was 1974.]]> 288 Harry Turtledove 1250829720 Jon 4 3.40 2022 Three Miles Down
author: Harry Turtledove
name: Jon
average rating: 3.40
book published: 2022
rating: 4
read at: 2025/01/22
date added: 2025/01/22
shelves:
review:
Pretty good pre-First Contact story, with some interesting political parallels between then and now. And they've changed even more since the books was written.
]]> <![CDATA[Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries (Emily Wilde, #1)]]> 184584595
Cambridge professor Emily Wilde is good at many things: She is the foremost expert on the study of faeries. She is a genius scholar and a meticulous researcher who is writing the world's first encyclopaedia of faerie lore. But Emily Wilde is not good at people. She could never make small talk at a party--or even get invited to one. And she prefers the company of her books, her dog, and the Fair Folk.

So when she arrives in the hardscrabble village of Hrafnsvik, Emily has no intention of befriending the gruff townsfolk. Nor does she care to spend time with another new arrival: her dashing and insufferably handsome academic rival Wendell Bambleby, who manages to charm the townsfolk, get in the middle of Emily's research, and utterly confound and frustrate her.

But as Emily gets closer and closer to uncovering the secrets of the Hidden Ones--the most elusive of all faeries--lurking in the shadowy forest outside the town, she also finds herself on the trail of another mystery: Who is Wendell Bambleby, and what does he really want? To find the answer, she'll have to unlock the greatest mystery of all--her own heart.]]> 352 Heather Fawcett 0593500156 Jon 5 4.00 2023 Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries (Emily Wilde, #1)
author: Heather Fawcett
name: Jon
average rating: 4.00
book published: 2023
rating: 5
read at: 2025/01/18
date added: 2025/01/19
shelves:
review:
Well, this was charming as hell.
]]> A Natural History of Hell 27131517
Contains:
-The Blameless
-Word Doll
-The Angel Seems
-Mount Chary Galore
-A Natural History of Autumn
-Blood Drive
-A Terror Rocket Ship to Hell
-The Fairy Enterprise
-The Last Triangle
-Spirits of Salt: A Tale of the Coral Heart The Thyme Fiend
-The Prelate's Commission]]> 256 Jeffrey Ford 1618731181 Jon 5 3.89 2016 A Natural History of Hell
author: Jeffrey Ford
name: Jon
average rating: 3.89
book published: 2016
rating: 5
read at: 2025/01/07
date added: 2025/01/08
shelves:
review:
This worked for me rather well. Excellent collection. My favorite was "The Thyme Fiend," but YMMV.
]]> Mexican Gothic 53117768
Noemí is also an unlikely rescuer: She’s a glamorous debutante, and her chic gowns and perfect red lipstick are more suited for cocktail parties than amateur sleuthing. But she’s also tough and smart, with an indomitable will, and she is not afraid: Not of her cousin’s new husband, who is both menacing and alluring; not of his father, the ancient patriarch who seems to be fascinated by Noemí; and not even of the house itself, which begins to invade Noemi’s dreams with visions of blood and doom.

Her only ally in this inhospitable abode is the family’s youngest son. Shy and gentle, he seems to want to help Noemí, but might also be hiding dark knowledge of his family’s past. For there are many secrets behind the walls of High Place. The family’s once colossal wealth and faded mining empire kept them from prying eyes, but as Noemí digs deeper she unearths stories of violence and madness.

And Noemí, mesmerized by the terrifying yet seductive world of High Place, may soon find it impossible to ever leave this enigmatic house behind.]]> 320 Silvia Moreno-Garcia 0525620796 Jon 5 3.64 2020 Mexican Gothic
author: Silvia Moreno-Garcia
name: Jon
average rating: 3.64
book published: 2020
rating: 5
read at: 2020/08/13
date added: 2024/12/18
shelves:
review:
"The walls speak to me. They tell me secrets. Don't listen to them, press your hands against your ears, Noemí. There are ghosts. They're real. You’ll see them eventually."
]]> Forever Azathoth 11806125
This volume collects the finest and funniest of Cannon's parodies and pastiches, starting with the title story, a six-part sequel to Lovecraft's 'The Thing on the Doorstep.' Various Edward Derby heirs and scholars contend for control of the poet-prodigy's literary legacy, too absorbed in their own affairs to take much heed of the supernatural mischief made possible by mind transfer.

Before there was Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, there were the three 'Wodecraft' tales, in which P. G. Wodehouse's characters show considerable savoir faire in the face of cosmic dread. Cannon also mashes up Lovecraft with two classic American writers, F. Scott Fitzgerald ('Tender Is the Night-gaunt') and William Faulkner ('The Sound and the Fungi'). James Herriot, of All Creatures Great and Small fame, receives similar treatment in 'All Moon-Beasts Amorphous and Mephitic.'

Two selections pay homage to living horror greats Ramsey Campbell ('The Undercliffe Sentences') and T.E.D. Klein ('The Arkham Collector'). In 'Old Man,' a tale of cats and crime, Cannon posthumously collaborates with the Old Gent of Providence. The concluding novella, 'Nautical-looking Negroes,' attempts to fill in some of the gaps in Lovecraft's first major Mythos story, 'The Call of Cthulhu.'

Those who like their Mythos fiction leavened with a dose of deadpan humor won't want to miss Forever Azathoth.]]> 232 Peter Cannon 1596064110 Jon 4 Life is a hideous thingummy. 3.50 1999 Forever Azathoth
author: Peter Cannon
name: Jon
average rating: 3.50
book published: 1999
rating: 4
read at: 2024/12/15
date added: 2024/12/15
shelves:
review:
Life is a hideous thingummy.
]]> <![CDATA[Night Passage (Jesse Stone, #1)]]> 12353257
After a busted marriage kicks his drinking problem into overdrive and the LAPD unceremoniously dumps him, thirty-five-year-old Jesse Stone’s future looks bleak. So he’s shocked when a small Massachusetts town called Paradise recruits him as police chief. He can’t help wondering if this job is a genuine chance to start over, the kind of offer he can’t refuse.

Once on board, Jesse doesn’t have to look for trouble in Paradise: it comes to him. For what is on the surface a quiet New England community quickly proves to be a crucible of political and moral corruption—replete with triple homicide, tight Boston mob ties, flamboyantly errant spouses, maddened militiamen and a psychopath-about-town who has fixed his violent sights on the new lawman. Against all this, Jesse stands utterly alone, with no one to trust—even he and the woman he’s seeing are like ships passing in the night. He finds he must test his mettle and powers of command to emerge a local hero—or the deadest of dupes.]]> 434 Robert B. Parker 1101546352 Jon 4 "No, sir," Jesse said. "I said the restraining order probably wouldn’t work."
"Same thing," Jo Jo said.
"Not really," Jesse said, and kicked Jo Jo in the groin.]]> 4.36 1997 Night Passage (Jesse Stone, #1)
author: Robert B. Parker
name: Jon
average rating: 4.36
book published: 1997
rating: 4
read at: 2024/12/14
date added: 2024/12/14
shelves:
review:
"You just admitted you couldn't do shit about it."
"No, sir," Jesse said. "I said the restraining order probably wouldn’t work."
"Same thing," Jo Jo said.
"Not really," Jesse said, and kicked Jo Jo in the groin.
]]> <![CDATA[Midnight Snack and Other Fairy Tales]]> 16104428
The stories in the collection include:

First Readthrough: How you do the casting for a fairy tale� and what can go wrong while you do.

The Dovrefell Cat: Your pet polar bear may sometimes be a problem� but there’s one night of the year when he shines.

…Under My Skin: Some first dates just don’t work out the way you think they will: not at all.

A Swiss Story: Lots of people from that part of the world have something from “during the War�. But not many have anything like this�

Blank Check: A most unusual client turns up at one of the world’s oldest banks with an impossible request� which nonetheless must be fulfilled.

Don’t Put That In Your Mouth, You Don’t Know Where It’s Been: A would-be worshipper of the Triple Goddess has her upcountry ritual disturbed by something very odd.

The House: A school project examining gingerbread as a structural element turns into something way more personal.

Cold Case: A cop who won’t take no for an answer meets a murder victim who’s even more stubborn than he is.

The title work, Midnight Snack: “Dad came down with the flu that week, so I had to go down to the subway and feed the unicorns…�

And completing the collection, a full-length feature film screenplay, Dead & Breakfast: a ghost story with computers.]]> Diane Duane Jon 4 The problem is that the characters too often have ideas of their own.]]> 3.82 2012 Midnight Snack and Other Fairy Tales
author: Diane Duane
name: Jon
average rating: 3.82
book published: 2012
rating: 4
read at: 2024/12/13
date added: 2024/12/13
shelves:
review:
The wrong characters cast in a story can condemn it to eternal anonymity; the right ones can make it immortal.
The problem is that the characters too often have ideas of their own.
]]> <![CDATA[Robert B. Parker's Hot Property (Spenser, #51)]]> 209357118 Spenser investigates a case that hits far too close to home for his comfort in this latest installment of Robert B. Parker's beloved series.

Spenser is waiting out the latest Boston snow storm when he gets word that Rita Fiore's been shot. Rita's always been a tricky nudging Spenser for years, she's an ever-present figure that transcends friendship in Spenser's circle. Like many of them, at the end of the day, Rita is family. And family will always be protected.

Both a pit bull in the courtroom and provocateur outside it, though, Rita is no stranger to controversy. But as one of the city's toughest lawyers, Spenser knows that there's no short list of suspects who might want to enact revenge. With Rita's life hanging in the balance, it's up to him to get to the bottom of things, even if it means unearthing some savory secrets.]]> 341 Mike Lupica 0593716140 Jon 4 "I'm glad you brought that up. Don't you still owe me an expensive meal at The Newbury because of a previous favor? Pretty sure you promised."
"I lied," I said. "Just like a cop."]]> 4.30 Robert B. Parker's Hot Property (Spenser, #51)
author: Mike Lupica
name: Jon
average rating: 4.30
book published:
rating: 4
read at: 2024/12/08
date added: 2024/12/09
shelves:
review:
"No, thank you," I said. "But I owe you for this."
"I'm glad you brought that up. Don't you still owe me an expensive meal at The Newbury because of a previous favor? Pretty sure you promised."
"I lied," I said. "Just like a cop."
]]> The Butcher of the Forest 127281143
At the northern edge of a land ruled by a monstrous, foreign tyrant lies the wild forest known as the Elmever. The villagers know better than to let their children go near—once someone goes in, they never come back out.

No one knows the strange and terrifying traps of the Elmever better than Veris Thorn, the only person to ever rescue a child from the forest many years ago. When the Tyrant’s two young children go missing, Veris is commanded to enter the forest once more and bring them home safe. If Veris fails, the Tyrant will kill her; if she remains in the forest for longer than a day, she will be trapped forevermore.

So Veris will travel deep into the Elmever to face traps, riddles, and monsters at the behest of another monster. One misstep will cost everything.]]> 160 Premee Mohamed 1250881781 Jon 5 3.87 2024 The Butcher of the Forest
author: Premee Mohamed
name: Jon
average rating: 3.87
book published: 2024
rating: 5
read at: 2024/12/06
date added: 2024/12/06
shelves:
review:
This was brutal and amazing and very intense. Won't be for everyone, but wow.
]]> <![CDATA[How to Write Fast (While Writing Well)]]> 2194721 208 David A. Fryxell 0898795141 Jon 4 3.78 1992 How to Write Fast (While Writing Well)
author: David A. Fryxell
name: Jon
average rating: 3.78
book published: 1992
rating: 4
read at: 2024/12/01
date added: 2024/12/04
shelves:
review:
Deals mostly with journalism and nonfiction, but the general principles apply for all types of writing. There's also some incredibly dated advice in here (unsurprising, as it was published in 1992), but the basics are pretty sound.
]]> <![CDATA[The Martian Contingency (Lady Astronaut Universe, #4)]]> 211332081
The next step � Mars.

Elma York, the Lady Astronaut, lands on the Red Planet, optimistic about preparing for the first true wave of inhabitants. The mission objective is more than just building the infrastructure of a habitat � they are trying to preserve the many cultures and nuances of life on Earth without importing the hate.

But from the moment she arrives, something is off.

Disturbing signs hint at a hidden disaster during the First Mars Expedition that never made it into the official transcript. As Elma and her crew try to investigate, they face a wall of silence and obfuscation. Their attempts to build a thriving Martian community grind to a halt.

What you don’t know CAN harm you. And if the truth doesn’t come to light, the ripple effects could leave humanity stranded on a dying Earth…]]> 400 Mary Robinette Kowal 1250237033 Jon 4 4.26 2025 The Martian Contingency (Lady Astronaut Universe, #4)
author: Mary Robinette Kowal
name: Jon
average rating: 4.26
book published: 2025
rating: 4
read at: 2024/11/30
date added: 2024/12/03
shelves:
review:
Uncorrected proof from NetGalley. Another enjoyable episode of the Lady Astronaut of Mars. I do remain curious about the long-term outcome of this series, what with the implied eventual tipping point for Earth's climate.
]]> <![CDATA[Stolen Focus: Why You Can't Pay Attention—and How to Think Deeply Again]]> 58597190 Our ability to pay attention is collapsing. From the New York Times bestselling author of Chasing the Scream and Lost Connections comes a groundbreaking examination of why this is happening—and how to get our attention back.

Like so many of us, Johann Hari was finding it much harder to focus than he used to. He found that a life of constantly switching from device to device, from tab to tab, is diminishing and depressing. He tried all sorts of self-help solutions—even abandoning his phone for three months—but in the long-term, nothing seemed to work. So Hari went on an epic journey across the world to interview the leading experts on human attention and to study their scientific findings—and learned that everything we think we know about this crisis is wrong.

In the U.S., teenagers now focus on a task for only sixty-five seconds on average, and office workers manage only three minutes. We think this inability to focus is a personal flaw, an individual failure to exert enough willpower over our devices. The truth is even more Our focus has been stolen by powerful external forces, and the science shows that these forces have been ramping up for decades—leaving us uniquely vulnerable, when social media arrived, to corporations determined to raid our attention for profit. These forces have been so successful that our collapse in attention is behind many of the wider problems society faces.

In Stolen Focus, Hari embarks on a thrilling journey, taking readers from veterinarians who diagnose dogs with ADHD, to Silicon Valley dissidents who exposed social media companies' furtive attempts to hack our focus; from a favela in Rio where everyone lost their attention in a particularly catastrophic way, to an office in New Zealand that discovered a remarkable technique to restore their workers' attention.

In this urgent, deeply researched book, Hari shows that if we understand the twelve true causes of this crisis—from the collapse of sustained reading to the disruption of boredom to rising pollution—we, as individuals and as a society, can finally begin to solve it by staging an attention rebellion. Finally, we have a way to get our focus back.
]]> 348 Johann Hari 059313852X Jon 4 ]]> 4.24 2022 Stolen Focus: Why You Can't Pay Attention—and How to Think Deeply Again
author: Johann Hari
name: Jon
average rating: 4.24
book published: 2022
rating: 4
read at: 2024/11/28
date added: 2024/12/03
shelves:
review:
Short version: there are things you can do to improve (get enough sleep, turn off notifications, get off social media, etc), but ultimately society is to blame.

]]> <![CDATA[The Hole in the Moon and Other Tales by Margaret St. Clair (Dover Literature: Science Fiction/Fantasy Short Stories)]]> 32201859 Fantastic Adventures and Startling Stories, some under her own name and some under the pseudonyms Idris Seabright and Wilton Hazard. Introduced and edited by horror fiction great Ramsey Campbell, this newly assembled anthology is the only collection in print featuring short stories by the pioneering science fiction writer.
Seventeen tales showcase St. Clair's ironic sense of humor and explore social and philosophical themes: "The Gardener," a condemnation of careless tree-felling and a seminal example of ecological science fiction; "The Island of the Hands," a voyage to a mysterious place that embodies the peril of wishes come true; "The Little Red Owl," a fable of supernatural horror offering a study of domestic abuse well ahead of its time; "Piety," a reflection of the haphazard nature of scientific progress; and other stories of compelling strangeness.

Contents:
Rocket to Limbo
Piety
The Hierophants
The Gardener
Child of Void
Hathor's Pets
World of Arlesia
The Little Red Owl
The Hole in the Moon
The Causes
The Island of the Hands
Continued Story
Brenda
Stawdust
The Invested Libido
The Autumn After Next
The Sorrow of Witches]]> 224 Margaret St. Clair 048680562X Jon 4 4.11 2019 The Hole in the Moon and Other Tales by Margaret St. Clair (Dover Literature: Science Fiction/Fantasy Short Stories)
author: Margaret St. Clair
name: Jon
average rating: 4.11
book published: 2019
rating: 4
read at: 2024/11/26
date added: 2024/11/27
shelves:
review:
Old school sci-fi and fantasy from the 40's and 50's, by an underappreciated writer. My favorite was "Hathor's Pets." YMMV.
]]> <![CDATA[Spec Fic for Newbies Vol 2: A Beginner's Guide to Writing More Subgenres of Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror]]> 213866611
Join Tiffani Angus (Ph.D.) and Val Nolan (Ph.D.) for a whirlwind introduction to the storytelling basics of 30 more subgenres and major tropes from across the limitless realms of Speculative Fiction.

Learn about Space Opera, Folk Horror, Climate Fiction, Werewolves, Astronauts, Mythic Fantasy, Goblin Markets, Dragons, and many more with deep dives into each subgenre's history and development, spotter's guides to typical examples, pitfalls to watch out for in your own writing, and activities to help you get started! All derived from a combined two decades of university-level practices and experience!

Spec Fic for Newbies breaks genres into bite-sized pieces for students or for any budding writer. It offers a welcoming introduction to how writers, filmmakers, and other creatives can begin to explore the infinite potential of Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror to create new stories beyond the boundaries of the ordinary.

This is not another dusty rulebook. This is a portal to endless other worlds!]]> 0 Tiffani Angus 1915556481 Jon 4 4.25 2024 Spec Fic for Newbies Vol 2: A Beginner's Guide to Writing More Subgenres of Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror
author: Tiffani Angus
name: Jon
average rating: 4.25
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2024/11/25
date added: 2024/11/26
shelves:
review:
More granular subgenres, with some interesting examples. Not just books, but other media as well (movies, etc.)
]]> Happy Town 199531675
Perfect for fans of Gordon Korman and Jennifer L. Holm, this adventure-packed middle grade story, set in a world not too far from our own, follows a family that moves to a remote company town that seems perfect on the surface....

Keegan knows there’s something off about Happy Town.

The isolated, high-tech company town is too perfect—with a dome keeping out bad weather and self-driving vehicles rumbling throughout the town delivering residents to work and school. Still, Keegan is excited to grow his art skills at Happy Town’s state-of-the-art middle school, even if he has less time to see his mom and stepdad because of their new jobs.

But when the two become obsessed with working and eating Happy Corp Meat Cramwich (the Microwaveable Sandwich Crammed with Meat) and Keegan gets sentenced to Mandatory Work Opportunities for refusing to follow Happy Town’s shady rules, he discovers a dangerous glitch in the system that’s turning the town’s happy residents into mindless zombies. Scratch that, literal zombies. With his new friends Gloriana and Tank by his side, he’ll need to find a way to destroy Happy Town’s happy system—before there’s nothing left.]]> 208 Greg Van Eekhout 0063253364 Jon 5 3.68 2024 Happy Town
author: Greg Van Eekhout
name: Jon
average rating: 3.68
book published: 2024
rating: 5
read at: 2024/11/18
date added: 2024/11/21
shelves:
review:
I thought this was excellent, the ending in particular.
]]> <![CDATA[Spec Fic For Newbies: A Beginner's Guide to Writing Subgenres of Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror]]> 83659229 Locus Recommended Reading List 2023

BSFA for Best Non-Fiction, Shortlist 2024




Tiffani Angus (Ph.D.) and Val Nolan (Ph.D.) met at the 2009 Clarion Writers' Workshop in California and since then have collaborated many times as fans and scholars on panels for SFF conventions and writing retreats.

Working together on this book and combining their experience as SFF writers and as university lecturers in Creative Writing and Literature made perfect sense!




Every year they see new students who want to write SFF/Horror but have never tried the genres, have tried but found themselves floundering, or, worse, have been discouraged by those who tell them Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror are somehow not "real" literature.




This book is for all those future Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror writers. Tiffani and Val are approaching these three exciting fields by breaking them down into bite-sized subgenres with a fun, open, and contemporary approach.




Each chapter contains 10 subgenres or tropes, with a quick and nerdy history of each derived from classroom teaching practices, along with a list of potential pitfalls, a description of why it's fun to write in these subgenres, as well as activities for new writers to try out and to get them started!]]> 379 Tiffani Angus 1915556139 Jon 4 The original cosmic horror stories by Lovecraft introduce a loose pantheon of Great Old Ones with such colourful names and identities as Ammutseba, Devourer of Stars; the mutagenic, foul-smelling cloud known as The Colour; Gog-Hoor, Eater of the Insane; the coiled, writhing tentacle mass Kassogtha, Bride and Sister of Cthulhu; the larva-like exile Nycrama, The Zombifying Essence; as well as Other or Outer Gods such as Yog-Sothoth, an all-knowing conglomeration of glowing spheres.The problem is only one of these named Great Old Ones was actually introduced by Lovecraft (Yog-Sothoth). All the others were invented by later authors. It feels a bit sloppy, and irritates me as a result.]]> 4.47 2023 Spec Fic For Newbies: A Beginner's Guide to Writing Subgenres of Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror
author: Tiffani Angus
name: Jon
average rating: 4.47
book published: 2023
rating: 4
read at: 2024/11/14
date added: 2024/11/15
shelves:
review:
A survey book with overviews of the most popular subgenres of spec fic. It's pretty good, with enough history and examples to be interesting and written in an entertaining style, but I have to say (because it's bugging me): the section of Cosmic Horror has a paragraph is extremely misleading. It begins:
The original cosmic horror stories by Lovecraft introduce a loose pantheon of Great Old Ones with such colourful names and identities as Ammutseba, Devourer of Stars; the mutagenic, foul-smelling cloud known as The Colour; Gog-Hoor, Eater of the Insane; the coiled, writhing tentacle mass Kassogtha, Bride and Sister of Cthulhu; the larva-like exile Nycrama, The Zombifying Essence; as well as Other or Outer Gods such as Yog-Sothoth, an all-knowing conglomeration of glowing spheres.
The problem is only one of these named Great Old Ones was actually introduced by Lovecraft (Yog-Sothoth). All the others were invented by later authors. It feels a bit sloppy, and irritates me as a result.
]]> The Last Dangerous Visions 209266405 An anthology more than half a century in the making, The Last Dangerous Visions is the third and final installment of the legendary science fiction anthology series.

In 1973, celebrated writer and editor Harlan Ellison announced the third and final volume of his unprecedented anthology series, which began with Dangerous Visions and continued with Again Dangerous Visions. But for reasons undisclosed, The Last Dangerous Visions was never completed.

Now, six years after Ellison's passing, science fiction's most famous unpublished book is here. And with it, the heartbreaking true story of the troubled genius behind it.

Provocative and controversial, socially conscious and politically charged, wildly imaginative yet deeply grounded, the thirty-two never-before published stories, essays, and poems in The Last Dangerous Visions stand as a testament to Ellison's lifelong pursuit of art, representing voices both well-known and entirely new, including David Brin, Max Brooks, Cory Doctorow, Dan Simmons, AE van Vogt, Edward Bryant, and Robert Sheckley, among others.

With an introduction and exegesis by J. Michael Straczynski, and a story introduction by Ellison himself, The Last Dangerous Visions is an extraordinary addition to an incredible literary legacy.]]> 450 Harlan Ellison Jon 4 3.80 2024 The Last Dangerous Visions
author: Harlan Ellison
name: Jon
average rating: 3.80
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2024/11/13
date added: 2024/11/15
shelves:
review:
It's a good collection, but it doesn't feel particularly dangerous. The first two did, but I read them in my teens, when I was younger and more naive. I will say, the saga of why this volume did not come to be until after Ellison's death is fascinating. And there are some excellent stories in here: my particular favorite was Adrian Tchaikovsky's "First Sight." YMMV.
]]> <![CDATA[Suck a Little Happy Juice: An Irreverent, By-the-Skin-of-Your-Teeth Guide to Being an Indie Author]]> 204238253 Being An Indie Author Can’t Be That Hard, Right?

So you want to be an indie author. Or maybe you're scared to do it all yourself and are looking for a publisher, but want to know more about the nuts and bolts of the book business. Either way, this book is for you.

Scott is a thirty-year small press veteran who shares his knowledge� from the snarky to the sublime—and answers your What should you consider before you start to write? What about when you get stuck? And what can you do when you start doubting yourself?

This book is filled with practical advice, candid explanations, and emotional support for any writer navigating today's complicated publishing business, helping you to stay sane and define for yourself what being a “successful writer� means.

In your career, you’ll have highs and lows. It’s important to put all the highs in a bottle and save them. And when the publishing world gets you down, pull it out and suck a little happy juice.

“If I ever go off course, I will refer back to this guide to keep me going. The book's strength lies in its ability to demystify the writing and publishing process, making it a trustworthy companion for writers facing challenges. 5 Stars.� -Jaqueline Neves, Readers� Favorite

"Suck a Little Happy Juice is the kind of advice title one wishes every aspiring writer had in hand. Whether it's addressing getting ready to write or giving concrete examples contrasting tepid writing with captivating alternative approaches and revisions, Coatsworth sets aside ethereal advice in favor of the concrete examples writers need in order to prove more effective and hone their skills.. If libraries and readers were to select just a few titles on the subject of becoming an author, Suck a Little Happy Juice should be at the top of the list." --Midwest Book Review]]> 246 J. Scott Coatsworth Jon 4 4.91 2024 Suck a Little Happy Juice: An Irreverent, By-the-Skin-of-Your-Teeth Guide to Being an Indie Author
author: J. Scott Coatsworth
name: Jon
average rating: 4.91
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2024/11/11
date added: 2024/11/15
shelves:
review:
Another writing advice book (boy, I read a lot of these). Some useful stuff, some useful pep talks, and generally entertaining.
]]> Teckla (Vlad Taltos, #3) 817358



THE TECKLA WERE REVOLTING
I'd always known they were. Teckla were lazy, stupid, cowardly peasants. Revolting. Old joke. But now they were revolting against the Empire. New joke. And a Jhereg crimelord, feeling the pinch, was popping the rebels. No joke. But the real joke? I was protecting them, from Me. Lord Vlad Taltos-loyal grandson, loving husband. Jhereg. Sorcerer. Assassin. Everything the rabble hated. Not that I craved wet-nursing a mob of slogan slobbering, doomed radical loonies, all of whom wanted me dead. Particularly since my royal peers, all of House Jhereg, also wanted me dead...]]> 214 Steven Brust 0441799779 Jon 0 3.62 1986 Teckla (Vlad Taltos, #3)
author: Steven Brust
name: Jon
average rating: 3.62
book published: 1986
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/11/11
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Case of the Dubious Bridegroom (The Perry Mason Mysteries Book 3)]]> 53541626 A lawyer is sucked into a couple’s hostile divorce in this mystery with “a stellar ending� from the original detective series that inspired the HBO show (Kirkus Reviews). Edward Garvin is a very successful businessman with a very unhappy ex-wife—who wants his money. So Garvin calls on lawyer Perry Mason to protect his company from her schemes, and ensure the divorce they’d gotten in Mexico is actually finalized. But when Garvin’s former spouse is struck down by a killer, Mason’s client becomes the chief suspect. Fortunately, the attorney “comes up with dazzling answers� to the mystery... (The New York Times). This whodunit is part of Edgar Award–winning author Erle Stanley Gardner’s classic, long-running Perry Mason series, which has sold three hundred million copies and serves as the inspiration for the HBO show starring Matthew Rhys and Tatiana Maslany. DON’T MISS THE NEW HBO ORIGINAL SERIESPERRYMASON,BASED ON CHARACTERS FROM ERLE STANLEY GARDNER’S NOVELS, STARRING EMMY AWARD WINNER MATTHEW RHYS]]> 211 Erle Stanley Gardner 1504061268 Jon 3 "What the hell do you think I go to school for?" Pancho asked.]]> 4.11 1949 The Case of the Dubious Bridegroom (The Perry Mason Mysteries Book 3)
author: Erle Stanley Gardner
name: Jon
average rating: 4.11
book published: 1949
rating: 3
read at: 2020/07/27
date added: 2024/11/03
shelves:
review:
Mason grinned, took the keys and say, "You do speak good English, don't you, Pancho?"
"What the hell do you think I go to school for?" Pancho asked.
]]> Sixteenth Watch 44047421 317 Myke Cole 0857668064 Jon 5 3.83 2020 Sixteenth Watch
author: Myke Cole
name: Jon
average rating: 3.83
book published: 2020
rating: 5
read at: 2020/04/07
date added: 2024/11/02
shelves:
review:
Great read. Interesting characters, extremely plausible setting, and a story that doesn't let up. Really enjoyed it, and I think there needs to be more MilSF about preventing wars.
]]> <![CDATA[The Case of the Lazy Lover (The Perry Mason Mysteries Book 1)]]> 53501152 A runaway witness leads a lawyer into a "The only dull pages in this book are the blank ones" (The New York Times).

Defense lawyer Perry Mason is surprised to receive two checks from a stranger named Lola Allred. And when he speaks with Lola's husband, he discovers the woman has run off with her daughter's boyfriend--who happens to be an important witness in a lawsuit. Soon Mason's caught up in a complicated case involving not only a missing witness but forgery and murder as well . . .

This mystery is part of Edgar Award-winning author Erle Stanley Gardner's classic, long-running Perry Mason series, which has sold three hundred million copies and serves as the inspiration for the HBO show starring Matthew Rhys and Tatiana Maslany.

DON'T MISS THE NEW HBO ORIGINAL SERIES PERRY MASON, BASED ON CHARACTERS FROM ERLE STANLEY GARDNER'S NOVELS, STARRING EMMY AWARD WINNER MATTHEW RHYS.]]> 212 Erle Stanley Gardner 1504061241 Jon 3 3.87 1947 The Case of the Lazy Lover (The Perry Mason Mysteries Book 1)
author: Erle Stanley Gardner
name: Jon
average rating: 3.87
book published: 1947
rating: 3
read at: 2020/07/26
date added: 2024/11/02
shelves:
review:
Watching the HBO miniseries, never read any (as I am not an old school mystery guy, generally) and haven't seen the Raymond Burr series (not that old, people), so got a few of these from the public library. Your tax dollars at work, support your local library. Interesting read, almost all dialogue, as though originally written for radio. Fairly entertaining, in a try-and-figure-it-out kind of way. Will read the other two I've got, although I'm not going to go all completionist.
]]> <![CDATA[American Hero (The Wild Cards Novels)]]> 51234763 Soon to be a show on Hulu!Rights to develop Wild Cards have been acquired by Universal Cable Productions, the team behind The Magicians and Mr. Robot, with the co-editor of Wild Cards, Melinda Snodgrass, as executive producer. In this bitingly satirical companion novel to the Wild Cards title Inside Straight, American Hero combines two quintessentially pop culture superheroes and reality TV. American Hero, the nation’s most highly anticipated competition show, kicks off its first season! People with incredible powers � from possessing death-defying healing to transforming into an insect swarm to shifting the earth itself � have been selected from all walks of life. Their to win one million dollars and the admiration of millions more viewers by answering one question, “Do you have what it takes to be the next American Hero?� Contains week-by-week action-packed recaps and no-holds-bars contestant confessionals, all edited by New York Times #1 bestselling author George R. R. Martin. Features writing by Martin as well as Carrie Vaughn, Melinda M. Snodgrass, Walter Jon Williams, Victor Milan, Daniel Abraham, Stephen Leigh, and many more of the genre’s most innovative writers.At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.]]> 231 George R.R. Martin 0765396408 Jon 3 3.59 2020 American Hero (The Wild Cards Novels)
author: George R.R. Martin
name: Jon
average rating: 3.59
book published: 2020
rating: 3
read at: 2020/10/14
date added: 2024/11/02
shelves:
review:
Interesting. It's basically an episode summary of American Hero: Season One, the reality show that held such a large part over several of the last books. Also has character confessionals talking about the show, each other, and other things going on. As a result, the book's all character exploration with the action of the plot happening at a remove, be it summarized for the episode or talked about after the fact by one character of another. You, dear reader, may or may not care for that.
]]> <![CDATA[Ad Astra: The 50th Anniversary SFWA Cookbook]]> 26011507
All proceeds from this project will go to SFWA’s Legal Fund, which was established to create loans for eligible member writers who have writing-related court costs and other related legal expenses.

Full contributors� list include: Rachael Acks, Cie Adams, Kyle Aisteach, Anna D. Allen, Lou Antonelli, Liz Argall, Elizabeth Bear, Greg and Astrid Bear, David Brin, Maurice Broaddus, Charles N. Brown, Steven Brust, Octavia E. Butler, Pat Cadigan, James L. Cambias, John F. Carr, Gail Carriger, Beth Cato, Jeanne Cavelos, C.J. Cherryh, Wesley Chu, Brenda W. Clough, Tina Connolly, Larry Constantine, A.C. (Ann) Crispin, Julie Czerneda, Jack Dann, Russell Davis, Aliette de Bodard, Ef Deal, Carole Nelson Douglas, Scott Edelman, Ru Emerson, JG Faherty, Eugie Foster, Esther Friesner, Gregory Frost, Russell Galen, Jaym Gates, William Gibson, Laura Anne Gilman, Sarah Goslee, Chet Gottfried, Talia Gryphon, Rebecca Gomez Farrell, Eric J. Guignard, Joe Haldeman, Gay Haldeman, Lee Hallison, Barbara Hambly, Charlaine Harris, Erin M. Hartshorn, Jim C. Hines, M.C.A. Hogarth, Nalo Hopkinson, Dean Ing, Elaine Isaak, Julie Jansen, K.V. Johansen, Alaya Dawn Johnson, Rosemary Jones, Vylar Kaftan, Jeffe Kennedy, Kay Kenyon, Ellen Klages, Alethea Kontis, Mary Robinette Kowal, Nancy Kress, Jay Lake, David Glen Larson, Nicole J.LeBoeuf, Yoon Ha Lee, Ann Leckie, Stina Leicht, David D. Levine, Maria Lima, Mary E. Lowd, Natalie Luhrs, Catherine Lundoff, Scott Lynch, James D. Macdonald, Ricia Mainhardt, Michael J. Martinez, Mary Mason, Vonda N. McIntyre, Victoria McManus, Jennifer Melchert, P. Andrew Miller, Jaime Lee Moyer, John P. Murphy, Mari Ness, Teresa Nielsen Hayden, Larry Niven, Sharyn November, Stephanie Osborn, Andrew Penn Romine, Aly Parsons, Sarah Pinsker, Marianne Porter, Jerry Pournelle, Tim Powers, Marta Randall, Cat Rambo, Mike Resnick, Tansy Rayner Roberts, Spider Robinson, Michaela Roessner, Mary Rosenblum, Patrice Sarath, Steven Saus, John Scalzi, Ken Schneyer and Janice Okoomian, Lawrence M. Schoen, Nisi Shawl, Charles Sheffield, Fraser Sherman, Steven H Silver, Rosemary Claire Smith. Cat Sparks, Bud Sparhawk, Nancy Springer, Jennifer Stevenson, Bonnie Jo Stufflebeam, David Lee Summers, James L. Sutter, Michael Swanwick, Mary Vigliante Szydlowski, Lynne and Michael Thomas, Kathy Tyers, Mark L. Van Name, Carrie Vaughn, Ursula Vernon, John Walters, Brent Weeks, Miriam Weinberg, Chuck Wendig, Toni Weisskopf, Fran Wilde, Sean Williams, Walter Jon Williams, Connie Willis, Mercedes M. Yardley, Jane Yolen, and Kate Yule.]]> 372 Cat Rambo 098284672X Jon 4 Hungry now. 3.76 2015 Ad Astra: The 50th Anniversary SFWA Cookbook
author: Cat Rambo
name: Jon
average rating: 3.76
book published: 2015
rating: 4
read at: 2019/02/24
date added: 2024/11/02
shelves:
review:
Hungry now.
]]> Riot Baby 43719523
Rooted in the hope that can live in anger, Riot Baby is as much an intimate family story as a global dystopian narrative. It burns fearlessly toward revolution and has quietly devastating things to say about love, fury, and the black American experience.

Ella and Kev are both shockingly human and immeasurably powerful. Their childhoods are defined and destroyed by racism. Their futures might alter the world.]]> 167 Tochi Onyebuchi 1250214769 Jon 4 3.72 2020 Riot Baby
author: Tochi Onyebuchi
name: Jon
average rating: 3.72
book published: 2020
rating: 4
read at: 2020/10/24
date added: 2024/11/02
shelves:
review:
Havoc waves his arms to get everyone's attention. "His old lady like, 'George, you fuckin' with them peanuts again?!' and he's like, 'Ma, you don't understand my vision!'"
]]> Horrible Imaginings 22623528
In Horrible Imaginings , buckle up for a disturbing ride. Meet a mysterious woman in black, a gun with a score to settle, a man who seeks eternal life, a peculiar painting of a dead woman, and more...

Assembled from magazine submissions, fanzines, and even “lost� manuscripts discovered among the author’s personal papers, this book features two Nebula Award “Horrible Imaginings� and “Answering Service,� as well as the stories “The Automatic Pistol,� “Crazy Annaoj,� “The Hound,� “Alice and the Allergy,� “Skinny’s Wonderful,� “Scream Wolf,� “Mysterious Doings in the Metropolitan Museum,� “When Brahma Wakes,� “The Glove,� “The Girl With the Hungry Eyes,� “While Set Fled,� “Diary in the Snow,� and “The Ghost Light.�

Find out why Fritz Leiber is a must-read for any fan of science fiction, fantasy, or horror. Suspense, surprise, wit, and weirdness—they’re all here for fans both old and new.

Praise for Fritz Leiber

“For anyone who loves great literature, Fritz Leiber walked on water.� —Harlan Ellison, author of I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream

“A master... The prose should be savored.� � Locus

“High quality.� � The New York Times]]> 260 Fritz Leiber 1497642183 Jon 4 3.50 2004 Horrible Imaginings
author: Fritz Leiber
name: Jon
average rating: 3.50
book published: 2004
rating: 4
read at: 2024/09/24
date added: 2024/11/02
shelves:
review:
Interesting collection of what most would consider lesser known works by the man. Pretty varied in range, tone, and honestly, skill, but all enjoyable. Of them, my favorite was "Scream Wolf". YMMV.
]]> <![CDATA[Into the Woods: A Five-Act Journey Into Story]]> 23493758 “Brilliant on story structure.� —Ken Follett, New York Times bestselling author
“A gripping read from beginning to end.� � Sunday Times (London)

In this exciting and wholly original book, John Yorke not only shows that there is truly a unifying shape to narrative—one that echoes the great fairytale journey into the woods, and one, like any great art, that comes from deep within—he explains why, too.

With examples ranging from The Godfather to True Detective , Mad Men to Macbeth , and fairy tales to Forbrydelsen ( The Killing ), Yorke utilizes Shakespearean five-act structure as a key to analyzing all storytelling in all narrative forms, from film and television to theatre and novel-writing—a big step from the usual three-act approach. Chapters here The idea of Into the Woods is not to supplant works by Aristotle, Lajos Egri, Robert McKee, David Mamet, or any other writers of guides for screenwriters and playwrights, but to pick up on their cues and take the reader on a historical, philosophical, scientific, and psychological journey to the heart of all storytelling.

Into the Woods is destined to sit alongside David Mamet’s Three Uses of the Knife , Robert McKee’s Story , Syd Field’s Screenplay , and Lajos Egri’s The Art of Dramatic Writing as one of the most original, useful, and inspiring books ever on dramatic writing."]]> 336 John Yorke 1468310941 Jon 4 4.33 2013 Into the Woods: A Five-Act Journey Into Story
author: John Yorke
name: Jon
average rating: 4.33
book published: 2013
rating: 4
read at: 2024/11/01
date added: 2024/11/02
shelves:
review:
Yet another interesting perspective on story construction, this one from tv & movie perspective.
]]> The Lure of Devouring Light 29333449
Now, Word Horde presents Michael Griffin’s debut collection, The Lure of Devouring Light. Here you will find strange and luminous tales, character-driven, emotionally resonant, and grappling with horrors both everyday and supernatural.]]> 332 Michael Griffin 1939905192 Jon 0 to-read 3.91 2016 The Lure of Devouring Light
author: Michael Griffin
name: Jon
average rating: 3.91
book published: 2016
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/11/02
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Endless Ideas: Master Bottomless Creativity (Stone Tablet Singles Book 6)]]> 50873450 What if you could generate creative ideas for your writing on demand and never had to stare at a blank screen again?

Books require ideas. From the initial idea for a novel or series, right down to the objects in a scene and words in a sentence. In a single project you may need hundreds or even thousands of ideas. If you rely on lightning to strike or ideas to simply "come to you," you could be left waiting until they are shoveling in the dirt on top of you.

In Endless Ideas, Platt and Silver show you how to take a methodical approach to ideation and turn on your idea making machine to never run dry or find yourself stuck and banging your head on your desk again.

You will discover:
How ideas are formed and the "machinery" behind ideation
A clear strategy to develop your creativity and turn on your idea making machine!
How to flip from looking for one idea, to generating lots of great ideas for any problem you are stuck on
Creating "light bulb" moments on demand
How to choose between your ideas and get them to do the most heavy lifting for you
How to expand an idea and take it from a tiny grain to fully developed.
How to apply ideation in the different areas you will need it most: Books/Series ideas, plot ideas, character ideas, world building ideas, and marketing ideas.
Isn't it time you turned on your creative machine and had light bulb moments on demand?

Start generating Endless Ideas today!]]> 188 Sean M. Platt Jon 4 4.06 2019 Endless Ideas: Master Bottomless Creativity (Stone Tablet Singles Book 6)
author: Sean M. Platt
name: Jon
average rating: 4.06
book published: 2019
rating: 4
read at: 2024/10/20
date added: 2024/10/20
shelves:
review:
Some good ideas in there. I got it from the library, so there's that too.
]]> <![CDATA[An Illustrated Book of Loaded Language: Learn to Hear What’s Left Unsaid (Bad Arguments)]]> 57060491 tens of thousands, then, and not a quarter million?

The grocer takes woke orders on its brands from a 17-year-old. The nameless 17-year-old’s opinion seems not worth considering. At what age will it be?

Rabbits zapped three badgers in an ambush last night, hours after six rabbits in a neighboring town lost their lives. Were the six rabbits the sole participants in losing their own lives? Those silly rabbits . . .

In this adorably illustrated book, old Mr. Rabbit is your guide to these and many more examples of loaded language. He mines real reporting (by respected and rogue media alike) to unmask rhetoric that shifts blame, erases responsibility, dog-whistles, plays on fear, or rewrites history—subtly or shamelessly. It takes a long pair of ears to hear what’s left unsaid—but when the very notion of truth is at stake, listening for “spin� makes all the difference.]]> 96 Ali Almossawi 1615198407 Jon 4 3.81 2021 An Illustrated Book of Loaded Language: Learn to Hear What’s Left Unsaid (Bad Arguments)
author: Ali Almossawi
name: Jon
average rating: 3.81
book published: 2021
rating: 4
read at: 2024/10/18
date added: 2024/10/19
shelves:
review:
An interesting primer on the nuances of language and spin, especially as used by politicians, the media, and any organization that doesn't want you to catch on to what they're doing.
]]> Finna (LitenVerse, #1) 44081573 Finna is a rambunctious, touching story that blends all the horrors the multiverse has to offer with the everyday awfulness of low-wage work. It explores queer relationships and queer feelings, capitalism and accountability, labor and love, all with a bouncing sense of humor and a commitment to the strange.

When an elderly customer at a big box furniture store slips through a portal to another dimension, it’s up to two minimum-wage employees to track her across the multiverse and protect their company’s bottom line. Multi-dimensional swashbuckling would be hard enough, but those two unfortunate souls broke up a week ago.

To find the missing granny, Ava and Jules will brave carnivorous furniture, swarms of identical furniture spokespeople, and the deep resentment simmering between them. Can friendship blossom from the ashes of their relationship? In infinite dimensions, all things are possible.]]> 103 Nino Cipri 1250245729 Jon 4 3.64 2020 Finna (LitenVerse, #1)
author: Nino Cipri
name: Jon
average rating: 3.64
book published: 2020
rating: 4
read at: 2021/04/29
date added: 2024/10/18
shelves:
review:
Jules had stumbled in twenty minutes later, wearing the bathrobe they'd slept under, curls flattened on one side. "I will trade you my soul for coffee," they'd said solemnly. Then, when they saw that all Ava had were Nifty! brand beans from PriceLow, they cringed and said, "Those only get part of my soul."
]]> <![CDATA[The Witness for the Dead (The Cemeteries of Amalo, #1)]]> 41302953 Katherine Addison returns to the glittering world she created for her beloved novel, 'The Goblin Emperor', in this stand-alone sequel.

When the young half-goblin emperor Maia sought to learn who had killed his father and half-brothers, he turned to an obscure resident of his Court, a Prelate of Ulis and a Witness for the Dead. Thara Celehar found the truth, though it did him no good to discover it. He lost his place as a retainer of his cousin the former Empress, and made far too many enemies among the many factions vying for power in the new Court. The favor of the Emperor is a dangerous coin.

Now Celehar lives in the city of Amalo, far from the Court though not exactly in exile. He has not escaped from politics, but his position gives him the ability to serve the common people of the city, which is his preference. He lives modestly, but his decency and fundamental honesty will not permit him to live quietly. As a Witness for the Dead, he can, sometimes, speak to the recently dead: see the last thing they saw, know the last thought they had, experience the last thing they felt. it is his duty to use that ability to resolve disputes, to ascertain the intent of the dead, to find the killers of the murdered.

Celehar's skills now lead him out of the quiet and into a morass of treachery, murder, and injustice. No matter his own background with the imperial house, Celehar will stand with the commoners, and possibly find a light in the darkness.]]> 240 Katherine Addison 0765387441 Jon 4 The Goblin Emperor. In a delightful change of pace, it's a murder mystery.]]> 4.11 2021 The Witness for the Dead (The Cemeteries of Amalo, #1)
author: Katherine Addison
name: Jon
average rating: 4.11
book published: 2021
rating: 4
read at: 2022/02/19
date added: 2024/10/18
shelves:
review:
Excellent. Follows up on the life of a minor character from The Goblin Emperor. In a delightful change of pace, it's a murder mystery.
]]> <![CDATA[Witchmark (The Kingston Cycle, #1)]]> 36187110
Magic marked Miles Singer for suffering the day he was born, doomed either to be enslaved to his family's interest or to be committed to a witches' asylum. He went to war to escape his destiny and came home a different man, but he couldn’t leave his past behind. The war between Aeland and Laneer leaves men changed, strangers to their friends and family, but even after faking his own death and reinventing himself as a doctor at a cash-strapped veterans' hospital, Miles can’t hide what he truly is.

When a fatally poisoned patient exposes Miles� healing gift and his witchmark, he must put his anonymity and freedom at risk to investigate his patient’s murder. To find the truth he’ll need to rely on the family he despises, and on the kindness of the most gorgeous man he’s ever seen.

At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.]]> 318 C.L. Polk 0765398974 Jon 4 He took a moment to think about it. "Not that I recall."
I set my pen down. That's what a liar would say, isn't it?]]> 3.86 2018 Witchmark (The Kingston Cycle, #1)
author: C.L. Polk
name: Jon
average rating: 3.86
book published: 2018
rating: 4
read at: 2022/07/09
date added: 2024/10/18
shelves:
review:
"Have you lied to me?"
He took a moment to think about it. "Not that I recall."
I set my pen down. That's what a liar would say, isn't it?
]]> Miranda in Milan 41075513 Miranda in Milan, debut author Katharine Duckett reimagines the consequences of Shakespeare’s The Tempest, casting Miranda into a Milanese pit of vipers and building a queer love story that lifts off the page in whirlwinds of feeling.

After the tempest, after the reunion, after her father drowned his books, Miranda was meant to enter a brave new world. Naples awaited her, and Ferdinand, and a throne. Instead she finds herself in Milan, in her father’s castle, surrounded by hostile servants who treat her like a ghost. Whispers cling to her like spiderwebs, whispers that carry her dead mother’s name. And though he promised to give away his power, Milan is once again contorting around Prospero’s dark arts.

With only Dorothea, her sole companion and confidant to aid her, Miranda must cut through the mystery and find the truth about her father, her mother, and herself.

“Love and lust, mothers and monsters, magicians and masked balls, all delivered with Shakespearean panache.� —Nicola Griffith, author of Hild

�Miranda in Milan is somehow both utterly charming and perfectly sinister, and altogether delightful. A pleasure for any lover of romance, myth, and magic � whether or not they're fans of the Bard.� —Cherie Priest, author of Boneshaker and I Am Princess X

At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.]]> 204 Katharine Duckett 1250306310 Jon 4 "They're dead too?"
To her astonishment, Dorothea laughed. "They really didn't teach you any manners on that island, did they?"]]> 3.50 2019 Miranda in Milan
author: Katharine Duckett
name: Jon
average rating: 3.50
book published: 2019
rating: 4
read at: 2022/07/10
date added: 2024/10/18
shelves:
review:
"My sister and brother came here with me, but they're gone now."
"They're dead too?"
To her astonishment, Dorothea laughed. "They really didn't teach you any manners on that island, did they?"
]]> <![CDATA[In an Absent Dream (Wayward Children, #4)]]> 38244358 A stand-alone fantasy tale from Seanan McGuire's Alex-award winning Wayward Children series, which began in the Alex, Hugo, Nebula, and Locus Award-winning, World Fantasy Award finalist, Tiptree Honor List Every Heart a Doorway

This is the story of a very serious young girl who would rather study and dream than become a respectable housewife and live up to the expectations of the world around her. As well she should.

When she finds a doorway to a world founded on logic and reason, riddles and lies, she thinks she's found her paradise. Alas, everything costs at the goblin market, and when her time there is drawing to a close, she makes the kind of bargain that never plays out well.

For anyone . . .

The Wayward Children Series
Book 1: Every Heart a Doorway
Book 2: Down Among the Sticks and Bones
Book 3: Beneath the Sugar Sky
Book 4: In an Absent Dream

At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.]]> 204 Seanan McGuire 0765399288 Jon 4 books and not wanting to do it.]]> 4.16 2019 In an Absent Dream (Wayward Children, #4)
author: Seanan McGuire
name: Jon
average rating: 4.16
book published: 2019
rating: 4
read at: 2022/08/07
date added: 2024/10/18
shelves:
review:
She was Katherine, she was the teacher’s pet, and when she grew up, she was going to be a librarian, because she couldn’t imagine knowing there was a job that was all about books and not wanting to do it.
]]> New Atlantis 53423015
For this is a world where ants develop inexplicable weapons, where a lonely robot lives surrounded by cats in the ruins of old Paris, and where floating coral islands host sleeping sentience. Mai's journey takes her by land, sea and air to the islands of New Atlantis, and to the nightmare prison buried underneath old London.

On her way she will find heartbreak and love � and a new life, awakening.

CURATOR'S NOTE (The World SF 3 Bundle)
«I couldn't resist including my latest e-book here � and New Atlantis is currently on the shortlist for the Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award. I was inspired to write it by the works of the Korean novelist Pak Kyongni, when I had the opportunity to stay at the writers centre she founded in the mountains near Wonju.» � Lavie Tidhar]]> 77 Lavie Tidhar 1625674961 Jon 4 "There are many, littering the old places," he said. "Some like to use them, to experience the old age. But many of the memories have been corrupted, and when they do work it can be like a drug. I have seen people succumb to it, forget their life, the Land� All for what? A memory of shopping?"]]> 3.92 2020 New Atlantis
author: Lavie Tidhar
name: Jon
average rating: 3.92
book published: 2020
rating: 4
read at: 2022/09/13
date added: 2024/10/18
shelves:
review:
I took out the old memory trinket Gaw had sent me and showed it to him. "Have you seen one of these before?"
"There are many, littering the old places," he said. "Some like to use them, to experience the old age. But many of the memories have been corrupted, and when they do work it can be like a drug. I have seen people succumb to it, forget their life, the Land� All for what? A memory of shopping?"
]]> <![CDATA[Creatures of Charm and Hunger (Diabolist's Library, #3)]]> 50888853 Two young witches, once inseparable, are set at odds by secrets and wildly dangerous magic.

In the waning days of World War II, with Allied victory all but certain, desperate Nazi diabolists search for a demonic superweapon to turn the tide. A secluded castle somewhere in the south of Germany serves as a laboratory for experiments conducted upon human prisoners, experiments as vile as they are deadly.

Across the English Channel, tucked into the sleepy Cumbrian countryside, lies the Library, the repository of occult knowledge for the Société des Éclairées, an international organization of diabolists. There, best friends Jane Blackwood and Miriam Cantor, tutored by the Société’s Librarian—and Jane’s mother—Nancy, prepare to undergo the Test that will determine their future as diabolists.

When Miriam learns her missing parents are suspected of betraying the Société to the Nazis, she embarks on a quest to clear their names, a quest involving dangerous diabolic practices that will demand more of her than she can imagine. Meanwhile Jane, struggling with dark obsessions of her own, embraces a forbidden use of the Art that could put everyone she loves in danger.

As their friendship buckles under the the stress of too many secrets, Jane and Miriam will come face to face with unexpected truths that change everything they know about the war, the world, and most of all themselves. After all, some choices cannot be unmade--and a sacrifice made with the most noble intention might end up creating a monster.]]> 320 Molly Tanzer 0358066727 Jon 4 "Meow," said Smudge. 3.74 2020 Creatures of Charm and Hunger (Diabolist's Library, #3)
author: Molly Tanzer
name: Jon
average rating: 3.74
book published: 2020
rating: 4
read at: 2023/04/01
date added: 2024/10/18
shelves:
review:
"Meow," said Smudge.
]]> <![CDATA[Resonator: New Lovecraftian Tales From Beyond]]> 25144555
[dramatically, to camera] "It ate him ... bit off his head ... like a gingerbread man!" - Jeffrey Combs as 'Crawford Tillinghast' in Stuart Gordon's FROM BEYOND (1986)

In his classic story "From Beyond", Howard Phillips Lovecraft introduced the Tillinghast Resonator: a monstrous device that stimulates dormant senses in man, opens up unseen worlds to unsuspecting eyes, and calls through terror and ecstasy from a realm far beyond our mundane perceptions. In 'RESONATOR: New Lovecraftian Tales From Beyond', you'll meet the men and women who dare to pull the switch, for profit, pleasure, and ultimately, peril! Thrill to the creatures (both mindless and horribly sentient) that are revealed in wave after wave of uncanny radiation! Turn on the juice, brace your pineal gland for some unprecedented growth, and get ready to go BEYOND!

Editor Scott R Jones brings you stories from some of the best writers working in Weird Fiction today (Cody Goodfellow, Scott Nicolay, Christopher Slatsky, Christine Morgan, Richard Lee Byers, Orrin Grey, Anya Martin, and Edward Morris) as well as fresh new voices. With a cover featuring the psychedelic art of Nick 'The Hat' Gucker, 'RESONATOR: New Lovecraftian Tales From Beyond' is the anthology that will break down the barriers in 2015!

Martian Migraine Press: The Best Kind of Headache
martianmigrainepress.com]]> 222 Scott R. Jones 1927673054 Jon 4 From Beyond, with pretty good results overall. My favorites were Edward Morris's "The Happiness Machine" and Christine Morgan's "Ninesight." YMMV.]]> 3.97 2015 Resonator: New Lovecraftian Tales From Beyond
author: Scott R. Jones
name: Jon
average rating: 3.97
book published: 2015
rating: 4
read at: 2023/04/02
date added: 2024/10/18
shelves:
review:
Stories based on one of Lovecraft's lesser stories, From Beyond, with pretty good results overall. My favorites were Edward Morris's "The Happiness Machine" and Christine Morgan's "Ninesight." YMMV.
]]> <![CDATA[Your Writing Matters: 34 Quick Essays to Get Unstuck and Stay Inspired]]> 60733648
In this engaging collection of short essays for writers, Keiko O’Leary explores what it means to live life as a writer, offers encouragement and inspiration, and suggests practical techniques to cultivate your writing life. Drawing on her experience as a writer, writing group leader, and workshop instructor, Keiko writes about topics such as:

MOTIVATION: “You deserve to create what’s in you to create.�
CREATIVITY: “Your personal geography is a wellspring of memoir and poetry, and a source of authentic detail for fiction.�
LEGACY: “Through your writing, you help people experience meaning, not only in what you write, but also in their own lives.�

Whether you have years of experience or are just starting out, these essays will support you on your writing journey.]]> 160 Keiko O'Leary 1942480350 Jon 4 4.30 2022 Your Writing Matters: 34 Quick Essays to Get Unstuck and Stay Inspired
author: Keiko O'Leary
name: Jon
average rating: 4.30
book published: 2022
rating: 4
read at: 2023/06/23
date added: 2024/10/18
shelves:
review:
Brief but inspiring essays. Good pep talks.
]]> <![CDATA[Middlegame (Alchemical Journeys, #1)]]> 35965482 New York Times bestselling and Alex, Nebula, and Hugo-Award-winning author Seanan McGuire introduces readers to a world of amoral alchemy, shadowy organizations, and impossible cities in this standalone fantasy.

Meet Roger. Skilled with words, languages come easily to him. He instinctively understands how the world works through the power of story.

Meet Dodger, his twin. Numbers are her world, her obsession, her everything. All she understands, she does so through the power of math.

Roger and Dodger aren’t exactly human, though they don’t realise it. They aren’t exactly gods, either. Not entirely. Not yet.

Meet Reed, skilled in the alchemical arts like his progenitor before him. Reed created Dodger and her brother. He’s not their father. Not quite. But he has a plan: to raise the twins to the highest power, to ascend with them and claim their authority as his own.

Godhood is attainable. Pray it isn’t attained.

At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.]]> 492 Seanan McGuire 1250195519 Jon 4 4.01 2019 Middlegame (Alchemical Journeys, #1)
author: Seanan McGuire
name: Jon
average rating: 4.01
book published: 2019
rating: 4
read at: 2020/07/30
date added: 2024/10/18
shelves:
review:
"The past is never really past. It’s always lurking, ready to attack the present."
]]> First Person Peculiar 21510842 275 Mike Resnick 161475151X Jon 4 3.53 2014 First Person Peculiar
author: Mike Resnick
name: Jon
average rating: 3.53
book published: 2014
rating: 4
read at: 2022/12/21
date added: 2024/10/18
shelves:
review:
A good collection. It feels particularly strong because they're all first person stories, which gives you a strong sense of the protag's voice/POV/outlook on life and things. And in this case, they're all pretty amusing outlooks.
]]> <![CDATA[Deep Roots (The Innsmouth Legacy, #2)]]> 36144841 "Wicked for the Cthulhu Mythos" —Seanan McGuire on the Innsmouth Legacy

Ruthanna Emrys� Innsmouth Legacy, which began with Winter Tide and continues with Deep Roots, confronts H. P. Lovecraft’s Cthulhu Mythos head-on, boldly upturning his fear of the unknown with a heart-warming story of found family, acceptance, and perseverance in the face of human cruelty and the cosmic apathy of the universe. Emrys brings together a family of outsiders, bridging the gaps between the many people marginalized by the homogenizing pressure of 1940s America.

Aphra Marsh, descendant of the People of the Water, has survived Deep One internment camps and made a grudging peace with the government that destroyed her home and exterminated her people on land. Deep Rootscontinues Aphra’s journey to rebuild her life and family on land, as she tracks down long-lost relatives on land. She must repopulate Innsmouth or risk seeing it torn down by greedy developers, but as she searches she discovers that people have been going missing. She will have to unravel the mystery, or risk seeing her way of life slip away.

At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

]]> 400 Ruthanna Emrys 0765390922 Jon 4 4.02 2018 Deep Roots (The Innsmouth Legacy, #2)
author: Ruthanna Emrys
name: Jon
average rating: 4.02
book published: 2018
rating: 4
read at: 2020/11/27
date added: 2024/10/18
shelves:
review:
I want these things to be real: the intelligences from beyond the Earth; the cities that rose in golden splendor millennia before our own histories begin; the scholars who consort with dark forces, who sacrifice air and light and their human forms in exchange for unimaginable secrets. I want to see them. I want to talk with them, to decide for myself whether that deal is worth taking.
]]> <![CDATA[The Case of the Hesitant Hostess (Perry Mason Series Book 41)]]> 13049261 230 Erle Stanley Gardner Jon 4 "Of course."
"You don't show signs of being overly enthusiastic."
"Did you want me to be overly enthusiastic?" Mason asked.
"Well, you might start with being enthusiastic, and we can carry on from there."]]> 4.44 1953 The Case of the Hesitant Hostess (Perry Mason Series Book 41)
author: Erle Stanley Gardner
name: Jon
average rating: 4.44
book published: 1953
rating: 4
read at: 2024/10/15
date added: 2024/10/18
shelves:
review:
Her fingertips moved in slow rhythm up and down the back of his head. "Do you like me?"
"Of course."
"You don't show signs of being overly enthusiastic."
"Did you want me to be overly enthusiastic?" Mason asked.
"Well, you might start with being enthusiastic, and we can carry on from there."
]]> <![CDATA[A Freelancer's Survival Guide to Maximizing Your Success (Freelancer's Survival Guides)]]> 64412966 The Secrets of Success Once you've become successful, you never have to work again-or so many people believe. But becoming a success is just the start. Staying a success is the hard part. This short book will help you both become a success and remain one. International bestselling author Kristine Kathryn Rusch will show you the secrets to success that will change your life.
How to Negotiate Anything Most people hate negotiating. Instead of learning it themselves, they hire someone-an agent, a lawyer, a manager-to negotiate for them. But negotiators often do not have their clients' best interests at heart. In this short book, international bestselling writer Kristine Kathryn Rusch shows you how to negotiate anything from buying a car to buying a house, from handling a book contract to handling a negotiator. If you have ever negotiated anything-and who hasn't?-then this book is for you.]]> 194 Kristine Kathryn Rusch 1561467014 Jon 4 4.00 2021 A Freelancer's Survival Guide to Maximizing Your Success (Freelancer's Survival Guides)
author: Kristine Kathryn Rusch
name: Jon
average rating: 4.00
book published: 2021
rating: 4
read at: 2024/10/15
date added: 2024/10/18
shelves:
review:
Three books in one, covering making money as a freelancer, how to negotiate, and how to decide if you're a success. Generally good advice.
]]> <![CDATA[Researching History for Fantasy Writers: How to Use Historical Detail to Make Your Fantasy Worlds Rich and Compelling]]> 48643864
Fantasy fans read to escape to another world. Your job as a writer is to make that world so compelling, they never want to leave.

Here's a book to get you thinking about the historical details to use and the concepts to ponder in order to create rich, chewy, and believable fantasy worlds. Filled with trivia, tidbits, and a slew of resources, and written in a light, engaging style, Researching History for Fantasy Writers is a must-read for any author of high fantasy.

Bestselling author and historical re-creationist Dayle A. Dermatis has lived in the UK and traveled extensively in Europe, plus she has a lot of knowledgeable friends. She wants more amazing, fully realized fantasy worlds to fall into.]]> 70 Dayle A. Dermatis Jon 4 4.00 2019 Researching History for Fantasy Writers: How to Use Historical Detail to Make Your Fantasy Worlds Rich and Compelling
author: Dayle A. Dermatis
name: Jon
average rating: 4.00
book published: 2019
rating: 4
read at: 2024/10/14
date added: 2024/10/18
shelves:
review:
Not terribly specific in some ways, but it does try to get you to do your research, which is almost certainly a good thing, and it does slap down a few misconceptions.
]]> Doughnut (YouSpace, #1) 15790906
A circle of fried doughy perfection.

A source of comfort in trying times, perhaps.

For Theo Bernstein, however, it is far, far more.

Things have been going pretty badly for Theo Bernstein. An unfortunate accident at work has lost him his job (and his work involved a Very Very Large Hadron Collider, so he's unlikely to get it back). His wife has left him. And he doesn't have any money.

Before Theo has time to fully appreciate the pointlessness of his own miserable existence, news arrives that his good friend Professor Pieter van Goyen, renowned physicist and Nobel laureate, has died.

By leaving the apparently worthless contents of his safety deposit to Theo, however, the professor has set him on a quest of epic proportions. A journey that will rewrite the laws of physics. A battle to save humanity itself.

This is the tale of a man who had nothing and gave it all up to find his destiny -- and a doughnut.]]> 400 Tom Holt 0316226106 Jon 4 "Right. Would that be Crazy Max, Spanish Max, Big Little Max, Max the Axe--"
"Nondescript Max."
"Oh, him." She frowned.]]> 3.59 2013 Doughnut (YouSpace, #1)
author: Tom Holt
name: Jon
average rating: 3.59
book published: 2013
rating: 4
read at: 2024/10/13
date added: 2024/10/18
shelves:
review:
"I'm looking, " he said, "for someone called Max."
"Right. Would that be Crazy Max, Spanish Max, Big Little Max, Max the Axe--"
"Nondescript Max."
"Oh, him." She frowned.
]]> <![CDATA[Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World]]> 25980294
In Deep Work, author and professor Cal Newport flips the narrative on impact in a connected age. Instead of arguing distraction is bad, he instead celebrates the power of its opposite. Dividing this book into two parts, he first makes the case that in almost any profession, cultivating a deep work ethic will produce massive benefits. He then presents a rigorous training regimen, presented as a series of four "rules," for transforming your mind and habits to support this skill.]]> 287 Cal Newport 1455586668 Jon 4 4.33 2016 Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World
author: Cal Newport
name: Jon
average rating: 4.33
book published: 2016
rating: 4
read at: 2024/10/12
date added: 2024/10/18
shelves:
review:
Short version could be don't make yourself available and don't try to distract yourself when you're bored.
]]> <![CDATA[Sometimes the Magic Works: Lessons from a Writing Life]]> 1444176 New York Times Trade Paperback Bestseller list—back then the exclusive province of self-help guides, cartoon collections, and any number of cat books—played host to its very first work of fiction: The Sword of Shannara, an epic quest through a mythical land, by first-time author Terry Brooks. Nineteen New York Times bestselling novels later, it would be easy enough to just say: �. . . and the rest is history.� But when it comes to quests, everyone knows that getting there is half the fun. Now, Terry Brooks tells the story of how he got there—from beginner to bestselling author—and shares his secrets for creating unusual, memorable fiction.

Writing is writing, whether one’s setting is a magical universe or a suburban backyard. Spanning topics from the importance of daydreaming to the necessity of writing an outline, from the fine art of showing instead of merely telling to creating believable characters who make readers care what happens to them, Brooks draws upon his own experiences, hard lessons learned, and delightful discoveries made in creating the beloved Shannara and Magic Kingdom of Landover series, The Word and The Void trilogy, and the bestselling Star Wars novel The Phantom Menace.

In addition to being a writing guide, Sometimes the Magic Works is Terry Brooks’s self-portrait of the artist. Here are sketches of his midwestern boyhood, when comic books, radio serials, and a vivid imagination launched a life long passion for weaving tales of wonder; recollections of the fateful collaboration with legendary editor Lester del Rey that changed not only the author’s life but the course of publishing history; and an eye-opening look at the ups and downs of dealing with Hollywood, as a writer of official novels based on major movies by both Steven Spielberg and George Lucas.

“If you don’t think there is magic in writing, you probably won’t write anything magical,� says Terry Brooks. This book offers a rare and wonderful opportunity to peer into the mind of (and learn a trick or two from) one of fantasy fiction’s preeminent magicians.]]> 208 Terry Brooks 0345458281 Jon 4 4.12 2003 Sometimes the Magic Works: Lessons from a Writing Life
author: Terry Brooks
name: Jon
average rating: 4.12
book published: 2003
rating: 4
read at: 2024/10/11
date added: 2024/10/18
shelves:
review:
Half biography, half "how I do it." Brief but interesting.
]]> <![CDATA[The Case of the Irate Witness (Perry Mason, #85)]]> 337407 The Case of the Irate Witness,
The Jeweled Butterfly,
Something Like a Pelican, and
A Man is Missing.]]> 192 Erle Stanley Gardner 0688001025 Jon 4 3.74 1973 The Case of the Irate Witness (Perry Mason, #85)
author: Erle Stanley Gardner
name: Jon
average rating: 3.74
book published: 1973
rating: 4
read at: 2024/10/09
date added: 2024/10/10
shelves:
review:
"I don't doubt your statement. I doubt your conclusions."
]]> Questland 53968516
YOU FIND YOURSELF IN A MAZE FULL OF TWISTY PASSAGES . . .

Literature professor Dr. Addie Cox is living a happy, if sheltered, life in her ivory tower when Harris Lang, the famously eccentric billionaire tech genius, offers her an unusual job. He wants her to guide a mercenary strike team sent to infiltrate his island retreat off the northwest coast of the United States. Addie is puzzled by her role on the mission until she understands what Lang has Insula Mirabilis, an isolated resort where tourists will one day pay big bucks for a convincing, high-tech-powered fantasy-world experience, complete with dragons, unicorns, and, yes, magic.

Unfortunately, one of the island's employees has gone rogue and activated an invisible force shield that has cut off all outside communication. A Coast Guard cutter attempting to pass through the shield has been destroyed. Suspicion rests on Dominic Brand, the project’s head designer—and Addie Cox's ex-boyfriend. Lang has tasked Addie and the mercenary team with taking back control of the island at any cost.

But Addie is wrestling demons of her own—and not the fantastical kind. Now, she must navigate the deadly traps of Insula Mirabilis as well as her own past trauma. And no d20, however lucky, can help Addie make this saving throw.

“Gamers rejoice! Carrie Vaughn has conjured up a fun and fast-paced story filled with elves, d20s, and Monty Python riffs.� � Monte Cook, ENnie Award-winning creator of the Numenera roleplaying game]]> 304 Carrie Vaughn 0358346282 Jon 4 3.45 2021 Questland
author: Carrie Vaughn
name: Jon
average rating: 3.45
book published: 2021
rating: 4
read at: 2024/10/08
date added: 2024/10/10
shelves:
review:
"Oh, look," I said. "It's an adorable rabbit-sized trebuchet."
]]> <![CDATA[The World of Tiers, Volume 2 (World of Tiers Omnibus 3-5)]]> 591784 532 Philip José Farmer 1568650728 Jon 0 4.26 1977 The World of Tiers, Volume 2 (World of Tiers Omnibus 3-5)
author: Philip José Farmer
name: Jon
average rating: 4.26
book published: 1977
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/10/07
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Mechanical Failure (Epic Failure, #1)]]> 28380865
The two hundred years� (and counting) peace is a time of tranquility that hasn’t been seen since...well, never. Mankind in the Galactic Age had finally conquered war, so what was left for the military to do but drink and barbecue? That’s the kind of military that Sergeant R. Wilson Rogers lived in before he left the fleet to become a smuggler.

But it turns out that smuggling is hard. Like getting-arrested-for-dealing-with-pirates-and-forced-back-into-service kind of hard. It doesn’t seem so bad—the military was a perpetual tiki party anyway—but when Roger returns after only a year away, something has changed. These are soldiers�actual soldiers doing actual soldier things like preparing for a war that Rogers is sure doesn’t exist. Rogers vows to put a stop to all this nonsense—even if it means doing actual work.

With an experienced ear for military double-speak, Zieja has created a remarkable and sarcastic adventure.]]> 352 Joe Zieja 1481459287 Jon 4 "CALL FUNCTION [MAINTAIN CLEVER HIDING PLACE]."]]> 3.77 2016 Mechanical Failure (Epic Failure, #1)
author: Joe Zieja
name: Jon
average rating: 3.77
book published: 2016
rating: 4
read at: 2020/10/20
date added: 2024/09/29
shelves:
review:
"Come out, you hunk of scrap metal!" Rogers said. "What are you doing following me around?"
"CALL FUNCTION [MAINTAIN CLEVER HIDING PLACE]."
]]> <![CDATA[The Case of the Grinning Gorilla (Perry Mason #40)]]> 22388510 266 Erle Stanley Gardner Jon 4 Mason said, “How do you know it?"
"I don’t know it by any evidence, but I’m absolutely certain that’s the case."]]> 4.34 1952 The Case of the Grinning Gorilla (Perry Mason #40)
author: Erle Stanley Gardner
name: Jon
average rating: 4.34
book published: 1952
rating: 4
read at: 2024/09/28
date added: 2024/09/29
shelves:
review:
"She never told the truth about anything in her life. She's a congenital liar. She's a plotter, a sneak, a vicious, backbiting, nasty-minded woman, and she killed Benjamin Addicks. I know it just as well as I know I’m sitting here."
Mason said, “How do you know it?"
"I don’t know it by any evidence, but I’m absolutely certain that’s the case."
]]> <![CDATA[How to Do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy]]> 42973186 This thrilling critique of the forces vying for our attention re-defines what we think of as productivity, shows us a new way to connect with our environment, and reveals all that we've been too distracted to see about our selves and our world.

When the technologies we use every day collapse our experiences into 24/7 availability, platforms for personal branding, and products to be monetized, nothing can be quite so radical as . . . doing nothing. Here, Jenny Odell sends up a flare from the heart of Silicon Valley, delivering an action plan to resist capitalist narratives of productivity and techno-determinism, and to become more meaningfully connected in the process.]]> 225 Jenny Odell 1612197507 Jon 4 3.64 2019 How to Do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy
author: Jenny Odell
name: Jon
average rating: 3.64
book published: 2019
rating: 4
read at: 2024/09/07
date added: 2024/09/29
shelves:
review:
Less of a manifesto, more of the author's experiences and insights wrapped in with a scholarly review of the subject. Written before COVID, which gives it an interesting "just you wait" spin.
]]> <![CDATA[Cthulhusattva: Tales of the Black Gnosis]]> 30253905
Is there wisdom in insanity? Enlightenment in blackest despair? Higher consciousness in the depths of chaos? These are the stories of the men and women who choose to cast off from the shores of our placid island of ignorance and sail the black seas of infinity beyond. Those who would dive into primeval consciousness in search of dark treasures. Thos who would risk the Deadly Light for one it is still light.

Martian Migraine Press presents fifteen diverse tales of enlightenment and horror from some of the best new voices working in Weird Fiction today. Tales of the Black Gnosis features poetry from Bryan Thao Worra, stories by Gord Sellar, Kristi DeMeester, Jayaprakash Satyamurthy, and the groundbreaking Mythos novella from Ruthanna Emrys, The Litany of Earth. With cover art by Alix Branwyn, interior illustrations by Michael Lee Macdonald, and an introduction by editor Scott R Jones (author of When The Stars Are Towards An Authentic R'lyehian Spirituality), Tales of the Black Gnosis will plunge readers into a seriously entertaining contemplation of the mysticism and magic inherent to Lovecraft's fantastical world of cosmic horror and dread. Take the Cthulhusattva Vow! Enter the Black Gnosis!]]> 206 Scott R. Jones 1927673178 Jon 4 3.81 2016 Cthulhusattva: Tales of the Black Gnosis
author: Scott R. Jones
name: Jon
average rating: 3.81
book published: 2016
rating: 4
read at: 2023/04/13
date added: 2024/09/29
shelves:
review:
Another Cthulhu collection, this one with a bit more of an esoteric occult feel to it. Particularly enjoyed "That Most Foreign of Veils" and "The Litany of Earth." YMMV.
]]> Star Daughter 48891914 This gorgeously imagined YA debut blends shades of Neil Gaiman’s Stardust and a breathtaking landscape of Hindu mythology into a radiant contemporary fantasy.

The daughter of a star and a mortal, Sheetal is used to keeping secrets. Pretending to be “normal.� But when an accidental flare of her starfire puts her human father in the hospital, Sheetal needs a full star’s help to heal him. A star like her mother, who returned to the sky long ago.

Sheetal’s quest to save her father will take her to a celestial court of shining wonders and dark shadows, where she must take the stage as her family’s champion in a competition to decide the next ruling house of the heavens—and win, or risk never returning to Earth at all.

Brimming with celestial intrigue, this sparkling YA debut is perfect for fans of Roshani Chokshi and Laini Taylor. ]]> 448 Shveta Thakrar 0062894641 Jon 4 3.51 2020 Star Daughter
author: Shveta Thakrar
name: Jon
average rating: 3.51
book published: 2020
rating: 4
read at: 2021/04/02
date added: 2024/09/28
shelves:
review:
"Somehow Sheetal kept her eyes from rolling right out of her head."
]]> Meddling Kids 33858890 John Dies at the End and Welcome to Night Vale comes a tour de force of horror, humor, and H.P. Lovecraft. The surviving members of a forgotten teenage detective club (and their dog) must reunite as broken adults to finally solve the terrifying case that ruined them all…and sent the wrong man to prison. Scooby Doo and the gang never had to do this!

1990. The teen detectives once known as the Blyton Summer Detective Club (of Blyton Hills, a small mining town in the Zoinx River Valley in Oregon) are all grown up and haven’t seen each other since their fateful, final case in 1977. Andy, the tomboy, is twenty-five and on the run, wanted in at least two states. Keri, one-time kid genius and budding biologist, is bartending in New York, working on a serious drinking problem. At least she’s got Sean, an excitable Weimeraner descended from the original canine member of the team. Nate, the horror nerd, has spent the last thirteen years in and out of mental health institutions, and currently resides in an asylum in Arhkam, Massachusetts. The only friend he still sees is Peter, the handsome jock turned movie star. The problem is, Peter’s been dead for years.

The time has come to uncover the source of their nightmares and return to where it all began in 1977. This time, it better not be a man in a mask. The real monsters are waiting.

With raucous humor and brilliantly orchestrated mayhem, Edgar Cantero’s Meddling Kids taps into our shared nostalgia for the books and cartoons we grew up with, and delivers an exuberant, eclectic, and highly entertaining celebration of horror, life, friendship, and many-tentacled, interdimensional demon spawn.]]> 330 Edgar Cantero 0385542003 Jon 4 Scooby Doo vs. Cthulhu, filtered through Deadpool's breaking the fourth wall. It's a very odd read, what with the occasional shifts from prose to screenplay, often in the middle of the action, but it's entertaining and snappy, with exchanges like:

In the living room, the guard pulled out his truncheon and gave the most useless command in his career as an order enforcer in a mental hospital.
"Don’t move!"


So, yeah, it's pretty good. May not be for everyone, but it'll work for some of you.]]> 3.60 2017 Meddling Kids
author: Edgar Cantero
name: Jon
average rating: 3.60
book published: 2017
rating: 4
read at: 2020/11/28
date added: 2024/09/28
shelves:
review:
Don't know how I missed this when it first came out, it's right up my alley: premise is Scooby Doo vs. Cthulhu, filtered through Deadpool's breaking the fourth wall. It's a very odd read, what with the occasional shifts from prose to screenplay, often in the middle of the action, but it's entertaining and snappy, with exchanges like:

In the living room, the guard pulled out his truncheon and gave the most useless command in his career as an order enforcer in a mental hospital.
"Don’t move!"


So, yeah, it's pretty good. May not be for everyone, but it'll work for some of you.
]]> <![CDATA[Black Sun (Between Earth and Sky, #1)]]> 53543063 From the New York Times bestselling author of Star Resistance Reborn comes a new epic fantasy of the great matriarchal clans of a prosperous cliff-city and its fight for survival against invasion, political intrigue, and dark celestial prophecies.]]> 461 Rebecca Roanhorse 153443769X Jon 4 4.31 2020 Black Sun (Between Earth and Sky, #1)
author: Rebecca Roanhorse
name: Jon
average rating: 4.31
book published: 2020
rating: 4
read at: 2021/03/22
date added: 2024/09/28
shelves:
review:
"Usually," Xiala said carefully, "when someone describes a man as harmless, he ends up being a villain."
]]> Empire Dreams 48724995
Vivaldi Visits to Remarkable Cities
Unfinished Portrait of the King of Pain by Van Gogh
Scenes from a Shadowplay Radio Marrakech
King of Morning, Queen of Day
The Island of the Dead
Empire Dreams (Ground Control to Major Tom)
Christian The Catharine Wheel (Our Lady of Tharsis)

REVIEWS
“One of the most interesting and accomplished science fiction writers of this latter-day era, indeed maybe the most interesting and accomplished, and certainly the most culturally and musically sophisticated, the Frank Herbert, William Gibson, or arguably even Thomas Pynchon of the early 21st century.”� Asimov’s

“I will read anything that man writes � he is the most underappreciated genius working in the field today.� � Cory Doctorow

“McDonald’s power as a storyteller lies in his stylistic versatility and intensity of language as well as in his capacity to create vivid and memorable characters.� � Library Journal]]> 271 Ian McDonald 1625670753 Jon 4 4.10 1988 Empire Dreams
author: Ian McDonald
name: Jon
average rating: 4.10
book published: 1988
rating: 4
read at: 2021/07/14
date added: 2024/09/28
shelves:
review:
Short story collection, with stories filled with wordy words.
]]> The Only Good Indians 49045750 New York Times bestselling author Stephen Graham Jones comes a novel that is equal parts psychological horror and cutting social commentary on identity politics and the American Indian experience. Fans of Jordan Peele and Tommy Orange will love this story as it follows the lives of four American Indian men and their families, all haunted by a disturbing, deadly event that took place in their youth. Years later, they find themselves tracked by an entity bent on revenge, totally helpless as the culture and traditions they left behind catch up to them in a violent, vengeful way.]]> 320 Stephen Graham Jones 1982136472 Jon 4 "First try," Lewis says, his face warming just to be known.
"You in jail?" Gabe asks.
"Still a comedian," Lewis tells him.]]> 3.79 2020 The Only Good Indians
author: Stephen Graham Jones
name: Jon
average rating: 3.79
book published: 2020
rating: 4
read at: 2020/10/13
date added: 2024/09/28
shelves:
review:
For maybe five seconds Gabe doesn't say anything, then, "Lewdog?"
"First try," Lewis says, his face warming just to be known.
"You in jail?" Gabe asks.
"Still a comedian," Lewis tells him.
]]> Conservation of Shadows 18806792
With an introduction by Aliette de Bodard.]]> 288 Yoon Ha Lee 1607013983 Jon 0 to-read 4.16 2013 Conservation of Shadows
author: Yoon Ha Lee
name: Jon
average rating: 4.16
book published: 2013
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/09/28
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Railhead 28507972 321 Philip Reeve 1630790648 Jon 4 4.10 2015 Railhead
author: Philip Reeve
name: Jon
average rating: 4.10
book published: 2015
rating: 4
read at: 2021/07/10
date added: 2024/09/28
shelves:
review:
Interstellar trainspotting, a concept as ludicrous as it was entertaining.
]]> Weave a Circle Round 35504760 The unexpected can move in next door

Freddy wants desperately to not be noticed. She doesn't want to be seen as different or unusual, but her step-brother Roland gets attention because he's deaf, and her little sister Mel thinks she's a private detective. All Freddy wants to do is navigate high school with as little trouble as possible.

Then someone moves into the house on Grosvenor Street. Two extremely odd someones.

Cuerva Lachance and Josiah aren't . . . normal. When they move in next door, the house begins to exhibit some decidedly strange tendencies, like not obeying the laws of physics or reality. Just as Freddy thinks she's had enough of Josiah following her around, she's plunged into an adventure millennia in the making and discovers the truth about the new neighbors.

]]> 362 Kari Maaren Jon 0 to-read 3.89 2017 Weave a Circle Round
author: Kari Maaren
name: Jon
average rating: 3.89
book published: 2017
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/09/28
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> White Jenna (Great Alta, #2) 29618102 Nebula Award Finalist: A long-awaited savior joins forces with her dark twin to confront the evil threatening their land in the second book of the acclaimed epic fantasy the Great Alta Saga

Grown to young womanhood in the mountain region of the Dales and trained for combat by the all-female followers of the goddess Great Alta, Jenna reluctantly accepts the fact that she might well be the Anna, the warrior queen who has long been prophesied. Orphaned three times while still a small child, the now-teenage Jenna is compelled to lend her support and skills to the Dales� rightful king and his brother, Carum, who holds her heart, for the reign of evil usurper Lord Kalas threatens the future of every worshipper of Alta. But Jenna does not ride alone. Whenever darkness falls, she and her companions—a young priestess in training and an aging warrior—are joined by Skada, white-haired Jenna’s dark sister, who shares her destiny and her soul. But even their combined powers may not be enough to defeat the entrenched malevolence that means to destroy everything and everyone they hold dear.

A finalist for the Nebula Award for best novel, Jane Yolen’s White Jenna is a wondrous tale of duty, destiny, peril, romance, and fantasy. Interspersed with the myths and poetry the story engendered, it is a brilliantly imaginative creation of a world, a culture, and their enduring lore.
]]> 353 Jane Yolen 150403452X Jon 0 to-read 3.62 1989 White Jenna (Great Alta, #2)
author: Jane Yolen
name: Jon
average rating: 3.62
book published: 1989
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/09/28
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Dirty Wings: A Novel (The Metamorphoses Trilogy Book 2)]]> 22849421 In Dirty Wings by Sarah McCarry, Maia is a teenage piano prodigy and dutiful daughter, imprisoned in the oppressive silence of her adoptive parents' house like a princess in an ivory tower. Cass is a street rat, witch, and runaway, scraping by with her wits and her knack for a five-fingered discount. When a chance encounter brings the two girls together, an unlikely friendship blossoms that will soon change the course of both their lives. Cass springs Maia from the jail of the only world she's ever known, and Maia's only too happy to make a break for it.But Cass didn't reckon on Jason, thehypnoticblue-eyed rocker who'd capture Maia's heart as soon as Cass set her free--and Cass isn't the only one who's noticed Maia's extraordinary gifts.Is Cass strong enough to battle theancientevil she's unwittingly awakened--or has she walked into a trap that will destroy everything she cares about?In this time, like in any time, love is a dangerous game.

]]> 288 Sarah McCarry 1250027101 Jon 0 to-read 4.00 2014 Dirty Wings: A Novel (The Metamorphoses Trilogy Book 2)
author: Sarah McCarry
name: Jon
average rating: 4.00
book published: 2014
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/09/28
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Unmade (The Lynburn Legacy, #3)]]> 22009769 Beautiful Creatures and the Mortal Instruments series.

Powerful love comes with a price. Who will be the sacrifice?

Kami has lost the boy she loves, is tied to a boy she does not, and faces an enemy more powerful than ever before. With Jared missing for months and presumed dead, Kami must rely on her new magical link with Ash for the strength to face the evil spreading through her town.

Rob Lynburn is now the master of Sorry-in-the-Vale, and he demands a death. Kami will use every tool at her disposal to stop him. Together with Rusty, Angela, and Holly, she uncovers a secret that might be the key to saving the town. But with knowledge comes responsibility—and a painful choice. A choice that will risk not only Kami’s life, but also the lives of those she loves most.

As coauthor with Cassandra Clare of the bestselling Bane Chronicles, Sarah Rees Brennan has mastered the art of the page-turner. This final book in the Lynburn Legacy is a wild, entertaining ride from beginning to shocking end.


From the Hardcover edition.]]> 386 Sarah Rees Brennan 0375979964 Jon 0 to-read 4.01 2014 Unmade (The Lynburn Legacy, #3)
author: Sarah Rees Brennan
name: Jon
average rating: 4.01
book published: 2014
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/09/27
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[It Was All a Lie: How the Republican Party Became Donald Trump]]> 49375363 From the most successful Republican political operative of his generation, a searing, unflinching, and deeply personal exposé of how his party became what it is today

Stuart Stevens spent decades electing Republicans at every level, from presidents to senators to local officials. He knows the GOP as intimately as anyone in America, and in this new book he offers a devastating portrait of a party that has lost its moral and political compass.

This is not a book about how Donald J. Trump hijacked the Republican Party and changed it into something else. Stevens shows how Trump is in fact the natural outcome of five decades of hypocrisy and self-delusion, dating all the way back to the civil rights legislation of the early 1960s. Stevens shows how racism has always lurked in the modern GOP's DNA, from Goldwater's opposition to desegregation to Ronald Reagan's welfare queens and states' rights rhetoric. He gives an insider's account of the rank hypocrisy of the party's claims to embody "family values," and shows how the party's vaunted commitment to fiscal responsibility has been a charade since the 1980s. When a party stands for nothing, he argues, it is only natural that it will be taken over by the loudest and angriest voices in the room.

It Was All a Lie is not just an indictment of the Republican Party, but a candid and often lacerating mea culpa. Stevens is not asking for pity or forgiveness; he is simply telling us what he has seen firsthand. He helped to create the modern party that kneels before a morally bankrupt con man and now he wants nothing more than to see what it has become burned to the ground.]]> 196 Stuart Stevens 0525658467 Jon 4 This was my tribe. I did not think them perfect; no man may be a hero to his valet or political consultant. I never pretended to see even glimmers of greatness in most of them, but I did hold out for an assumption of decency. They have proven me wrong, and the sadness I feel is difficult to express.Main takeaway is that Republicans won't give up their authoritarian racist ways until they start losing elections. Let's see what happens.]]> 4.34 2020 It Was All a Lie: How the Republican Party Became Donald Trump
author: Stuart Stevens
name: Jon
average rating: 4.34
book published: 2020
rating: 4
read at: 2020/12/17
date added: 2024/09/27
shelves:
review:
Interesting and sad read, this. Stuart Stevens, longtime political consultant for the Republican party, writes his "I didn't leave the party, the party left me" tale:
This was my tribe. I did not think them perfect; no man may be a hero to his valet or political consultant. I never pretended to see even glimmers of greatness in most of them, but I did hold out for an assumption of decency. They have proven me wrong, and the sadness I feel is difficult to express.
Main takeaway is that Republicans won't give up their authoritarian racist ways until they start losing elections. Let's see what happens.
]]>