Di's 1010 group list

So far I have 11 topics, one is an alternate. I am trying to stick to used books. And no new or on-line shopping until after the hew year.

Here are my categories so far: (updated 11/19/09)

1-Elizabethan London/Shakespeare
2-Classics
3-History (mainly Medici)
4-Science
5-Sci-Fi/Fantasy/alternate history
6-Autobiography/biography
7-Read the book/see the movie - www.misfit.org has a list that helped with this one
8-mixed bag - anything I bloody want to read
9-Language/writing
10-Romance/mystery

Hopefully I have a good mix of fast reads and some more meaty subjects

DS
(Bruce's evil twin, who was too lazy to change her name - deal with it :-))

Elizabethan London/Shakespeare

1- Shakespeare's Wife by Germain Greer
2- Shakespeare The Pattern in his Carpet by Francis Fergusson
3- Think on My Words by David Crystal
4- 845865::The Government of Elizabethan England by smithagr::AGR Smith
5- Elizabeth's Spymaster by Robert Hutchinson
6- Elizabeth's Women; Friends, Rival and Foes who Shaped the Virgin Queen by bormantracy::tracy Borman
7- Shakespeare by Another Name by Mark Anderson
8-
9-
10-

Classics

1- The tragedy of Man by Imre Madach
2- Hero With A Thousand Faces Joseph Campbell
3- Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
4- Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll
5- The Wonderful World of OZ by L Frank Baum
6- Raffles; The Amateur Cracksman by E W Hornung
7- The Land of Green Ginger by Noel Langley
8- The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton
9- Beauty and the Beast by Marie de Prince de Beaumont
10-

History (mainly Medici)

1- Her Own Life: Autobiographical writing by Seventeenth-Century Englishwomen
2- Moda a Firenze 1540-1580: Lo stile di Eleonora di Toledo e la sua influenza
3- Corsets: Historical Patterns & Techniques by salenjill::Jill salen
4- 151918::A Venetian Affair by Andrea di Robilant
5- Georgiana, duchess of devonshire by Amanda Foreman
6-
7-
8-
9-
10-

Science

1 Black Holes and Baby Universes and Other Essays by Stephen Hawking 01/03/10
2 The Science of Doctor Who by Paul Parsons
3- The Science of the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
4- The Discovery of Time by Stuart McCready
5- Schaum's Easy Outlines: Discrete Mathmatics
6- The Seven Daughters of Eve by Bryan Sykes
7- the paleo Solution: The Orginal Human Diet by Robb wolf
8-
9-
10-

Sci-Fi/Fantasy/alternate history/

1- The Free Lunch by Spider Robinson
2- Gloriana's Torch by Patricia Finney
3- Fortress Draconis by Michael A Stackpole
4- Furies of Calderon by Jim Butcher
5- Academ's Fury by Jim Butcher
6- Cursor's Fury by Jim Butcher
7- 2814053::Captain's Fury by Jim Butcher
8- 8615416::Steamed by Katie MacAlister
9- Dead and Gone by Charlaine Harris
10- Thomas Riley by Nick Valentino
11 The Unsuspecting Mage by Brian S Pratt
12 The Fires of Prophecy by Brian S Pratt
13 Bright of the Sky by Kay Kenyon

Autobiography/biography

1- Time Lord: Sir Sandford Fleming and the Creation of Standard Time by Clark Blaise
2- Turquoise: A Chef's Travels in Turkey by Greg & Lucy Malouf
3- La Place de la Concorde Suisse by John McPhee
4- Lost in Translation by Eva Hoffman
5- My Name Escapes Me by Alec Guinness
6- So Me by Graham Norton
7- The Professor and the Madman: A Tale of Murder, Insanity, and the Making of the Oxford English Dictionary
8- Up Till Now by Willaim Shatner
9- 3917136::the Man Who Made Lists: Love, Death, madness and the creation of Roget's Thesaurus
10- Incognito Street by Barbara Sjoholm
11 How to Cook a Dragonby furiyalinda::Linda Furiya
12 Holy Cow by Sarah MacDonald

Read the book/see the movie

1- Confessions of a Shopaholic by Sopie Kinsella
2- Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day by Winifred Watson
3- Hogfather by Terry Pratchett
4- Club Dumas by Arturo Perez-Reverte
5- The Spy Who Came in from the Cold by John le Carre
6- Rosemcrantz & Gildernstern Are Dead by Tom Stoppard
7- Neverwhere by Niel Gaiman
8- The Curious Case of Benjamin Button by F Scott Fitzgerald
9-
10-

mixed bag

1- Slow Man by Jm Coetzee
2- Craking Codes & Cryptograms for Dummies
3- The Secret of Lost Things
4- Don't Retire, Rewire! by Jeri Sedlar and Rick Miners
5- Where Flavor was Born by Andreas Viestad
6- Careers for Foreign Language Aficionados & Other Multilingual Types
7- Quick Pickles: Easy Recipes with Big Flavor
8- appetizers Finger Food Buffets & Parties by bridgetjones::Bridget Jones
9- The Hindi-Bindi Club by monica Pradhan
10- 111048::Goddess of Yesterday by Caroline B Cooney
11- 4562022::A French Restoration: The Pleasures and perils of renovating a property in France by kristenclive::Clive Kristen and David Johnson
12 - Chocolate Wishes by Trisha Ashley

Language/writing

1- The Language Instinct: How the Mind Creates Language by Steven Pinker
2- Language Myths
3- The Complete Idiots's Guids to Weird Word Origins by mcfedriespaul:: Paul McFedries
4- The Politics of Language: Conflict, Identity and Cultural Pluralism in Comparative Persprctive
5- 25359::They Have a word for It by rheingoldhoward::Howard Rheingold
6- Serendipites: Language and Lunacy by Umberto Eco
7- English as a Global Language by David Crystal
8- 201 Turkish Verbs by Talat Sait Halman
9- Elementary Turkish by thomaslewisv:: Lewis V Thomas
10- How To Learn Any Language by Barry Farber

Romance/mystery - finished 05/15/10

1- Eggs in Purgatory by Laura Childs
2- Queen of Dragons by Shana Abe
3- Invisible Lives by Anjali Banerjee
4- The Geographer's Library by Jon Fasman
5- bimbos of the Death Sun by Sharyn McCrumb
6- Duchess of Aquitaine by Margaret Ball
7- Heart of the Dragon by Gena Showalter
8- The Kiss Murder by Mehmet Murat Somer
9- Most Eagerly Yours: Her Majesty's Secret Servants by Allison Chase
10- Testing Miss Toogood by Stella Cameron
11- When A Lady Misbehaves bt Michelle Marcos

Do you plan to go wild in the New Year? I'm hoping that certain relatives will continue their habit of just giving me bookstore giftcards. They always seem to think that a giftcard is a failure of imagination, and I keep pointing out that said giftcard makes me extremely happy, but someday they may decide to get me a sweater or scented candles and I will be filled with sorrow.

Hopefully I will be able to pace myself. We are big book readers and Bruce’s family is also avid readers so we often times get books for gifts from them. The house in the Bahamas doesn’t have a TV or stereo so books are a very important part of any trip there. People bring them down and leave them so if you run out there are always interesting books to read. That is how I found Three Cups of Tea.

I like the challenge of looking for books at the used bookstores. I love to wander around the stacks of old books. But I am trying to limit myself so I don’t get crazy and get all of the books in January. I am also trying to check compare prices on Amazon with what I find in the bookstores. I found one book locally for about $10-15 more then it was listed on Amazon. Of course I don’t have to pay shipping and I can readily see its condition . . .

There are two really nice used book stores not far from where I currently work, not for from the University of Minnesota. And I am not talking Half Price Books chain store clones, I am talking floor to ceiling mazes with cramped alcoves of books filled with non-mainstream titles, with books overflowing to chairs and the floor.

We also bought a new car in June and that takes a huge amount of our disposable income, so that will also prevent me from going too wild. But we L-O-V-E our Mini. I am sure most people look at one and think small, gets good gas mileage but you need a good wind to get any speed out of it. Hah, we broke 100 mph today (just for a tiny bit), you think that you are ambling along and you look down and you’re going 100. I am sure that the people we passed were wondering what was that white speck that zoomed by us? Could we have gotten a more reasonably priced car? Maybe but it’s fun and fits our 4 most important criteria: good gas mileage, good visibility, the mechanic agrees that it is a reliable car (Consumer Reports liked it too) and my 6 foot 5 hubby had to fit into it comfortably. Maybe he fits into it too comfortably . . . it is ‘my’ car afterall.

I am excited to finish the 999 challenge and have January arrive!

DS

We have two minis--a 1963 version which is about the size of a sandwich, and is kept for sentimental reasons (and not for reliability) and an new one. They are fun to drive, get great mileage and fit a lot more inside than you'd think. Also, you can always find a parking place and people smile at you when they see it. It's a happy car.

When I schoul give you a list of Themes in That i select my books than this list.

1. The mathematics
2. The pyhsic and chemestry
3. The psychology Adler Freud Jung
4. The Science per Soul

5. The Big Literature
6. The Art
7. The Religion

I'm really excited to see what you put in your Language/Writing category, though I'll probably end up adding all of them to my TBR list. Good luck with your challenge! (:

Black holes and Baby Universes and Other Essays

This is my first book for the challenge. So far it is really enjoyable.

DS
(Bruce's evil twin :-))

Black Holes & Baby Universes is a collection of essays written by Stephen Hawking and one interview. The essays were originally given as lectures. The interview was for a long running British radio program called Desert Island Disks. The person being interviewed gets to pick 8 CD’s, one book (your basic kit includes the religious book of your choice and the complete works of Shakespeare), and one luxury item that they would want to have with them if they were stranded on a desert island.

These essays are not in-depth studies of scientific theories but rather they are like snapshots created with words. What I liked about this book was the fact that the same topics were covered multiple times, each a bit differently. For me, as a person who really hasn’t thought about science since school, the repetition helps me retain more. The fact that each topic is explained in a different way each time is also nice.

I think that it is important to remember that these essays were not originally meant to be presented in written form but as lectures or speeches. The more autobiographical ones are from talks presented to various motor neuron disease societies. I think that many people are disappointed in this book because they think that it should be the same quality as something that has always been in book form. Obviously more work goes into a book then into a lecture or speech.

Overall I found this a very enjoyable book.

DS
(Bruce's evil twin :-))

The Language Instinct by Steven Pinker

I started reading this book over the weekend, in-between working on the house & running errands. It is very interesting so far. It is slow going as I am trying to work at retaining more of the information, instead of just merrily reading away, in which case I would probably already be done with it. So I am pretty much reading everything at least twice. I read it and then go over it again taking notes with a pad and pen. Later I redo them on the computer. It is really keeping me focused on what I have read and getting the ideas more solidified in my head. I am sure that it is just a warm up for the coming year!

I am also working on learning the vocabulary list for the GRE (in my copious spare time of course.) It certainly won’t hurt and when I can go back to school & finish my degree I won’t have to stress as much for the exam, unless of course I chicken out and don’t go to graduate school! Besides I am pretty sure that 90% of them I would already get the correct answers on a multiple choice test. I usually get all of the vocab in the Readers Digest correct already.

Pinker is a pretty entertaining writer. Linguistics is not normally a subject that is written for a general, non-academic audience, but I think that this book makes the subject more accessible to your average reader who is interested in learning more about language. And since it was a national bestseller, and two of his other books were Pulitzer Prize finalists lots of other people also feel that he is a good writer.

First what is instinct? He doesn’t really cover that in the book, to my liking anyway, so I looked it up. Wikipedia says that it is an inherent disposition of a living organism to a particular behavior. Repeated behavior is considered instinctual. In 1961 a number of criteria were established that enabled instinctual behavior to be distinguished from other kinds of behavior. It must be automatic and irresistible, occur at some point in development, be triggered by something in the environment, be done by every member of the species, be unmodifiable and be a behavior that needs no training. He does explain how language fits these criteria, even though he doesn’t say that these are the criteria for instincts.

I am about 1/3 through the book so far. It makes me think of my high school English class. Our teacher had these sentence patterns, there were 10 of them I think, he made us memorize them and then we were tested on them all the time. Thankfully I had a friend who was also an English teacher and she explained that it was something my teacher had made up.

Anyway this book talks about some of the other rules that English teachers have been teaching us over the years that aren’t really correct and why they aren’t correct. But then you learn about how it is set up and how everything works. How sentences are structured like trees and how each part is like a module and they can be taken out, moved around, and plugged in someplace else. It talks about words like ‘of’ and ‘the’, how some words are ‘fossils’ from older languages, like how the plural of mouse is mice instead of ‘mouses’.

I guess one nice thing about Minnesota winters is it is a good time for more intellectual pastimes, curling up with the “puppy”, kitties and a good book, without being distracted by lush green foliage and happily chirping birds. Though I can say for sure that my little British car is so far not impressed with its first MN winter. It was 9 below this morning and my poor car made some mournful noises, and warning indicators telling me how unhappy it was. So the new regime is to go out, start it, let it run for about 5 minutes and then turn it off and let it sit for a bit before venturing out into the frozen tundra. It gets to go in for a checkup tomorrow.

DS
(Bruce's evil twin :-))

I haven't read The language instinct but really enjoyed The blank slate by Pinker a couple of years ago.

The Language Instinct by Steven Pinker

Finished it. Wow there is really a lot of ground covered in this book. Very interesting & informative.

DS
(Bruce's evil twin :-))

The Tragedy of Man by Imre Madach

After finishing this book as my second book for the 1010 challenge. I think I am in need of something lighter! I will have to think a bit before I write about this book. Maybe soemthing for my 75 book list. . .

DS

(Bruce's evil twin :=))

Slow Man by J M Coetzee

Book 3 for the 1010 challenge (book 5 for the year)

Ok, obviously Sci Fi/Fantsy has totally ruined me for other genres. The author is a Nobel Prize winner, I was some how expecting more.

So the main character, wait let me look up what his name was . . . oh yeah, Paul. So the main character, Paul Rayment, is so not remarkable, or interesting, or anything that a main character should be. Yes he got hit by a car & lost his leg, falls in love with his nurse. . . ho hum. Why do we care? Is he angry? Maybe, sort of. Oh and he’s 60, which is supposed to be old. Then this weird woman turns up out of no where, and knows things about everyone that no one should know about, and doesn’t really explain anything. About the only thing that I can say is the ending is just like the rest of the book, totally confusing and unclear.

DS
(Bruce's evil twin :-))

Time Lord: Sir sandford Fleming and the Creation of Standard Time by Clark Blaise

Book 4 for the 1010 challenge (book 6 for the year)

Time is something that we don't even think about anymore. Ok, we think about time, about how much we need, or don’t have but we don’t actually think about the mechanics of time, how it was decided that the day starts at midnight and midnight started when and everything else that it entails.

When did space & time become an inseparable pair? When did time start to matter? What did people do before standard time?

This book explains about when time started to matter, when the steam engine, trains and the telegraph became prevalent and life started to move faster. Before the train it didn’t matter that you lost an ‘hour of time’ for every 1000 miles, no one could travel or communicate fast enough for it to matter.

In today’s world we take standardization pretty much for granted (unless you are traveling in Europe with electronic equipment – just ask Jeremy Clarkson about that!) Trains move from country to country, we can look at a chart and see what time it is in another part of the world, ‘a pound is a pound the whole world round’. We can travel the speed of sound and no one gives it a second thought, where in the Victorian world the advent of the train and the car were such a change that people were having nervous breakdowns.

I found this a very enjoyable book. And perfect timing for me (no pun intended) as we are starting to plan and work on our Steam punk outfits for CONvergence (a sci fi convention here in MN every July.) This book has really gotten me in the mood for designing some outfits!

DS
(Bruce's evil twin :-))

Must not go to the bookstore, must not go to the bookstore. . .

Ok, so I went to the bookstore, to pick up a book that I had them put on hold, so I wouldn't spend zillions of money on more books. I got Hero with a Thousand Faces, that was the one on hold. But I had to wait while the only clerk helped someone bringing in books (it was a used bookstore in Dinkytown) and I couldn't just STAND there, well, ok, maybe I could have. So I got 5 more books, really I didn't stray more then 10 feet from the counter! Never heard of any of them, but the titles caught my eye and here they are:

the Book of Illusions by Paul Auster
Moon Palace by Paul Auster
The Life and Growth of Language by William Dwight Whitney (really this ONE should already have been on my wish list)
Eats, Shoots and Leaves by Lynne Truss (I actually have heard of this book before)
Jennifer Goverment by Max Barry

DS
(Bruce's evil twin :-))

I'm sure they release pheromones that relax your inhibitions about spending money in those places. No matter how good your intentions are you always leave with more than you went in for.

Shakespeare's Wife by Germaine Greer

6 down. . . 94 more to go.

I was a bit worried when I started reading chapter one. The reviews that I had read most people said that they liked the book (though one reviewer said “too much historical details and no plot”, um, you were looking for plot? Wrong genre.) The first chapter has a lot names, once I was able to get past that chapter it was a lot easier to read. You must remember that this is not a story with a plot, but rather an attempt to discover more about the woman who was married to William Shakespeare.

Who was Ann Hathaway? The answer is we don’t really know, even less then we really know about Shakespeare, which really isn’t very much. What we little we do know about her is very sketchy. So how do you write a book about her? How do you measure a black hole? You measure it by seeing how it interacts with ordinary matter & radiation around it. You look for the stuff that you don’t find, you look at the things that were common to the period, you trace members of the families, friends, neighbors and enemies through wills, court documents, diaries, and any other documents from the period.

The author also takes what some Shakespearian scholars have said about Ann (she was illiterate, she was an older seductress who got pregnant and forced 18-year-old William to marry her, she was hated & despised by her husband and that is why he deserted with her & their children, etc) and gives pretty good evidence that what they are saying is most likely not correct. True, we will probably never know one way or another, but the author’s evidence is more believable and has a better foundation then the arguments of Ann’s detractors.

You will certainly have a better idea of what life was like for an ordinary Elizabethan woman when you are done with this book, even if you do not agree with the author’s conclusions about Ann Hathaway.

DS
(Bruce's evil twin :-))

The Free Lunch by Spider Robinson

7 down . . . 93 more to go.

This was an amusing and quick read, just what the doctor ordered, especially since I have just wheedled my way into going to Costume-Con in Milwaukee in May! Must make costumes! Corsets, and bustles oh my! Thank goodness that one of the books that I just finished for the 75 book challenge is Janet Arnold’s Patterns of Fashion 2!

We are also looking to get a group of people together for the 2011 Costume-con in NJ next year. Maybe then I will actually have a chance to meet my 2 friends from work who I have been e-mailing for 10 years! Then again, maybe CONvergence has ruined me for any other Con and after May I must just change my mind. Of course since Costume-Con comes before CONvergence this would mean that we would always have kick-ass costumes for it every year. . . .

Aliens & thugs! Or are they? Hiding out & living in an amusement type park, magic and a 12 year old boy outwitting the adults. Maybe my nephew would like this too.

DS
(Bruce;s evil twin :-))

Her Own Life: Autobiographical writings by seventeenth-century Englishwomen

8 down 92 to go!

I was expecting this to be more like Margery Kempe’s autobiography. Instead it seems to be more about the women writing pious explinations of their lives, and were obviously for public consumption. See how pious I am, see what wrongs people have done to me, a poor & constand Christian woman. In otherwords, no my cup of tea.

But speaking of tea! My next book is Eggs in Purgatory by Laura Childs who is also the author of the Tea Shop Mysteries. And she is a MN author - bonus!

DS
(Bruce's evil twin :-))

Eggs in Purgatory by Laura Childs

9 down 91 to go. . .

Laura Childs always seems to deliver a good read, and complete with recipes. A widow and 2 friends open a coffee shop/cafe in their small town. A local lawyer, and friend is killed in their parking lot.

DS
(Bruce's evil twin :-))

Language Myths

10 down 90 to go. . . .

This little book has 21 essays written by linguists on some of the most popular language myths.

1 – The meanings of words should not be allowed to vary or change
2 –Some languages are just not good enough
3 – The media are ruining English
4 – French is a logical language
5 – English spelling is Kattastroffik
6 – Women talk too much
7 – Some languages are harder than others
8 – Children can’t speak or write properly anymore
9 – In the Appalachians they speak like Shakespeare
10 – Some languages have no grammar
11 - Italian is beautiful, German is ugly
12 – Bad grammar is slovenly
13 – Black children are verbally deprived
14 – Double negatives are illegal
15 – TV makes people sound the same
16 – You shouldn’t say ‘It is me’ because ‘me’ is accusative
17 – They speak really bad English down South & in New York City
18 – Some languages are spoken more quickly than others
19 – Aborigines speak a primitive language
20 – Everyone has an accent except me
21 – America is ruining the English language

Language is a living thing, used by living beings; therefore it is inevitable and even healthy for it to change. As the saying goes - change or die. The only languages that do not change are the ones that are ‘dead’ like Latin. Our world is changing everyday and our language needs to change to accommodate this. If our words cannot change how do we come up with new words? Most of the myths are more like the old “they said” statements where no one knows who “they” are. If you stop and really think about the statements you will soon be asking yourself whether they could possibly be true. Do women speak more than men? No, they usually speak less, so why is the belief that they talk too much so common? Children can’t write or speak properly anymore. When did the majority of children speak or write properly? Can a language be a language if it has no grammar? Can grammar be bad?

What is the purpose of language? The purpose of language is to allow people to exchange information; grammar is the rules that each language follows so we can understand what is being said. Without grammar language is just a list of words.

Obviously need to stop reading & get some sleep. I found this an interesting and good read.

DS

(Bruce's evil twin :-)

Glroiana's Torch by Patricia Finney

11 down 89 to go.

I was perhaps expecting too much from this book.

I found the characters very flat, I never really got to ‘know’ any of them to really care for them. The going back and forth and experiencing events via different characters view points was not done well, instead it was very distracting and really if I didn’t find events interesting the first time why would I want to read about them again if I already new what the outcome would be?

The character Merula, a black slave who was a witch or a shaman, was very interesting, but the story could have perhaps been better if she wasn’t included. She didn’t really add anything except to make it more confusing. Or perhaps, the whole story should have been from her perspective only.

All in all instead of a nice relaxing read I found it quite laborious to read.

DS
(Bruce's evil twin :-))

Shakespeare The Pattern in his Carpet by Francis Fergusson

Not quite a third of the way through, I am rather enjoying it. At least I expect it to be a bit on the laborious side!

DS

(Bruce's evil twin :-))

Cracking Codes & Cryptograms for Dummies

12 down 88 to go.

This is a quick look at some codes and cryptograms with the majority of the book being examples for you to try and figure out. It was entertaining, but I guess I didn’t look at it that closely when I bought it. I was hoping for a bit more history etc, and not so many puzzles.

Ds

(Bruce's evil twin :-))

13 & 14 down 86 left to go. . .

Science of Doctor Who by Paul Parsons

I like the way that this book is broken down, first you look at the Doctor and the Tardis then you look at the aliens, robots, psychic paper and other stuff. It covers whether something really can be bigger on the inside (yes if you have enough ‘exotic’ matter), is it possible to travel in time? How and if some of the aliens that the Doctor has encountered could really exist: Ice Warriors of Mars, Slitheen, Sontaran, Autons just to name a few. I was really amazed at some of the things that scientists have been doing around the world.

I really enoyed it.

Confessions of a Shopaholic by Sophie Kinsella

Quick & entertaining, just what the doctor ordered after so many heavier subjects. I see that there are more ‘shopaholic’ books that I should check out.

Of course most of us can empathize with the main character, Rebecca, at least a little bit. She has a problem, shopping, she is in a job that she doesn’t enjoy, and doesn’t quite make enough money. And given the name of the book you know that she is going to have a hard time giving up her shopping. But it is a nice story about a girl trying to figure out where she fits in and what she should be doing with her life.

DS
(Bruce's evil twin :-))

I read a Science of Superman or something like that book one time that I also enjoyed. This one sounds like fun too.

Fortress Draconis by Michael A Stackpole

15 down 85 left to go. . . .

I got this series becuase I listened to some podcasts with him (he has a nice voice by the way) and liked what he said, and he seems like a very knowledgabe.

I think that I would have enjoyed the book more if I had read the books previous. You don't need to have read them to understand or follow the story, but I think that it would have had more depth to me personally if I had read the other ones first. I like the characters, so I will be looking forward to where they end up.

DS
(Bruce's evil twin :-))

I am looking forward to the Science of Hitchhikers Guide that I found at the bookstore too.

Bruce said that he is realy enjoying the Science of Doctor Who. He said that he has marked a bunch of pages where he wants to find more about it.

DS

(Bruce's evil twin :-))

Queen of Dragons by Shana Abe

16 down and 84 left to go. . . .

Ok, here is the second book in a row that I obviously should have read the books that came before. It was ho-hum. Too many plotl ines, not enough suspense, seems like an incomplete story, maybe trying to make you want to get the next book? Eh, not likely.

DS
(Bruce's evil twin :-))

Turquoise: A Chef's Travels in Turkey by Greg & Lucy Malouf

17 down and 83 left to go.

Turquoise: A Chef's Travels in Turkey by Greg & Lucy Malouf

This book can only be described as delicious. The pictures make you want to find your passport and jump on a plane and go to far off countries, where there are buildings from distant times, exotic people and shadowed bazaars that sell mysterious things. The recipes make you want to run to your local ethnic grocery and buy things like sumac and pomegranate molasses. Thankfully I live in a section of Minneapolis that has a wide variety of Middle Eastern groceries. And I already have many of the ingredients in my kitchen.

This book is the same size and similar format as Jeffrey Alford & Naomi Duguid’s cookbooks Beyond the Great Wall, Hot, Sour, Salty, Sweet and Mangos and Curry Leaves. Interestingly enough they are not from the same publisher.

The Malouf’s spent 5 weeks traveling around Turkey and this book covers their travels, the people they met & food that they experienced. The recipes are more interpretations of the foods that they experienced then authentic Turkish recipes. It certainly lived up to the high rating that it got on Amazon (15 out of the 16 reviews gave it 5 stars.)

In the preface they said that their friends mostly thought that Turkish food consisted of “endless versions of oily braised eggplant.” Obviously their friends had much different experiences of Turkish food then I did. Growing up I had two friends, brothers, who are Turkish, in fact one currently teaches at a university in Istanbul. Besides being too good looking, too smart and too talented to be real (I have a song on my iPod from iTunes to prove I am not exaggerating), their mother is the most fabulous cook. Thankfully they were also too well brought up to be anything but nice. I am sure that I never had anything with eggplant in it, thankfully since they make me ill. If they were having a get together at their house you HAD to go because the food was always fabulous. Of course now you can get many of the ingredients at almost any local grocery store, but 30-35 years ago (oh, my I am getting old!) it was much harder to find ingredients, which makes her cooking even more amazing.

About the only thing that I can think of that would have made this book better was to have included some charcuterie recipes. They talk about pastirma (similar to pastrami) and other sausages and include them in recipes it would have been really nice to have had a recipe for them. Also the recipe for Orange Preserves is a bit ambiguous, do you use the whole orange or just the zest? Usually in a recipe that you don’t use the entire orange it will say reserve the orange sections for another recipe or something. Here is just says – ‘Peel the oranges, removing as much pith as you can from the peelings.’ And that is the last you see of the orange, everything after that is peel. If you have seen the finished product, you would of course know if you use the whole orange or not. The next recipe for Quince preserves says ‘Peel and core the quinces, reserving everything. Put the peelings and cores into a large, heavy-based saucepan.’ So what does one do with the 2 ½ pounds of peeled oranges? I always feel that if you don’t use them in the recipe you should say use them in recipe B or something. Like a recipe for custard should say something like reserve the egg whites and use them to make angle food cake or meringues.

The pictures are amazing, and I really would have liked to have had a photo of each of the dishes.

DS

(Bruce's evil twin :-))

Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day by Winifred Watson

18 down 82 left to go!

I was delighted when I saw this book on another 1010 category thread. I had no idea it was also a book! I always wanted to get the movie. So I got both the book and the movie.

The book is so delightful. Poor Miss Pettigrew, this is her last hope, if she can’t make this job work the employment agency is done with her and her landlady told her that if she didn’t have a job don’t bother coming back to her room. She braces herself and steps outside of her comfort zone and tackles the problems of her new employer Miss LaFosse. It’s like Cinderella without the ugly step-sisters.

It is not hard to see why this book is on the list of 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die.

I must say that I was totally disappointed by the movie though. They put Miss Pettigrew and Miss LaFosse’s friend Edythe in conflict over a man, instead of having Miss Pettigrew fix Edythe’s man troubles along with Miss LaFosse’s. They also added a bit of unneeded ‘drama’ with everyone thinking that Miss Pettigrew had worked for Carol Lombard, when in the book no-one ever asked why she showed up at the door in the first place because they were to busy putting fires out. There are other things too, but oh well.

I really liked the book.

DS

(Bruce's evil twin :-))

Hogfather by Terry Pratchett

19 down and 81 left to go!

I got both the movie and the book. The movie follows the book pretty accurately, pretty much like comparing the Harry Potter movies with the HP books. There are a few minor differences and of course the book is better, since it has more depth that you really can’t get in a movie. Of course the bonus of the movie is that Terry Pratchett himself plays the toymaker.

Terry Pratchett, if you are not familiar with him, is a master of humorous fantasy, and creator of Discworld, a flat world balanced on the backs of four elephants which, in turn, stand on the back of a giant turtle called Great A’Tuin. He was the UK’s best selling author until JK Rowling and the Harry Potter books came along. Most Discworld stories stand alone as independent works set in the same fantasy universe.

In Hogfather the Auditors decide to eliminate the Hogfather (the Discworld equivalent of Santa Claus) because he does not fit into their view of the universe. To prevent the end of humanity Death takes over Hogfathers’s role, because if there is no Hogfather the sun will not rise. Susan, Death’s granddaughter, is trying to live a ‘normal’ life as a governess who can see the monsters and has a knack with a poker. Susan gets involved because Death uses a bit of reverse psychology and tells her not to. He needs her help because she can go to the place where he cannot go and help bring back the Hogfather.

Terry Pratchett is vastly amusing, very entertaining but on the other hand very scary. Because underneath all that silliness are some very heavy thoughts. Towards the end after running around with the Oh god of hangovers, riding Death’s horse Binky and various other amusing things Susan and Death talk about what would have happened if they hadn’t ‘saved’ the Hogfather and Death explains that humans need fantasy to be human. “To be the place where the falling angel meets the raising ape. . . you have to start out learning to believe the little lies” To which Susan asks “so we can can beleive the big ones?” Deaths reply is “Yes, Justice. Mercy. Duty. That sort of thing. . . you need to believe in things that aren’t true. How else can they become?”

Acording to the Dicsworld philosoper Didactylos “Things happen. What the hell.”

I very much recommend this book to anyone with a sense of humor.

DS

(Bruce's evil twin :-))

>41 bruce_krafft: I'm adding Turquoise: A Chef's Travels in Turkey to my wish list. It sound interesting.

>41 bruce_krafft: You shoud also check out Jeffrey Alford & Naomi Duguid’s cookbooks if you have a chance.

DS

(Bruce's evil twin :-))

20 down!

La Place de la Concorde Suisse by John McPhee

I don’t remember where I first saw this book mentioned, but it caught my interest since my Grandmother was the 1st child in her family to be born in the US, her brothers all being born in Bern. And of course I remember seeing the Löwendenkmal (Lion Monument) in Lucerne dedicated to the loyalty and bravery of the Swiss, in rememberance of the Swiss guards who were massacred in 1792 in the French revolution. I know you don’t mess with the Swiss. But does anyone even remotely think about the Swiss having an army? They haven’t been in a war for over 500 years. And just how did they stay neutral when Germany was invading everyone else?

Switzerland is considered the ‘porcupine of Europe’. It is estimated that they can get 650,000 soldiers in the field in less then 48 hours. The Israeli army is a copy of the Swiss army. Israel copied the Swiss army? That should give you some idea about the effectivness of the Swiss. You would have to be pretty out of touch with the world not to know the reputation of the Israeli army.

First I must say that this book is relativly old since it was published in 1983. But really the basics probably haven’t changed too much. I found it very informative. It certainly makes you think about this quiet and beautiful country in a whole different light.

How different would the United States be if our National Guard was like the Swiss army?

DS

(Bruce's evil twin :-))

Still at 20 :-(

I am having trouble with The Secret of lost Things. I know many people have loved it, but it seems to drag for me. Maybe I was expecting too much from it because of all the good reviews? So far I am almost to the 1/2 mark. I guess I expected more plot before this. So far it has been what I would call mostly character development. I think that I would have an easier time with it, if what I was thinking was the main part of the plot had been introduced earlier and let the characters develop at the same time.

Another thing that I, personally, find hard about it is the main character’s relationship/obsession with two of the other characters. I suppose given her background, sheltered and not knowing who her father is, her attachment to these two men is understandable. But I don’t know, maybe when I finish the book I will feel differently, maybe it blends in with the plot instead of being just some odd quirk of the character. Or maybe it just reminds me of my own naiveté when I was her age, and makes me wonder if there were things/people that I was so clueless about.

Really when a book like Shakespeare The pattern in His Carpet is almost an ‘easier’ read I really start to think about whether I want to bother finishing it.

So of course the question for the weekend is - clean house or read?

DS

(Bruce's evil twin :-))

The Secret of lost Things by Sheridan Hay

21 down 79 left to go.

I would say that this book would have been better if most of the first 150 pages had been taken out and the second half of the book had been 'fleshed out more'. Last year I read several books on writing novels or stories. And one said that many times your story would be improved by getting rid of the first part of your book because it is usually full of needless details and background. Let the story fill in the details as you go.

So the first part of the book is long, drawn out and for the most part needless. The second part is captivating, but the end seems a bit rushed, especially after the author basically spends half the book on an introduction. All of a sudden it’s like oh times up the story has to end now. I was left feeling let down, what do you mean the story is done? It was like taking a leisurely stroll in the park and walking really slowly across the soccer field and then sprinting through the fairy grotto.

DS

(Bruce's evil twin :-))

Shakespeare: The Pattern in his carpet by Francis Fergusson

22 down and 78 left to go. . .

In this book the author explains the ‘poetic intention’ of Shakespeare’s 37 plays in a series of essays. The essays are presented in the chronological order of the plays as it is believed they were written. Fergusson gives the basics of Shakespeare’s core themes dividing Shakespeare’s work into four parts – apprenticeship, mastery of popular theater, maturity and final retrospect.

He does not address the mystery of who Shakespeare was, or any thing that was not contained in a play. He explains “the only way to understand what he (Shakespeare) saw is to be come familiar with the plays themselves, and then seek, by comparing them, the underlying vision from which they all sprang.”

I admit that I haven’t really given Shakespeare much thought since high school. Well except for wanting to get tickets to Hamlet last year, and be totally jealous of a friend’s good fortune to actually get to go and see David Tennant’s performance as Hamlet. I will have to be happy with the DVD. So I really don’t have much to compare this work with at the moment. I did find it very interesting, and I believe that I will find the plays easier to understand now that I have read this book.

DS
(Bruce's evil twin :-))

Don't retire, Rewire!

23 down and 77 to go . .

So here we are at the back end of 40 still wondering what we want to be when we grow up. Is this all there is? Is this what we want to be doing for the rest of our lives? Really, I don’t think so.

So where do you start? How do you go about figuring it out? Obviously you go to the books store and see what they have there!

OK, first I have to say I love the people that I work with. We have the same work ethic - do the job right the first time, be accountable for your actions, and the devil is in the details kind of mentality. The work itself? Not so much. It pays the bills, mostly, but I get up and go to work because of the people, but for the most part it really interferes with my reading! Without my spouse’s income or my extremely modest trust fund I would be very hard pressed to pay all the bills.

So I went to the local chain used bookstore (after I went on-line to that evil Amazon and ordered stuff of course.) And this is one of the books that I picked up.

It’s good/ok. It is of course geared to people who are looking at retiring. But really most of the things transfer over very neatly.

I like that it gives you a list of 30 ‘drivers’ (I think most people would call them motivators, but ‘what’s in a name’ right?) and then has 3 questions relating to each driver so you can figure out what drives you. This is really the stuff that I was interested in figuring out. But this book goes further. It asks you to make up a calendar of a normal workday. You know – when & what do you do everyday from when you get up and from when you go to bed at night? Ok, now take each item and see what ‘drivers’ it fulfills. Now make one up for when you retire. What do you think your normal day will be like then? And do the same thing, now if what you think that you are going to do don’t match up to your drivers, you will probably not be very happy.

This book makes you think about what happens when you retire. It is basically pointing out that life as you know it will be gone, and many people are unprepared for this. You need to know only prepare yourself financially ahead of time, but in the other areas of your life too.

I think that this has a lot of good questions that Bruce and I can ask ourselves so we are on the right track. I asked him last month what his 10 year plan was and it was basically living the same life we live now. I was like, no, that’s too static for me. So I am looking for questions to make him think. And I have discovered that I can’t let him see my answers because then he just says oh, that’s what I want too. And really, ok we do have very similar tastes, and interests but I think that we also need to explore how we are different.

DS
(Bruce's evil twin :-))

Lost in Translations} by Eva Hoffman

24 down and 76 to go, almost a quarter of the way done!

Here is another book that I think that I wasn’t in the right frame of mind to read. First the description is a bit misleading; it starts with her family moving to Canada from Poland, and a good part of the story takes place in Poland. Also, I am not sure that I would agree as to how much it is about struggling with a new language. Yes it was an issue, but I think mostly it was the culture that was the real struggle. It’s not just language its also shared experiences, shared world views and all the other things that make up culture.

She is a good writer, though.

DS
(Bruce's evil twin :-))

Invisible Lives

25 down and 75 to go.

I really liked this book. I couldn’t wait to find out what the main character, Lakshmi Sen did. Will she marry the man that her mother found for her, the man who her dead father wanted her to marry? Or will she allow herself to be carried away by the sexy blonde American?

And what about the mysterious ring that was found in the shop’s bathroom pipe? Lakshmi finds out, what most of us find out, is that she really doesn’t know who her mother is. We all have secrets of some kind, don’t we?

My sister-in-law and I had a good laugh about the Indian girl being attracted to & thinking about marrying the blonde American, since that is what she did. Of course we tease him that he had to leave Montana and marry a Canadian in Arizona.

DS
(Bruce's evil twin :-))

The Complete Idiot's Guide to weird Word Origins by Paul Mc Fredries

26 down and 74 to go. . . .

I of course saw this and had to get it, even though I probably already knew most of the stuff in there. What I did learn was that the -le, suffix means "appliance, tool". So handle is a tool for the hand, ladle is a loading tool (lade to load), thimble is a thumb tool. Of course this also makes me want to read more about the different meanings of prefixes & suffixes, beyond the common ones that everyone knows.

The author was very amusing (as are most of the Idiot’s or Dummies books.) It also has a list of books in the back that you may want to look into if you want to learn more, a list of 10 websites to check out and a short list of “some etymology words that you should know”.

DS

(Bruce's evil twin :-))

the Geographer's Library by Jon Fasman

27 down and 73 to go!

This book is really two stories interwoven together. There is the present day death of a mysterious professor of history who no one seems to know, and the older story of artifacts that were stolen from ‘the geographer’s library’. It was terrible disappointing. The characters had so much potential, and with most books that I have read with the dual story line, it seems that there wasn’t enough ‘meat’ on either story to make a book so they were combined to fill out the pages.

Oh, well. Another day another book.

DS
(Bruce's evil twin :-))

Where Flavor Was Born by Andreas Viestad

28 down and 72 to go

I got this book for a really good price at the bookstore, and it has such beautiful pictures I of course couldn’t resist. It also has descriptions and stories about the different locations that the author went to get the ‘story’ on each of the spices.

He is a very visual writer, “Let the rain kiss you and tap you on your head like silver drop, let the rain play a lullaby on your roof when you go to bed. Tap, tap, tap, a thousand different rhythms, a long-lost blues that turns the rivers red.” You get transported to far off lands where they speak different languages and have different ways of thinking. Hot, humid islands where the smell of spice fills the air. Try some melon with pepper, or pineapple “with or without”, with is with spicy tandori-style spice mix and chili powder. Or maybe some coconut cardamom pancakes, it all loots good.

DS
(Bruce's evil twin :-))

Ergh! We got food poisoning in AZ and haven’t picked up a book since! But I do have 16 new books! Including God Created the Integers, just a little *light* reading by Stephen Hawking – it’s almost 1300 pages long! Holy Cow! I might have to hold off on that one!

I also picked up Moda a Firenze 1540-1580: Lo stile di Eleonora di Toledo e la sua influenza (English and Italian Edition) and Corsets: Historical Patterns & Techniques at the AZ Ren Festival. The Eleonora di Toledo book has lots of great pictures.

First recovery and then serious reading!

DS
(Bruce’s evil twin :-))

Careers for Foreign Language Aficionados & Other Multilingual Types

29 down 71 to go!

This is a book that I got on a whim. Yes the information could be found on-line very easily but I like having a paper version, and it is nicely organized.

DS
(Bruce's evil twin :-))

Hope you feel better soon.

Thanks Cmbohn! Mostly I am just tired now, but too much to do! CONvergence is coming up & lots of things to plan & do. CostumeCon is coming & no new outfit. . . .tomorrow cleaning & reading! Today CON meetings & socializing!

DS
(Bruce's evil twin :-))

My Name Escapes Me by Alec Guinness

30 down and 70 left to go!

This was a light and amusing read. Basically he was asked to keep a daily diary so they could do a year in the life of (the book covers January 1995 to June 6, 1996.) It could almost be about almost any person living in England who is married and over 80 who likes to buy lottery tickets and look at pretty girls. There is a lot of music listened to and museums visited, and of course the trials, problems and joys that come with being in your 80’s. Makes me want to get his previous autobio.

DS

(Bruce’s evil twin :-))

Furies of Calderon by Jim Butcher

31 down and 69 left to go. . .

Good read, where did we put the next book!

DS

(Bruce's evil twin :-))

Just ordered Bimbos of the Death Sun as it is supposed to be a book for an upcoming Geeks Read, and well since we volunteer major hours for our local sci-fi convention here CONvergence (check out their site http://www.convergence-con.org/) we couldn't resist it even if we don't normally participate in Geeks Read. I mean really a murder mystery at a sci-fi convention. It should be very amusing.

Other then this I am trying VERY hard not to buy any more new books until I finish the ones that I bought last month, which with COstume-con 28 looming in my future should take me longer then usual.

DS
(Bruce's evil twin :-))

Alice in Wonderliand and Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll

33 down and 67 left to go.

So in honor of the new Johnny Depp movie I decided to bite the bullet and read these two books. But then I was tempted by iTunes, and got them as an audio book read by Christopher Plummer.

Maybe I would have liked it more if I had read it as a child, but I do think that thet have always made a great movie.

DS

(Bruce's evil twin :-))

Bimbos of the Death Sun by Sharyn McCrumb

34 down and 66 left. . . .

I was right it was amusing. But I am not sure that I would recommend it to anyone. I guess the biggest mystery to me was why it took 120 pages of a 228 page book to kill of the victim. Yes we got that he was insufferable etc and everyone knew this. I guess that I would say if you were into murder mysteries, this one isn’t very good.

But I did like some of the characters especially Marion and Dr Mega, even if I don’t agree with her assessment that the people who go to sci-fi conventions are outcasts. Admittedly there are some but I think that the majority are very creative people that are very accepting of everyone’s foibles. I probably interact with the more outgoing & socially acceptable people of the group but still I find that a gross over generalization. Of course CONvergence is the only sci-fi convention that I have gone to so maybe the other ones may be that way.

DS

(Bruce's evil twin :-))

Duchess of Aquitaine by Margaret Bell

35 down 65 left . . .

This book was loaned to me by a friend who really enjoyed it. I found that the characters are really one dimensional, and there was very little character development. I also found the whole pagan ritual/beliefs to be poorly done and instead of bring more depth to the story I found them very jarring.

DS

(Bruce's evil twin :-))

Think on My Words by David Crystal

36 down 64 to go. . . .

I really enjoyed this book; it was completely different from what I thought that it was going to be.

I was thinking that it would be discussing what was actually said, like telling you how to interpret Hamlet’s speeches. Discussing how this line and that line is a good example of iambic pentameter etc. Instead it starts out talking about all of the myths of Shakespeare: he had the largest vocabulary of any English writer, he invented quarter/third/half of all of English words, we need to translate him to understand him, he can be identified by his style.

The next part is about the physical copies of his work – folio vs. quarto vs. octavo. How things were printed in Shakespeare’s time, what the alphabet looked like, how things were spelled, what punctuation was available, etc.

I think that if you have any interest in Shakespeare this is a great book to read.

DS

(Bruce’s evil twin :-))

Academ's Fury by Jim Butcher

37 down and 63 left. . . .

This is the second book in a series by the author of the Harry Dresden fantasy noir novels. It continues the story of Tavi, an orphaned Shepard boy who has been raised by his unmarried Aunt and widowed Uncle. Tavi is now living at the capital and going to the academy with the First Lord’s patronage. As in the first book Tavi is still fury-less and in a world where everyone has them this makes him a ‘freak’. He is resigned to life without a fury and is learning how to adapt, which makes him look at problems with a different prospective. There are a few more hints about who his parents, and if you don’t know for certain who they are by the end of this book you aren’t paying attention.

I can’t wait to go out and get the next books. In fact I think that I will go now!

Ds

(Bruce’s evil twin :-))

Cursor's Fury and Captian's Fury by Jim Butcher

38 & 39 down which leaves 61 left.

Slowly, slowly the details of Tavi’s parentage and possible talents come to light in books 3 & 4 of the Codex Alera series. As with the other books there is intrigue and lots of violence. War on two fronts while trying to keep a third adversary neutralized the First Lord has a lot going on. And Tavi and his friends are in the thick of it, causing problems and coming to the rescue. Now there are two other races that Tavi thinks that they should form alliances with and end year’s long animosity.

Where will it all end?

I really liked the story even though I was pretty tired I didn’t find too many spots where I skimmed so I could get further along in the story. I can’t wait to get the next book, as soon as I find the time to get to a bookstore. It looks like I will have to wait until almost December to get the 6th one in paperback.

I hear David Webber’s new book is about to come out. And that will be a must read! So I suppose it depends on which book we get first. I will have to let Bruce read the Webber book first though :-(

DS

(Bruce's evil twin :-))

So Me by Graham Norton

40 down 60 left!

What can I say about this book except that it is like the monologue from the TV show only longer and mostly about himself. It is laugh out loud funny.

If you have ever seen one of his TV shows or one of his performances and liked him, then you will love the book. If you have never heard of Graham Norton he is an gay, Irish, protestant comedian. He has a talk show sort of like the Tonight Show (only he’s actually funny.) However if you are easily offended, skip it.

Here is a quote where Graham discuses his driving-

“I love driving, but a bit like I am with sex, much as I enjoy it I can’t pretend that I’m very good at it. I try to tell myself that I will get better with experience, but in truth I have as much chance of parallel parking now as I did the day I took the test.”

On flying on the Concorde-

“You could sort of tell that the plane was full of really rich people. Before take-off, a nice steward came up to each passenger.

“Once we are in the air, would Sir like some champagne?”

Now, given how much the tickets for this plane cost, the correct response is, I believe “Yes, please, and could you put it in a bucket?’

One reviewer said that he told his story with ‘school boy glee’ and that’s exactly it. Yes, there are some places where I was moved to tears because you can’t and shouldn’t make everything sound funny.

If you are one of those people who listens to audio books and can find a copy of this I doubly recommend it since Graham is the person who recorded it too.

DS

(Bruce's evil twin :-))

Moda a Firenze 1540-1580: Lo stile di Eleonora di Toledo e la sua influenza

41 down 59 left to go. . .

This is an expensive book. It’s a big coffee table book, written in both Italian (?) and English and has wonderful, beautiful pictures. Keep napkins handy because it is drool worthy. It has been on my wish list forever. And probably would have stayed there if I hadn’t found a copy of it at the AZ Renn festival. I saw it, I touched it, I had to have it. Never mind that I just ordered a new pair of shoes! (Come August/September Bruce & I will both have two pairs of shoes and can get my 1st pair fixed! Ok he will have 3 pairs but his first pair doesn’t really fit anymore because he had toe surgery and straightened out his toes. Did I mention the 15EEEE size feet he has?)

I know I should not start on shoes, but let me tell you there is nothing like a nice pair of custom shoes, handcrafted by a real person who you can talk to, in America. No I am not one of those buy American for the sake of buying American kind of people. I am one of those people who prefer to buy things made by a real person, by an artisan and not mass produced. Did I mention that Bruce and I met while working at the MN Renaissance Festival?? And while I do have more then 1 pair of shoes, the shoes that I wear 99% of the time (when I am not wearing sandals) are my custom made shoes and yes they did cost more then my 1st car. Mind you they are 5 years old and the only thing wrong with them (besides not being able to find someone who can re-sole shoes properly) is I just started to get holes in the tops of my big toes. Apparently I walk with my toes pointing up and my toenails are wearing holes in them. Otherwise no one can tell that they are 5 years old. They are warm and thanks to Mrs. Hubbard’s Shoe Grease are pretty water proof and very soft. And did I mention that you can through them in the washer? Do that to a pair of shoes you bought at the store. We also keep our shoes in the oven at night (it is a lovely oven with bread proofing & also a dry setting (perfect for chips in the MN summer and shoes in the MN winter!) Before we had an old fashioned one with a pilot light that did the same thing.

I have been interested in Eleonora of Toledo ever since I got a copy of Janet Arnold's book Patterns of Fashion with the drawings and patterns for Eleonora’s funeral dress. I don’t know why that dress stands out and seems to be the most popular dress in the books, but there it is. Google Eleonora of Toledo and many of the sites will be talking about one of two dresses, the one in Janet Arnold’s book and the one on the cover of this book. I want to make each and every one of the outfits in this book! I think the partlets alone are worth the price of the book. Did I mention that I want to make them all?!?!

I love this book, but I am looking at it from mostly a costumer’s point of view. I know very little about Eleonora of Toledo since there seems to be very little written about her in English so I cannot say how accurate the facts are. Was it love at first sight? I have no clue, but it sounds nice doesn’t it? I am sure that my friends and I will spend many hours enjoying this book, even if we never get a chance to re-create any of the outfits.

DS
(Bruce's evil twin :-))

Corsets: Historical Patterns & Techniques by Jill Salen

42 down and 58 left to go. . . .

Ok, I know it is pushing the history category but I figure since most of the books in this category (and really about ½ of my categories) are a bit more of a challenge to read then that of most people I figure I can take an easy one once in awhile.

I loved the pictures and the detailed drawings. But I wish that there had been more on construction and fitting and the details like the decorative stitching used to keep the boning in place. And maybe some close up pictures of the details too.

DS
(Bruce's evil twin :-))

Club Dumas by Artura Perez-Reverte

43 down and 57 to go.

“. . . there are no innocent readers anymore. Each overlays the text with his own perverse view. A reader is the total of all he’s read, in addition to all the films and television he’s seen. To the information supplied by the author he’ll always add his own. And that’s where the danger lies. . .”

This book makes you want to run out, get and read The Three Musketeer’s. And then you want to read up on Alexander Dumas the man behind the story.

The main character, Lucas Corso, is a book mercenary - a book dealer/detective who finds rare books for wealthy clients. His job is to authenticate a book on the devil, one of three known to exist. Its owner is convinced is a forgery. He is also trying to authentic a chapter from the Three Musketeers for a friend. Circumstances make him wonder if the two works are somehow connected. Was Dumas a follower of the devil? Is that where he got his talent?

Was it murder or suicide? Who is the mysterious man with the scar?

There are little interesting bits of information, like Corso’s ex who is named Nikon and is a photographer, does it add or detract? What is its purpose? To mislead? To give depth to his character? I don’t know. How many people know who Nikon is/was (besides being a well known brand of camera)? The Corso character is treated as if he were going to be in a series of stories where personal information is slowly given out in each story, but he is not. So why be so miserly with the characters background?

Also, there are several rare books mentioned in the book. I think that I would have liked to have had a list at the end listing the books and a bit about them. For example Hypnerotomachia Poliphili by Francesco Colonna the title translated into English would be ‘Poliphilo's Strife of Love in a Dream’ and is a romance. It is a famous example of early printing and has long been sought after as one of the most beautiful incunabula ever printed. You can find a electronic copy of the 1592 English translation on the internet. Of course to be able to read it you will have to know a bit about the way some letters where printed then. Like ‘S’ is often represented as ‘f’ without the cross bar thingy – sorry can’t remember its name, the letters v & u are interchangeabble, but u is almost usually printed as a v in the beginning of a letter. (See I did learn something by reading Think on My words: Exploring shakespears Language & The Adventure of English. )

The book itself was good. But, for me at least, much of it was predcitable and the end was not handled as well as the rest of the book.

DS

(Bruce's evil twin :-))

72> In the strange-but-true category, a few years back there was a mini-run on Hypnerotomachia Poliphili at our bookstore.

Colonna's book is apparently central to the plot of Rule of Four, a Brownesque thriller. After RoF was published, people wandered in looking for copies of HP. It wasn't a book we stocked, but we did order it for a few people.

>73 ReneeMarie: I love it when a book does that, leads you to other books. I got Origins of Courtliness because Kate Elliott had a list of books in the back of one of her novels. It really got me hooked on reading history becuase it gave the fantasy books more depth for me.

DS

(Bruce's evil twin :-))

The Science of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Universe by Michael Hanlon

43 down and 57 left

If I had to chose between The Science of Doctor Who and The Science of the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy this is no question that I would choose Doctor Who over Hitchhiker’s.

The book stays true to the Guide and covers the important topics. It briefly explains key concepts from the books in an easy to understand way. But that is just it – briefly. It does tie the topics in with the books very well.

DS

(Bruce's evil twin :-))

74> I love novels that include author notes with bibliographies. I also have a tendency (noted on my LT profile) to read bibliographies in nonfiction works and buy books found there. I used to also do subject keyword searches in the inventory/order database at the bookstore and order interesting titles at random. I'm better now. :-)

A book I just finished reading (and haven't even added to my thread yet) I found in a similar way. I was supposed to be reading Steam and Cinders for one book group, but screwed up my months and had started reading Revolutions of 1848 instead, early.

In Revolutions, the author raved about this 19th century Russian intellectual with the best memoirs of the time, so I asked the librarian to get it for me ILL. Unfortunately, I didn't have Internet access at the time, and she only got me a small portion of it (his memoirs run seven volumes), and not from the period of his life that holds the most interest for me. Alexander Herzen's memoir, at least the beginning of it published as Childhood, Youth, and Exile, reads like a Russian novel.

Unfortunately, although I've finished that book, I have yet to finish either book for the next two months of my museum book group!

I know exactly what you mean!

I was in a book club for awhile, but I found it very unsatisfactory. They loved the books I hated and hated the books that I liked. They didn't get science fiction, couldn't concieve the ideas behind The Postman. I suppose if I could find a group that had the same interests it would be different.

DS

(Bruce's evil twin :-))

I just took the nerd test version 2.0

I am an - Uber Cool High Nerd

Science/math 74%
Sci-Fi/comic 50%
dumb/dork/awkwardness 7%
computers/tech 50%
history/literature 85%

Personally I think that comics should be seperate from sci-fi. Not everyone does comics, though we do know an comic book artist, so I know that they still exist.

Oh well
DS
(Bruce's evil twin :-))

The Spy Who Came in from the Cold by John Le carre

44 down 56 to go

Wow, this was intense.

“And finally, they would know it was a gamble. They would know that inconsistency in human decision can make nonsense out of the best-planned espionage approach, that cheats, liars and criminal may resist every blandishment while respectable gentlemen have been moved to appalling treasons by watery cabbage in a Department canteen.”

Last year for the 999 challenge one of the books that I read was Blowing My Cover by Lindsay Moran. She explained the basics of how things worked; you contacted/met various people in various positions and evaluated them from how useful their info could be, if they would be interested etc. It’s nothing like a James Bond story. This story is a step above Moran’s book (ignoring that one is fiction & the other non-fiction.) Mainly because the cold war was just beginning and the main character is towards the end of his career.

This story is dark and seedy, with lies, and twists, whisky and no vodka martini’s whether they are shaken or stirred. It starts on the border, waiting for an agent, tense and full of anticipation and ends much the same way.

I would recommend it to anyone.

DS
(Bruce's evil twin :-))

The Professor and the Madman: A Tale of Murder, Insanity, and the Making of the Oxford English Dictionary by Simon Winchester

45 down 56 to go. . .

“In Victorian London, even in a place as louche and notoriously crime-ridden as Lambeth Marsh, the sound of gunshots was a rare even indeed.”

Not quite how you would think a book about the creation of the worlds most well known English dictionary would start. But there it is, murder most sinister in the wee hours of a London morning and the chain of events which led to the greatest collaboration in dictionary history.

In today’s world we take a lot of things for granted, simple things that really aren’t as simple as they seem. The Oxford English Dictionary used 1,827,306 quotations to help define its 414,825 words and took decades to complete. One of the most valuable contributors to the compilation of the OED was a man who spent almost his entire adult life in a lunatic asylum for the criminally insane.

I found this book to be a good read. Maybe it could have had more detail (gee I have never said that before! :-)) it gave a good overview of how the dictionary was created and some insight into the lives of two of the men behind it.

DS
(Bruce's evil twin :-))

Heart of the Dragon by Gena showalter

46 down 55 to go.

Should REALLY be sewing for Costume Con but I slipped on the stairs and needed a break. And Bruce made me walk through the book store, and then he stopped!! And this book with a half naked man and an amazing tatoo caught my eye. . . (different book, same author). Missing brother, lost city of Atlantis, men who are dragons, evil plots -what more could you ask for in a romance? Now I have to go get the next 2, which the store didn't have!

DS
(Bruce's evil twin :-))

The Kiss Murder by Mehmet Murat Somer

47 down 53 to go. . . .

I finished this while I was at Costume Con 28 this weekend. It was probably better in the orginal Turkish. It's about an Audrey Hepburn nostalgic drag queen sleuth who tries to figure out who killed another transvestite and wants to protect the mother of the murder victum.

As mysteries go, I found it very unsatisfactory. If you want to read it becuase it takes place in Istanbul, you will also be disapointed since, yes technically it takes place in istanbul, but really it takes place in a nightclub & some apartments that could be in any city, the city is definaltly NOT one of the characters in the book.

I am undecided if I will get another book by this author.

I did win a Hall Costume award this weekend, which made me very happy. And our roommates all got awards in the costume competions. Now I just have to figure out if i can go to Costume Con 29 next year in NJ! I did buy 2 of the patterns for the single pattern contest - Decades of Style's 1933 Evening gown, and Folkwears spectator coat. Let the games begin!!

My freidn Zen and I are also thinking about making houppelande's. They look very fun & comfy. From this point on we are calling them houp-a-dupes! And I want a wig. I felt very left out being the only person not to have at least one wig! Preferably with lots of colored hair, beads 7 feathers! And i must do an animae costume.

DS

(Bruce's evil twin :-))

I have a terrible book addiction.

We went to the thrift store to find stuff to make mockups and I got 7 books! And I said that I wouldn't buy any more books until I read the ones that I got!!! Mostly bodice rippers, really i don't buy those too often, and if there was any reason to get an e-reader it would be for those! Though it is pretty hard to beat .80 at the thirft store. I did find some cream wool (not sure what i will do with it but the price was good) and two skirts that I am planning on using for my Tibetan panel coat now I need to find a nice velvet & something with sparkles for my other fabrics.

So now it is sew, read or clean? I need to finish my Jedi costume, CONvergence is less than 2 months away. I got some wonderful pointers from a very nice lady at Costume Con (note to self, get business cards to bring along next time!) So I am glad that I didn't do it before then.

DS
(Bruce's evil twin :-))

Most Eagerly Yours: Her Majesty's Secret Servants by Allison Chase

48 down 52 to go

This is the first of a series of books about 4 Sutherland sisters, once childhood friends of young Princess Victoria and now secret servants to their queen. And there is a mystery about their earlier life as oldest sister, Laurel, discovers on her first assignment for her childhood friend who is now her Queen.

Part romance novel and part mystery it was very well done and got me sufficiently sucked into the sisters mysterious past (which was for the most part only hinted at in this book) so that I will be looking for the next books! It was well worthe my $.80!

DS
(Bruce's evill twin :-))

Most Eagerly Yours: Her Majesty's Secret Servants by Allison Chase

48 down 52 to go

This is the first of a series of books about 4 Sutherland sisters, once childhood friends of young Princess Victoria and now secret servants to their queen. And there is a mystery about their earlier life as oldest sister, Laurel, discovers on her first assignment for her childhood friend who is now her Queen.

Part romance novel and part mystery it was very well done and got me sufficiently sucked into the sisters mysterious past (which was for the most part only hinted at in this book) so that I will be looking for the next books! It was well worthe my $.80!

DS
(Bruce's evill twin :-))

Testing Miss toogood by Stella Cameron

49 down and 51 to go . . . .

10th Category finished!

OK, the plot wasn’t as good as the previous book that I read, which was a pretty good mystery. But really who expects a good plot with romance novels? I liked the characters, and it was enjoyable. Not once did I ask myself is if done yet?? It was a bit more ‘racy’ then I am used to for the genre, but I didn’t mind :-)

Which category should I work on finishing next??

DS

(Bruce's evil twin :-))

Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead by Tom Stoppard

Halfway there!

50 down and 50 to go.

Well, certainly a change of pace from romance! It’s of the Existentialism genre. The play is the perspective of two minor characters in Hamlet, tossed about by the whims of monarchs, princes, and an unfolding Shakespearean tragedy. It doesn’t really add anything to the ‘why’ part of the reasons that they were killed in the play. It does add sort of a depth to their part in Hamlet, and could be easily added to that play (if you wanted a really, really long play :-)) without much of a hiccup.

DS

(Bruce's evil twin :-))

Neverwhere by Neil gaiman

51 down 49 to go.

I had a free audio book that was very similar to this story when I first got my iPod. I thought that it was a very strange story, and now that story makes sense! Too bad I can’t seem to find it now.

Poor Richard is dragged into an alien world that is right under his feet and abused by mysterious strangers.

Richard did a good deed; he was a Good Samaritan to a mysterious woman, Door. The good deed left him homeless, jobless and invisible so he ventured into the London otherworld in an attempt to get it all back.

It is the classic journey of the Fool, who starts blindly on his journey and discovers what he really wants in the end. Along the way there is the mystery of Door. Who killed her family and why? How did they enter and leave a house with no doors?

It is a pretty good read if a bit confusing at first since nothing is explained, you have to figure out the rules right along with Richard.

DS

(Bruce's evil twin :-))

The Discovery of Time edited by Stuart McCready

52 down 48 to go

“The gods confound the man who first found out how to distinguish hours. Confound him, too, who in this place set up a sundial, to cut back my days so wretchedly into small portions!” - Plautus

I was really looking more for books on time from the view of Einstein’s theory of time; this is a series of essays on various aspects of keeping or measuring time. It ranges from theories on biological clocks and how ancient people viewed time to major calendars and the different types of issues that they have and what was done to compensate for it. There is even a nice essay on ‘dead reckoning’ – estimating your position by keeping track of how far you have sailed and at what direction.

It is a very nice book written so almost anyone will be able to grasp the concepts covered in each essay. There are nice illustrations and pictures too.

DS
(Bruce's evil twin :-))

The Government of Elizabethan England by ARG Smith

53 down and 47 to go!

This book breaks down the Elizabethan government into 7 parts, detailing the different aspects of the government, how they interacted with each other, and what powers, if any, each had. I think that it gives a very good overview of the government during Elizabeth’s reign.

Elizabethan government was a government of consent, different from modern day governments. It was due to Elizabeth’s ability to gain consent when she needed it that England survived as well as it did during this time. Elizabeth was fiscally responsible and avoided war as much as possible. The Queen also had an uncanny knack at finding or picking very able ministers for her privy council.

DS

(Bruce's evil twin :-))

Quick Pickles: Easy Recipes with Big Flavor

54 down and 46 to go!

I love cookbooks. I especially love cookbooks with lovely pictures and stories about the recipes in it. I was looking for another book (on Japanese appliqué for the Tibetan panel coat that I want to make) when I found this. It wasn’t even in LT, someone else was a bad boy when he got it! Unbelievably enough I have been thinking about finding pickle recipes because I want to get back to packing our bentos for lunch. They are all about varying the texture & tastes – sweet, sour, salty, savory etc.

Did you know that they have pickle shops in Istanbul? I had no idea. I want to go there now and see some! Do you think my old high school classmate would let me stay with him if I showed up on his doorstep? It mean it’s only been, gasp, almost 30 years since we have seen each other! Just kidding, I would never do that, I would call ahead and see if he could do lunch or something. But imagine the scenario!

I want to make ‘Japanese-style Soy-Pressed Carrots with Scallions and Tangerines’ or how about ‘Balsamic-Pickled Grapefruit with Shaved Fennel’? Or “Crunchy Orange-Pickled Red Onions with Chipotles and Tequila’? Each recipe in the book has a nice little section that talks about the recipe, its inspiration or roots. It even has a recipe for turnip pickles, which my daughter likes (her Lebanese Grandmother makes them.) I used to make them for her when she brought lunch to school and of course they were heart shaped. Yes, I admit it I am one of those cooks. Think hot pink hearts, they were so cute!

Oh they also include ideas on what to do with the pickles or the pickle brine. Like the “Crunchy Orange-Pickled Red Onions with Chipotles and Tequila” which apparently provides ‘a real wake-up call to a standard fruit salad and makes a great marinade.”

If you like making pickles this is a great little book!

DS

(Bruce's evil twin :-))

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button by F Scott Fitzgerals

55 down and 45 to go. . .

I think that this is a sad story. He lives a life out of sync with everyone else. He marries the woman he loves and then she grows older and he grows younger.

DS

(Bruce's evil twin :-))

Appetizers Finger Food Buffets and Parties by Bridget jones

56 down and 44 to go.

Since we have a yearly party at CONvergence I am always looking for new things to try. They must be tasty finger foods that can be made a head of time and preferably can be served either cold or room temperature since the party is in a hotel room, although we also have a roaster with a buffet steam table insert.

There are many great recipes in this book but there are very few that are served cold or room temperature. I did find a couple that I would like to try like Smoked Chicken with Peach Mayonnaise in Filo tarts and Chilled Prawn and Cucumber Soup which looks like it would be great served in shot glasses with a shrimp garnish. For the hot items Beef Satay with a Hot Mango Dip and Pork Balls with a Minted Peanut Sauce look good. I am a sucker for anything that involves mangos!

The book starts with sections on planning, presentation, menus etc. Another thing that I like about it is that each recipe includes a photo.

DS

(Bruce's evil twin :-))

A Venetian Affair: A True Tale of Forbidden Love in the 18th Century by Adrea Di Robilant

57 down 43 to go

‘My God, what consolation . . . I am out of my wits now that I am near you again, that I have seen you. I actually felt that I was holding your hand tightly, and talking to you and kissing you . . . you can imagine the state I’m in right now! What shall we do my little one? . . . Tomorrow is market day. If possible, I would like to see you at the very least. How are you? My God, this is killing me. . . . .My mind, my soul, my entire body are in such turmoil now. . . . Oh Christ, I have this huge desire to press you against my chest! By God, I cannot stand it anymore. . . . I wish we could be alone for half an hour and live out our love’s apotheosis.”

What woman wouldn’t want such a letter of passion written to her? How cruel is the world that two people who loved each other so much were kept apart except for stolen moments? It is amazing & wonderful that so many of their letters have survived. It makes one wonder what kinds of letters will survive this new electronic age that we are in.

Adrea Di Robilant’s father found a carton of letters in the family’s Palazzo attic. The letters were written by an ancestor, Andrea Memmo, one of Venice's most prestigious citizens, to Giustiniana Wynne, the illegitimate daughter of an Englishman, Sir Richard Wynne, and a Greek-born Venetian woman of dubious origin with whom Andrea had a scandalous affair. They met in 1753 when she was 16 and he was 24. Details of their romance were in Giacomo Casanova’s memoirs, and letters written by Giustiniana had also been published in the past, but until these letters surfaced, there were no letters written by Andrea.

Di Robilant’s father had wanted to get the letters published but had been unable to do it before he was killed by an intruder in 1997. Di Robilant promised himself that he would do his best to get the letters published in one form or another as was his fathers plan. Luckily he was on assignmnet in Washington DC not too far from Randolph Macon College where papers on Giacomo Casanova and Giustiniana Wynne were located. So instead of a one-sided story we get a glimpse of what life was like for the two lovers. The fights, the waiting, planning and the heartbreak.

DS
(Bruce's evil twin :-))

The Politics of Language: Conflict, Identity, and Cultural Pluralism in Comparative Perspective by Caol l Schmid

58 dowb 42 to go

What do you call someone who speaks two languages?
Bilingual
And one who knows only one?
American

I always thought we were arrogant (and lazy) and that is why we did not learn other languages. But no, that was too kind. It is because we are paranoid. Paranoid that if we do not eradicate other languages from our culture they will replace English and we will became something else.

One of the things that unites us as Americans is our language. Sure it may be soda in some places and pop in others, or casserole vs. hot dish. But it is hood & trunk and not bonnet & boot, or sweater not jumper, soccer not football. One of the other things that unites us is the American Dream. We are MTV, Hollywood, Disney and the Super Bowl. And we are also Intel, eBay, Yahoo, and Google all founded by immigrants. The dream of a better life, a different life, all men created equal, etc, etc. Is the threat of English being over thrown by another language a real threat? America has been the home of more bilingual people then any other country in the world.

This book examines language issues in 3 countries, the US, Canada and Switzerland. It examines the movements to make English the official language of the US. It explains the issue of Quebec in Canada and looks at Switzerland and how they deal with multiple languages.

I found it pretty interesting, it was a bit out of date (it does give data from different studies and polls), so there is no recent information, but you can easily look that up more recent stuff on the internet.

I was a bit distracted by some of the language like the use of the words cleavage and plebiscite and was surprised to see that the author was American. Really when was the last time anyone used cleavage for something other then ‘area between a woman's breasts, when revealed by a low-cut neckline‘? Chasm or gap would have been a much better choice. How many people use plebiscite? I didn’t even know what plebiscite was, I had to look it up. (A vote of an entire nation or other large political unit on an issue of great importance. A plebiscite is not an election, for there are no candidates. Rather, people vote yes or no on a proposition.) It is pretty rare when I find a word that I have no idea what it is. Referendum would be the word used by most Americans.

All in all if this is a subject that interests you it was very informative.

DS
(Bruce's evil twin :-))

They Have a Word for It by Howard Rheingold

59 down and 41 to go.

“We do not talk only in order to reason or to inform. We have to make love and quarrel, to propitiate and pardon, to rebuke, console, intercede and arouse. “He that complains,” said Johnson “acts like a man, like a social being.” –C S Lewis

I had high expectations for this book. But the author’s idea that the words in this book would make there way into main stream English seems a bit over-optimistic. The problem is most of the words are awkward and do not come ‘trippingly of the tongue’ which would make them more likely to be used, for example hakanuka-nuka or mamihlapinatapei.

Of course there are a couple of words that are fairly common, uffda & zeitgeist (ok well, one is common here in Minnesota.) Uffda which the book says is Swedish that it is a ‘word of sympathy when someone is in pain’, well that might be the original Swedish meaning, but here in Minnesota it is more like an exclamation of being overwhelmed, like when you carry something heavy and you put it down you might use it then, but I always thought that it was Norwegian.

DS
(Bruce's evil twin :-))

Schaum's Easy Outlines: Discrete Mathmatics

60 down and only 40 left to go!

If you want a quick refresher or reference book on Discrete mathematics this is a great little book. I would have liked more examples using actual data for bit more clarity and perhaps a quick reference guide for the different symbols and their meanings, but other then that it is a great book.

DS

(Bruce's evil twin :-))

95> You may also want to take a look at Empires of the Word by Nicholas Ostler. I bought it (although I haven't read it yet) in part because it looked at why some languages live and others die, and it's not always the conquered whose language disappears.

Renee
* 4 years Spanish in high school in USA
* 1 year French in high school in USA
* 5 semesters of French in college in USA
* 13-week course in Italian after graduation in USA
* Can speak a word or two in Norwegian, Greek, German, Portuguese, Russian, and Malay, and wish I knew more than I do and wish I remembered more than I do of the languages I had the chance to actually study but not to use

Thanks! I added Empires of the Word to my wish list, It looks perfect! A co-worker asked me how I can read so many language, science and math type books. I asked her how could she not? Everything interconnects and the more you learn the more interesting everything is!

I am so jealous about your language classes in high school. Mine did have a half-hearted attempt to teach us Spanish for a bit, but the students overwhelmed the teacher. Of course we are learning and most schools require a 2nd language now (at least I think that they do.) My daughter took 4 years of French (3 honors) and speaks Arabic like a native (it helps to be watched by your Arabic speaking grandparents instead of going to daycare :-)) Unfortunately most of the language classes that I took in college were also taught by a very lazy teacher. I did take some classes from M A R Barker though, I guess I should have had him autograph my books!

I snagged Elizabeth's Women: Friends, Rivals, and Foes Who Shaped the Virgin Queen from the Early Reviewers. I hope this one shows up! I am very excited about it! It fits perfectly into my 101010! The last two I won haven't shown up . . . so sad.

DS

(Bruce's evil twin :-))

99> And I'm so jealous of the kids who get foreign languages in *grade school* now.

I wanted to take Spanish in junior high (the only language offered in the small rural area where I grew up, and the earliest any language was offered), but was told to skip it until high school because the teacher wasn't that good. Unfortunately, that teacher (an ex-nun married to our ex-priest English teacher) was the high school teacher when I got there.

In high school, Spanish was also the only language offered for a while. Then with a teacher's help we started a voluntary after school "French club" and lobbied to get French added to the curriculum. There was a fairly large migrant worker population in the area, so I think they saw Spanish as useful and easy to learn. However, there was an Ugly American on the school board. One of the teachers reported to us that he said "I deal in international business every day and the only language anyone needs to know is English." He was a farmer. And a cochon (French for pig). We won anyway.

In college, I had two French professors. One was French. And nuts. And scary. My dorm roommate the semester I took his class said one night I sat up in bed, still asleep but speaking French. After that, I took classes from the other professor, whose name was French but who clearly had spent his formative years in northern New England. Ayuh. I do think I learned more from scary professor.

I do own self-teaching audio courses for French, German, Italian, and Norwegian (and maybe Spanish but I'm not sure), but I haven't studied them in a while. I'd like to buy courses for Greek and Russian, too, but I'm not sure how I would do with a language that doesn't share our alphabet. And if I don't sufficiently use the ones I already own....

I find French hard since it uses that same alphabet but everything is so different with the pronunciation (not that I ever took classes or anything in it.) Bruce & my daughter both speak French. But I found it hard to get, I mean really - Je ne sais quoi – is spelled nothing like it sounds.

Hindi uses a totally different alphabet and once you get the hang of it is pretty easy, and it is a phonetic language so every letter only has one sound. Turkish is another language where letters are pronounced differently from English, where I think it might be difficult to get the hang of at first. And it is also agglutinative and uses ‘vowel harmony’ which sounds both intriging and scary at the same time!

I think that if I won the lottery I would love to go live in another country and learn the language and culture and when I got good at it move to another country with a different language and start all over again.

DS

(Bruce' evil twin :-))

Up Till Now by William Shatner

61 down and 39 to go!

“So at 4am I was racing across the desert to our location (in costume). I was way over the speed limit, figuring there wasn’t another car on the road in the entire state. It turned out there was one other car – and he had lights and a siren. Yes Officer, good morning. . . . he looked at me up and down and sort of frowned and asked, “So where are you going so fast at four o’clock in the morning?”

I told him the truth, “To my spaceship.”

He sighed and said, “Okay, go ahead and live long and prosper.”

This book is laugh out loud funny. You know that he has to be having fun with the Priceline.com commercials and the whole Boston Legal/Denny Crane thing when it was on. You will be reading along and then all of a sudden it’s like we take a commercial break. Sometimes it is funny stuff, sometimes for serious stuff. For example he is talking about the movie The Brothers Karamazov and how he got the part because they liked his cheekbones, and then the next paragraph starts out “Oh, this is good news. The Biography Channel just called. . .” Then in the next paragraph he returns to the Brothers Karamazov.

It’s not all about Star Trek, since really very little of his career has involved Star trek, so if you’re not a Star Trek fan you should enjoy it too. How could you not like Star Trek? Ok, there are a lot of stories about encounters with people who recognize him from Star Trek, but really that’s more about people and life then about Star Trek itself. Really, as he says he did it for 3 years, it was cancelled, you forget it and move on, only with Star Trek that isn’t what happened. It’s like an American Doctor Who, anything could happen because who knows what is out there?

He has been on American TV so much you forget that he is Canadian, and I had no idea that he was Jewish! Can you believe that he was born in 1931? I bet if you could get all of the different episodes of all the different TV shows that he was on and put them together you would have quite a bit of DVDs on your hands.

William Shatner is a man who can laugh at himself. And in this books he lets you laugh with him.

Oh and he mentions Leonard Nimoy’s play ‘Vincent’, which I actually got to see and it was excellent. You didn’t stop and think once – Spock.

DS
(Bruce's evil twin :-))

My sister-in-law Kathleen, Bruce’s sister (not to be confused with my other sister-in-law Kathy, who should definitely not be confused with her husband’s 1st wife Kathy . . . who is also my sister-in-law Alison’s sister-in-law . . . .) is an enabler! We went to B&N and I got 6 new books! We both got two of the same books – The Crocodile on the Sandbank by Elizabeth Peters, which is the reason that we went there, and I found The Man who Made Lists: Love, Death, Madness and the Creation of Roget’s Thesaurus by Joshua Kendall, since they had two copies Kathleen got one too. Of course I had to get it once I saw it, since I have recently read the book on the creation of the OED. I am still looking (albeit not very hard) for a book in Gena Showalter’s Atlantis series,Jewel of Atlantis I did find The Vampire’s Bride though. These books are mostly for my 75 book challenge (combined I have read 74 books so far, but only those books that don’t fit in the 101010 go on the 75 book challenge. Either I have finished the category or they don’t fit into one of the categories.

Busy weekend. Bruce’s family (all except sister Susan) was in town (or more correctly in the state) for niece Jennifer’s graduation from Carlton College in Northfield, summa cum laude even, in Linguistics. She will be on her way to Kyoto this summer and is very excited. There seems to be a short trend here of going to Carlton every 3 years for a neices graduation, 3 years ago it was Caroline (who is on her way this summer to Cairo for some project for grad school), this year it was her sister and in 3 more years it will be her cousin (double 1st cousin) Sara graduating.

Oh, my mother-in-law is an enabler too. She gave me the New Frugality by fellow Minnesotan Chris Farrell this weekend. What I have read of it so far is very good and interesting. She also gave Bruce Rising Tide by John M Barry which is about the 1927 Mississppi flood. Looks good, but I probably won’t read it since it is way out of any of my fields of interest, and really am not finding a shortage in my topics!

So since I have been feeling under the weather this last week or so I will recover by curling up in bed with some fast reading!

DS
(Bruce's evil twin :-))

Everyone needs an enabler in the family! ;-P

75 books read so far this year!

OK as of this moment I am completely done reading a total of 75 books so far this year! 61 for this challenge and 14 for the 75 book challenge. The book that Kathleen recommended was only 262 pages so less then 3 hours to read. (I did surf the web and make dinner.) I suppose that I should spend more time on the 75 book challenge since I am more then 50% done with this one. Of course I should also be sewing my costumes for CONvergence, and figuring out a sauce for my Cthulhu dogs.

So much to do so little time!!

My next book is about Roget's Thesaurus, and upon glance one wonders if you need to be crazy to write books such as dictionaries or a thesaurus . . .

DS

(Bruce's evil twin :-))

Yes! I received my newest ARC today! Just when I told myself no reading until after CONvergence! We have so much stuff to do and it’s only a few weeks away. It’s time to start making green sauces for my Cthulhu dogs and using my co-workers as guinea pigs. Green sauces, why isn’t there a green BBQ sauce?

OK, so I can read it at work during lunch. I did read a little bit of it today, and so far it is well written, I didn’t nod off or anything. And if you have ever read any serious history books you know what I am talking about!

It also fits into my 101010 categories! It is Elizabeth's Women: Friends, Rivals, and Foes Who Shaped the Virgin Queen by Tracy Borman. It’s our first ‘advance uncorrected proof’ book. It has a tentative publication month of October 2010 (plenty of time to read it and write a good review.) All the other ARC’s that we have received in the past have been final copies, gotten just before publication. The index is blank though! Urgh, I like to see how well the index is done, it is usually a good indication of the quality of the work. I can live without the illustrations (those are also missing) but an index would have been nice. I suppose I could make one, I do know how . . .oh the skills I have!

Excuse me while I go pass out from the heat & humidity! The computer says that it is only 65% humidity, but all of a sudden it got so humid. And it is only 81 degrees. . . I guess this is one of the few days that I wish that we had air conditioning.

DS

(Bruce's evil twin :-))

Nice job on hitting 75!

I agree, congrats on hitting that 75 milestone! Also, I was very excited to see that you read (and liked) A Venetian Affair, back in message 94. I have to confess that I purchased it originally because it was on clearance, and has a pretty cover (the hardcover version), and I really had no idea what it was about! After reading your great review, I'll be moving it further up my mental TBR list, instead of just staring at the spine and wondering what it's like. (Yes, I really do that. Mostly to procrastinate, but still.)

I'd be interested in seeing what you think of the Tracy Borman book. I just finished David Starkey's Elizabeth: The Struggle for the Throne recently.

Also, I never thought I'd see a Schaum's Outline for discrete math mentioned in this forum! I'll bet I also have that one hiding in my house somewhere.

>108 LauraBrook: I confess that I also buy books because of the cover artwork!

>109 mathgirl40: How did you like the David Starkey book? I added a bunch more 'Elizabeth' books to my wish list the other day. I figured I will keep on the subject until I either am really tired of it or I can't find anymore books!

Math is so, um, functional. I don't know why more people don't read about it! :-) I also have God Created the Integers by Steven Hawking on my TBR pile. But it is SO long! It will have to wait for a bit. Certainly not until after CONvergence. I have been spending lots of time sewing and doing fun things with the insides of old computers!

I am looking for a good book on Lambda-calculus so maybe you will see a review for that sometime too. . .

DS
(Bruce's evil twin :-))

110: I did like the David Starkey book. I'd also read The Sisters Who Would be Queen around the same time, and I enjoyed that too. The books are written in an entertaining way but there is a lot of historical detail, particularly about politics and religion at the time.

Sorry, I don't have a recommendation for a book on Lambda-calculus. However, a friend of mine who is also on Librarything (see jmccarro's profile has his very extensive Math library catalogued, and you may wish to browse through this.

Thanks Mathgirl40!

Thanks for the recommendation. I didn’t really like the last book that I read on Jane Grey (I don’t remember the name or author) so I skipped that book. Now I will put it on my ever growing wish list!

I was naughty and just ordered Elizabeth and Essex, I couldn’t resist, it was only $.02 plus shipping and then I had to get Elizabeth and Leicester and, ok, 5 or 6 other books :-)

The Midwest Antiquarian Booksellers Association’s book sale is this weekend at the MN state Fairgrounds. Trying to find someone to go with, but everyone seems to be sewing for CONvergence! Just once we need to get things done before June!

And the powers that be at work decided that we are changing month end to this Saturday. Way to give us a heads up! I guess Tuesday is better then Thursday though. Still it means working like a maniac Monday & Tuesday so I can make it to my own party on Wednesday night.

DS
(Bruce's evil twin :-))

The Man Who Made Lists

62 down and 38 to go

“We seek in vain the words we need, and strive ineffectually to devise forms of expression which shall faithfully portray our thoughts and sentiments. The appropriate terms notwithstanding our utmost efforts, cannot be conjured up at will. Like ‘spirits from the vasty deep,” they come not when we call; and we are driven to the employment of a set of words and phrases either too general or too limited, too strong or too feeble, which suit not the occasion, which hit not the mark we aim at.”

So goes the introduction to the 1852 edition of Roget’s Thesaurus. Who is not familiar with this book? Who has ever given its creation a second thought? Did any of us know that this was ground breaking work done by one man? Most likely we thought that Roget referred to the name of the publishing company, or an editor. But no, the original Thesaurus was the creation of one man; one man who strived to bring order to his life via lists and scientific study.

Another book about the world of a lexicographer who may or may not have been mad. I will be one of the first to admit that I have very little experience with the time period that this takes place in. I found many facts about the general everyday lives of people interesting. The book was a fascinating window in to the time and life of a doctor, so different from the world today.

Roget was a very interesting man, who created one of the foundations of how we very the world. It’s something that we all take for granted, something we find so simple, logical, and full of common sense that we don’t think about where is come from. How many budding authors and poets honed their craft using this invaluable tool?

DS
(Bruce's evil twin :-))

Steamed by Katie MacAlister

63 down and 37 to go

Yes, I hsould be sewing. . .

“Did I miss the memo about a masquerade party?”

So this is one of the books that I picked up while I was at B&N with one of my enabler sister-in-laws. I can’t remember if this was an author that she recommended or if I got it because the cover caught my eye and it was a Steampunk Romance! Get out the sewing machine!

Yes, steampunk; the vehicles and weapons are the not only things steamy in this book. It is told in the first person, mostly from the view point of Octavia Emmaline Pye, Captain of the airship Tesla. Yes, Tesla; it is never really explained why a steam powered airship was named after a well known electrical engineer, and one of most important contributors to the birth of commercial electricity though.

Jack Fletcher and his sister, Hallelujah ‘Hallie’ are transported by an explosion to another reality and are found out cold in the hold of Octavia’s ship. It is Octavia’s first voyage on the Tesla as captian, and she has an odd assortment of crew members, each with its strange quirks.

I like the play between Jack & Octavia, perhaps the plot could have been better, more believeable (really she slept with 2 out of the 3 most politically important men in her world and one other guy??), but I was looking for escapism and I got a good dose of it. Bring on the corests and disrupters! It has the feel of a start of a series and I am certainly getting the next one if/when it comes out.

From reading the reviews at Amazon the authors other books are much better, or maybe you just need to be a geek to enjoy it . . .

DS
(Bruce's evil twin :-))

I am currently reading Istanbul: memories and the City by Orhan Pamuk. Has anyone else read this book or any of his other works?

It's, well not what I was expecting. I mean "Until the age of forty-five, it was my habit, whenever I was drifting in that sweet cloud between sleep and wakefulness, to cheer myself by imagining I was killing people." Ok I get the whole little boys pretending to be "cops & robbers" or in his case good guys and "gangsters who were finally paying the price for their crimes." Maybe it's a guy thing, I don't know. What happened at 45 that made him stop?

Other then the alieness of some of his behaviors the book is great. I can see why he won a Nobel Prize in literature. But I am not sure that I would read another one of his books.

DS
(Bruce's evil twin :-))

>115 bruce_krafft: I read My Name Is Red a couple of years ago and thought it was good. It's the only one of his works that I've read. I was drawn to that particular book because it combines historical fiction, a murder mystery, and art.

The passage you quote is a bit creepy. Knowing that someone's idea of cheer is imagining himself killing people would make me want to avoid that person instead of seeking his company, even in the pages of a book.

Dead and Gone by Charlaine Harris

64 down and 36 left

Vampire sex, need I say more? Ok, there is more to this series, and I don't really like blondes, but Eric the Northman has got my vote for one of the top hot fictional males. Looking forward to the next book in the series, though I think that I skipped one or two before this so I will have to see where my hubby put them all.

Ds

(Bruce's evil twin :-))

Still working on Istanbul, when I think about it this is how I would imagine most of us really remember our childhood, strange misconceptions of the world around us. After we grow up we translate it. But, still it isn’t an easy light read.

I did take a walk on the light side and read a few books for my 75 book challenge, even though I ‘worked’ over 30 hours at the convention this weekend. I totally forgot that one of the guests was a Doctor Who writer and so missed his panels. I did get to meet him in the hallway while we were moving out of our rooms. Oh well, and he had such a cute accent! I didn’t even make it to the House of Toast! Note to self next year make a list of stuff that I must see!

I did meet author Nick Valentino and, really no surprise here, bought his book Thomas Riley (touchstone not working on this). I also told him about Library Thing and told him to check it out. He was also a panelist on the two panels that I managed to get to – both on steam punk.

I am also reading Umberto Eco’s book Serendipities: Language and Lunacy. I loved the first chapter, the second not so much. What he means by the title – Language In Paradise – is not what language was spoken in paradise, but the language in Dante’s Paradise. Frankly I am finding it hard to care why Dante chose one word over another. . . of course I may just be obtuse and totally misunderstand what he is really talking about. Did I mention lack of sleep this weekend? The hotel bed was hard, we needed to buy new & really expensive tires for the car, we had to keep going home and take care of the puppies since we had no puppy sitter, and I didn’t get my outfit totally finished. . . still it was fun. And I got a t-shirt & a cool metal water bottle! And I bought some Han Soap! Soap in the shape of Han solo frozen in carbanite! How could anyone at a Sci-fi convention resist that? I also got a new Tardis Express t-shirt (for when it needs to get there before you sent it) because my other one is worn out.

Ha, I just came back from the thrift store, and saw my friend Zen in the book section. I totally bypassed the book section there until I went with her! Now I am hooked, they are great for my 75 book challenge. If anyone is looking for a copy of The Da Vinci Code I suggest that you go to your local thrift store, there must have been about 20 copies there, both hard cover and paperback.

DS
(Bruce's evil twin :-))

Thomas Riley by Nick Valentino

65 down 35 to go, and one more category finished

Over all I enjoyed the book. I was at a few panels that the author was on at CONvergence this last weekend. I liked him; he was very knowledgeable and enthusiastic. Of course I had to buy the book, and tell him to check out Library Thing!

With that said I have to say that at first the plot made me uncomfortable. I never really enjoyed the show I Love Lucy, because of the fact that you knew she was doing something totally stupid and was going to get in trouble for it. So you have been at war for over 2 decades, you send your 2 top weapons engineers into enemy territory? Geeks in a war zone? Don’t get me wrong I am sure that there are lots of military types who are also geeks, and I did just spend 4 days with an estimated 4500 geeks, so I am a geek and I like geeks. But please, you protect your assets. Could there have been a better way to get the plot to where it was going, that would have been more believable? Yes, no question. But then again, just like Bruce had issues with the Septimus Heap books, we know what is going on, but the characters were a lot younger and would not have gotten things that were obvious to us because we are adults.

And then there are the weapons, and the gadgets! Oh, my, cool stuff indeed!

I found it very entertaining and await the next book.

DS
(Bruce's evil twin :-))

Serndipities: Language and Lunacy by Umberto Eco

66 down 34 to go

Get out your dictionary if you are reading a book by Umberto Eco!

Hi there! Just wanted to pop in and say how much I'm enjoying your thread. I always do, but it's been just great lately. Also, I'm wondering if you could recommend a website I could refer to for Midwest conventions? I know Comic-Con started out in Milwaukee years ago, but I don't know of any current cons in WI, MN, IA, or IL, and I think I'd like to go to one. I'd also like to go to a book fair of some sort too, but I don't know of any local ones coming up or anything.

Thanks!

>121 LauraBrook: Thanks!
Well obvioulsy you just missed the best converntion of them all! Just ask our guests! :-) I am mostly involved to support the charity (promoting science & literature.) But I have been meeting a lot of fun people who go to & do other cons also, like our friends from the Madison branch of the International Costuming Guild who are involved in Geek Kon which is in Madison in September (and I have heard lots of good things about it.) When I was at costume-con 28 I was amazed at how many people went to conventions all the time.

You can try:
www.scificonventions.com
or
http://www.sffan.net/cons/

or just Google sci-fi conventions and see what other people say about them.

I have a friend who went to ComicCon (the big one in San Fran) and loved it, but he was on a panel . . . and the company that he was working for arranged everything. Did I mention that everyone should go out and buy the movie Astro Boy? One of my favorite people in the whole world is in it/worked on it! Go Tony! But one of our guests this weekend did say that the people from there should come to our con and see how it really should be done. Did I mention that I really love CONvergence?

Did I mention that geeks are the nicest people? One of the guests made me cry at closing ceremonies, because unlike ComicCon, CONvergence isn't all about making money for profit, it's about raising money for charity and to quote the web site - "to inspiring each other through creativity, learning, and service."

DS
(Bruce's evil twin :-))

118> Which Doctor Who writer? It wasn't Steven Moffatt, was it? He wrote all my most favorite episodes, with the exception of one Russell Davies wrote.

121> Laura, check out the Wisconsin Book Festival, held in Madison every year. I've never attended, but Kathleen's been part of it, so if you have any questions for her, I could give you her e-mail or pass them on.

And you just missed southeastern Wisconsin's first festival of the book. I believe they plan to do it again next year.

Diane and Ilona both attended, and Ilona was one of the participating authors (her second book comes out in August). We had to cancel writing group, because it was opening night of the festival. I had to work at the museum the next day, so I didn't even consider going.

The keynote speaker was A. Manette Ansay. I own her River Angel, and probably Vinegar Hill, but haven't read either.

No matter how busy I was I wouldn't have missed Steven Moffatt or for that matter, Russell T Davis. But I am guessing that they are way to busy for us!

It was Paul Cornell, who wrote Fathers Day and the two-part Human Nature/The Family of Blood. Didn't they just make you cry?? That is what is missing from the new Doctor so far, yes you feel sad because he is the last of his kind, but you don't feel that gut wrenching sadness like when John Smith is basically pleading for his existence.

Oh and check out the Midwest Antiquarian Booksellers Association, The Chicago Antiquarian Book Fair is in August. I haven't been but it looked fun.

DS
(Bruce's evil twin ;-))

124> Was Father's Day the one where Rose wanted to meet her father? And Human Nature/The Family of Blood where the Doctor became human and fell in love (my favorite part was actually the Doctor's pitching ability)? Yes, those were both sad and memorable stories.

I haven't seen the new Doctor, but am nervous because I did not like the look of the guy playing him. He had a Uriah Heep quality to him in the pictures I saw.

I don't have cable, so I'll have to wait until the season is out on DVD and either get it from the library first or take my chances and purchase it.

Wow! Now I feel kind of like a numbskull for missing out on all of these - especially since, Renee, I feel like we may have talked about a couple of them in book club over the years. Hm. At any rate, thank you for the sci-fi convention links, and all of the wonderful info.

Re: the new Doctor Who. I have to say that I am enjoying the new episodes, but they do seem to be missing some heart. Yes, he is cheeky, and there are some laughs, and that whole creepy-smiley-crack-in-the-wall thing does have me intrigued, but after all is said and done I'm not waiting on pins and needles every Saturday night for the new episode. I like Amy enough (BTW, does she own pants?), and there are certainly original storylines, but it's not the same as David Tennant. I hope he comes back at some point to play the Doctor. There have been really good episodes this season, but it's not quite the same.

This just makes me want to buy and read Russell T Davies' books, and all the others, and have a bit of a Who-binge. I'd better not, seeing as I just spent $30 at BetterWorldBooks and I needed exactly zero of those titles.

Thanks for letting me take your thread on a little detour!

You MUST buy the Russell T Davies book The Writer's Tale! Dare I say that I have both editions?? And I can't get rid of one, because they both have different stuff in them, and I love them both. I love the rough drafts of the scripts! The cartoons! His cheeky dialogs and comments about men's butts! I also enjoyed T is for Television and Calling the Shots but The Writer’s Tale is the best.

I am enjoying the new Doctor, the thing about the character is, I think that no matter who he is played by you love him. Really he can go anywhere in time and space, he’s practically smarter then God and yet can still be so naïve about some things. What’s not to love?

Though he seems a bit diluted in the new series, he lacks . . . to quote from the Being Human/Family of Blood episodes – he lacks the “. . . fire and ice and rage, he’s like the night and the storm in the heart of the sun, he’s ancient and forever, he burns at the center of time and can see turn of the universe.” Christopher Eccleston’s Doctor was harsh, and intense. David Tennant’s Doctor wasn’t harsh, Rose changed that but he was still very intense, he had a very thin veneer over the fire and ice and the rage, he burned. The 11th Doctor only seems to smolder.

But I think that it is the scripts that are lacking the gut wrenching aloneness of the Doctor. Not that they are not great stories. And I do love Amy Pond. I don’t know why. She is like the best parts of Rose and Donna (Planet of Hats!) in one person. She’s not in love with him; she just wants a romp, in the Tardis, out of the Tardis. . . “Hey I was dressed for Rio!”

I really miss David Tennant. He is an amazing actor and I hope that we see him on this side of the Pond in lots of great stuff.

I get my Doctor Who fix via cable & iTunes, then I will buy the DVD’s when they come out. I’m a Who Slut!

Oh, did I mention that I have a book addiction? I love BetterWorldBooks! Sometimes I wonder if they go "what is she reading now?” Or “what an odd combination!” I think that I get most of my used books on Amazon from them and Owlsbooks. Oh and the San Francisco Goodwill!

DS
(Bruce's evil twin :-))

Too bad you guys live in WI, otherwise we could get together with popcorn, big boxes of Kleenex and have a Who Fest.

127> So is Steven Moffatt not writing any of the stories now that he's the script supervisor? Is Russell T. Davies completely divorced from the show? (I should really pick up Doctor Who magazine once in a while.)

I do have all four seasons of the new Who on DVD, plus the specials, along with episodes from 3 "old" Doctors (Pertwee, Tom Baker, Davison). I've bought a few of the new books, but only read one and wasn't impressed with it. Even so, I keep them in stock at the bookstore.

Wow, I'm suddenly having visions of a Midwest Who Fest. :-) Maybe followed by Torchwood, Firefly, and Farscape, with a Stargate Atlantis chaser. :-)

*jumps into thread*

@128 "Wow, I'm suddenly having visions of a Midwest Who Fest."

More personal than Chicago Tardis? ;) Ah, Midwesterners.... ^_^

I haven't been impressed with the Who books either. Even the old ones. Though if Moffat ever writes any, I may have to look into it; I like his stories much better.

OH, Torchwood. I love Captain Jack, not necessarily his looks but his energy, his, what is that French phrase? Joie de vivre? Children of Earth was fabulous. Yes, I know Russell killed off Ianto, and that was sad, but really could that relationship have lasted? Many of my friends won’t talk about it, or watch it again because of it. But did it not make you think about things in a totally different way? That’s the thing about Russell he takes us places that we don’t want to go and makes us think about them. According to Russell’s website Torchwood is (finally!) scheduled to return and it will not be just located in Cardiff, but “this new installment will see storylines widen to include locations in the U.S. and around the world. John Barrowman and Eve Myles will return in their roles as Captain Jack and Gwen respectively, along with new faces.” Yes!!

Moffett gives us a good scare in Doctor Who but that’s about it he doesn’t really make us think outside of our comfort zone. Not that I don’t love Blink and his other stories, but sometimes I wonder if this whole crack thing is too . . . too much of a gimmick?

Rumors of a Doctor Who movie are still strong; Johnny Depp seems to be the favorite to play the Doctor at the moment. I know who I would want – David Tennant!

Firefly, just like the Dresden Files, cancelled when it shouldn’t have been. Farscape, is stunning, Stargate Atlantis, Joe Flanigan need I say more?

As for the Doctor Who books, the series is written for the whole family to enjoy together, I think that the books focus more on just being kids books, to get them to read and so are written more for that.

DS
(Bruce's evil twin :-))

Hindi-Binid Club by Monica Pradhan

67 down. . . .

Get out your Kleenex’s for this one. It is a story told alternatively by the main characters three Indian immigrants and their American daughters. The trials and tribulations of being married and raising children in a culture totally alien from the one they grew up in.

I highly recommend this book.

Oh, and it has recipes!

DS
(Bruce's evil twin :-))

Goddess of Yesterday by Caroline B Cooney

68 down. . . .

Ok, I could have sworn that I didn't post message 132 twice, but it showed up twice. Then I edited the second one, and today I find that it was still a duplicate of the hinid-Bindi Club! URGH!!

Goddess of Yesterday is the best version of the Trojan War that I have read. Very entertaining, told from the view of a small girl.

DS
(Bruce's evil twin :-))

English as a Global Language by David Crystal

69 down!

I very much enjoyed the last book by David Crystal that I read so I added all of his books to my ever expanding wish list. I was not disappointed by this book.

This book explores the answers to three questions: what makes a global language, why is English the leading candidate and will it continue to hold this position.

How did English go from being almost extinct to being the lingua franca? Of course the British were responsible for the first push towards English with their colonial expansions. But that wasn’t the only factor.

Britain and America also had a better atmosphere for scientific thought at the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, and an increasingly expanding infrastructure. Just as today English is the language used in dealing with the information Age (all major high-level programming languages are based on English-language syntax and semantics and the default language for documentation in the field is English) so was English the language of the Industrial Revolution, if you wanted to take part in it you needed to learn English. To quote a friend of mine - “The sooner you get used to the idea that a successful life in programming requires intimate involvement with English, the sooner you will begin to plant the seeds for sustainable success”. That is the key - sustainable success. Computers in China, Japan, India, any country that you can name are probably running systems based on English.

Will English continue to hold this position? It is believed that unless there is some kind of catastrophic occurrence English will remain the lingua franca. It has been said that the greatest threat to English as a global language was bypassed a generation ago when Bill Gates was born in America instead of China or somewhere else.

DS
(Bruce's evil twin :-))

Incognito Street by sjoholmbarbara::Barbara Sjoholm

4 categories finished and 70 books read

“These are the things someday I will write about- I will write about my father’s life, the terrible tragedies and misfortunes of it & I will write about my grandmother & uncle & and about my mother’s religion & her death. I will write over & over about Rob & Ruthie & what they were to me. I will write about Laura. I will write of the experience of foreignness, of exile, of language & travel.”

I picked this up on a whim last year and then misplaced it. I think that I have enjoyed it more now, then I would have if I had read it last year. It is the story about the author and how she traveled Europe in the early 70’s learning Norwegian, and then Spanish by living in the countries. It’s about foolish choices and memories to last your whole life. What could be more amazing then living in another country and learning the language and then going to another and starting all over again?

I look forward to finding more of her books.

DS
(Bruce's evil twin :-))

The Seven Daughters of Eve by Bryan Sykes

71 down 29 left to go . .

I got this book last year because so many people said that they really enjoyed it. I really enjoyed it up until chapter 15, which is where he starts to um, create personas for the 7 women that most Europeans can be traced back to. Up to that point I was riveted. I learned so much more then just about how they went about tracing the genetic history through DNA. It was interesting to hear about the politics that also went on in the course of the research, and the little details, like carrying the ancient fossils in a box on the bus.

DS
(Bruce's evil twin :-))

I have been thinking about reading Seven Daughters of Eve too! It's an interesting thesis, but I've been hesitant to pick it up because I'm afraid it will be a bit too apologistic for my tastes. However, I'm somewhat encouraged by your review and this book may have to move further up the list. (Please do let me know if I shouldn't be encouraged!)

>136 pammab: I highly recommend it. It is one of those books that I think everyone should read like Three Cups of Tea or Eat, Pray, Love. You just want everyone to read it so you can talk about it with other people who have read it.

DS
(Bruce's evil twin :-))

Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire by Amanda Foreman

72 down 28 left to go . . .

This is the kind of life that is usually written about in romance novels, but of course with a different ending. First she married this fabulously wealthy older man, and then once the ceremony was over she was expected to perform her duties as Duchess as if she had been doing it for ages. No grace period of learning the ropes, all eyes were on her ready to pounce if she made a mistake. Her husband was no help, he had a mistress that he cared for and all he needed from his wife was an heir, which was a long time coming. So she did what everyone else did, go to parties, dance, gamble, shop. Did this lifestyle contribute to her many miscarriages? Who can say? Was she a woman trapped by society's expectations? Certainly she was limited by the society rules of her time, but really so were the men. They had the power but they were also very limited. As I read this book I often though how different their marriage would have been if they had been able to communicate with each other. But that is a very modern concept!

There was a lot of letter writing going on in those days. No telephones, no computers, no cars, no instant messaging you had to rely on paper and ink. And letters were not private. They could pass through many hands before they reached their intended person. You could not just write anything, unless you wanted it to be known. People often had codes and sobriquets for people. For example Georgiana referred to her husband as Canis (he liked dogs) in many of her letters, and her lover, Charles Grey was Black. Many of the things that we know about the past are from the letters that survive. I often wonder how e-mails and telephones will change the way that our daily lives are recorded and remembered. It is all too easy to make them disappear.

Georgiana was a woman who appeared to excel at everything she put her hand to, fashion, politics, and science. As history books go, this one is pretty good. There were some parts that I found difficult to read because you just know what she is doing will get her in to trouble, and she knows this and still can’t help herself. But again how much of this is because of society and what it expected of women, the weaker sex? Was she OCD? Did she suffer from depression? She certainly had a gambling addiction for quite a while. I don’t know. But I do know that she was one fascinating woman and it would be interesting to learn more about her, sometime.

DS
(Bruce's evil twin :-))

Elizabeth's Spymaster by Robert Hutchinson

73 down 27 left!

Great review of Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire! I was just looking at that book a couple of days ago, making a mental note to grab that book off of the shelf sooner than later. I'll have to get my step stool and make it official as soon as I'm done here.

Oh, and I've purchased and am staring at the spine for Doctor Who: The Writer's Tale, thanks to your "vigorous" arm twisting! (I mean, you must have mentioned it in passing at least once.) ;-) Thanks for your urging, and I'm looking forward to reading that big 700 page baby too - perhaps I can give myself bonus points for already completed 1010 categories so I have an excuse to read it? Hmmmmm.

I love Russel's bum comments! And his cartoons! OK, I just love Russell and I miss him. Doctor Who is still good, but it is missing that something. . .

DS
(Bruce's evil twin :-))

Something New
Something Old
Something Borrowed
Something BLUE!

Amy Pond got married! Kleenex was required.

OK, I can't take it anymore! I'm off to read some total fluff for my 75 book challenge!

DS
(Bruce's Evil Twin :-))

Elizabeth's Women: Friends, Rivals, and Foes Who Shapped the Virgin Queen by Tracy Borman

74 down

too hot for a review at the moment . . .

DS
(Bruce's evil twin :-))

>144 bruce_krafft:
Elizabeth's Women: Friends, Rivals, and the Foes Who Shaped the Virgin Queen
by Tracy Borman

Format: ARC
Subject: The women who influenced Queen Elizabeth I
Setting: Tudor England
Genre: history, Elizabethan England
Source: Early reviewers group

If every history book were written like this one we would all be history majors. I have no idea why this book is easier to read then every other history book that I have read, and I have been reading a lot of them lately. But it was a joy to read.

It starts with before Queen Elizabeth I was born and continues on until the end of her life. It covers the major events in the lives of a great many women who spent time with the queen. I admit to have a sort of lazy attitude towards history books, I don’t memorize facts & dates I just read to read, and if something sticks that’s great. And mostly reading about history usually gives a greater depth to my real literary passion – Sci-fi/fantasy books.

It all started with Kate Elliott and the fact that she had listed The Origins of Courtliness in one of her books, then there is David Weber and the French Revolution (which I know pretty much nothing about-yet.)

All of it lead to this wonderful book and it’s look at the ladies of Elizabeth’s life. We learn of Lady Bryan who was in charge of the baby princesses household. We learn about Blanche Parry and Katherine ‘Kat’ Champernowne. We learn how her father King Henry’s wives influenced her life. And we find about the politics of the court once she took power and through her long reign

DS
(Bruce's evil twin :-))

That sounds like a really good book. Thanks for the heads up.

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L Frank Baum

75 down

Format: Kindle
Subject: The Land of Oz
Setting: Kansas & The Land of Oz
Characters: Dorothy, Toto, The Scarecrow, the Tin Man and The Cowardly Lion
Genre: Classics, Children’s
Source: Amazon

So I downloaded Kindle for PC and got all of the Wizard of Oz books and some fun freebies.

Who hasn’t heard of The Wizard of Oz? It was interesting to see how the book was different from the movie, and how it was similar. For a story that is over 100 years old it is still very good. Which story is better? The movie or the book? It’s hard to say, but versions were good.

DS
(Bruce's evil twin :-))

Raffles: The Amateur Cracksman by E W Hornung

76 down

Format: Kindle
Subject: British whodunit told from the point of view of the perp
Setting: mostly London
Characters: Raffles, "Bunny" Manders
Genre: Classics
Source: Amazon

This is from one of the collections that I have gotten for Kindle. I love the fact that I can get many of the classics that I have been wanting to read for my computer for nothing or next to nothing.

We have all heard of Sir Conan Doyle, but how about E. W. Hornung, his brother-in-law? There was a TV series based on his books back in the 1970’s

This story is narrated by Bunny who tells the tales his old school chum AJ Raffles, gentleman of leisure and a first-class cricketer who lives off of stealing from the rich with Bunny’s help. First published in 1899 it is still a pretty good read.

The Land of green Ginger by Noel Langley

77 down

Format: paperback
Subject: The adventures of Abu Ali, son of Aladdin, Emperor of China
Setting: China, Samarkand, The Land of Green Ginger
Characters: Abu Ali, Boomalakka Wee, Silver Bud, Tintac Ping Foo and Rubdub Ben Thud
Genre: Classics, Children’s
Source: Betterworld Books

This 1937 children’s book is delightful. One thing that I really liked about it is that even though it is a children’s book he didn’t stay away from ‘big’ words. It is the story of the son of Aladdin and his quest to find the Land of Green Ginger and save the magician who created it. Along the way he needs to win the hand of silver Bud of Sumarkand and foil the evil plots of the two evil Princes Tintac Ping Foo and Rubdub Ben Thud with the help of the genie’s son Boomalakka Wee and a mouse.

DS
(Bruce's evil twin :-))

201 Turkish Verbs by Talat sait Halman
Elementary Turkish by Lewis V Thomas

78 & 79 down

201 Turkish Verbs ‘does just what is says on the tin’ so you really can’t say anything else.

Elementary Turkish by Lewis V Thomas

This book is one of the books that are recommended in 201 Turkish Verbs, I am not impressed. First I find is helpful when learning a new language to have words listed with a phonetic representation, especially if some letters are pronounced differently from what you are used to. This book explains how each letter is pronounced and that is it.

It doesn’t talk about agglutination and vowel harmony until chapter 4. I was really looking for a book that explained the different suffixes – clearly, this book doesn’t.

DS
(Bruce's evil twin :-))

How To Learn Any language by Barry Farber

80 down

This is a delightful little book (it less then 175 pages long.) But it is full of great advice. And it is entertaining too. The story of how the author started learning so many languages is very entertaining, in fact I almost wish that there was more!

So some of the keys are to use multiple tools. Don’t just get one book on the language, get several. Use flash cards, use publications written in your target language, use audio tools as well. Find people who speak the language and practice on them. Use ‘hidden moments’ you know those moments that you are waiting for the elevator, the person the other end of the phone to pick up, your computer to boot up.

I also found out that a former co-worker who I still regularly keep in touch with via e-mail speaks Latvian! Cool, I have added Latvian to my language list, we will be able to ‘converse’ in Latvian in not too long I am sure! So we now have Hindi/Urdu (movies & music), French, Turkish (music) and Latvian (e-mails with a live person!) that I am trying to get the hang of.

DS
(Bruce's evil twin :-))

Oh, and that also completes my language category, so any more books for that go to my 75 book challenge.

DS
(Bruce's evil twin :-))

the House of Mirth by Edith Wharton

81 down - getting close to the end!

Format: Kindle
Subject: life of an unmarried woman?
Setting: mostly New York and surrounding
Characters: Lily Bart, and several others
Genre: Classics
Source: Amazon

I liked the writing, and the story of Lily, but why did it have to end that way? It is quite the social commentary. Really what can I say that hasn’t already been said by other people?

DS
(Bruce's evil twin :-))

Beauty and the Beast by Marie Le Prince de Beaumont

82 down

Format: Kindle
Setting: France
Characters: Beauty, Beast, Beautie's father and sisters
Genre: Classics
Source: Amazon

Shakespeare by Another Name by Mark Anderson

83 down

Format: paperback
Subject: argument that Edward De Vere, the earl of Oxford was really the person who wrote Shakespeare
Setting: England
Genre: history
Source: Amazon

Was Shakespeare a front man for someone else? And if so for who or whom? Mark Anderson lays out his argument very clearly. Step by step he follows the life of Edward De Vere and explains why this makes him that best candidate.

Of course there is no concrete evidence about who wrote Shakespeare, but when you look at the facts, it does seem pretty obvious that it wasn’t William Shakespeare. But was it Edward de Vere? I will have to read more about the other candidates first. But I am leaning towards Edward De Vere.

DS
(Bruce's evil twin :-))

150 - I read that one for the challenge this year too and found it a delight! I don't know why I hadn't heard of it before, but what a fun story!

How to Cook a Dragon by Linda Furiya

84 down - in my now lopsided/unbalanced reading

Format: paperback
Subject: living in China
Setting: Beijing and Shanghai
Genre: memoir
Source: Amazon

I have been lax in reading books to round out my categories, and have more then finished the 75 book challenge so I figured instead of adding the books to that I would put them here.

I was looking for memoirs that talked about food, and this one caught my eye, how could it not with a title like that? I am sure that there will be people who read this book and go, she was so stupid why did she stay with someone like that? But retrospect makes everything seem clearer. I am sure that he kept the real person locked up and just let it slip out slowly a bit at a time.

I thought that it was a very interesting story. It was interesting how Chinese people reacted to her because of her looks (she is Japanese-American), how she reacted to them because of how she was treated growing up in Mid-America. And of course there are recipes.

DS

(Bruce's evil twin :-))

I have decided to embrace my difficulty in having less than 10 books in some categories and more in others. Some categories are harder reads then others an naturally take more time and effort to read, and should be given a ‘handicap’ like they do in some sports. Besides, to force myself to read a book in one category because the category that I am interested in reading about at the time is full is like the anti-thesis of what book reading is all about pleasure and sometimes knowledge. I am not reading for reading sake, so therefore I am not going to read for the categories sake. And since I have already read 78 books for my 75 book challenge it’s not like I have not been reading anything.

But it will certainly influence my categories for the 111111 challenge and I am going to have to re-think that.

DS
(Bruce's evil twin :-))

Holy Cow by Sarah MacDonald

85 down

Format: paperback
Subject: living in India
Setting: New Delhi and other parts of India, Kashmir and Pakistan
Characters: Sarah, her boyfriend Jonathan
Genre: travel memoir
Source: Amazon

Anyone thinking about going to India should read this book first. She tells it like it is and what it is like living outside of the posh touristy India. Due to Jonathans work (he works for the Australian Broadcasting Company) she spends a great time of her time in India without him. To avoid boredom and to feel like she is doing something with her life in India she travels learning about the different religious practices and beliefs in India. She gets double pneumonia and her hair falls out. She goes to an ashram where you can’t talk for 10 days and goes a bit nuts.

She is a very entertaining writer, and the books was very interesting even if you are not interested in going to India.

DS
(Bruce's evil twin :-))

When A Lady Misbehaves by Michelle Marcos

86 down

Format: paperback
Subject: true love conquers all
Setting: England
Characters: April Jardine, Riley, Lord Blackheath,
Genre: romance
Source: thrift store find

Ok, you really have to let go of reality to accept this story line because people just didn’t think like we do back then, but it was good. Romance is all about fantasy anyway right?

April is about to get thrown out into the streets if she doesn’t become a prostitute. But she finds her employers private diary listing names of men that she saw when she was a courtesan of some renown. April decides to approach these men and say that she is their daughter hoping to get enough money for her and her friend Jenny to set up a household. What she doesn’t count on is one of them takes her in with open arms and starts a line of lies, misconceptions that lead with her having to marry the heir to the dukedom.

DS
(Bruces’ evil twin :-))

A French Restoration: The Perils and Pleasures of Renovating a Property in France by Clive Kristen and David Johnson

87 down

Format: paperback
Subject: fixing up a home in France
Setting: Entrechoux France
Characters: Dave & Doris Johnson
Genre: moving & living abroad
Source: Amazon

So I have been reading and thinking about what we want to do when we grow up and moving out of the country seems to keep popping up. So since as they say knowledge is power we have started reading up on various different things, buying a house and fixing it up in France to be a B&B or perhaps small hotel being one of them. (And yes I have fallen in love with an old pile of bricks via the internet – but since this is something that we are planning say 10-15 years down the line (unless we win the lottery!) I think that our money is quite safe. Of course if we had the money I would probably be writing this in Bourganeuf France!)

This book was very interesting and well written, but I wish that it had more pictures and maybe had talked more about - now that I know better I would do this, we researched X before we moved to France and chose Y and we are/are not happy with it because.

There is a nice section at the back of the book talking about various things that you need to know about settling in France (with Brits in mind though) such as health insurance, driving, banks etc. Also a section on essential French phrasebook in relation to house construction repair.

DS
(Bruce's evil twin :-))

Chocolate Wishes by Trisha Ashley

88 down

Format: paperback
Subject: chocolate, magic, love, family, letting go
Setting: Sticklepond England
Characters: Chloe, Poppy, Felix, Jake, Zillah, Gramps and Raffy Sinclair
Genre: romance
Source: Amazon

Chloe had one semester of college and then left University and the man she loved to raise her half-brother Jake. Now he is about to go away to University, her chocolate business is thriving and their grandfather (Gramps) announces that he has sold their home and bought another larger place in nearby Sticklepond. To top it off her childhood friend Felix is getting the look of love in his eye when he looks at her, their friend Poppy is looking for love in all the wrong places, and her former fiancé is rethinking the whole calling off the wedding thing. Could it get any worse? Yes it could, when she finds that the love that she left behind is the town’s new vicar. Only she never really told anyone about him, and what happened, so no one understands why she doesn’t want anything to do with him. Or does she?

Sweet and interesting story. Lots of plot twists, lots of looking at relationships, not too many chocolate recipes.

I enjoyed it, even though nothing really happened that surprised me, but I think that sometimes it is nice just to read a sweet story.

DS

(Bruce's evil twin :-))

Unsuspecting Mage and Fires of Prophecy by Brian S Pratt

89 & 90 down

Format: kindle
Subject: magic, friendship
Setting: alternate earthlike
Characters: James, Miko
Genre: fantasy
Source: Amazon

The first book was a free kindle book, the second one was $5.95, so that brings me to just under $6.00 for the two. . . and I guess I am ok with that. The story was good enough for me to buy the second book, but I am not sure that I will be buying the rest. They give you the impression that they are just the record of someone’s D&D game.

The author said that he set out to write a story where 90% of the time you were watching the main character with minimal descriptive content. What makes him think that descriptive content is bad I am not sure. Minimal descriptive content makes it feel half done, like we are reading one of the rough drafts, basically only the framework of the story before it was fleshed out.

The main character is James a teenage boy who does D&D and reads a lot. He went for a job interview and got transported to an alternate reality where he can do magic. He has to figure out why he is there and how to get home.

DS
(Bruce's evil twin :-))

OMG we got a ridiculous amount of snow (17+ inches) and I don’t have the energy to read after dealing with it all. Thank goodness for the snow blower or I don’t think I would leave the house until it melts!!

DS
(Bruce's evil twin :-))

Bright of the Sky by Kay Kenyon

91 down

Format: kindle
Subject: alternate realities
Setting: alternate earthlike
Characters: Titus Quinn
Genre: sci-fi
Source: Amazon

A really good free Amazon e-book. It has a very good story and well constructed characters.

DS
(Bruce's evil twin :-))

The Paleo Solution: The Orginal Human Diet by Robb Wolf

92 down

Format: kindle
subject: alternate lifestyle
source: Amazon

A very interesting book. I know when I eleminate grains and other startches I feel so much better.

DS
(Bruce's evil twin :-))