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| Borrowed. |
Anyway, I've also not done a reading / new book update in two weeks! Egads! So let's get right to it, eh?
Just Finished
I haven't made as much progress this month as the first quarter of 2024. I've completed 4 books since my last update. I hope to finish at least one more before end month, maybe two with a bit of perseverance.
"Here is the good and the bad of reading Lightfall: The Dark Times, the 3rd and most recent of the Lightfall series by Tim Probert. The good - I got to catch up with Bea and Cad, the Galdurian in their adventures on the planet Irpa as they race across country to try and find the sun. The bad - Now I have to wait for #4 to come out so I can see what happens next. As Charlie Brown would have said, AUGH!!
As always, like the 1st two books, it's a wonderfully drawn, fast-paced story, filled with fascinating characters and creatures. It's sometimes confusing, especially the very beginning, but it quickly made sense as the survivors of the battle Rinn make a mad dash across the planet in the dark to try and get to hoped for safety in Baihle. They must battle the Shades and other creatures of the darkness. Bea and Cad are somewhat estranged, as Bea is exhausted, trying to learn the magic of talking to the land; plants and stones, etc. Cad is despondent as he blames himself for causing the darkness and also due to his belief that he might be the last of the Galdurians.
As well, Bea and Cad, along with other friends, will soon have to split up with the rest of the survivors, as the will be heading southwest to the City of Knowledge to try and find clues to discovering the location of the Sun, or how to get it back.
It's such a neat story and Cad and Bea are wonderful characters as are Soot, the flying dog, Grandpa, the pig wizard and even the little cat... oh and the yoda type wizard teaching Bea... Kipp? Anyway, the artwork is super, dark when it needs to be, bright when it does that and the characters are wonderfully presented. Try the series, it's great so far. And hurry up with #4! (4.0 stars)"
"Unnatural Causes by P.D. James is the 3rd book in the Adam Dalgliesh mystery series. I've read a couple of others our of sequence but it didn't affect my enjoyment of the books. This book, like the others I've read, was so smartly and well - written. It wasn't favorite though.
Dalgliesh is taking a vacation. Once or twice a year he goes to visit his aunt, his only relative, on the Suffolk coast; partly just to decompress from a case he was working on and also, in this case, to sort out his feelings for his girlfriend. Does he or does he not want to marry the lady. Unfortunately, this visit will be interrupted by a dead body.
His aunt, Jane Dalgliesh, lives in an isolated community of writers and artistes. They tend to go their for peace and quiet. But, as I mentioned, this weekend will be disrupted by a body and also by a torrential storm. The body is discovered in a boat which floated to shore. Oddly, the man has had his hands cut off. It turns out the body is one Maurice Seton, a famed mystery writer who lives right next to Dalgliesh's aunt. We see the 'culprit' placing the body in boat at the very beginning so it's not a surprise to we readers. But there are some surprising things that seem to take place that present various suspects. What did the man and woman bury on the shore? Why was Latham suspiciously watching Dalgliesh?
To be fair, this is not Dalgliesh's case. It's that of the local cop, one Inspector Reckless. Dalgliesh is somewhat frustrated that he's not asked to take over but also sort of angry that he's subordinated to the investigation. It seems the corpse may have died of natural causes (surprising, since the title is Unnatural Causes eh?) but why were the hands removed? Where did he die?
It's an interesting story, filled with a cast of suspicious, nosey characters. PD James can spin a yarn. It moves sort of slowly and methodically until Dalgliesh visits London and the storm erupts on the coast. Lots of action then.... But in my mind, the story winds down sort of anti climactically, sort of satisfying but also kind of shoulder shrugging. Maybe because we don't have the benefit of Dalgliesh's team involvement. At any rate, it's still entertaining and it's always good to visit P.D. James' world. (3.5 stars)"
"Tank Girl: The Gifting is listed as the 6th book in the Tank Girl graphic novel collection by Alan C. Martin. It was published in 2007 and was the first new Tank Girl material since 1996. It contains stories like The Dogsh*t in Barney's Handbag, Kill Jumbo, The Innocent Die First, XZ-38 and Under Milk Tits. Like all of the other Tank Girl graphics I've read, it's irreverent, funny, sort of sexy and filled with excellent artwork, this time by Ashley Wood and Rufus Dayglo.
There are also bios of all of the characters; Tank Girl, her boyfriend, mad kangaroo Booga, and her pals, Jet Girl, Barney and Jackie. The stories run the gamut, battles with angry hotel guests, mad coppers and then just normal fun and games. It's always a wild ride and pure entertainment.
It depends what you want from a story but if you just want to sink into their unique world and escape for a day or a few hours, Tank Girl is always an excellent option. 'Luverly jubbles'... (3.0 stars)"
"The Ministry for the Future by Kim Stanley Robinson is my first book by this author. I've had 2312 on my bookshelf for awhile now but have been somewhat intimidated by the size. I can't remember if I bought it because I saw that Barack Obama recommended it or if I bought it before. In my vanity, I'll go with the latter. I am a trend setter, dontcha know.
Anyway, to the book. The story starts with Frank May, living in India, helping the poor. While there, the country, especially that particular district, suffers a heat wave of such extreme that thousands and thousands die Frank survives but is never the same, a kind of PTSD. India decides to take action to prevent such a disaster again; I think some sort of cloud seeding. While the rest of the world frowns on this action, they still wait to see the result. Will it help reduce the carbon footprint. As a result of the disaster, a group forms the Children of Kali who will take more aggressive action to save the world.
We move also to Antarctica where plans are underway to stop the ice shelf from disintegrating. It involves drilling through the ice shelf to the sea bed, sucking the water below the ice shelf to the surface, spraying it on the surface and ultimately grounding the ice shelf once again onto the ocean bed... Fascinating.
In Switzerland, one Mary Murphy takes charge of a new UN department, the Ministry for the Future. It's plan is to protect future citizens of the world, find ways to protect the Earth, making it almost a client and so many other things.
It's a fascinating story, building slowly, moving from Mary to Frank and then to other people, locations. It's a similar format to War Day by Whitley Streiber or World War Z by Max Brooks. In style, it moves from person to person, from location to location, with relatively small chapters. If you are looking for action, there is some, mostly on the periphery. Mary's department in Zurich is bombed and she must have constant security details and live in safe houses.
A new form of missile is created by Russia, sold to anyone and seems to be unbeatable. Aircraft are shot from the sky, especially those belonging to the rich. This is a protest against propulsion that affects the carbon. Planes are switched to electric or balloon flight becomes popular again. Container ships are sunk causing drastic changes to propulsion of sea transportation. And on and on. There is a question if these attacks are orchestrated by the Ministry's 'black' sub-organization.
Interspersed with the characters' stories are sections talking about the economics, politics, refugees, etc. I admit to skimming sometimes when these chapters came up, but at the same time, they weren't too technical and provided an excellent context to the workings of the Ministry as it tries to save the world; carbon coins, making refugees citizens of the world, saving wild life, etc.
As I started, I found it sort of easy to put down, but it's the kind of story that sneaks up on you, getting you more and more involved. It's not Sci-Fi but more a 'present -future'. It ultimately left me with a feeling of hope, a hope that there are people who are making the efforts to change the future, that there are leaders amongst us with the will and strength to force the world to save itself. I really can't find any fault with this excellent story. Please check it out. (5.0 stars)"
Currently Reading
"I long for the days before the Last Desolation. Before the Heralds abandoned us and the Knights Radiant turned against us. When there was still magic in Roshar and honor in the hearts of men.
In the end, not war but victory proved the greater test. Did our foes see that the harder they fought, the fiercer our resistance? Fire and hammer forge a sword; time and neglect rust it away. So we won the world, yet lost it.Now there are four whom we watch: the surgeon, forced to forsake healing and fight in the most brutal war of our time; the assassin, who weeps as he kills; the liar, who wears her scholar's mantle over a thief's heart; and the prince, whose eyes open to the ancient past as his thirst for battle wanes.
One of them may redeem us. One of them will destroy us."
Maria Ressa is one of the most renowned international journalists of our time. For decades, she challenged corruption and malfeasance in her native country, the Philippines, on its rocky path from an authoritarian state to a democracy. As a reporter from CNN, she transformed news coverage in her region, which led her in 2012 to create a new and innovative online news organization, Rappler. Harnessing the emerging power of social media, Rappler crowdsourced breaking news, found pivotal sources and tips, harnessed collective action for climate change, and helped increase voter knowledge and participation in elections.
But by their fifth year of existence, Rappler had gone from being lauded for its ideas to being targeted by the new Philippine government, and made Ressa an enemy of her country's most powerful man: President Duterte. Still, she did not let up, tracking government seeded disinformation networks which spread lies to its own citizens laced with anger and hate. Hounded by the state and its allies using the legal system to silence her, accused of numerous crimes, and charged with cyberlibel for which she was found guilty, Ressa faces years in prison and thousands in fines.
There is another adversary Ressa is battling. How to Stand Up to a Dictator is also the story of how the creep towards authoritarianism, in the Philippines and around the world, has been aided and abetted by the social media companies. Ressa exposes how they have allowed their platforms to spread a virus of lies that infect each of us, pitting us against one another, igniting, even creating, our fears, anger, and hate, and how this has accelerated the rise of authoritarians and dictators around the world. She maps a network of disinformation--a heinous web of cause and effect--that has netted the globe: from Duterte's drug wars to America's Capitol Hill; Britain's Brexit to Russian and Chinese cyber-warfare; Facebook and Silicon Valley to our own clicks and votes.
Democracy is fragile. How to Stand Up to a Dictator is an urgent cry for Western readers to recognize and understand the dangers to our freedoms before it is too late. It is a book for anyone who might take democracy for granted, written by someone who never would. And in telling her dramatic and turbulent and courageous story, Ressa forces readers to ask themselves the same question she and her colleagues ask every day: What are you willing to sacrifice for the truth?"
That is, until his and Jane's past reaches out to bring them back into the game--as leaders of a new human colony, to be peopled by settlers from all the major human worlds, for a deep political purpose that will put Perry and Sagan back in the thick of interstellar politics, betrayal, and war."
On Thanksgiving Day, just before relatives arrive for dinner, Emily Pancoast discovers that the dollhouse dining room table, set in miniature of the real one, is in total disarray and the doll representing their niece Pamela is lying facedown in her dessert plate. When Pamela's death soon follows, the sisters turn to the physician detective, Dr. Andrew Fenimore."
Set against the backdrop of China's Cultural Revolution, a secret military project sends signals into space to establish contact with aliens. An alien civilization on the brink of destruction captures the signal and plans to invade Earth. Meanwhile, on Earth, different camps start forming, planning to either welcome the superior beings and help them take over a world seen as corrupt, or to fight against the invasion. The result is a science fiction masterpiece of enormous scope and vision"
In an alternate history of Detroit, the Motor City was never surrendered to the US. Its residents deal with pollution, poverty, and the legacy of racism—and strange and magical things are happening: children rule over their own kingdom in the trees and burned houses regenerate themselves. When Gloria arrives looking for answers and her missing granddaughters, at first she finds only a hungry mouse in the derelict home where her daughter was murdered. But the neighbours take pity on her and she turns to their resilience and impressive gardens for sustenance.
When a strange intuition sends Gloria into the woods of Parc Rouge, where the city’s orphaned and abandoned children are rumored to have created their own society, she can’t imagine the strength she will find. A richly imagined story of community and a plea for persistence in the face of our uncertain future, The Future is a lyrical testament to the power we hold to protect the people and places we love—together."
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| Sherri S. Tepper |
Two societies. Two competing dreams. Two ways of life, kept apart by walls stronger than stone. And yet there is a gate between them. . . ."
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