The Turtle Moves

There was an escaped turtle in my backyard.

This turtle might be a ninja or at the very least a reincarnation of Houdini.  Maybe he has been reading too much Terry Pratchet. The turtle (whom I have name Mr. Turtle) lives three fenced in yards down from mine in a pond.  I have no idea how he is making it into my yard. This isn’t the first time this has happened.  The other week Mr. Turtle was found under my car.  I suspect he was trying to hot wire it.

The mystery of how he is getting in my yard is puzzling at best, but the trick of getting him back to his yard is task and a half.  The first round where Mr. Turtle was caught before he could steal my car, it was easy to get him back to his home.  All the neighbors were chilling outside and the clamor of finding a rather larger turtle drew their attention over the fences.  This time after establishing that none of the neighbors are home and that turtles can move rather quickly when they want to,  developed a friendship with Mr. Turtle.  After much one sided discussion and eyeing up my neighbors back yard  and discussing the virtues of staying in their own yard, wandered into my neighbors vibrant foliage and returned Mr. Turtle to his home.

This adventure with Mr. Turtle just makes me think about Terry Pratchett’s book Small Gods.  The more I think about it, I could have had a god in my backyard.

You can't trample infidels when you're a tortoise. I mean, all you could do is give them a meaningful look. - Terry Pratchett

Gift That Keeps On Giving

I have discovered that if I don’t force myself to write, then I won’t write. It is easier to talk myself out of writing than it is to string together a coherent thought.  I am going to go back to a blog post a day for a little bit to try and jump starts some good habits.  

I know I had mentioned in a previous blog a book gift idea list.  That is an incredibly hard thing to do. I have a love affair with books, and it is hard to pick a favorite one or two.  Instead I have broken it down into two lists.   One list is going to be a list of series to check out and which book to start with in that series and the other is going to be a list of ten books that I have most often gifted. I think between the two lists, that there is something for everyone. 

While composing this list, I realized that when I think of series, I mostly think of Science Fiction Fantasy. If you are not into Science Fiction or Fantasy this will hold no appeal to you and I recommend you to try back tomorrow on my most gifted books list. 

Book Series

1.        Dune- Frank Herbert- There is a total of 8 books in this classic Sci-Fi series.  I have probably watched every movie adaptation of this book, but I still have a love for the first book that set the entire stage. If you have someone just getting into Sci-Fi this is a great book to start with. 

2.       Small Gods- Terry Pratchett- There is a huge debate on where a person should start in the wonderful fantasy world of Discworld, and it could be a little daunting since there are 41 books within this series.  . Small Gods is the one that I started with and it opens the door to other characters without making you wish you had a back story. I look at it as the gateway book that ultimately lets you get a feel for the writers’ style and is massively entertaining. (In case you were wondering, a general search on the internet shows that Color of Magic is the book to start with, and I disagree.)

3.       Howl’s Moving Castle- Diane Wynne Jones- A fair number of people have seen the animated movie that was based off of the first book in this series. I have a great love for the movie (and almost anything Studio Ghibli) and a deep love for the book by the same name. Very rarely do I love a book and movie equally, but this is one of those rare times. There are a total of 3 books in this young adult series and each novel is a breath fresh air. 

4.       Summon the Keeper- Tanya Huff- I debated between two different series by Tanya Huff. I was debating between the Keeper Chronicles (3 books) and the Blood Books (6 books in total). I love both series and they are both radically different from each other. The Blood Books is a gritty vampire detective series and the Keeper Chronicles is a tongue in cheek sci-fi fairy tale romantic comedy. When it came down to it, I decided to go with the Keeper Chronicles, because I love the way that series makes me smile at the mental images it presents. 

5.        Darwin’s Radio- Greg Bear- There is only two books in this science fiction series, and it almost didn’t make this list. I put it on the lis///t because it isn’t light and fluffy. I read a lot of light and fluffy and find it relaxing, but this book is a far cry from my usual and if you like something a bit more serious and steeped in science then you will most likely love this book.  I like how this book made me think and is a good palate cleanse on some of the overly fluffy options out there. 

Snuff

When I finish a good book, there is a quick rush of euphoria. It makes me giddy, hyper and feeling like I can take over the world. It energizes me and makes me want to give the characters or author a high five for an awesome experience.  Captain Vimes is one of my favorite characters to pal around with, which made reading Snuff by Terry Pratchett an indulgence of the senses. 

You can take Vimes out of the City but you can’t take the City out of Vimes, which often times leads to unexpected actions and antics. It is really hard to write anything about Snuff at all, without wanting to spill all of its secrets and ruining all of the unexpected chuckles that ambushed me.   Snuff is about vacation, expectations, tobacco, goblins and justice.   It makes me smile when I think about the sort of marriage that is between Sybil and Vimes and how perfectly they complement each other in their imperfections.  

I would not recommend this to be the very first Terry Pratchett book you ever read, because while it is enjoyable on its own, it is that knowledge of the evolution of characters that puts a sparkle in the eye and keeps you flipping the page. 

“The jurisdiction of a good man extends to the end of the world.”
― Terry Pratchett, Snuff

Fall CSA: Week Two

Week Two of my CSA is trying to make my brain explode. I had barely finished typing out my thoughts on Week One, when Lizzy popped over with my Week Two box.  She was kind enough to pick up my box when she picked up hers, but had not yet had a chance to look inside. Lifting off the white box lid, I was flabbergasted.   The first things that I saw were giant leaves that looked like they came out of the Jurassic period.  Lizzy helpfully informed me that they were collard greens, as we sifted through the rest of the box.

Week Two: One Spaghetti Squash, Two Heads of Cauliflower,  half dozen apples, a bunch turnips, collard greens

I can tell that  I am not from The South. I have no idea what to do with collard greens, much less how to fix them.  Part of me wants to take the foliage and build a roof to a Tiki hut with them, and hope for warmer weather. I am sure my cats would love to have a little handmade hut for the holidays, which makes me wonder if cats eat Collard Greens.  

Collard Greens is going to take some research to be able to prepare into something that I won’t need liquid courage to try. As if the Collard Greens were not enough of a challenge, I had a passel of turnips.  My only real knowledge of what to do with a turnip has to do with something not so real, which is to say that you leave them out for The Hogfather.  My husband is not enthused about turnips, and I have no practical experience with them. I also don’t think that The Hogfather is going to stop by our house.  This week’s box is going to require research and asking good friends for some advice on what to do with the items in my box. I do know one thing for sure, and it is that this week is going to be interesting. I can only wonder what week three is going to bring. 

“The philosopher Didactylos has summed up an alternative hypothesis as "Things just happen. What the hell".” 
― Terry Pratchett, Hogfather

Dodger- A Review

I am a large fan of Terry Pratchett books, and I hold him as a writer in high regard. Which is why I was very much surprised when I finished Dodger. Dodger is written very much in the same style as all of Terry Pratchett's books, and at time London heavy resembles  Ankh-Morpork in the Discworld series.

 The history that is interwoven into the book along with being from a young lads point of view, kept me turning the pages.  They had interesting real characters, such as Charles Dickens and Sweeney Todd that were a lot more fleshed out than most history  books give them credit for. While it is true that Sweeney Todd is known as the Demon Barber of Fleet Street, and has been immortalized in musical and somewhat romanticized for the brutal murders he committed, not a lot has been said about why he did it, and in Dodger they talk about briefly the sensationalization of it for the time and what had made him mentally unstable.

 The true beauty of this a book about a young man trying to figure out who he is and what he wants to do with his life, it also brings forth the harsh reality that there are two sides to every coin. The self realizations that are made by the main character and the quick jaunt into several of the class levels of a Victorian London is a good guide to any individual to help them come to terms with some of those life realizations that only come with time and self analysis.

I would recommend this book to any person of youth that is on that cusp of self discovery and self realization.  This is not your typical Pratchett book that tends to run the gambit of irreverent humor and wit, but is more of the sort of book that father would write for growing son or grandson to help explain the path to adulthood and how the path is never easy.

My Life in Books- Thus Far

I think that is fairly self evident that I have a love of books. In last years NaNoWriMo I wrote about how different books influenced my life. Some of these books influenced me by the contents held with with, and others by the circumstances to which they came into might life or triggered in my life.  As we draw closer and closer to the magical creative time of NaNoWriMo, I reflect on what I accomplished last year and what I learned about my self and on my writing.  

In the up an coming weeks I am going to share with you some of the books that made a difference to me in this adventure with a pulse. I am going to go back and look at last years NaNo for the first time in a year and contemplate my work and hopefully edit it and move forwards.  Below is a list of books that were mentioned in what I call "My Life in Books". As I go though this editing and rehashing adventure, and clean up some of the grammar mistakes that I don't want to admit that I ever made; I will share some of the my best and worst moments with some of the books on the list.  I encourage you to think about what books may have shaped you as a person. 


2012- My Life in Books list

1. Diary of Anne Frank by Anne Frank
2. I, Robot by Isaac Asimov
3. Oedipus by Sophocles
4. Animalia By Graham Base
5. Where’s Waldo by Martin Handford
6. Berenstain Bears By Jan and Stan Berenstain
7. Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs by Judi Barrett
8. Nanny Ogg’s Cookbook: A Useful and Improving Almanac of Information Including Astonishing Recipes from Terry Pratchett’s Discworld
9. Breakfast at TIffany’s by Truman Capote
10. A Treasure of Modern Fantasy edited by Terry Carr and Martin Harry Greenberg
11. Glory Lane by Alan Dean Foster
12. Quozl by Alan Dean Foster
13. Dragons of a Fallen Sun by Margaret Weis
14. The Years Best of Fantasy and Horror Anthology 
15. Hitchhiker Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
16. Harry Potter Series by J.K. Rowling
17. Breaking Dawn by Stephanie Meyers
18. Brisngr by Christopher Paolini
19. Growing Up Girl by Anne Greenawalt
20. Merchant Princes Series by Charles Stross
21. Summon the Keeper by Tanya Huff
22. American Gods by Neil Gaiman
23. Moss Gown by William H. Hooks
24. Dandelion Wine by Ray Bradbury
25. Veronika Decides to Die by Paulo Coelho
26. Taming of the Shrew by William Shakespeare
    
27. Othello by William Shakespeare
28. Hamlet by William Shakespeare
29. Macbeth by William Shakespeare
30. Interview with the Vampire by Anne Rice
31. Small Gods by Terry Pratchett
32. The Fifth Elephant by Terry Pratchett
33. Joy of Sex
34. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austin
35. Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Jane Austin and Seth Grahmen Smith
36. Wolfman by Jonathan Mayberry
37. Book of Mormon by Joseph Smith
38. Betty Crocker Cookbook
39. The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein
40. Fifty Shades of Grey by E.L. James
41. Songs of the Lioness Quartet by Tamora Pierce 
42. Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz
43. The Giver by Lois Lowry
44. Number the Stars by Lois Lowry
45. Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway
46. The Other Side of Midnight by Sidney Sheldon
47. Much Ado About Nothing by William Shakespeare
48. What Color is Your Parachute by Richard N Bolles
49. To Kill a Mocking Bird by Harper Lee
50. Calvin & Hobbes by Bill Watterson
51. Pippie Longstockings by Astrid Lindgren
52. My Side of the Mountain by Jean Craighead George
53. Ride the Wind by Lucia St. Clair Robson
54. The Grass is Always Greener Over the Septic Tank by Erma Bombeck
55. Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgress
56. Wyrd Sisters by Terry Pratchett
57. Girl Interrupted by Susanna Kaysen
58. Alice in Wonderland by C.S.Lewis
59. Borley Rectory: Most Haunted Haunted House in England by Harry Price
60. Girl Genius by Phil Foglio
61. Intercourses by Martha Hopkins
62. 101 Things to Do with Ramen Noodles by Toni Patrick
63. The DIY Bride: 40 Fun Projects for your Ultimate One of a Kind Wedding by Khris Cochran
64. The DIY Bride Crafty Countdown: 40 Fabulous Projects to Make in the Months, Weeks & Hours before Your Special Day by Khris Cochran
65. The DIY Bride An Affair to Remember: 40 Fantastic Projects to Celebrate Your Unique Wedding Style by Khris Cochran
66. Beauty: A Retelling by Robin McKinley
67. Phantom  by Susan Kay
68. Game of Thrones by George R. R. Martin
69. Catfantastic, Nine lives and Fifteen Tales Edited by Martin H. Greenberg
70. Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats by T.S. Eliot
71. Cat Who Series by Lillian Jackson Braun
72. Encyclopedia of the Cat by Angela Sayer
73. Chicks N Chained Males edited by Esther Freiser
74. Writers Block
75. Aesop’s Fabels
76. Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer
77. The Essential Bartender Guide by Robert Hess
78. Dungeons & Dragons Player’s Handbook by Rob Heinson
79. Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder
80. Anne of Green Gables by L. M. Montgomery
81. Sookie Stackhouse Series by Charlaine Harris
82. Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster
83. Dune by Frank Herbert
84. Catch 22  by Joseph Heller
85. The Hobbit by J. R.R. Tolkien

(Don't worry, I am not going to blog about every single one of these books. I could, but I won't. But good luck guessing which ones I am going to talk about first.)

50 SciFi Books That Are a Must!

I am a big fan of book lists. Part of this stems from previously working in a bookstore and the other part is my love of reading. I have trolled several of the Award Lists on Library Thing to see how my library and reading list have measured up to my bibliophile peers.    Justin Jordan (author of the comic book series of Luther Strode  and fried to cats) posted a book list that he had stumbled upon concerning how many different books a character was seen reading in Gilmore Girls. I was intrigued  I am not a fan of Gilmore Girls, mostly because I don’t’ think I have ever seen a single episode, but because I am a fan of reading and books in general, I checked it out, and then I had my fellow Twitter pal and blogger HaveYouReadIt check it out also.  

Wow.  There were a lot books on the list and a lot that I had not completely read, or read excerpts of and other that I really didn’t have any interest in reading. I couldn’t be the only one in the world that could get to sleep at night without having read the entirety of Crime & Punishment. The amount that I had not read made me a little crazy, and thinking that perhaps I should expand my horizons. But, why should read a book that I am not interested in and am not being forced to read for any sort of class? And this is how my pal at HaveYouReadIt came to my mental rescue. We would come up with our own book list of something that we would be interested in reading.    Thus began the compiling of Science Fiction Fantasy books began.  We didn’t want to go crazy with hundreds of books; we kept it simple with 50 Science Fiction Fantasy books that will knock your socks off.  Please enjoy the BAT List and figure out where your measure up, or give either of us feedback as to what you feel should have made the list!

BAT List

1. I, Robot– Isaac Asimov
2. Stranger in a Strange Land – Robert Heinlein
3. Ender’s Game – Orson Scott Card
4. Hyperion – Dan Simmons
5. A Canticle for Lebowitz – Walter M. Miller
6. The Doors of His Face, The Lamps of His Mouth, and Other Stories – Roger Zelazny
7. Carlucci – Richard Paul Russo
8. Accelerando – Charles Stross
9. Time Enough for Love – Robert Heinlein
10. Ship of Fools – Richard Paul Russo
11. Nineteen Eighty-Four – George Orwell
12. Fahrenheit 451 – Ray Bradbury
13. Brave New World – Aldous Huxley
14. The Once and Future King – T. H. White
15. A Spell for Chameleon (and all subsequent Xanth books) – Piers Anthony
16. The Golden Compass – Philip Pullman
17. Enchantment – Orson Scott Card
18. Dune – Frank Herbert
19. The Great Book of Amber – Roger Zelazny
20. The Scions of Shannara – Terry Brooks
21. The Black Unicorn – Tanith Lee
22. The Blue Sword – Robin McKinley
23. Lord of the Rings – J.R.R. Tolkein
24. The Chronicles of Narnia – C.S. Lewis
25. Across the Nightingale Floor – Lian Hearn
26. American Gods – Neil Gaimen
27. Small Gods- Terry Pratchett
28. 2001 Space Odyssey- Arthur C Clark
29. War of the Worlds- Orson Wells
30. Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy- Douglas Adams
31. The Hobbit- J.R. R. Tolken
32. Howls Moving Castle- Diana
33. Wizard of Oz- Frank Baum
34. Alice in Wonderland- Lewis Carroll
35. The Last Unicorn- Peter S. Beagle
36. Interview with a Vampire- Anne Rice
37. Harry Potter Series- J.K. Rowling
38. Summon the Keeper- Tanya Huff
39. Quozl- Alan Dean Foster
40. 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea- Jules Verne
41. Beauty: A Retelling – Robin McKinely
42. The Good Fairies of New York – Mark Millar
43. The Cat Who Walked Through Walls – Robert Heinlein
44. The Chocolate Hollow Bunnies of the Apocalypse – Robert Rankin
45. Resenting the Hero – Moira Moore
46. The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldrich - Philip K. Dick
47. Game of Thrones - George R. R. Martin
48. Watchmen - Alan Moore
49. Sandman - Neil Gaiman
50. Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell - Susanna Clarke