The required US legal disclaimer: All images are the property of their owners I reproduce them here under the Fair Use Doctrine of the copyright law for commentary and critique The required US legal disclaimer: All images are the property of their owners I reproduce them here under the Fair Use Doctrine of the copyright law for commentary and critique
I enjoy tales about characters. It’s because I grew up among story tellers and characters. My mother Sylvia Bright has quite a following on several Facebook groups where she tells the tales of the place I grew up Greeneville, Tennessee. Thus I enjoy books that center on every day interesting people met in travels or while doing business. This book is just one of those. Winton Porter owned a backpacking shop and hostel. It is the only one that actually straddles the Appalachian Trail. So if you desire to walk the trail from one end to the other you will walk through that breezeway.
We all know this movie. If you don’t please get thee to Netflix, Amazon Prime, Google Play, iTunes, or wherever you get your movies now that Blockbuster is busted and see it. It is fabulous and for my money one of the best comedies ever. I’ve seen it more times than Phil in the movie re-lived February 2nd. Every time I belly laugh. It’s a rare thing to have a movie like that. So here’s to the books, poems, paintings, photos, movies, tv shows that always bring us joy. I’m going to share just a few of mine. One that like Phil and February 2nd I repeat again and again. (more…)
I’ve started doing scheduled postings and it has helped me get back to blogging regularly. I was pondering what could I do to add a regular day to my Anything Goes Tuesdays and Throwback Thursdays. I came up with Memoir Mondays where I tell a little memory of mine. It seems people think I’ve had an interesting life. I don’t think it’s anything beyond the mundane but I’ve been told it is. Maybe like many Southerners I have a great
This week is Banned Book Week. I have to admit I’ve never met a book I thought should be banned. I’ve read many books that were banned at one point or another and always came away disappointed. You see when my folks would get me a ‘banned’ book I thought there HAD to be something exciting and salacious about it to earn such a dubious honor. Then I read Grapes of Wrath, Catcher In The Rye, The Great Gatsby, 1984, To Kill a Mocking Bird, Clockwork Orange, and so on… I came away with great stories but nothing so salacious that I saw any reason to ban it. At first being a skeptical high schooler I thought maybe parents got together and banned it to make teenagers want to read good literature. Then I thought maybe it was banned as a marketing gimmick. Finally I came to the sad realization that no these books were banned because there are people out there who want to control our thoughts. They want to decide what’s okay to write and thus think about and what’s not. They are under the delusion if you don’t look at stuff you don’t like it’ll go away. (more…)
Okay here’s something I’m going to try to do. Throw back Thursday posts – old things I have that I’ll share. Some are to laugh at myself like this one here. Others I imagine will interest me enough to share for other reasons.
Here’s what I know about that picture – it’s me! I’m in my maternal grandparent’s house in Laurens, South Carolina’s guest bathroom. That potty was wooden. Which at the time I thought was odd. (more…)
I would say this is required reading for those who grew up in the 1990s, or if you like Disney, or if you think you want to enter the big time in any corporation. DisneyWar by James B. Stewart tells the tale of how Disney went from being greenmailed to the powerhouse it is today (owners of Marvel movies and Star Wars franchise to boot). (more…)
How I came to this book is through research. I am looking into the various creepy crawlies of various cultures folklore. I asked a friend that was raised in Russia about Russian folklore. She gave me The Secret History of Moscow by Ekaterina Sedia to read before we discuss it.
I have to admit that once I started this it was a page turner. It’s set in modern times but draws on the legend of pre-revolution and revolutionary Russia. Heck we even see Soviet Russian fall into legend.
The story is bleak much like what I’ve been led to believe is the traditional Russian outlook. I found it interesting to hear how the average person felt about the Soviet fall. Before the fantasy part comes forward in this urban fantasy we get a glimpse into post-Soviet Moscow.
The heroes and villains of the fantasy segment are all new to me and fascinating. I especially liked Koschei the Deathless. He was a very intriguing fellow. One-eyed Likho was intriguing and very creepy. Also the November Revolutionists Wife Marya Morevna was a more modern myth that was elegant and tough.
Overall the story was fast paced and kept me turning the page to see what happens next. The ending was very fitting for the story and we learn why people were turning into Jackdaws including the main character’s sister.
The only thing I found distracting was the over use of the ‘said’ tag. I noticed it early on and at times became distracted by it. Maybe it was an artifact of bad editing after translation. One of the first thing in writing is learning that said is dead in dialogue. There are many ways to indicate who is speaking. Often you don’t need to indicate but the flow of conversation between two will naturally do it.
I recommend this book to get a view from Russian eyes. It’s an urban fantasy that’s got a unique perspective this book is for you.
Let’s start by saying I love everyone of Mary Roach’s books. I discovered her at her second book Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers and have anxiously awaited the release of every one since then. Gulp: Adventures On the Alimentary Canal is her latest offering. I wasn’t so sure that it would be as interesting as her others but knowing that she can face the most uncomfortable subjects with child-like fascination asking the questions we all ponder but don’t know who to ask. Mary finds the specialist that can seriously answer those questions. Then she brings the answers down to the common man level.
Before I go on I have a confession followed by a recommendation. I have never actually READ any of Mary’s books. Instead I’ve enjoyed them on audio books. Yes I started with Stiff and went back to Spook then awaited the release on audio for all the following books. Each reader brings Roach’s every man narration to life, not overly deadpanning the funny aspects tackled in each book nor over playing the amusement. They keep in respectful but inquisitive with slight amusement that they are asking a flatulence expert if food changes the composition of farts or watching nice grandmas make sex toys.
Now to her current topic – how food makes it from mouth to anus and what happens to it on the way. Okay go ahead make the bathroom jokes, but honestly spend time with the very young or the retired elimination will be a topic of discussion. Watch tv note all the stuff hocked that addresses unpleasant passage along the alimentary canal from anti-acids to laxatives/anti-diarrhea medication. We are a society that is consumed by what happens to what we consume but embarrassed to talk about it.
What makes Roach’s books so enjoyable is the fact she’ll acknowledge societal taboos but ask the questions any way. Not only that she introduces us to quirky but delightful specialists to answer those questions. From the Italian Dr. that specializes in studying saliva and its various types – to the team that studies human poop consistency. She attends a party where all the foods are poop texture themed from chocolate covered bananas to chocolate shakes.
The humorous moments lighten the times where horrific issues are discussed. The affliction of mega-colon that can be a side effect of not being born with enough muscles to evacuate properly. Elvis was a famous person who suffered from this. Then there’s the matter of fact account of a poop transplant. Yep you read this right a poop transplant. Take a person who poops well – frequently, good evacuation, good consistency, etc. and get a sample of poop. Then there’s a person who has issues – irritable bowel, frequent going due to damage to the gut flora from say chemo. Transplant the good processed poop via a colonoscopy. Then in a few days, yes just days, the good flora from the good pooper has bloomed and the bad pooper is cured. Sometimes the simplest ideas with the least invasiveness work the best. Sure social taboos about other’s poop come into play but honestly if you have been through cancer or irritable bowl, a colonoscopy for a cure is so simple. Yet, as it stands insurance doesn’t cover it. The poop team is working to change this.
I think Roach summed it up in the start of the book. She stated she hoped your first reaction of “oooh that’s a gross subject” is quickly overcome by “oh this IS interesting!” Basically that sums up most of her career with the exception of Packing For Mars take on topics with their own taboos – death, corpses, sex – with a great scientific eye, honest curiosity, and a fantastic talent to find the right person to ask. Even in Packing For Mars she asks the questions we ponder “What if there’s a personality clash in space? Have fights happened?” or “How did astronauts poop before the space toilet installed?” and so on.
One other thing I’ll tip my hat to Mary Roach for doing – trying it herself. From the butt alignment camera on a space toilet to sex with her husband in an MRI to collecting her spit with a specialist – Mary’s game to participate in her own research. This adds great depth, insight, and humor to her own writing.
At the end of Gulp I had a new appreciation for how my own body takes food and turns it into me and getting rid of the rest. People are fascinating, awe inspiring beings from what ever makes us US and if that survives death to how our magnificent bodies function and malfunction to our aspirations to travel among the stars. When I finish one of Roach’s books I am always in awe for humanity and feel pleasantly educated about just how awesome each and every one of us is.
If you’ve not discovered her books – get thee to the library, store, or audible now! You are in for a treat!
So it’s not like I’ve got enough to do… I mean work is about to get swamped. I’m flowing on a novel. I’ve got jewelry projects out the wazoo. Genealogy is only adding more people as I type this. Summer is coming and that’s photography time for me… BUT I needed one more thing to keep up with. Yes, apparently I did.
I know the internet can be a big help or a big time waster. I do my best to keep up with Google+, Twitter, Flickr, favorite blogs, and writing here regularly. So I’ve avoided Pintrest like the plague. Not because I thought it was bad or any thing (like the evil Facebook) but just because I didn’t want another thing to keep up with.
Then it happened. I had all these visual references for this story I’m writing. I was wanting a place to keep them so I could access them from any computer/device where I was writing. That’s when a friend who shall not be named or blamed suggested using Pintrest for this. “But I don’t want them to be publicly seen as I’m working.” That was my comeback but quickly they disarmed me “Oh but then you could make a secret board. Then to access it from say your phone, netbook, desktop or any where just sign in.”
So I did. It’s great but then I thought well I should have a public board… I made one to keep all my Wolverine links to images, scans, fan art, previews, etc. So if one hobby has it why not the other – thus the bead board was born. But wait! I like books too! and coffee, and writing, and so on, and so on…. until it became THIS!
Now part of my unwinding to go to bed is pinning stuff… At least hop over there (link in the THIS above) and look around. If you are Pinterest let me know and I’d love to follow you. Now to make sure I don’t waste too much time there…
Except there’s this great Logan over at Comic Art fans… I’ll just pin that… .
I’m always looking for a good book series. I enjoy watching characters develop. I guess that’s why I still enjoy comic books. I keep my ears open for new series to try. Generally, speaking the first book of a series that’s intended to be a series is one of the weaker books because it sets up the world, the characters, plot lines to carry for many books, and an episodic plot. That’s a lot to get done in about 300 pages. So if a series can grab me in the first one I figure it’s a keeper.
The Anatomist’s Apprentice by Tessa Harris is the first book of the Dr. Thomas Silkstone mysteries. It’s set in England during King George III’s reign, during our Revolution here in the states. Anatomy was a newish science and our hero Dr. Silkstone is burgeoning into forensic science. He’s treading new territory about the time Vidocq, the father of modern forensic thought, was being born. He attempts to determine not just the cause of death but the method of murder or should I say murders. The initial one leads to a few more all needing to be solved.
There are enough twists, red herrings, and dead ends to keep the reader guessing. The story has a great pace to build interest without being rushed or lagging. I have to say I enjoyed it very much and will be reading the second book The Dead Shall Not Rest.
Even though I enjoyed the book there were a few issues with the book that threw me out of the story as a reader. The first was remembering it was set in the Georgian era not the Victorian era. For me take away a few references to tricron hats, powdered wigs, Colonies in revolt, and men in stockings and the setting was perfectly Victorian. Actually it seemed more so than Georgian, from medical school operations, to newspapers frequency, to conversational phrasing, to servants mannerisms and so on. The feel was off so I gave up ignored the few dropped hints that it was the 1700s and imagined it in the 1800s.
The second issue was head hopping. You see in a scene you can only be in one person’s head. If you keep hopping about from inner thoughts to inner thoughts it gets confusing. The few times in one scene where we jump from his head to her head and back I was totally out of the scene and confused. Inside one head per scene please!
The third was events seemed to be known before they were known. I can’t think of specific examples but I do remember at least twice thinking “Hmm, we know that? How did I miss that?” Then shortly after that we do come to know it. As I writer I recognize this as forgetting to clean up moving a scene. It happens and a good editor will kick it back to you to fix.
Finally the fourth and to me the biggest one – don’t play your hero of the series to be stupid. There’s a scene where he explains how a unique poison works. Then right after that the very person who gave him the sample – has the systems of the poison but dammit he doesn’t notice. It takes too long for him to put it together when as a reader I was shouting it at him. YOU JUST DESCRIBED THIS HOW CAN YOU NOT SEE IT?!?
Honestly I put the others on the editor’s shoulders. A great editor takes a story and helps the writer make it the best it can be. Unless there’s a reason to have it in the 1700s a few snips and it’s fitting the feel. Head hopping is something editors are always harping upon and looking for changes in the point of view (POV). Writers tend to do it when creating because we are trying to account for everyone and their motivations so their movements hold true. Decent editors get it out very quickly. I’ve already addressed the rewrite remnants of what is known when. So I think it’s a good strong story with weak editing.
Those are mostly small things, some are just writer hang-ups. Still if it’s stuff that will bug you be warned it’s there but the story is strong enough to get through it. If you don’t notice these things or they don’t bother you, then you’re in for a fun read.
Mary Louise Eklund 