This week I have been continuing with Diana Gabaldon’s Outlander series which I’m reading as a mixture of Kindle ebook and Audible audiobook. Have I mentioned before how much I love Whispersync for Voice? The ability to switch between the two media without having to worry about finding your place is pure awesomeness. Anyway, I digress. I finished Outlander this week and have moved onto Dragonfly in Amber. I have to say, my rereading of the series is enhanced by the Starz series. When reading about Claire and Jamie’s adventures it’s great to be able to imagine Catriona Balfe and the deliciously edible Sam Heughan in the roles. It might even be able to get me past that point in Voyager where I lost interest in the series. This week I’m back on nightshift for a week to cover a coworker’s vacation. I fully expect to spend my time monitoring servers in the company of Jamie, Claire and the others of Clans Fraser and McKenzie. In other news, I’ll be going on blog hiatus for the month of November, so this will be my last entry for a while. I have decided to take part in NaNoWriMo. For those of…
The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion tells the story of the romance between Don, a university professor clearly on the autism spectrum, and Rosie, a young woman he assists in her search for her biological father. Their relationship is complicated by Don’s insistence that any potential partner prove her compatibility by completing and passing a multi page questionnaire. Causes for rejection as a potential partner include; being a vegetarian, smoking, being continually late, all of which apply to Rosie. I adored The Rosie Project – it engaged me in the characters and had me at times giggling at Don’s antics, and generally rooting for them. I listened to it in audiobook format which was excellent. What I liked The characters. I adored them. Don’s social ineptness was very endearing (although I don’t think I’d want to deal with it personally on a day-to-day basis) and Rosie was such a lot of fun. I was rooting for them, both in their romantic relationship and their quest to identify Rosie’s biological father thanks to Don’s genetics know-how. Even the minor characters, such as Don’s friends Gene and Claudia, had their own issues which kept them interesting as well. Don’s character development. I…
So this week I finished a couple of books, one of which left me thinking, “oh… OK. What happened exactly?” and the other received my first five star rating in quite some time. The first of these was Unraveled by Gennifer Albin, the final book in her Crewel World YA dystopian trilogy. I think it would require a second reading to understand fully what Albin was trying to achieve. Unfortunately, I don’t feel strongly enough about it to care about a reread. I loved the first book, second one was so-so and the third. Hmmmm. I probably won’t review this one. The second one was the audiobook of Graeme Simsion’s quirky romance The Rosie Project. I adored this, so expect my full review next week. Other than reading, I’ve been indulging in my new secret obsession; the British quiz show QI, which I discovered recently on UK Netflix. For those of you who aren’t familiar with this, it’s a cross between standup comedy and a quiz show. The quizmaster is the always engaging Stephen Fry with regular panelist Alan Davies. The other panelists are standup comedians generally from the UK. Each episode has a theme, and panelists gain points by…
The Blood of Olympus by Rick Riordan is the fifth and final book in the Heroes of Olympus saga. In this book the seven demigods of the prophesy finally have their confrontation with Gaea. I listened to it in audiobook format – perfect for a sick day from work where you don’t feel like doing much. If you enjoyed the previous books, it’s very likely you will like this one, too. It’s more of the same, with resolution of lots of plotlines. It seems this is the final book in Percy’s world, at least for some time – Riordan is moving onto a series on Norse mythology (sign me up for that asap) – so it is nice to get some closure on these characters with whom we have spent five and in many cases 10 books. What I liked The writing style. A Rick Riordan novel can be characterised as a mixture of humour and adventure, and Blood of Olympus is no different. I often found myself chuckling out loud at a particularly amusing turn of phrase. Riordan’s books are definitely a quick, fun read. The resolution. Riordan resolved the main conflicts efficiently and pretty much as predicted, throwing in…
First of all, happy Thanksgiving to my Canadian readers! An extra day to read! Woohoo! Have a great weekend and safe travels if you’re visiting family. We already have the pumpkin pie ready. As my regular readers may know, this week saw the release of some books that I had been anticipating. See below for details. Unfortunately I was also sick with a nasty headache and ended up taking Wednesday off work. Fortunately, listening to the audiobook of Blood of Olympus was much less taxing than assisting people with their technical support issues – and, let’s face it, a lot more fun. So let’s cut to the chase and talk about this week’s books. Added to my library this week Tribulare by Anne Robillard. This is the sixth book in her contemporary fantasy series. I really look forward to reading this, and I see the next two are due in ebook format at the end of the month! Yay! I have been collecting Robillard’s books in Kobo format. The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion. This was rather an impulse buy with my last Audible credit for this month. It’s about a socially inept geek who develops a scientific plan…
Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel is an apocalyptic tale about the fall of human civilisation and the struggle of the survivors after a pandemic wipes out 99% of the population. It follows several characters as they attempt to survive in this new world and come to terms with what has happened to their civilisation. I Iistened to this in audiobook format and enjoyed it very much. What I liked Interesting narrative structure. Rather than have a straightforward linear narrative, Mandel tells her story through a series of non sequential vignettes taking place before, during and after the Collapse as it is called. These snapshots are loosely connected through the character of Arthur Leander. Although Arthur dies in the very beginning, shortly before the Collapse, his presence is felt throughout the book. These snippets of life give more of an impression than a comprehensive narrative, but it is very effective at conveying the idea of a society after a collapse. Interesting characters. Mandel has a wide cast of characters with each given his or her moment in the spotlight. The points of view covered include characters who remember society before the Collapse, some who have only vague memories of…
Last night Amazon’s new Fire HD 6” arrived on my doorstep. Here are my first impressions of the new budget tablet. I will direct you to Amazon’s main Kindle page to get the full specs. The good The 6” format is darned cute and practical. Here are some pictures comparing it to the Fire HDX and Kindle Paperwhite. The format is going to be very practical for sticking in a handbag or pocket to take around. It is blockier than the Fire HDX or Paperwhite – no tapered edges but it is very compact. In terms of weight though, there is very little difference between the 6” HD and the 7” HDX – a mere 0.6 of an ounce. The Fire HD 6” comes with the new Fire OS 4 Sangria, which will be sent as a free update to existing Fire devices according to the note on my Fire HDX this morning. There are some really neat features to Sangria. A backup feature worked well. This will allow you to restore your device to a previous state if there are any issues. The new About the Book feature which you can setup to open as you read the book could be very…
Well, I had been going to spend this blog post moaning that I was in a bit of a reading slump anticipating all the new releases coming out this month. I felt I couldn’t really get into any of the books I was reading. However twice this week I managed to miss my bus or metro stop because I was reading! I suppose I was more engrossed in my book than I thought. For those interested among you the guilty book was Awakened, the eighth book in P.C. and Kirsten Cast’s House of Night series. One book I have read this week – I borrowed it from the library – was Opera for Dummies by David Pogue and Scott Speck. Let me give a bit of background here. A very good friend of mine is a keen opera goer and she normally attends several performances of the New York Metropolitan Opera’s Live in Cinemas season. She is so passionate about it that this year I decided to accompany her to three operas. Now, I know very little about opera, so I decided to do some research first of all. I do enjoy the …For Dummies books. They are usually excellent…
The Silkworm by Robert Galbraith follows the mystery surrounding the disappearance of writer Owen Quine. Strike and Robin are hired by Quine’s wife to find out where he has gone. As Quine was on the point of publishing a new novel thinly disguised as a tell-it-all peak at the world of London’s literati, the suspects in his disappearance soon add up. I have to admit I wasn’t feeling very inspired when writing this review. That’s not to say I didn’t enjoy the book – I did – but I feel I have very little to add to my review of the first Cormoran Strike novel, The Cuckoo’s Calling. In other words, if you enjoyed the first, you will almost certainly enjoy the sequel. As in its predecessor, I enjoyed the writing style and the brisk pace set by Rowling. What I liked The developing friendship between Strike and Robin. I found myself a little frustrated by their misunderstandings, but that was only because I felt invested in their relationship. I appreciated the fact that they both really respect and appreciate one another. This continues to be explored and deepened in this second book. I liked that their relationship remains platonic…