Well Blow Me Down: A Guys Guide to Talking Like a Pirate, by John Baur, Mark Summers Another book for the pirate-obsessed: Well Blow Me Down: A Guy’s Guide To Talking Like A Pirate. I can’t add this to my bookqueue yet (error: something about the ISBN number makes the baby Jesus cry) and I’m happy to say that Erik Benson is gradually bringing Allconsuming.net back from the dead, so I’ll stash it there. I use both Bookqueue and Allconsuming.net because sometimes one works when the other doesn’t. Also, I just like the way Allconsuming encourages happy bloggy goodness between…
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Very soon now, I’ll upgrade to MT3.whatever, and then I’ll be able to install BookqueueToo. When I do, I’ll be upgrading my Bookqueue page and adding one for the Holy Moly blog. Currently it’s basically a static page with each division of books (reading, read, to be read) in a standard blog entry div, with a right-aligned sidebar. And all the books are in one long vertically aligned list. I’d rather go with a block of images from left to right for the next iteration, rather like at kwc blog: Reading List, but with a short amount of text associated…
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My recent trip gave me a chance to see some actual scrimshaw up close and personal, rather than the sort often seen at Gus’s or Nelson’s blogs. Hey! I’m about to get my copy of that book wot Gus wrote (with the kind assistance of some ghostwriter guy since Gus is a wanted man in Venezuela and several small, independently fiesty Caribbean island nations). Gus thinks they moved up the publication date. Smart of them, since the book has been selling fairly briskly in pre-sales. Pirates of Pensacolaby Keith Thomson Thomas Dunne Books Sales Rank: 30211 Pub Date: 01 April,…
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This post is going to be a little like a Steve Martin monologue from the 70’s – a lot of pickin, grinning, and ra-a-a-a-a-m…blinnnn. And bad fashion. Just so you know. I haven’t been terribly productive around the house for, oh, a little over a year now. Which is just about exactly when I started the blog, coincidentally, but never mind about that now. Really, it started before that. No, wait, I’ve never been terribly productive around the house. I was more productive when Stuey (who now inhabits the Memorial Tea Caddy on the mantelpiece) was around, because I kind…
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James Tiptree Jr. Award Winners: Joe Haldeman and Johanna Sinisalo The award is “presented annually to a work that explores and expands gender roles in science fiction and fantasy…” James Tiptree, Jr was actually Alice Sheldon. She wrote a memorable book that featured not only gender-role swapping, but complete body and consciousness and species swapping called Up The Walls Of The World. It’s at least 15 years since I read it, and I still remember the intriguing, liberating, and disturbing issues she raised and the characters that played the story out. Tiptree/Sheldon was an amazing writer, and she led an…
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I’m going to do a little hacking around with the “books” portion of the left column. I’ve grown tired of seeing the “Unreadable Culls” titles and will repurpose the category to “Soon To Be Read.” As you might guess, I picked up a few books on the trip, which will eventually released via Bookcrossing I got a “buy 2/get 3” deal at the Maui Borders, plus I got another book at the Borders Express next to the Kihei Safeway. Read Be Cool, by Elmore Leonard A fast, fun read. Not as original as “Get Shorty”, of course but still breezy…
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It’s an extremely cool little book: In Other Words, by Christopher J. Moore. David bought it for me because he thought I would like it, being addicted to words and also to nicely bound books like this one. It’s a book of nearly-untranslatable but wonderful worlds from languages all over the world, and one of my very favorites is on the front cover: duende [dwen-day][adjective] This wonderful word captures an entire world of passino, energy, and artistic excellence and describes a climactic show of spirit in a performance or work of art. Duende originally meant “imp” or “goblin” and came…
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Pirates of PensacolaThe first modern, major, general pirate book in a long time comes out April Fool’s Day. I have to get this pre-ordered later – we’re on our way out now. Pirates of Pensacola is also available to pre-order on Amazon. Anyone who’s anyone knows that it was actually written by Gus Openshaw, ex-revenge seeking former whale-killer journaler. Currently, Gus is caught up in an entirely land-locked adventure, trying to get his writing stooge, Keith, rescued from some bad guys who kidnapped him, and also the only disk that contains Gus’ completed book. He kind of needs it back…
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This book is getting all kinds of attention. I’ve just started it – I think I’m on about the second chapter. So far it reads like an agreeable, drily humorous novel by Jonathan Swift or Lawrence Sterne (it’s a lot like Tristram Shandy in tone and era, except with wizards). Nobody corresponding to “My Uncle Toby” yet, though.
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I’ve been chuckling evilly while reading this book; Bill Bryson looks very cuddly and teddy-bear-ish, but writes like a born-again curmudgeon. He’s just about to start the West portion of his self-drive nostalgia trip, headed toward Colorado. Which is pretty much how we started our epic road trip last May, so I’m looking forward to going along for the ride. Also in “Books” news, I’ve added links to my All Consuming Favorite Books and Currently Reading pages. Apparently both pages have newsfeeds, so I may add links for those later. For now I’ll continue using BookQueue in conjunction with All…