March

Breakfast of Champions by Kurt Vonnegut

This is my first Vonnegut book, and I’ll definitely be picking up his others. He’s hilarious, mad, politically incorrect, and bursting with ideas. This book primarily follows Kilgore Trout, an aging writer, and Dwayne Hoover, a local hero who suffers a breakdown after reading one of Trout’s novels. Vonnegut even throws himself in the mix, in a sort of surreal dimensional shift. I love that he seems to just write what and how he wants. His writing has a certain freedom to it. His illustrations are a lot of fun too.

Guilty Pleasures by Laurell Hamilton

Jaye was hosting an ‘Adopt a Vampire’ month, in which she urged readers to pick up some vampire fiction during the month. It had been ages since I had read a vampire story, and Mike and Manda had recommended this a while back, so I decided to give it a go.

The story follows Anita Blake, a necromancer and vampire hunter. Someone in the city is killing vampires, and she’s forced to find who’s doing it. I liked the detective feel in this book, and I’m glad there wasn’t really any romance happening. I’ll check out the next few books, although I’ve heard the series eventually deteriorates into vampire porn.

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J. K. Rowling

This was, by far, my least favourite of the movies. Having not read the book at the time, I found it to be confusing and disjointed in some places, while painfully obvious in other places. The book, I thought, was quite a bit better. The series has started to pick up, and I enjoyed this one.

A Dirty Job by Christopher Moore

I just love Christopher Moore, and he keeps getting better. In this book, an average Beta Male finds himself carrying out the duties of Death. It’s dark and hilarious, and Charlie Asher, the protagonist, is probably my favourite Moore character yet. This is the sort of writing to which I aspire.

February

A Spot of Bother by Mark Haddon

I read The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time last year and loved it, so I was excited when I picked this up. I was enthralled with Incident from the first page, but it took me a little longer to get into A Spot of Bother. When I finally did, I found it to be an overall more satisfying read. It’s essentially about an uptight Englishman, who is slowly going mad, and his family, who were arguably mad already. It’s very well written and funny, with a wide range of uniquely-voiced characters. He’s definitely an author to keep an eye on.

January

Choke by Chuck Palahniuk

A tale of a sex-addicted con artist trying to get a grip on life. This book is full of messed-up people doing messed-up things for messed-up reasons, and it’s great fun. I love the rambling, philosophical mind of the main character. A funny, tragic, and thought-provoking read.

I forgot to keep updating my 2007 reading list, but I’ve decided to give it another go this year. It’s nice to look back on what you’ve been reading.

I’m unfortunately still recovering from a reading drought, but I’m slowly getting back on track. This has been a very slow start to the year, but at least there’s been quality.

February

A Spot of Bother by Mark Haddon

I read The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time last year and loved it, so I was excited when I picked this up. I was enthralled with Incident from the first page, but it took me a little longer to get into A Spot of Bother. When I finally did, I found it to be an overall more satisfying read. It’s essentially about an uptight Englishman, who is slowly going mad, and his family, who were arguably mad already. It’s very well written and funny, with a wide range of uniquely-voiced characters. He’s definitely an author to keep an eye on.

January

Choke by Chuck Palahniuk

A tale of a sex-addicted, con artist trying to get a grip on life. This book is full of messed-up people doing messed-up things for messed-up reasons, and it’s great fun. I love the rambling, philosophical mind of the main character. A funny, tragic, and thought-provoking read.

Every few years I stumble upon this, and I’m always glad I did, as it’s one of my favourite short stories. It’s by Terry Bisson, and he seems okay with people posting it, so here it is in its entirety for RSS ease.

There’s also a short video that was made of this story floating about the Internet somewhere, but they didn’t include some of the best lines, and I found it quite disappointing.

As a side note, I’m looking forward to the next fiction contest at The Clarity of Night, being posted this Wednesday.

They’re Made of Meat

“They’re made out of meat.”

“Meat?”

“Meat. They’re made out of meat.”

“Meat?”

“There’s no doubt about it. We picked up several from different parts of the planet, took them aboard our recon vessels, and probed them all the way through. They’re completely meat.”

“That’s impossible. What about the radio signals? The messages to the stars?”

“They use the radio waves to talk, but the signals don’t come from them. The signals come from machines.”

“So who made the machines? That’s who we want to contact.”

“They made the machines. That’s what I’m trying to tell you. Meat made the machines.”

“That’s ridiculous. How can meat make a machine? You’re asking me to believe in sentient meat.”

“I’m not asking you, I’m telling you. These creatures are the only sentient race in that sector and they’re made out of meat.”

“Maybe they’re like the orfolei. You know, a carbon-based intelligence that goes through a meat stage.”

“Nope. They’re born meat and they die meat. We studied them for several of their life spans, which didn’t take long. Do you have any idea what’s the life span of meat?”

“Spare me. Okay, maybe they’re only part meat. You know, like the weddilei. A meat head with an electron plasma brain inside.”

“Nope. We thought of that, since they do have meat heads, like the weddilei. But I told you, we probed them. They’re meat all the way through.”

“No brain?”

“Oh, there’s a brain all right. It’s just that the brain is made out of meat! That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you.”

“So … what does the thinking?”

“You’re not understanding, are you? You’re refusing to deal with what I’m telling you. The brain does the thinking. The meat.”

“Thinking meat! You’re asking me to believe in thinking meat!”

“Yes, thinking meat! Conscious meat! Loving meat. Dreaming meat. The meat is the whole deal! Are you beginning to get the picture or do I have to start all over?”

“Omigod. You’re serious then. They’re made out of meat.”

“Thank you. Finally. Yes. They are indeed made out of meat. And they’ve been trying to get in touch with us for almost a hundred of their years.”

“Omigod. So what does this meat have in mind?”

“First it wants to talk to us. Then I imagine it wants to explore the Universe, contact other sentiences, swap ideas and information. The usual.”

“We’re supposed to talk to meat.”

“That’s the idea. That’s the message they’re sending out by radio. ‘Hello. Anyone out there. Anybody home.’ That sort of thing.”

“They actually do talk, then. They use words, ideas, concepts?”

“Oh, yes. Except they do it with meat.”

“I thought you just told me they used radio.”

“They do, but what do you think is on the radio? Meat sounds. You know how when you slap or flap meat, it makes a noise? They talk by flapping their meat at each other. They can even sing by squirting air through their meat.”

“Omigod. Singing meat. This is altogether too much. So what do you advise?”

“Officially or unofficially?”

“Both.”

“Officially, we are required to contact, welcome and log in any and all sentient races or multibeings in this quadrant of the Universe, without prejudice, fear or favor. Unofficially, I advise that we erase the records and forget the whole thing.”

“I was hoping you would say that.”

“It seems harsh, but there is a limit. Do we really want to make contact with meat?”

“I agree one hundred percent. What’s there to say? ‘Hello, meat. How’s it going?’ But will this work? How many planets are we dealing with here?”

“Just one. They can travel to other planets in special meat containers, but they can’t live on them. And being meat, they can only travel through C space. Which limits them to the speed of light and makes the possibility of their ever making contact pretty slim. Infinitesimal, in fact.”

“So we just pretend there’s no one home in the Universe.”

“That’s it.”

“Cruel. But you said it yourself, who wants to meet meat? And the ones who have been aboard our vessels, the ones you probed? You’re sure they won’t remember?”

“They’ll be considered crackpots if they do. We went into their heads and smoothed out their meat so that we’re just a dream to them.”

“A dream to meat! How strangely appropriate, that we should be meat’s dream.”

“And we marked the entire sector unoccupied.”

“Good. Agreed, officially and unofficially. Case closed. Any others? Anyone interesting on that side of the galaxy?”

“Yes, a rather shy but sweet hydrogen core cluster intelligence in a class nine star in G445 zone. Was in contact two galactic rotations ago, wants to be friendly again.”

“They always come around.”

“And why not? Imagine how unbearably, how unutterably cold the Universe would be if one were all alone …”

My mom enjoys sending me little Scottish notes while I’m at work - random facts, jokes, and readings - like a distance continued education course on my heritage.

She sent this a while back, and I thought it was quite good. Mackenzie is my mother’s side of the family.

Mackenzie Prayer

Bless a’ the Mackenzies an’ a’ the Mackenzie childer; their sons an’ son’s childer and their dochters for a thousan’ years to come.

Be Ye gracious an’ send doon mountains o’ snuff, an rivers of whiskey.

An’ oh lord send doon swords an’ pistels an’ daggers as monie as the sands on the seashore to kill the MacDonalds, the Clan Ranalds, and the Campbells.

An oh Lord, bless the wee coo, an’ make it a big coo.

An oh Lord bless the sucklin’ and make it a grand boar.

An oh Lord, bless the wee bairns, yon Angus, Alex an’ Bessie an’ Maggie an’ Florrie.

An oh Lord, build up a great wall between us an’ the Irish, an’ put broken bottles on the top, so they cannae come over.

An’ oh lord, if ye hae anything gude to gie, dunna gie it to the Irish, but gie it to your chosen people, the Scots, especially to the Clan Mackenzie an’ a’ their friends.

Glorious ye are for ever more.

This is an updated list of the books and graphic novels I’ve been reading this year. I’ll be continually adding new books and occasionally creating a new post to bump to the front page when it’s had a few updates. I think it’ll be interesting to look back at the end of the year and examine my reading habits.

October 2007

A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin

This has been on my to-read pile for years now, but a couple of my friends read it a while ago, and I was urged to finally pick it up. It’s an amazing book, and I can’t wait to read the rest of the series. The characters are unique and have depth, the plot is layered and enthralling, and the words are beautifully written. His dialogue feels alive, and his plot twists actually take you by surprise. I really loved everything about this book.

September 2007

Man and Camel: Poems by Mark Strand

I listened to an interview of Mark Strand on a CBC podcast the last time I drove to Kamloops. He seemed like a fascinating man, and the poems they read of his were terrific. They were surreal and hilarious. I ordered this book as soon as I got home, and I’m fairly happy with it. It was way too expensive for its size, and I found many of the poems to be forgettable, but there are a few gems hidden in there.

Fell Volume 1: Feral City by Warren Ellis

Warren Ellis’ graphic novel about a detective in a new town working on, you guessed it, gruesome and disturbing cases. Having just read Crooked Little Vein, I was a little wary about Ellis trying to gross out his readers without plot to back the story, but I actually enjoyed it. It occasionally falls into the Crooked Little Vein realm, but there are still some genuinely interesting stories here.

Geek Mafia by Rick Dakan

I really enjoyed this book. I can get behind any story with a comic book nerd as the hero. The characters are great, and the story grabs hold of you from the very beginning. I love con operations, and I love geeks, so this book really worked for me. According to the author’s website, the sequel to this, Geek Mafia: Mile Zero, can now be ordered directly from the publisher.

Crooked Little Vein by Warren Ellis

I think Warren Ellis is great, and I’ve really enjoyed the graphic novels of his I’ve read, but this book was a disappointment. I got the feeling reading it that he wrote a shopping list of gruesome things he’d like to mentioned in the book before he started and just ran down the list. The plot was thin and the characters forgettable. I don’t really get disturbed that easily by actions alone. If disturbing things are happening to a character that I’m invested in, then I can find it gripping, but otherwise it’s just a bore.

August 2007

Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone by J.K. Rowling

I finally bit the bullet and read a Harry Potter book, and it was fairly enjoyable. I still think the series is enormously overhyped, but I’ll eventually read through the rest of the books.

(more…)

I visited a local bookstore this afternoon to buy some writing references for November. Unfortunately, I left empty-handed. I’d already read the well-known books on the shelf, and nothing else really jumped out at me. I was also disgusted by the outrageous prices. Writing books are usually quite expensive, but still having to pay an extra $7 above the American price when the Canadian dollar is higher just really bugs me.

To keep my interest piqued for NaNoWriMo, I’ve decided I should have some writing-related books ready to read during the month. I’m going to dunk my head into this thing and not come up for air until December. I’m searching for inspirational author autobiographies as well as general writing references.

For the autobiographies, I’m considering rereading Stephen King’s On Writing and Terry Brooks’ Lessons From a Writing Life. Both are fantastic, and I’d gladly recommend them to anyone even remotely interested in the craft. For the references, I just found a half-read Immediate Fiction by Jerry Cleaver on my shelf, so I’ll definitely be reading that. I also have my eye on Beginnings, Middles & Ends by Nancy Kress and Characters & Viewpoint by Orson Scott Card.

If anyone has any favourite books they’d like to recommend, that would be fantastic. I’m always on the lookout for great writing-related books. I’d be especially grateful for an autobiography recommendation. It’s inspiring to read how someone else accomplished the task you’re setting out to face.

As I’m sure many of you have heard, author Robert Jordon passed away a couple days ago of Amyloidosis, a rare blood disease.

I read his Wheel of Time series to the ninth or tenth book, absolutely loved every word of the first four or five, but I eventually lost interest. I had decided to return to the series once the final book had been written, but I guess we’ll have to see if that still happens.

Jordon was working on the twelfth and final book in this epic series when he died. It’s sad when you realise he came so close to finishing what is essentially his life’s work. The first book in the series was published in 1990. That’s a long time to spend in the same fantasy. I think after spending nearly twenty years in a story, the characters must seems as alive to you as your own family. It’s unfortunate he died before he was able to bring the story to a close. It’s like passing away months before your first grandchild is born.

Before his death, Jordan stated “I’m getting out notes, so if the worst actually happens, someone could finish A Memory of Light and have it end the way I want it to end.” The decision whether to posthumously complete the book has been left to his wife Harriet and Tor Books president Tom Doherty. [via]

This seems like it would be a very difficult series to pick up for another author. There are a lot of subplots to tie up, and the readers are very in tune with the characters’ nuances after following the series for so long. I’ll still read it if it’s published. At least we’ll be able to see how he intended it to end.

He’ll certainly be missed by fantasy readers worldwide.

This is a list of the books and graphic novels I’ve been reading this year. I’ll be continually adding new books and occasionally bumping this post to the front page when it’s had a few updates. I think it’ll be interesting to look back at the end of the year and examine my reading habits. If a review grows to be too large, I’ll create a new post for it and link to it from here.

August 2007

James Bond And Philosophy edited by James B. South and Jacob M. Held

My friend Mike recommended the Popular Culture and Philosophy series to me, and I’m glad he did. It’s a great idea to open philosophical discussions, and explain the concepts, using examples from popular culture. This book contains fifteen essays on the philosophical issues surrounding 007, from what it means to have a license to kill to the objectification of women. It uses a lot of examples from the books, but everything will still make sense if you’ve seen the movies. It did prompt me to buy the first book, though, which I’ll be reading soon.

Stardust by Neil Gaiman

A whimsical fairly tale for adults. Gaiman let his imagination go wild on this one, and it created a wonderful, winding story. Much better than the movie, in my opinion.

July 2007

Magician: Master by Raymond E. Feist

I thought the first half, Magician: Apprentice, was better. I felt like the story spanned over too much time, and the characters changed and became masters so quickly that they almost felt like new characters. I love reading along with characters as they find and develop their new skills, but he basically skimmed over that part. I still really enjoyed it, but I felt like he tried to cover too much in one book.

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon

This was a great book, told from the perspective of an autistic teenager. The narrator takes a lot of interesting tangents while telling the story, and it was just a refreshing read.

June 2007

Magician: Apprentice by Raymond E. Feist

When I first started reading this, I couldn’t get over how bizarrely similar it is to Assassin’s Apprentice by Robin Hobb. This book was written before Hobb’s, so maybe he inspired her. The beginning setting, the characters and their relationships with each other, the mysterious enemies - so many elements in the stories are mirrored. I almost expected the main characters to run into each other during the first 100 pages. Magician: Apprentice turned out to be a great. I plan to continue on with the series once I get a few books off my to-read list.

Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman

Neil Gaiman is quickly becoming my personal hero. I just love the way he tells a story. That said, I think this is one of his weaker pieces. I did enjoy it overall, but I felt it got lost a little in the middle. It has it’s moments, but the plot as a whole is forgettable.

Neverwhere has actually been made into a graphic novel, so I will eventually check that out. I think with some editing and cutting down, just what they’d need to do to turn it into a graphic novel, it could be a great little tale.

Nextwave: Agents of H.A.T.E. Volume 1 by Warren Ellis

A hilarious and bizarre take on superheroes by the Internet Jesus himself, Warren Ellis. Silly and violent with just a dash of disturbing thrown in.

Marvel 1602 by Neil Gaiman

Gaman’s view of what the world would have been like if our beloved Marvel characters were born four hundred years in the past. Wicked graphic novel by a wicked author.

Travels by Michael Crichton

Fantastic book on travel and spirituality. Read the full review.

The Walking Dead Volume 1: Days Gone Bye by Robert Kirkman and Tony Moore

A great graphic novel for zombie lovers. Instead of trying to focus on the gore factor that most zombie stories fall into, they’re focusing more of the human reaction of seeing such a disaster. I’ll eventually be picking up the rest of the volumes in the series.