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The Sisters Brothers
The Sisters Brothers by Patrick deWitt Published: 2011 Length: 328 pages This caught my eye when it was first released. I picked it up a few years back, and I’ve only just gotten to it now. Better eight years late than never, I suppose. I was looking for Canadian books to read for the CanBook Challenge and Patrick deWitt was born about twenty-five minutes from where I currently live. It’s the height of the California gold rush, and two brothers are hired to kill a man. They travel to Sacramento from Oregon City, reflecting on the lives they’ve chosen on the way, only to realize on arrival that the job…
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The Seeds of Time
The Seeds of Time by John Wyndham Published: 1956 Length: 222 pages John Wyndham is one of my favourite writers, but before last year, I hadn’t read any of his short stories. He’s mostly known for his novels, but he was a prolific short story writer, publishing them throughout his entire writing career. Wikipedia has seventy stories listed. The first, Worlds to Barter, was published in 1931, a few years after his first novel under a pen name was published and twenty years before his first novel as John Wyndham. The last non-posthumously published story, A Life Postponed, came out in 1968, a year before his death. I really dislike…
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Hell House
Hell House by Richard Matheson Published: 1971 Narrated by: Ray Porter Length: 09:11 (301 pages) I loved I Am Legend (side note: it’s crazy that I can now link to books I read almost nine years ago). The direction it took surprised me, and it has one of my favourite endings of any novel. The way it wraps everything up and manages to completely flip the reader’s understanding of the plot on its head is really a thing of beauty. This novel didn’t live up to that. The setup for Hell House is quite good, I thought. A group of paranormal investigators have travelled to Hell House to try to…
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Recently Read – Normal, Saga #9, The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs, Paper Girls #3
Normal by Warren Ellis Published: 2016 Narrated by: John Hodgman Series: Normal #1-4 Length: 03:24 (148 pages) I love Warren Ellis as a comic writer, even though it’s been years since I read anything by him, but he’s been a little hit or miss as a novelist. I really disliked Crooked Little Vein but enjoyed Gun Machine. This one falls somewhere between the two. I listened to this as a single audiobook, but I see now that it was originally released serially in four installments. Maybe it read better in small chunks like that, where each stood as essentially a fictionalized essay around digital culture, but as a full work,…
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2018 Top Ten Games – Part 2
5. Unravel Two Genre: Platformer Developer/Publisher: Coldwood Interactive / Electronic Arts Release Date: June 9, 2018 Platform: PS4 (also on Xbox One and PC) Time Played: N/A – maybe 5 hours? I played through the main story with Lee-Ann earlier in the year, and we loved it. We didn’t play too many couch co-op games last year, something I’d like to change in 2019, but I sure am glad we got to this one. Unravel Two requires a lot of teamwork, in a fun way, and it can be hilarious when you mess up. We spent a good portion of this game in tears from laughter, and that probably pushed…
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2018 Top Ten Games – Part 1
Well, after my last gaming post, I had planned to start writing about each game I was playing, which didn’t really happen this year. That’s still the plan for 2019, but for now I thought I’d do a slightly more detailed gaming recap for 2018. So these are the top ten games I played this year (not neccessarily released this year), split into two posts because it got a bit larger than I was expecting. Rocket League could easily be on this list, but I’ve been playing it for a few years now and wanted to focus on games that were new to me. I did grab it for PC…
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Foodies Read 2019
This year I’m listing another eight food-related books I’m planning to read. All choices may be changed on a whim, obviously: Asian Pickles by Karen Solomon How To Eat: The Pleasures and Principles of Good Food by Nigella Lawson Blood, Bones & Butter by Gabrielle Hamilton The Gastronomical Me by M.F.K. Fisher Food Artisans of Vancouver Island and the Gulf Islands by Don Genova Tender at the Bone by Ruth Reichl In Defense of Food by Michael Pollan Plenty by Yotam Ottolenghi Secrets of the Best Chefs by Adam D. Roberts I’ve said this before, but I’d like to start reviewing cookbooks at some point, so I’ve listed a couple…
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2018 in Review
This was a pretty good year. Not for the world, obviously, or the future of mankind, but for me it was. We travelled a little and generally enjoyed ourselves. My motorcycle lessons were really a highlight at the end of the year. Being on a bike is just a great feeling, and it had been a while since I really tried to properly learn a new physical skill. It was fun starting off completely useless and seeing myself get better. Reading-wise, the first half of the year was quite good and the second half of the year fell apart, but that happens. No use dwelling on it. This year I’m…
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December in Review
Books Acquired: N/A Books Read: The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs by Stephen Brusatte The Seeds of Time by John Wyndham Saga, Vol. 9 by Brian K. Vaughan Yes, Chef by Marcus Samuelsson Merry Christmas! Happy Holidays! Happy New Year! Hope everyone got a little time-off in December. We had great Christmas here, nice and quiet, just the way I like it. I don’t have to travel anymore this time of year, so I got in some prime sweatpants action. I got Lee-Ann a pasta machine for Christmas, so we’re looking at a carb-filled 2019. View this post on Instagram Our first attempt at homemade pasta! We have some…
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Back to the Classics 2019
I really enjoy this challenge each year, and the fact that there’s a draw at the end is just an added bonus. I even won a couple of years back. You also get to make a list of books, which is always half the fun. For this challenge, anything fifty years or older (published no later than 1969) is considered a classic. Complete six categories, and you get one entry in the drawing Complete nine categories, and you get two entries in the drawing Complete all twelve categories, and you get three entries in the drawing Here are the categories and my tentative choices: 19th Century Classic: Kidnapped by Robert…
