Bemused

[kyburg]

If you haven't caught this week's Doonesbury and Get Fuzzy's linkup - please do. You'd be watching history. At first, I thought more than one cartoonist had decided to address the war in Iraq - then I find out they're sharing the same storyline from two different points of view.

Bravo, say I. Your mileage may vary.

(And both of those strips are available by syndicated feed from LJ - have at.)

If I want to go to Switzerland in the first two weeks of December, I might have timeshare housing. If I want to use my timeshare for Hawaii in November, there might be something in Kauai -

Grr. Not in the plans.

Today was almost unbelievable in that everything I did worked - and in some cases, made me look damn good. I'm in one of those "pigeon" modes - instead of being the statue. Don't worry, I'll get my turn - that's how life goes.

My friend Dianne is coming through tomorrow for a weekend visit - she's one of those friends I'm thankful for - we met while we were both commuting on Metrolink, and even though we've not taken the train for almost four years together (she's moved to Auburn, I changed jobs and moved close enough not to need the train anymore), we still talk plenty by email at our respective desks during the day. She's my infamous redhead, non-stop talker and general firebrand. She also married a first-generation Chinese lawyer who works as a deputy DA in Nevada County - and has a house full of cats. We've given her a journal, but I can't get her to use it - pity. And it will be all hands on deck tomorrow when she gets here. We love having her around!

Tired and worn - but all in all, a good day. The weather has been postcard grade - wish I could spare more time during the day to get out and walk. Did a quick stroll down the street to get lunch, and rewarded myself for not getting the burger and fries by stopping in at the used book store on the way back.

Folks, can you suggest some older titles/authors for me to read? Keep in mind, I don't want the following any of the following (I've read them already) - oppressed pagans, dragons, whiz-bang spaceships (including those that think for themselves), mind-control specialists, dragons, thinly-disguised bodice-rippers, vampires, dragons...okay, got it? I read a lot. I've read a lot of those. I'd like something new, kthankx. And please...pretty please with sugar on it...can it be something unrelated to Celtic mythology? I'm such a snob.

Mysteries depress me; you always have to have someone die fer crissakes before the story can begin.

I can always buy another cookbook, I guess. Right.

Actually, recommend a good poet or two - this is a very comprehensive book store.

And now, I go crack open the GameBoy and try to make some progress before falling asleep.

Comments

[caitlin.livejournal.com]

Hrm...

Diane Duane's Young Wizards series is always good (IMO anyway).... and there's only a dragon (of sorts) in the first book (it's now up to book 7)...

Of course, that's only one of a number of books I'm currently either reading or getting ready to read.

Or you might want to try Robert J. Sawyer's "Calculating God"... The premise is interesting (an alien lands at Toronto's Royal Ontario Museum and says "Take me to your Paleontologist"... and things go from there) it's kinda sad, though.

Those are some of my rec's anyway.

C.

[cyclometh.livejournal.com]

Zelazny's Chronicles of Amber- start with Nine Princes in Amber.

Fredrick Pohl's Gateway trilogy.

George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series.

Neil Gaiman's American Gods.

[lolleeroberts.livejournal.com]

Robert Silverberg's Mahjipoor series - starts with Lord Valentine's Castle. The first three books are the best. (Lord Valentine's Castle, The Mahjipoor Chronicles and Valentine Pontifex)

Zenna Henderson's "People" books. "Holding Wonder" "The Anything Box" "The Book of the People"

Spider Robinson's "Callahan's Crosstime Saloon" and "Time Travelers Strictly Cash" are the first two books (and the best, really) in this long running series.

David Brin's Uplift series is interesting - "Sundiver" and "The Uplift War" are two. He has a stand alone called "The Practice Effect" that's fun.

[storvik.livejournal.com]

If you haven't caught this week's Doonesbury and Get Fuzzy's linkup - please do. You'd be watching history.

How is it historic? Comics have done crossovers and whatnot before.

It's not a crossover

[turandot.livejournal.com]

It's historic because cartoonists usually poke fun of presidents, or of normal life. They rarely ever turn their strips into commentary about what happens to the casualties of war.

It's funny Donna should mention this in her LJ. My husband and I were talking about it last night. He thought it was a pity that the storylines were similar, but I actually thought they examined different aspects of the same problem: what happens when things go wrong in a war?

Personally, I was a lot more impressed with Get Fuzzy, because the strip from Wednesday, where the main character complains to Airport security that the whole hush-hush about where his wounded cousin is kinda stinks. And it made me think enough to ask: yeah, how come we don't see extensive coverage of soldiers coming home, especially those who lost limbs, but not life.

Why are they swept under a rug, or worse, made to sound like a mere number? Why is it that the only soldier we've heard about is Jessica Lynch (until she asked the media to stop spreading half truths about her ordeal), aside for a few interviews to reservists who are going back on duty after a hiatus on NPR?

[hobbitblue.livejournal.com]

Beekeepers Apprentice by Laurie R King, and the rest of her series with Mary and Sherlock Holmes (though I imagine you've already read these intelligent mysteries).
Regina's Song by David & Leigh Eddings, good murder-mystery thing with a psychological/ghostly twist, I liked it more for the way the characters and their lives drew me in than the plot itself.

[titos2cents.livejournal.com]

I'm not a big fan of Stephen King, but I think the Gunslinger (Dark Tower) series is some of his best work. The last two books were truly impressive - I can't wait for the final two (both finished, to editor) due out this year.

I know you don't want to read any more vampire books, but have you read anything by Brian Lumley? His main character is a Necroscope, and the "Wamphyrie" of several of his stories would scare the hell out of Anne Rice's Lestat.

[exedore.livejournal.com]

Do you want fiction or nonfiction?

For fiction, try:
-The Illuminatus! Trilogy by Robert Shea and Robert Anton Wilson
-Battle Royale (too lazy to look up the author)
-Smoke and Mirrors by Neil Gaiman (tho I'd recommend Neverwhere over it)
-Wicked by Gregory McGuire (name sp? I haven't read it yet)

For nonfiction, try:
-On War by Carl von Clausewitz (get the Michael Howard/Peter Peret/David Brodie edition, it's a big white paperback...the Penguin is abridged and much more poorly done)
-American Scream by Cynthia True (Biography of Bill Hicks)
-Love All The People by Bill Hicks (a collection of routines, etc.)
-The (Defeat of the Spanish) Armada by Garret Mattingly (One of the best history books I've ever read, the bit in parantheses is added in the UK title...you'll have to get this direct from the UK or secondhand but it's worth it)
-The Face of Battle by John Keegan (another excellent history book)
-A Social History of English Cricket by Sir Derek Birley (I'm reading this right now and enjoying it immensely)

OK, so I'm a bit behind in my fiction reading...and I don't much care for poetry so I can't recommend any =(

Books...

[murphymom.livejournal.com]

Okay, it looks like you've read most of McCaffrey - and if I read you correctly, you want something Other Than s.f, fantasy, mystery, or romance. So, provided you don't mind late 19th t0 late 20th century British settings, look for authors Miss Read (tales of a British country school teacher)and/or anything by R.F. Delderfield. He had several serial novels, one of which began with "God Is An Englishman" and a novel about a British 'public school' teacher, "To Serve Them All My Days" which the BBC made into a series that was shown on "Masterpiece Theater" about 20 or so years ago. For poets - look for a Persian poet called Rumi, translated by Coleman Barks, and there are always Robert Frost and Carl Sandburg, Maya Angelou ("Singin' and Swingin' and Gettin' Merry Like Christmas"). Lately, the only non-fiction reading I've done has been for school/work, so I'm not much help there.

[footyfoot.livejournal.com]

Uhh, you don't know me, and the post is a couple of days old... but I thought I'd inveigle in regards to books anyway. You said older titles/authors, so I'll say this: in regards to sci-fi, try anything you can find by Cordwainer Smith. If you can find "Rediscovery of Man" and "Norstrilia" (NESFA Press has reissued his entire output in the form of those two books,) you'll have a hell of a collection of short science fiction without equal, and a great novel as well. Though written in the 1950's, his short stories like "Golden the Ship Was", "Scanners live in Vain", and "Alpha Ralpha Boulevard" deliver a kick that modern sci-fi just can't. The novel "Norstrilia" features not any mere ship that can sing, but a boy who buys the entire Earth just to get himself out of a scrape and actually goes there merely to buy some Cape Triangle stamps for his collection. And there is also the bonus of a fair bit of Christian symbology in many of them as well.
Oh, and if you haven't read any of them I'd say that the "Book of The New Sun" series by Gene Wolfe deliver a good solid brain-twisting read as well.