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Recent reading, recent needlework, etc.
Jun. 1st, 2007 08:01 pmNot as much recent reading and needlework as one might think, because given the lack of rain, and the overall nice weather, I have been out on the bike more. However, today was a car day because we needed to hit up Trader Joe's - our regular monthly-pay-day purchase of assorted lower-sodium snacks and frozen things.
So. Needlework. I have been crocheting coasters out of #3 or #5 crochet cotton, using beads. ( pictures and technical details behind this cut )
Then, reading. I have started reading a murder mystery series by Claudia Bishop, featuring a hotel in upstate NY and the two sisters who run it; I am on the third book. They're cozies. They're adequately well written to keep reading, so far, though there are some of the silly elements that sneak into cozies sometimes, where the eccentric characters are just a little TOO eccentric.
Also, Destination: Unknown by Gary Braunbeck. Science fiction/fantasy, sorta, one novella and two longish short stories, all having to do with cars/highways. The novella, Road Mama and Daddy Bliss, is pretty good, if predictable in a few spots. A must for fans of HO cars.
And Missile Gap by Charles Stross. This isn't actually a novella, it's an outline for a novel. Obviously, Stross submitted the outline - a page or two of each proposed chapter - and the publishers just printed it as is. It's the outline of what could be quite an intriguing novel. Alternate history, sort of, plus insect aliens. (Shades of Harry Turtledove!)
And The Reason-Driven Life by Robert M. Price. Intended to counter Rick Warren's Purpose-Driven whatsis that pushes evangelical religion, Price does a chapter-by-chapter retort to Warren. So I suppose some of the repetitiousness of Price's book is because Warren's was repetitious. There are some useful pieces in there, and since Price has been a theologian himself and a bible scholar, before becoming a full-time heretic, he is able to present clear and convincing objections to the way Warren and other evangelicals and fundamentalists MIStranslate the bible while telling people to take it literally.
Gah, I had another book on here, and some accidental brush of a key wiped it out. More later.
So. Needlework. I have been crocheting coasters out of #3 or #5 crochet cotton, using beads. ( pictures and technical details behind this cut )
Then, reading. I have started reading a murder mystery series by Claudia Bishop, featuring a hotel in upstate NY and the two sisters who run it; I am on the third book. They're cozies. They're adequately well written to keep reading, so far, though there are some of the silly elements that sneak into cozies sometimes, where the eccentric characters are just a little TOO eccentric.
Also, Destination: Unknown by Gary Braunbeck. Science fiction/fantasy, sorta, one novella and two longish short stories, all having to do with cars/highways. The novella, Road Mama and Daddy Bliss, is pretty good, if predictable in a few spots. A must for fans of HO cars.
And Missile Gap by Charles Stross. This isn't actually a novella, it's an outline for a novel. Obviously, Stross submitted the outline - a page or two of each proposed chapter - and the publishers just printed it as is. It's the outline of what could be quite an intriguing novel. Alternate history, sort of, plus insect aliens. (Shades of Harry Turtledove!)
And The Reason-Driven Life by Robert M. Price. Intended to counter Rick Warren's Purpose-Driven whatsis that pushes evangelical religion, Price does a chapter-by-chapter retort to Warren. So I suppose some of the repetitiousness of Price's book is because Warren's was repetitious. There are some useful pieces in there, and since Price has been a theologian himself and a bible scholar, before becoming a full-time heretic, he is able to present clear and convincing objections to the way Warren and other evangelicals and fundamentalists MIStranslate the bible while telling people to take it literally.
Gah, I had another book on here, and some accidental brush of a key wiped it out. More later.
