What I Am Reading - Tinkers

Tinkers

Paul Harding

Read it in paperback, little white book weighing in at 191 pages.

This year, my reading list is to be bolstered by ten Pulitzer Prize winners, this was the first one I selected.    Paul Harding was actually a drummer in a band called Cold Water Flat.  I can't find any of their music but apparently they were popular in the circles they rolled in.  Not so popular that Mr. Harding didn't have another job, an illustrious one at that.  The illustrious second job happens to be teaching English at Harvard and writing Pulitzer's on his day off.  He also enjoys self-teaching himself theology and has branded himself as a 'Self-Taught Modern New England Transcendentalist.'  Whatever the hell that means.  I should start branding titles for myself too.  Maybe after I win a Pulitzer.  Anyways.  This novel was awarded said above prestigious prize in 2010 as well as the Brigham Prize, Center for First Fiction award, best novel in 2009 as listed by Publishers Weekly, Amazon, NPR, and the Library Journal.  The boys of 'Cold Water Flat' would be so happy for him.

So what's all the fuss about?  Well, George Crosby is dying.  He's got days, then hours before he meets his demise.  Not that he knows it, he's too busy recalling the lost days of his youth, including his father's challenges, and some of his grandfather's challenges during his countdown to oblivion.  It can be pretty depressing actually but some of it is absolutely beautifully written.  A lot of the chapters encompassing the woods, the snow, and George's fathers dealings with the locals were some of my favorite.  Also thoroughly enjoyed the bits seeded throughout the story about the clocks of ancient time and also the efforts of love to repair an old clock.

For my first Pulitzer it wasn't terrible, not that I went into it with any expectations.  Wonder what the next selection will be.   

How Life Comes Today - All Hands on Deck

How Life Comes Today – A series of some of my more obsessive traits and observations.

All Hands on Deck -

I wouldn’t say I am happily single, that just isn’t the right description. 

It’s too pretty and too easy to say that. To me it’s not defined in tangible terms that make sense to my soul.  It’s not some fog of bliss that surrounds me while I snatch up un-expecting women and take them back to my lair for cookies and tea.  It’s simply not that easy and a rather hollow exercise in of itself.  That exercise leaves much to be wanted in the form of real human connection.  The kind of connection that tucks you in at night and reminds you that you are important to someone, that the things you do matter to someone, and that you and your actions are valued on merits that only the two of you might share.  That sometimes working with another physically or emotionally is the greatest sense of accomplishment, even when those things are another’s goal and not your own; it’s easy to give your love and time to someone that reciprocates, knowing that the time you give will be returned someday if needed and that these are the truths of labors of love.  That a hug between two that ‘love’ is confirmation enough in the act to be satisfying of itself as an echo of ‘I love you’ without the need for words.  Alas, that’s what blissfully single doesn’t get you. 

On the contrary I am quiet lonely here in my boat.  

My thoughts are my own and I have no harbor to stash them when the big waves come rolling, no trusted confidant to help me whether the storms in my small ill equipped vessel, no one to help me hoist sales or batten down the deck.  The waves come and they crash over me as I grip the handles for purchase doing my best not to be swept to the turbulent black sea beneath me and I think my vessel has a hole.  A hole beneath the water line so that she looks safe and lovely from above the water, on her best days her sails brim fully engorged with the wind and shimmering white as they snap at the breeze, her railing polished so brightly it hurts the eyes, the straight wood plank deck polished with wear so that it gleams like soft amber while in each of the cracks holds the grime of her worldly voyages, her big wheel to steer practiced by experienced hands used to being at sea; but when you tour her decks you realize that the boat is mortally wounded and that its ballast is maintained by a mad man who labors to pour full buckets over the side when no one is looking.  He does so to no avail and must take longer routes to destinations so that people don’t see him frantically pumping to stay afloat, each of his journeys taking him farther from land.  To admit she isn’t sea worthy means nothing because there is no other option, she must float.

A voyage full of toil and I don’t know where it’s going.

Over the last three years, especially this last one, the boat has not been on a course.  It’s simply lazily sailed or blown from destination to destination hoping to acquire some piece of wisdom or some tidbit from a distant shore to show people later, the cabin is full of this stuff.  The captain’s gone and convinced himself that circumnavigating the globe might be fun, but more importantly that it’s needed.  That the experiences accrued at each port are valuable and that the people I meet along the way are invaluable themselves.  She’s been to a lot of locations, this vessel of mine.  Some years ago, when at a destination I would look for someone with knowledge of how to patch the hole or to teach me to do it and have had to learn that it is no one’s job to ensure that the vessel stays afloat but me, her captain.  There are many at each port of call who claim to be shipwrights, that any hole can be patched, sails mended, masts refitted, but they all require the boat to be out of the water, dry docked.  They say they will re-paint her, give her new decks, pick a better suited chrome wheel instead of her rich wood, tear out the old broken boards of her hull and affix a mend to her hole but I don’t want any of those things.   They assume to change the vessel in ways that I am not comfortable with.  I’m just that fond of her wounds I suppose.

I still remember what split her.

Maybe that’s the problem, and maybe I am still too fond of the disaster that tore asunder her gut.  It was never intentional after all and it’s fun to let other people steer and see their vistas, their Elysium fields, their hopes, to see them learn new things, and to watch them acquire tidbits from my favorite and frequent harbors.  We were having such a grand time and there was no way to know that the water was thinning under the boat and would soon run aground against the coral, we couldn’t be bothered with such observations.  How foolish.  How trite.  How stupid.  I was shocked when we made impact, but she just smiled and hopped off the boat, making landfall at another port and then gone on the tides of life on a new vessel, as if she knew the whole time that the coral was there and that we were headed straight into its grasps.  I hope the walk on dry land was nice.  Maybe she wanted a bigger boat, maybe mine wasn’t seaworthy enough to begin with, maybe she just needed a ride for a bit, or maybe the cabin became too cramped with each of our own collections.  Who knows and it’s of no concern now, the simple fact that there is a hole is all the testimony needed to confirm the act, the good times as evidence in my collection for me alone.  Good thing that hole is below water level.

In truth I tried to patch it myself.

I used bits about the cabin, these things I have collected.  I confused them with the proper tools needed thinking they were adequate utensils.  After all, I spent the time accruing them for these purposes.  Inevitably the hole splashed them back at me or sucked them through to the briny beyond to be lost.  I enacted her favorite tidbits but still she sputtered.  I asked other captains to help and they lamented me endlessly with how to patch a hole, but their methods made no difference to my keel and the hole still seeped and bled.  I had thoughts of simply scuttling her, finding a new port of call and buying a new boat but I simply lack the funds and the courage to leave the vessel to the fates.  Those things don’t end well for old boats.  The thought of her being dismantled for others or being cast to the recycle a cryptic pain I refuse to explore. 

I learned that every vessel has its blemish.

No captain is perfect and as I meet others, on the open sea or safely at harbor, I have come to really realize and understand this.  There is just too much at sea not to hit something, too many tragedies, too much flotsam, and too many impending disasters.  One can’t be accountable for all of it.  So much if my boat has a hole, it still floats which is more than many captains can say.  That captain over there has to deal with a broken mast, that one’s got all of their rigging in a knot, that one’s missing a rudder, this one can’t tell which way the wind is blowing.  But if she’s sea worthy we all still attempt to sail because it’s in our blood.  If you don’t want to float on the tumultuous sea, find a port, buy some real estate and hunker down if your soul will let you.  I don’t know that mine will let me, at least right now.  I’m still enthralled with the currents.  I’m still hoping to find someone someday to help me steer the boat again and no sailor worth the salt in the ocean stays at harbor for longer than necessary.

No more tours of the decks.

It’s as simple as that, they just stopped.  Some people ask with great courage and bravado and I readily agree but when it comes time for admittance the captain is nowhere to be seen and I hide myself away.  When people poke around on the docks inquiring about the boat I busy the ship as quickly as possible to make them think I am leaving.  Sometimes for kicks, I promise a tour knowing full well that I won’t be there.  I hope that does not make me a terrible person, it’s just nice to hear it sometimes and I am always interested in the idea of showing what’s below.  It’s hard for people when they get there hopes up and realize there will be no tour so I have tried to stop doing it.    Perhaps it’s a sort of stage fright, knowing that a tour will have to file past this giant hole. When I am in a harbor I try to keep to myself and entertain myself with my own things, these tidbits I have collected, or I will bury myself with the other captains discussing the things only us captains know about.  I have these things I have collected strewn about the cabin.  Some have specific places and those that do I look at often.  People know I have them, how they know this I do not know, and I think this is why the idea of a tour sounds so lovely, maybe they think that I will even let them steer someday.  Sometimes instead I busy myself with the hole or any of the other required maintenance to keep her afloat.  She seems better before we unhitch from the dock and set out but once we are on the sea again the water starts splashing in, best find the bucket, best to start scanning for another harbor.

It’s all about keeping her afloat, this vessel of mine.  So don’t say it’s blissful.  It’s terrifying.

What I Am Reading - Use of Weapons

Use of Weapons

Iain M. Banks

Read it in wide paperback, 499 pages.

First three complete.  This was the one that was actually referred to me, by a co-worker.  Thus picked up the first two before completing this one.  The first two being, Consider Phlebas and The Player of Games, both of which were excellent fun reads.  This was originally written

In this Culture installment, Cheradenine Zakalwe is recruited from outside the Culture to work for them in a division titled, Special Circumstances.  Basically Specially Circumstances travels to distant clusters of space that is inhabited by other societies not yet in the Culture and plays with their toys.  Perhaps that's not the right way to put it.  What Special Circumstances does is steer 'lesser' societies in the right direction.  They do this with intrigue, political leveraging, hacking, warfare, etc. and it take a special kind of person to do their bidding.  Cheradenine is haunted by his past, both in what transpired before he worked for the culture and since his employment but has agreed to one last job, but not without a price.

The book itself is easy to read like the other installments but has a confusing layout.  Essentially it isn't a fluid story and jumps around from current events to past events and attempts to pull them all together with a twist at the ending.  Out of the three I have read so far, the second, The Player of Games, has been my favorite but this was great.  The bits about 'knife missiles' were fantastic and the drones that inhabit the Culture are always a nice surprise but strangely  enough, most of the Culture's Special Circumstance Drones always have the air and whimsy of a psychopath. 

Highly suggested to anyone that is into Space Opera.

Close of the Stack 2012

Yum, stats. 

I simply can't resist, it is after all kind of what I do for a living, at least in analytics.  I was able to complete my goal of 30 books, in fact I crushed it by reading 38 books.  I read 13,733 pages total, making the average book I read weighing in at around 361 pages and I read an average of  around 37 pages a day recreationally.   An achievement if I ever accomplished one for sure and I even end up surprising myself when I was counting closer to the end of the year. 

The creation of book club was probably responsible for some of that success lending itself 11 books to the total count for the year.  As the ring leader to that circus I feel obligated to finish every book and even made a bet with one of the members on completion of all of the books, the wager of a steak dinner.  I was extremely lucky to be able to find interest in books with a majority of my friends  completing the reading with me.  Out of 11 books we had an average of around 7 finish every month, really not terrible for something so optional.  The best part about it of course is to be exposed to their own interests as well which is really my favorite part, even if it means I wouldn't normally have read that book.  Not to mention the conversations since that is the point after all. 

A failure every year it seems.  This year's failure was, Three Armies on the Somme: The First Battle of the Twentieth Century, by William J. Philpott.  I shouldn't rob myself of it completely, as I do plan to revisit it and I only failed because I hadn't realized how comprehensive the book was before getting into it.  Shame on me.   

Grading the Stack is always a challenge.  While I could go off a score, such as the one assigned when completed on Goodreads, I find it better just let all of the books ruminate and properly digest.  This method means that the score, while certainly valid, won't reflect the rumination and comparison required for this exercise.  This method is arbitrary and is only meant to reflect my personal favorites and least favorites of the year compared to everything else I read.

38. Tropic of Cancer by Henry Miller (318 pages)

Just not my cup of tea.  It was painful to read about the dregs of society in one of the golden eras of Paris.  Especially when the author simply chooses to be a drag on society.

Review: http://the-stack.blogspot.com/2012/09/what-i-am-reading-tropic-of-cancer.html

37. The Ice Dragon by George R.R. Martin (112 pages)

Enjoyed it just fine, but largely something I probably will only remember at a glance.  If you’re a Thrones fan such as myself it's worth checking out but it's very novelty.  Basically read to me like a fairy tale of Westeros inch which the Ice Dragon comes to save a small girl from an invading army.

Review: http://the-stack.blogspot.com/2012/09/what-i-am-reading-ice-dragon.html

36. Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins (390 pages)

By the time I got to this I was just so done with this series.  Overall the series was fine but this was my least favorite of the three.  They just seemed to drag on me after a time.  In this installment Katniss has some serious challenges and she no longer has the confines of the arena to beat.

Review: http://the-stack.blogspot.com/2012/06/what-i-am-reading-mockingjay.html

35. Who Moved My Cheese by Spencer Johnson (99 pages)

Short quick guide about finding and understanding what's important to you in the now and how to isolate and achieve that.  A suggested read and I am probably a little better for it.

Review: http://the-stack.blogspot.com/2012/02/what-i-am-reading-who-moved-my-cheese.html

34. The Celestine Prophecy by James Redfield (247 pages)

When I first read this I enjoyed it a lot.  It didn’t whether a second read so well.  Basically a man searches for insight and aims to share that insight with you.

Review: http://the-stack.blogspot.com/2012/08/what-i-am-reading-celestine-prophecy_2.html

33. Mechanique: A Tale of the Circus Tresaulti by Genevieve Valentine (284 pages)

Alright read I suppose and I remember enjoying it but in the grand scope of the year it rates low on remember-ability or what not.  A steampunk stylized circus where man and machine are blended.

Review: http://the-stack.blogspot.com/2012/04/what-i-am-reading-mechanique-tale-of.html

32. Tom Clancy's EndWar by David Michaels (416 pages)

This was a book club pick and definitely something I wouldn't have read otherwise and is essentially a prequel to the game.  It reads as much too and basically sees a Russian invasion into North America.  Action packed to say the least.

Review: http://the-stack.blogspot.com/2012/08/what-i-am-reading-tom-clancys-endwar.html

31. I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell by Tucker Max (288 pages)

Oh to be a youth again.  Basically Tucker's adventures with the strange.  The man has sought it out all his early life and was kind of rewarded by such expeditions with mounds of tail and equally strange stories.  It was an entertaining read, but par the usual I struggle with short stories.

Review: http://the-stack.blogspot.com/2013/01/what-i-am-reading-i-hope-they-serve.html

30. The Science of Evil by Simon Baron-Cohen (256 pages)

Basically looking at the human brain to find potential causes for many of the things listed in the DSM with a primary look at mental health concerning the lack of empathy.  Baron-Cohen makes some interesting arguments and seems to be down a promising road.

Review: http://the-stack.blogspot.com/2012/02/what-i-am-reading-science-of-evil.html

29. Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins (391 pages)

The second in the series and more of the first without the plot moving all that much, kind of a disappointment after how good the first one was.  I must learn that every series will not be of a caliber to be compared to Martin. 

Review: http://the-stack.blogspot.com/2012/02/what-i-am-reading-catching-fire.html

28. East Wind Returns by William Peter Grasso (350 pages)

Sometimes it's good to read what if's or spins on history and I am a sucker for WW2 fighter stories.  Mr. Grasso didn't disappoint and what if Japan had had a nuclear warhead too.

Review: http://the-stack.blogspot.com/2012/04/what-i-am-reading-east-wind-returns.html

27. The Drowned World by J.G. Ballard (176 pages)

This was my selection last year for book club and it wasn't as good as I had hoped it was going to be, but on the plus side it did feature an albino villain.  Nearly every book should have an albino villain.  Anyways, this tells a brief tale about the world returning to the Triassic.

Review: http://the-stack.blogspot.com/2012/03/what-i-am-reading-drowned-world.html

26. Earth Abides by George R. Stewart (345 pages)

Earth Abides tells the story of a great plague in the 1950-60's in which 90% of the population is killed.  The remaining survivors attempt to rebuild society, slowly.

Review: http://the-stack.blogspot.com/2012/05/what-i-am-reading-earth-abides.html

25. Breakfast of Champions by Kurt Vonnegut (302 pages)

Enjoyed but a bit disappointing compared to the last Vonnegut I read (Galapagos) but nonetheless good.  I was a little disappointed that Vonnegut spilled the beans before the tale could unravel.

Review: http://the-stack.blogspot.com/2012/10/what-i-am-reading-breakfast-of-champions.html

24. Tales of H.P. Lovecraft by H.P. Lovecraft (328 pages)

I had been looking forward to this for a long time.  I held off on it for about two years until the weather and timing were right…that was this year.  Sadly, for many of the stories included, I just couldn't get into.  Some on the other hand I really enjoyed.  This being a compilation of short stories, it was hard for me to get through.

Review: http://the-stack.blogspot.com/2012/12/what-i-am-reading-tales-of-hp-lovecraft.html

23. Eaters of the Dead by Michael Crichton (304 pages)

I had seen the movie so many times that when this was selected for book club I was pretty excited.  I think I prefer the book over the movie, but isn't that always the case…This story is about an exiled Arhab who meets some Vikings and is then taken on an epic journey, learning insight into the Vikings and also learning a bit about warfare. 

Review: http://the-stack.blogspot.com/2012/06/what-i-am-reading-eaters-of-dead.html

22. Bridge of Birds: A Novel of Ancient China That Never Was by Barry Hughart (278 pages)

Not as good as I was expecting or hoping I suppose but good enough to make 22nd.  It's fictional and uses Chinese mythology as a back drop for some wild adventures with two characters named Number Ten Ox and Master Li and his one slight flaw in in his character.

Review: http://the-stack.blogspot.com/2012/05/what-i-am-reading-bridge-of-birds.html

21. Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly by Anthony Bourdain (312 pages)

True life stories of the one and only chef, Anthony Bourdain to in his standard ruckus fashion.  Some good insights even if you don't want to be a chef.  The stories are entertaining and thouht provoking.

Review: http://the-stack.blogspot.com/2012/12/what-i-am-reading-kitchen-confidential.html

20. Death is a Lonely Business by Ray Bradbury (278 pages)

RIP Mr. Bradbury and thank you for this short little mystery.  A young writer seeks to solve a murder mystery while the police widely ignore the murder and him, save one detective.

Review: http://the-stack.blogspot.com/2012/04/death-is-lonelybusiness-ray-bradbury.html

19. Consider Phlebas by Iain M. Banks (471 pages)

Pour on the space opera.  Love this stuff.  Probably a love passed down from my Grandma.  This is the first installment out of the current eleven in the series.  Each of them is conveniently located in the same galaxy but spread over time with different concepts and characters.  Very appealing to me.  In this specific one, two sides of a war are searching for an escaped mind.  Finding this mind could swing the balance of the war.

Review: http://the-stack.blogspot.com/2013/01/what-i-am-reading-consider-phlebas.html

18. The City & The City by China Mieville (312 pages)

A body is dumped and it's up to a detective to solve the riddle, but the truth of it in this tale is that the murder is the simplest part.  It's soon discovered that the crime was actually committed elsewhere in another city, but these cities have a relationship unlike any other two cities have.

Review: http://the-stack.blogspot.com/2012/12/what-i-am-reading-city-city.html

 

17. The Dervish House by Ian McDonald (359 pages)

A futuristic tale that blends the old with the new, told through the eyes of several.  It takes place in Istanbul and each of the characters is unique and interesting.  I felt that it was a challenging but rewarding read and I will always be reminded of the Melified Man every time I eat honey.

Review: http://the-stack.blogspot.com/2012/06/what-i-am-reading-dervish-house.html

16. Kraken by China Mieville (509 pages)

What happens when a preserved Giant Squid goes missing from the museum and everyone in London goes looking for it from the police, to tattooed fiends, and ancient killers.  Fortune tellers, city light morse code, and folders are really just the beginning of this tale.  Each chapter was engrossing and interesting.  Beware of Goss and Subby.

Review: http://the-stack.blogspot.com/2012/10/what-i-am-reading-kraken.html

15. Collapse by Jared Diamond (560 pages)

Critically acclaimed author and genius with multiple doctorates including anthropology decides to write another book which focuses on civilization collapse.  Yea, I'm in.  Probably the most comprehensive book I read all year.  While incredibly thorough, Diamond also manages to be entertaining and obviously thought provoking.

Review: http://the-stack.blogspot.com/2012/08/what-i-am-reading-collapse.html

14. The Witching Hour by Anne Rice (995 pages)

Haunted New Orleans family and all that jazz.  I am probably way over-rating this but there is a span of the book in which the history of the family is laid forth in context with the events going on which is written really well and reads incredibly fascinating which earned it this spot.

Review: http://the-stack.blogspot.com/2012/03/what-i-am-reading-witching-hour.html

13. Still Life With Woodpecker by Tom Robbins (288 pages)

I liked the whole tone of the book.  It was witty and fun, even if ridiculous but it reminded me of Vonnegut and that's clever in its own right. 

Review: http://the-stack.blogspot.com/2012/01/what-i-am-reading-still-life-with.html

12. Embassytown by China Mieville (349 pages)

A tale located in distant space in which humanities back water has encountered and lives alongside a peculiar race.  Through generations humans have learned to communicate with this race with the help of genetics and training but what happens when the words turn against us.

Review: http://the-stack.blogspot.com/2012/04/what-i-am-reading-embassytown.html

11. The Curious Incident of the Dog In the Night-Time by Mark Haddon (226 pages)

A murder mystery told through the eyes of an autistic child.  It really shed a light on an idea of what parents with autistic kids have to go through and the day to day complications that remain unknown to the parents of 'normal' children.

Review: http://the-stack.blogspot.com/2012/08/what-i-am-reading-curious-incident-of.html

10. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins (384 pages)

The first of the series.  It caught fire, pun intended.  Overall a great, easy read and shot me into the entire series.  One of our nearly universal book club picks of the year and garnered the highest completed readers too.

Review: http://the-stack.blogspot.com/2012/01/what-i-am-reading-hunger-games.html

9. Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy ( 334 pages)

I Despise McCarthy's writing style but his books are so damn good and bleak.  This follows the footsteps of Glaton's gang as they rage west.  Some very dark sequences in this book, but it's to be expected with McCarthy.

Review: http://the-stack.blogspot.com/2012/02/what-i-am-reading-blood-meridian.html

8. The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland In a Ship of Her Own Making by Catherynne Valente (256 pages)

A fun, quick read about a girl that manages to slip off to fairyland on a quest unlike any other.  I loved what she encountered throughout her adventure, especially the Wyvern.  Not a normal read for me.

Review: http://the-stack.blogspot.com/2012/03/what-i-am-reading-girl-who.html

7. The Player of Games by Iain M. Banks (417 pages)

A player of games travels to another world to play a game like no other in which one can bet torture and the winner can take it all.

Review: http://the-stack.blogspot.com/2013/01/what-i-am-reading-player-of-games.html

6. Hyperion by Dan Simmons (481 pages)

The Shrike has only ever been spotted at the Time Tombs on the planet of Hyperion.  He's big and sharp, covered with blades, has glowing red eyes and likes to put people on his spike tree or some such mess.  People are, for their own reasons, headed to meet this fiendish hell creature and this is the story of their trip and why they are going.

Review: http://the-stack.blogspot.com/2012/07/what-i-am-reading-hyperion.html

5. Life of Pi Yann Martel (319 pages)

Pi's a smart boy who grew up in India as the son of a zookeeper but when the zoo is forced to close the zoo's animals are sold off and shipped with the family to North America.  In transit the boat flounders and Pi is trapped on a life boat with some of the zoo's former charges.

Review: http://the-stack.blogspot.com/2012/08/what-i-am-reading-life-of-pi.html

4. Fevre Dream by George R.R. Martin (361 pages)

Abner Marsh is down on his luck.  He's lost most of his steamboats to the river and the fickle weather.  When he thinks he will lose it all he is approached by an investor with a grand dream and the funding for it but what really lies behind these plans to put Abner Marsh's company back on the map.

Review: http://the-stack.blogspot.com/2012/10/what-i-am-reading-fevre-dream.html

3. 11/22/63 by Stephen King (849 pages)

What if you could go back in time and change one event?  What if you could stop something so shattering it's argued the nation never recovered.  This was an incredible story and was suggested to me by my mother, awesome. 

Review: http://the-stack.blogspot.com/2012/08/what-i-am-reading-112263.html

2. Ready Player One by Ernest Cline (372 pages)

In the not too distant future everyone immerses into the OASIS, a fully encompassing simulation.  People work, play, and exist in the OASIS, but when the OASIS creator dies and announces that an easter egg has been placed in the OASIS simulation, and if found will give full power of the company, it's estate, and technologies to whomever is the first to locate it; the search begins.

Review: http://the-stack.blogspot.com/2012/05/what-i-am-reading-ready-player-one.html

1. One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez (417 pages)

This book chronicles the rise and fall of a small town told through the genealogy of its founding family.  It's exquisite thing.

Review: http://the-stack.blogspot.com/2012/05/what-i-am-reading-one-hundred-years-of.html

Bada-Boom.

So, what's next.  Well, I had told myself if I beat my goal that I would get an E-reader.  I don't think I will though. Perhaps I am getting sentimental in my old age but my passion for literary words extends to the books they are printed on.  I truly do have some nice books for books sake. Nothing collector or anything, I just like the way they feel and I like to be around them, like some hoarder of stories.  It's comfortable to be around such things.  I also enjoy lending out these things that I read and people seem to ask often enough.  It's been an unfortunate realization that I do not have space for these things though.  It is a terrible kind of affliction, the hoarding of books, for you see I must account this next year for the accumulation of my new goal, 40 books when I am still trying to find homes for the 38 from this year.  One must also understand the accompanying problem of the stack.  When you read as much as I do, you purchase far more then you read in a year.  An emergency stockpile of stories in the event that I finish the current flavor, but flavors are fickle so I keep a lot in hand.  This god damned stack just keeps growing. 

Every year I try to target out what I am going to try and read so this year's breakdowns a little intense, but I have room to play with 40.

OLT Book Club: 12 books estimated, goal.

Pulitzer Picks: 10 books, goal.

The First Three: The first three books of some series, 9 books, goal.

Referrals: 9 books.

That's pretty much my year.  Wish me luck.

What I Am Reading - Player of Games

The Player of Games

Iain M. Banks

Read it in wide paperback, 417 pages.

This is the second installment of Iain M. Banks Culture series and was my last read of 2012.  The Player of Games was published a year after the first and hit shelves in 1988.  All of which being reworked rewrites of short stories and novellas.  I would imagine they were reworked and filled out to actually become full length novels while the early shorts were probably going to be put into a collection.  I like this approach far better.

The Player of Games follows Jernau Morat Gurgeh, a player of games.  As a member of the Culture, he is subject to all of the perks that brings.  Jernau is tall, as everyone else is in the Culture.  He is also older, lives a life of luxury, plays games and writes game theory all day.  Unfortunately Jernau is a little disillusioned with it all and craves something more, something different.  When he hears about a potential opportunity to help Special Circumstances he follows the inquiry.  When it's all laid out for him he has the opportunity to travel to a distant cluster and play a game unlike any other called Azad.  The game of Azad is used in this far society as a means of determining social rank and political status.  The game is intended to shadow a players social and philosophical beliefs and as the game escalates bets of physical harm are often wagered.  Things escalate quickly went Jernau realizes what he's playing for and what he's up against.

This book was fantastic.  I loved the depictions of the games and the thought that Iain put into their creation.  Equally mesmerizing was the action packed adventures he has in between each session as he discovers the planet and society that is Ea.

Great read and the best part is that since the books in the series are not connected, one can simply pick up and read the crème of the crop as their only disadvantage will be they know less about what makes up the Culture.  This is something easily recapped in each book however.

Highly recommended if you don't mind sci-fi.

What I Am Reading - I Hope They Serve Beer Hell

I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell

Tucker Max

Read it in Paper-back, 288 pages of large font short story format.

Back when in 2002, Tucker Max, published a web site chronicling his sex escapades in a series of short stories.  It was so successful that Mr. Max decided to publish it as a book and subsequently made lots and lots of money.   The result is this here book, a reference from a friend that took me a year to open its pages, and another year to complete.  It's delay not being one of my finer moments.  Alas, I need to work on my short story game.

The books pretty simple.  Mr. Max makes no claim to being kind, no inclination for others feelings, certainly rolls with the punches, and one could say reaps the rewards.  It's not a perfect life, but it's what he wants.  It's what you would expect, a kind of true '50 Shades of Grey' for men.  Mr. Max, in detail, explains his encounters and the results that follow.  Overall the book was entertaining from a male standpoint but not all that lasting.  The movie in its own way sums up enough from the book.

I will say that if you are a man in need of some confidence in your own abilities to 'seal the deal' then this might help you, or at least show you what's possible.  Especially since Mr. Max doesn't waste any time shoveling out his shallow strategy.  It's really not complex.

What I Am Reading - Consider Phlebas

Consider Phlebas

Iain M. Banks

Read it in wide paperback, 471 pages.

Iain M. Banks was born in 1954 and is of Scottish decent.  He goes by Iain Banks for all mainstream fiction, but adds his adopted middle initial for all science fiction.  An interesting thing to adopt a middle name, especially when he's picked 'Menzies' of all things.  In any event, The Times has labeled Iain Banks as one of the 50 greatest British writers since 1945.

This particular tomb, Consider Phlebas, is the first of his Culture series and was originally published in 1987.  It is very much science fiction and definitely is considered a Space Opera and is the first of eleven books in the series.  In this installment you are introduced to two space faring societies, the Idiran Empire and the Culture, which are at war.  The two societies have rival beliefs that have dragged them to war and ultimately the galaxy with it.  As the book opens, an artificial intelligence is fleeing capture from the Idirans and manages to escape to what's called a death world.  Capturing this mind is of top priority as it may just give the Idirans the up hand in the war.  Their closest agent is dispatched to travel to this world and recover the mind.  This agent be Horza who possess the ability to change shape and is part of a mysterious dying race that inhabit a Meteor.  Yea, it's that kind of book.

When I finished I was mad.  How can this be the ending to the first book in the series of eleven.  How could Mr. Banks shore this up and produce ten more out of such an ending?  Oh, you say that each of the books follow a different character, in a different time, in the same galaxy.  Dig it and onward. 

Solid fun.