Historical story, with made-up dialog, of the so-called Towner Bus Tragedy of 1931 in which several children and the school bus driver died in a blizzard. Written at just the right level for me, third grade, there are lots of pictures and explanations of how life was back then. I enjoyed this very much, even though I cried a bit.
A rather unlikely novel of the Viet Nam war involving two Marine helicopter pilots, a president name Larry Bob, an actress named Barbonella, and the president of North Viet Nam that drives a Corvette.
Quote:
My suggestion--that the U.S. commander in chief be constitutionally required to garb him- or herself in full battle dress, replete with facial camouflage and flora-festooned helmet, whilst any U.S. troops are engage in combat--will most likely not be adopted.
Three guys take a bicycle trip through the the Black Forest in Germany. Very amusing. Read as a Project Gutenberg e-book. Not amusing, because, basically, one is staring at a light bulb for hours on end.
Read:
8/2007
Mable Riley: A Reliable Record Of Humdrum, Peril, and Romance
Mable and her sister Viola take rooms on a dairy farm in a distant village when Viola becomes the new teacher in the small school. Mable meets a rabble-rousing woman who wears bloomers and rides a bicycle. I enjoyed Mable's adventures very much.
Co-author Roy Johansen. A woman shot and hit by a car trying to deliver something to Kendra. Kendra and Lynch (and a bunch of others) try to figure out what is going on. Almost OK. Didn't care for it.
Joe Bailey is a bunco squad police detective and former professional magician. He is trying to figure out how an eight-year-old boy came to murder a man by using psychic powers. Pretty ok, learned some stuff.
A student at work told me that he really like John Ringo's books, so I thought I had better try another after the disaster of Sister Time. This title caught my eye, and I checked it out even thought it is book two of the series, book one, Looking Glass, not being available. I was prepared to dislike it, and in fact was annoyed by several things. The artificial cursing (grapping, maulk) bothered me, but I see a need for soldiers (Marines!) cursing, so I can't think of another way around it, this book being intended for teens. Older teens! Anyway, lots of physics (the author says, hey, it's science fiction!), lots of shooting, almost everyone dies. The last hundred pages were real page-turners!
Words I Had To Look Up:
when the Santa Annas blew down (pg. 31) -- Should be Anas, I think.
"Semper-grapping-Fi, behanchod,"Berg muttered (pg. 67) -- You don't really want to know what it means. This book is aimed at teens? in like flint (pg. 167) -- It is generally agreed the actual phrase is in like Flynn. In Like Flint is a movie. Derek Flint. James Coburn. Jeesh!
talking like Donald Duck... That's a side effect of hydrogen. (pg. 204) -- It's also flammable, dude!
Quote:
"On the Bounce, Marines!" ...
"What the hell is 'On the Bounce'?" Hatt asked.
"Oh. My. God," Berg answered, grinning inside his suit.
"Top read that book, too?: Jaen said. "Cool." -- (pg. 365) Love it!
David's father, a racist doctor in 1960s (cit. needed) Tennessee, inspires love and hate in his son. Some story incidents inspired by author's father, she says she does not apologize for the sometimes strong language, as it was how her father expressed himself. I paraphrase. The "N" word is used often, too.
Words I Had To Look Up:
Miss Grace was in a real swivet (pg. 75) -- A state of extreme agitation.
Bad Pixies are abducting teens in Bedford, Maine. Zara, now a good Pixie, formerly a human, battles to protect the humans while trying to find the way to Vahalla to bring back her love Nick.
I think the reason I didn't really care for this book is the same reason I didn't really care for the Kim Harrison book I read the other week. They were not written for the likes of me! They are for girls! And again, this is the third book in the series, so if you start here you are missing a lot of back story.
Abdullah yearns for a bride, the princess Flower-In-The-Night, as it turns out. Sophie and Lettie and Howl eventurally turn up, after 176 pages, more or less.
The Dog Star Sirius is sent to Earth, in dog form, as punishment. He become the pet of an Irish girl who is living with her awful English aunt while her father is in prison. One of the best books I have ever read, of its kind! I am still choked up an hour after finishing it.
Words I Had To Look Up:
viridian (pg. 1) -- A chrome green pigment that is a hydrated oxide of chromium. Zoi (pg. 2) -- Probably an invented term, refers to an object of power. Possibly inspired by borzoi dogs? effulgence (pg. 2) -- A state of being bright and radiant, splendor, brilliance.. eughky (pg. 12) -- "I still have dry and (a very technical term) eughky ends" from http://www.archive.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=70034 sloven (pg. 18) -- A coarse obnoxious person. quaint and knowing (pg. 52) -- Marked by beauty or elegance. I figured the author was using a different meaning! sluttish (pg. 54) -- A saucy girl. Yet another different meaning.. couchant (pg. 129) -- Lying on the stomach with head raised with legs pointed forward. empyrean (pg. 255) -- Of or relating to the sky or heavens. Melpomene (pg. 260) -- The Muse of tragedy.
Quote:
He remembered that his Companion had tried to use the Zoi on him. (pg. 169) Wait, what??
The sequel to Howl's Moving Castle, it says. I thought that other book was the sequel. Charmain goes to house-sit for her magician uncle while he gets cured by the elves of a mysterious ailment. Sophie and Howl show up eventually.
In the introduction Douglas Adams tells how he came up with the Starship Titanic idea, but didn't have time to write the novel as he was involved with the video game.
So anyway, this big space ship lands on a rectory on Earth and picks up three people (and leaves one being behind), and there's a bomb on the spaceship, and alien/human sex, and the "f" word. And everyone is pretty happy at the end.
Quote:
"I mean a transportation system with an average speed of just above stationary is not really a transportation system at all!"..."It's more like a storage system!" -- pg. 225
An elderly man (A young fella, around my age) uncharacteristically goes on a walk the length of England to visit a dying co-worker that he has not seen in many years. A whole lot of weeps at the end.
Quote:
"I miss her all the time. I know in my head that she has gone, but I still keep looking. [...] It's like discovering a great hole in the ground. To begin with, you forget it's there and you keep falling in. After a while, it's still there, but you learn to walk around it." -- page 210