I Shouldn't Even Be Doing This! (Bob Newhart)

[***] ISBN: 1401384862 (abridged CD) 1401302467 (hardcover)

I love Bob Newhart. My dad shared his humor with me, so I shared this book with him for his birthday and then downloaded the audio version from the library. It had me giggling in the car. Even routines that are as old as I am (since both my life and Bob's career started in the 1950's) brought at least a smile. They're no longer fresh. But they are still funny.

What's richer is hearing Bob tell them in the context of the story of his career. Sometimes he let's us in on where the idea came from, or how much work it was to create or how someone stole his material. His life has been interesting, but not overly so (other than being a celebrity). He's just this guy from Chicago.

There's nothing shocking here. Yes, he smoked and quit. Yes, he drank and still does. But, thank God, neither has led to real tragedy. He courted and stayed married. He raised kids. He has not renounced his faith or church. He kept working and still does. I still like Bob Newhart.

Tyrannosaur Canyon (Douglas Preston)

[**] ISBN: 0765311046

I thought this would have everything I could want in a thriller: a mysteriously missing moon rock sample (which is ignored between the prologue and the last few chapters), an indecipherable treasure map, a murder, a trail of mystery with more questions than answers, men and women at odds with nature and each other - plus dinosaurs and a moon landing (!). Based on his track record, I guess the author should have been able to pull this off. He didn't.

Much of the story is admirable enough and full of suspense. The first few chapters had me really going. And for a while the mystery was somewhat interesting. But then it turned into a simple kidnapping story on the one hand and an oversimplified "CSI:Cretaceous" on the other. Followed up by the return of the moon rock by way of a rogue NSA black op.

On top of that, the storytelling was not up to my expectations of a best-selling author. I do not expect a potboiler like this to also be a piece of fine literature But I would like the story to move forward by means other than structure and inertia. I don't want the story constantly chopped up with irrelevant detail, description and storytelling (rather than showing). And I'd like chapters to be more than a half a scene, chopped up just for the sake of creating suspense.

While the characters were more than cardboard cutouts, they were fraught with cliché (the murderer is an ex-con, his boss is a fop, the ex-CIA monk is grizzled, etc.) and convenient coincidences (the wife knows how to handle guns as well as horses, the ex-CIA monk is a cryptographer, the geologist is also skilled at paleontology).

This is not a complete disaster. In many ways it was a fun read (er... listen). But I learned just as much about how not to tell a story than how to do it.

Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom (Cory Doctorow)

[***] ISBN: 0765304368

It was interesting reading this book right on the heals of Rainbow's End by Vernor Vinge. Both books cover some of the same territory: in the not too distant future (a century or two) on Earth, medical technology is extending and enhancing life (indefinitely, in the case of Doctorow's Bitchun Society), computing and networking has become even more ubiquitous (to the point that most or all folks 'wear' or have implanted devices). But the two books are quite different. I liked them both.

Whereas Mr. Vinge went for depth and detail and epic sweep, Cory went for outrageousness, fun and personal intrigue. This is emphasized by the first-person perspective and locating most of the story in and around Disney World. Cory's rendering is much more approachable and fun to read, as well. I was able to jump right into the story and enjoyed almost every single page. Then again, I'm also a Disney-phile and probably have at least as much knowledge about the park (well, at least Disneyland) as the author. It's likely that those without such background or leanings would not be able to fill in as much detail and not enjoy it as much. For them, perhaps Mr. Doctorow could have spent a bit more time coloring in the whole picture. But that might have slowed things down to much.

I am looking forward to reading more stories by Cory Doctorow.

Rainbow's End (Vernor Vinge)

[***] ISBN: 0312856849

I'm torn about this book.

On the one hand, the ideas presented about the cyberfuture and medical utopia are compelling, truly futuristic, solidly grounded in the present and completely developed. Mr. Vinge has extrapolated a networked near future full of technological miracles and complications. Anyone working or playing in the field of computers, gaming and networks, as I do, can easily start to believe in the inevitability of the vision. The reader loses track of the here and now, living entirely in that other world. Several main characters are full of life and motivation, I found myself yearning to learn what they would do next and why. They often surprised me.

On the other hand, getting there was somewhat laborious. The novelty and virtuality of the invented future, the mystery surrounding several characters and their motivations, and the obscure nature of many fantasies within the fantasy made some scenes difficult to wade through. Even at the end of the book, not everything or everyone is explained. On the one hand, I believe this is intentional. Hats off to Mr. Vinge for not spoon feeding the reader and allowing us to fill in the blanks with our own imaginations. On the other hand, I know there are potential readers that will be left completely at sea.

This is thought-provoking, challenging science fiction at its finest. If you want to know where our technology and entertainment choices are taking us, this might be it.

Callahan's Con (Spider Robinson)

[**] ISBN: 0786183470

I had some fun listening to this book. But I have to hold back on giving it a very high rating. Even knowing that one has to suspend disbelief for this sort of book and that this book is meant to be over the top, I thought the characters, situation and plot were a bit too contrived. The denizens of "The Place" are too varied, too goofy and too understanding to be remotely believable. It's hard enough to get four or five people to agree on anything, much less a hundred or more. The whole mob plot was much too stereotyped. And Mr. Robinson violated some of his own rules of time traveling when it came right down to carrying out the con.

To top it off, I found the prose to be somewhat forced. And the humor was off the mark. I will probably try another Callahan book. Perhaps the earlier volumes that actually include Mike Callahan, where the story is just getting started are better.

Writing Mysteries: A Handbook by the Mystery Writers of America

[****] ISBN: 1582971021

Back in October, I read and reviewed Writing the Mystery. It was not all it advertised itself to be. In contrast, Writing Mysteries is everything it claims to be (a handbook) and more, including everything that the previous book touted. I think one reason this volume is so much more successful is that it is written by a collection of successful, published mystery writers. They bring a variety of viewpoints and tips such that the total exceeds the sum of the parts. Each essay also stands on its own, available as a reference on a particular topic. Any author, beginning or experienced, writing a mystery or other genre, can find help or encouragement in this book.

Great Sky River (Gregory Benford)

[***] ISBN: 0553273183

Well, now I'm hooked. This is the third book in Benford's "Galactic Center" series, but the first one set this far in the future. I liked it. I will have to see what happens in the next book, too.

The author has created a rich world of the future where mankind is on the run from intelligent machines that dominate his world. Centuries of human advancement have seemingly been lost in the years of war. The story is about the struggle of a last few hundred on one planet.

Mr. Benford heightens the interest by allowing the characters to speak in a language that is both familiar and different. The world they inhabit is alien to both them and the reader and the author's descriptions keep it that way, without getting burdensome.

This is one of the most satisfying SF novels I've read in a while.

Men In Black (Steve Perry)

[**]

I often like film novelizations. Done well, they open up the interior life of the characters that is largely invisible on film. Like most things, the quality can be hit or miss. This is a miss. Rather than use the opportunity of the written words to drive deeper into the characters, revealing their thoughts and capturing their motivations (well, he does try), the author mostly attempts to capture the humor of the movie. The trouble is, much of the movie humor was visual. That does not often translate well into prose.

A few things work. I liked some of what he did with the inner life of the bug (Edgar). But much of the alien vocabulary was too obviously just throw away. He captures a little of the playful banter between Jay and Kay. Even this sometimes comes off a little forced.

It's not like I wish I had a flashy thing to erase my memories of the book. I will have to watch the movie a couple of times, though, to write over those memories with the better stuff.

Zen in the Art of Writing (Ray Bradbury)

[****]

I found this short (176 pages of sparse text) collection of essays on the writerly art to be both inspirational and educational. I am also, sadly, a bit intimidated. Mr. Bradbury has a unique gift of almost photographic observation that he uses to great effect in creating works of great insight and color. On the other hand, there are lessons to be learned here of how to think beyond what others perceive and capture those images and thoughts in words for them to enjoy. I will have to revisit this book and try to learn a bit from this master storyteller.

Sunk (me)

Sunk is the working title for the partial first draft of a novel I wrote in November for National Novel Writing Month (see my NaNoWriMo Adventure). And while it's not exactly something I read, it's what has kept me busy this month not reading other stuff. I should have some other books finished and mini-reviewed, soon.

Blog Reboot

I'm taking the opportunity here to repurpose this blog. I'm sure I'm the only one that cares.

Rather than mix in a bunch of blogistic murmuring about my life and how it relates to everything, I'm streamlining this to just comment on books that I've read. Previous posts about books are being split into their constituent parts and each entry will now be dated with the (sometimes approximate) day that I finished (or put down) the work.

Harvest of Stars (Poul Anderson)

[*]

The one star rating is as low as I'll go. I did not finish this book. Maybe it's because I don't feel like investing the time it in (it's 531 pages long). Maybe it's because it's filled with crazy dialect-ridden dialog. Maybe it's because it comes across as a hyperbolic rant against religion and government. I think it's all of that and because it just wasn't very interesting. The premise appears to be that there is some future where governments are mostly puppets of huge corporations and special interest groups. One of the more powerful and benign corporations finds itself in conflict with a somewhat fascist special interest that is currently running one of the larger governments. There is intrigue. There is an AI. There are special agents. Yawn. I could put it down and did. I don't know if I'll ever pick it up again.

Injustice For All (J.A. Jance)

[***]

On a lark, I picked this up from the $1 rack at Half-Price Books. I liked it. It's not necessarily one of my all-time favorite books. But it is a solid, enjoyable read in the mystery genre. The protagonist, J.P. Beaumont, is your typical hard-boiled police detective, softened up a bit for the Seattle P.D.

I discovered after reading the story that this is the second entry in the series. I knew it wasn't the first, based on references to previous events. In this entry, Beau is recovering at the Rosario Resort from the events of the first book. A dead man shows up on the beach almost on page one. From there the body count mounts and the detective must deal with his healing emotions, his feelings for one of the victims and clues that don't add up.

The writing is good. The characters are fine, though I question some of Beau's morals. And that's where some of the problems arise. I think the plotting that involves his relationships with other characters in the book are a bit hard to take.

All in all, though, a good read.

Writing the Mystery (G. Miki Hayden)

[**]

This book does not come close to living up to its cover blurb. It is not a "start-to-finish" guide. Some of this may not be entirely the author's fault. It's just that most of the lessons in the book are readily available elsewhere, and I've already read them. A complete novice may find some of the material to be helpful, although it is not presented in the most accessible way. An expert would be completely bored.

About half of the interviews in the back of the book were interesting. I love to read about how other writers approach the craft. Many of the interviews are allowed to veer into areas that have little to do with writing mystery novels, eliminating the need to even include them.

Someone considering this book would do better to find Writing Mysteries: A Handbook by the Mystery Writers of America edited by Susan Grafton. I am most of the way through that book and it is much more insightful and accessible.

Rum Punch (Elmore Leonard)

[***]

I'd say this was a pretty decent Elmore Leonard book. Not great. But decent. I think the trouble that I had was that it was hard to find a character to really like and identify with. I had the same trouble with the movie (Jackie Brown), but the visual style of that made it fascinating to watch. In this one, many of the characters are just plain nasty and I didn't want to spend all that much time with them.

Songs of Distant Earth (Arthur C. Clarke)

[***]

This is a very clever short story made novel length. What happens when ark-ships are sent to distant planets and the humans are raised by robots, along with the rest of the flora and fauna. Who decides the kind of social structure they will inherit? Who decides what kind of art and culture they get? What happens when much speedier travel is possible and their cousins from earth show up, carrying all the negative cultural and sociological baggage the ark-children were denied?

These are interesting questions, entertainingly entertained. Ultimately, the typical, liberal spin is given to everything. But the story is nicely told and most of the characters are richly drawn.

Black (Ted Dekker)

[*]

Ted Dekker is supposed to be a pretty good writer. I would not assent to that proposition based on this book. Based on the high ratings and good reviews of this work on Amazon.com, I had hoped this would be a good introduction to the author and a fun, but challenging, read. I could barely finish it.

The one thing Mr. Dekker does well here is create two distinct worlds and keep the protagonist and the reader wondering which one is real. Is it the world that seems to be our own, with all of its wars, disease and crime? Or is it the land the protagonist visits when he is sleeping (or in a coma), where evil is decidedly black and good is innocent and naive?

The problem is that I don't care. The fantasy world is not rich enough and things are too black and white. The allegory is both too obvious and too dense to penetrate. I'm not sure what the author is trying to show. Events in the real world are either too coincidental or too dependent on an almost omniscient and omnipotent antagonist. No one has that kind of power and insight. And the protagonist is too laid back for a novel. Things just happen to him, even when he's trying to be a bit assertive. I made it all the way to the end of the book, looking for something to really happen or be explained. It never was. And I don't care enough about it to pick up the other two books and spend the hours needed to read them.

Deception Pass (Earl Emerson)

[***]

This is the second or third book I've read by Mr. Emerson. He's a good writer. But this book was disappointing. The protagonist, Thomas Black, seemed a bit too goofy. There were a few too many coincidences. And there was not enough taking place at the Deception Pass of the title. I think there's enough here to make me sample this writer again.

A Bridge Too Far (Cornelius Ryan)

[***]

This is the rugged, true and tragic history of Operation: Marketgarden. Mr. Ryan does a grand job of introducing us to the men involved in this operation, from the generals down to the cooks. The only trouble is that this is the largest operation of World War II and there are just too darn many of them to keep straight. So you just have to slog forward (somewhat like they did) and trust in the author. With that in mind, you are treated to the grand sweep of the plan, the infeasibility of key parts of it and the personal cost and valor involved in attempting it. Good maps and photos, too.

Universal Principles of Design (William Lidwell)

[**]

There are a lot of positive reviews for this on Amazon.com. I was not impressed. I guess if you need a reference list of obvious human factors principles, this would be it. But I think it's too general to be a real reference book for any given application.