Jupiter - reading

Finished "Jupiter" by Ben Bova. Coincidentally, XKCD just posted a topical "What If..." On the suspension of disbelief, you have to accept that they sent a manned spacecraft into the seas of Jupiter with the expectation that it would be capable of returning.

In general it was a decent story with long lulls in the action. Once things started happening it was much better of course. And the end of the story was alright, though I think the author understated the likely tensions there would have been.

Rewrite - reading

Finished "Rewrite" by Paul Chitlik." It's a decent book with two nits I need to pick.

The first is how much the author harps on using the right word. You have to know the difference among "their," "they're," and "there." Sure, true enough. And that applies to lots of words. But then the author misses the difference between "waiver" and "waver." I really thought he was going to show how he caught that little error to see if anyone reading was paying attention, but there it is in both the before (p. 91) and after (p. 98) scripts: "Raffi and Kathy waiver." As in, waiving a right or claim. No, they're vacillating.

The second is how many times he happens to recommend books that just happen to be from Michael Wiese Productions. Sure, he lists other books as well, but he starts to become a shill in my mind.

All in all, though, not a bad read. There is some good information in here. Plus it's short.