Finished Chthon by Piers Anthony. Whenever I see the title, I think of the Thong Song. I can't recommend this book. I hated the main character. Maybe I was supposed to. But I didn't like the story, either.
Catching up, I started reading a book and decided I didn't want to finish it. It was a book of short stories called Future Wars. Don't ask - I already donated it. I finished alpha reading the first few chapters of a friend's book. I also finished another book back in July that I have completely forgotten. Reading has been slow lately.
Wednesday, September 13, 2017
Tuesday, January 31, 2017
The Dude and the Zen Master - reading
Finished "The Dude and the Zen Master" by Jeff Bridges and Bernie Glassman. I'm not really a zen kind of guy, but still enjoyed the book. I guess I would call it an honest discussion between two guys, and you, the reader, are sort of sitting in the room. It was a quick read. Not a bad way to end January. Funny side note - for a good part of the book I thought Bernie Glassman was actually Gerry Bednob (the guy from 40 Year Old Virgin and many other films). Rookie mistake, I know.
Sunday, January 22, 2017
Home Invasion, and two abandoned books - reading
Finished "Home Invasion" by me. This was the first readthrough of my 2016 NaNoWriMo story that begins much like the movie Independence Day, with UFOs hovering over cities and then attacking. To say much more than that would be giving it away, though, so I'll stop there.
There were some chapters that read like stereo instructions, which in writing this analogy I've come to realize don't really exist any more. But other chapters have good action, good escalations, and heroes being heroes. I am a little disappointed that the women I wrote did not get to contribute as much as I was hoping they would, particularly since I decided to base my female character names on the Matilda Effect.
As to the books I gave up on, there were two.
"Dreaming in Code" by Scott Rosenberg was to me like attending a very long project retrospective for a project on which I did not participate. I got a few chapters in, and suddenly did not find much time for reading.
"Getting Things Done" by David Allen was certainly talked up everywhere I could see. My two main problems with this book are:
1) Much like my NaNoWriMo novels, the author insisted on using 5,000 words where 50 would suffice. I'm not sure why he needed such a high word count. And this is the rewritten, revised, revisited version of the book. And,
2) I'm already living by the first piece of advice I could tease out of the book. That is to say, get your to-do list out of your head and written down somewhere.
In skimming the book just now looking for the expression he used for this place to write it down, I found a couple places where he asks, "Did your mind wander while you were reading this?" To which I say, "Hell, yeah."
One of the things I've worked on in my writing, especially my short script writing, is watching for places that take a person out of the read:
When your reader encounters these things, they lose the experience that you're trying to give them. I don't know if Mr. Allen did it on purpose to demonstrate his point, but this book did many things that pulled me out of the read, whether it was repetition, realizing that he hadn't made a good point in several pages, or, the one specific example I can remember, his RAM (computer memory) analogy. But I was pulled out of the read repeatedly, and ultimately decided it wasn't worth my time to power through.
I am amused that this post includes panning a book called, "Getting Things Done," and it took me a week to post this. I finished Home Invasion on 1/15/2017. But to my credit, I got a lot of things done in that week!
There were some chapters that read like stereo instructions, which in writing this analogy I've come to realize don't really exist any more. But other chapters have good action, good escalations, and heroes being heroes. I am a little disappointed that the women I wrote did not get to contribute as much as I was hoping they would, particularly since I decided to base my female character names on the Matilda Effect.
As to the books I gave up on, there were two.
"Dreaming in Code" by Scott Rosenberg was to me like attending a very long project retrospective for a project on which I did not participate. I got a few chapters in, and suddenly did not find much time for reading.
"Getting Things Done" by David Allen was certainly talked up everywhere I could see. My two main problems with this book are:
1) Much like my NaNoWriMo novels, the author insisted on using 5,000 words where 50 would suffice. I'm not sure why he needed such a high word count. And this is the rewritten, revised, revisited version of the book. And,
2) I'm already living by the first piece of advice I could tease out of the book. That is to say, get your to-do list out of your head and written down somewhere.
In skimming the book just now looking for the expression he used for this place to write it down, I found a couple places where he asks, "Did your mind wander while you were reading this?" To which I say, "Hell, yeah."
One of the things I've worked on in my writing, especially my short script writing, is watching for places that take a person out of the read:
- something unrealistic is happening
- bad phrasing
- factually incorrect
- something else
When your reader encounters these things, they lose the experience that you're trying to give them. I don't know if Mr. Allen did it on purpose to demonstrate his point, but this book did many things that pulled me out of the read, whether it was repetition, realizing that he hadn't made a good point in several pages, or, the one specific example I can remember, his RAM (computer memory) analogy. But I was pulled out of the read repeatedly, and ultimately decided it wasn't worth my time to power through.
I am amused that this post includes panning a book called, "Getting Things Done," and it took me a week to post this. I finished Home Invasion on 1/15/2017. But to my credit, I got a lot of things done in that week!
Tuesday, October 4, 2016
Extreme Ownership - reading
Finished "Extreme Ownership - How U.S. Navy Seals Lead and Win" by Jocko Willink and Leif Babin. This was the first actual leadership book I feel like I got a lot out of. Other leadership books tell you all about how "leaders are supposed to lead, so get out there and lead!" and all that, but this book spells out, in clear language, steps to take to improve your leadership abilities, and why you would take them. The format was basically a three-phase discussion of leadership principles in each chapter: first you get a war story, then a description of a leadership principle, and finally an application to business.
I've already decided I need to re-read this -- maybe even more than once -- simply to underscore the lessons it contains, and to focus on incorporating the lessons it teaches both at work and at home.
I've already decided I need to re-read this -- maybe even more than once -- simply to underscore the lessons it contains, and to focus on incorporating the lessons it teaches both at work and at home.
Saturday, September 17, 2016
Terms of Enlistment - reading
Finished "Terms of Enlistment" by Marko Kloos. I read about Marko on John Scalzi's site. The series described in Whatever had an interesting premise, and I added it to my to-read list, then recently picked it up.
The book was a quick read, and enjoyable, and was the right book at the right time. I was looking for something quick. While it does seem to share similarities with many other books of the genre, it was still pretty fun. The second book in the series is sitting on my nightstand, waiting for me to finish the book I had already started.
One thing stood out for me, though. It was how much I thought Marko's writing style resembled my own. Obviously, having several books published, he's well ahead of me in terms of professional authorship, and I don't claim my books are ready for publication, being basically a collection of first drafts. But it was encouraging for me to think of my writing as "not bad," and to think that I could some day be published as well, and that folks might actually enjoy what I write.
The book was a quick read, and enjoyable, and was the right book at the right time. I was looking for something quick. While it does seem to share similarities with many other books of the genre, it was still pretty fun. The second book in the series is sitting on my nightstand, waiting for me to finish the book I had already started.
One thing stood out for me, though. It was how much I thought Marko's writing style resembled my own. Obviously, having several books published, he's well ahead of me in terms of professional authorship, and I don't claim my books are ready for publication, being basically a collection of first drafts. But it was encouraging for me to think of my writing as "not bad," and to think that I could some day be published as well, and that folks might actually enjoy what I write.
Friday, July 15, 2016
Through the Rainbow - reading
Finished "Through the Rainbow" by me. There are references to elections, Obama, and Trump in this book that I wrote four years ago. I also include Hurricane Sandy and the DU campus in Denver.
For something written by the seat of my pants, I have to say - very not bad! I love the way it opens. Some parts got me to laugh out loud. Some parts made me cringe. The ending does leave it open to a sequel, or at least another couple chapters. However, I named the chapters after the seven colors of the rainbow plus black for the eighth chapter. It might be hard to fit in.
It was nice to have a super-quick read. I think I spent about six weeks, between distractions and short reading sessions, reading the last book. I read this one in three days. And I only found two typos! ("Begin" instead of "being," and "time" instead of "times.")
For something written by the seat of my pants, I have to say - very not bad! I love the way it opens. Some parts got me to laugh out loud. Some parts made me cringe. The ending does leave it open to a sequel, or at least another couple chapters. However, I named the chapters after the seven colors of the rainbow plus black for the eighth chapter. It might be hard to fit in.
It was nice to have a super-quick read. I think I spent about six weeks, between distractions and short reading sessions, reading the last book. I read this one in three days. And I only found two typos! ("Begin" instead of "being," and "time" instead of "times.")
Monday, July 11, 2016
Legend of Fayre Sea - reading
Finished "Legend of Fayre Sea: A Tale of Merfolk and Pirates" by E.V. Medina. This is the second book in the "World of Tiaera" trilogy. The first book I read from this author was co-written with another author. I also read a short story she wrote without a co-author. I believe Ms. Medina is a better author by herself. That isn't to say that this book was perfect, but it was better.
This was about Lord Tilden who is captured and forced to be a pirate. In a world of mermaids, however, one isn't necessarily trapped on a ship on the high seas. On the other hand, it's possible for fantasy characters to suffer Stockholm syndrome, as a way of remaining a pirate despite the possibilities under the surface, as happened to Quartermaster Felucia.
The book occasionally brought me back to my days of playing MMOs, with its references to raids (yes, I get that pirates raid, too) and the team setup going into a particular encounter, AOE effects, and so on.
This was about Lord Tilden who is captured and forced to be a pirate. In a world of mermaids, however, one isn't necessarily trapped on a ship on the high seas. On the other hand, it's possible for fantasy characters to suffer Stockholm syndrome, as a way of remaining a pirate despite the possibilities under the surface, as happened to Quartermaster Felucia.
The book occasionally brought me back to my days of playing MMOs, with its references to raids (yes, I get that pirates raid, too) and the team setup going into a particular encounter, AOE effects, and so on.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)