I am the Messenger

I think I've found a new author that I love.  Markus Zusak's I am the Messenger is even better than The Book Thief (which is the first of his books that I read).  After stopping a bank robbery, Ed Kennedy receives a playing card in the mail with three addresses and he has to figure out what to do with it.  The story follows him as he deals with his friends and trying to figure out what he has to do.

The book is brilliantly written.  I love Zusak's way of telling a story.  It is wonderful and he has a different way of explaining and describing than you usually see.  One little piece of the story is fairly predictable, but there are so many surprises that it's barely noticeable and doesn't take anything away from the story.  His characters are very well-developed and all have their own personalities.  Ed, our narrator, is flawed but he tries so hard to do what's right, which makes him a great character.

I can say with certainty that I'll be picking up more books by Zusak in the future. 

The Soulkeepers

The Soulkeepers by G. P. Ching is the story of a young boy named Jacob whose mother disappears.  He's in a terrible accident the day that she goes missing and he has no idea if the memories he has of that day are real or not.  He's forced from his home in Hawaii and goes to live with family that he didn't even know existed.  While there he meets a mysterious neighbor and strange things start to happen to him.

I picked this book out because it was in the top free sci-fi books available for the Kindle and sounded somewhat interesting.  I'm not really a big fan of fantasy (which is what this really is, but Amazon is terrible at telling the two apart), so this book did take me a little while to get into.  The writing, however, is pretty good (though there were a few typos).  The story deals a lot with Christianity and Jacob's lack of belief.  I found the author's handling of such a usually touchy subject was very good.  It managed to avoid pushing any one viewpoint on the reader.

Overall, I wasn't terribly impressed with this book, but I know a lot of that is because I don't really like fantasy.  If you like fantasy, I would definitely recommend this book. 

Between the Bridge and the River

Between the Bridge and the River by Craig Ferguson (host of the Late Late Show and known to many as Mr. Wick from the Drew Carey Show) was a pretty good book.  It starts out seeming like it will be a story about the relationship between two young boys, but then they reach high school, stop talking, and grow apart.  It's also about two brothers who try to make their way in Hollywood.  It's about finding God and what makes you happy. 

Overall, it was a decent book, but a little hard for me to get into.  It seemed to jump between these characters who had very little connection to each other and then into chapters of a character telling a story.  There are also scenes and chapters of at least one character having a dream/hallucination.  It is not a lighthearted book.  There are some very R and X-rated scenes, which I can normally handle, but some of the characters are just such disgusting people that it was a bit more revolting than it might normally be. 

The book does have some pretty funny parts, which is not at all surprising considering that the writer is a comedian.  The writing style is good, even if I didn't find the plot particularly grabbing until it got closer to the end.  I did like the message that seems to come from the book.  It doesn't say that one has to find God in order to be happy, but one should at least be a good person.  One of the main characters says that the primary rule in life is to help others. 

I think I would read something else by Craig Ferguson, although I admit I expected this book to be a bit more on the humorous side.  It did show that there is more to him than just the funny guy we see on stage. 

Let's Pretend This Never Happened

I recently read Let's Pretend This Never Happened by Jenny Lawson, who you might also know as The Bloggess.  If you've ever read her blog you know that she is unbelievably funny and that holds true in her book.  I loved this book.  In fact, it might just be one of my new favorites. 

It's a collection of stories about some of the crazier things that have happened to her from asking people to identify their penises while working in HR to having wild animals around her house as a child.  Her stories will make you laugh out loud.  Because of that, I don't recommend reading the book in public unless you want to get a lot of looks.  As it was, I read it in my own house and my husband still looked at me like I was insane a few times.  Her book does include some not-so-funny parts, but she still manages to write them beautifully. 

The book also includes the story about how she got Beyonce the giant metal chicken, which is one of my favorites.  I read it when she posted it on her blog last year and laughed all over again as I read it in the book. 

If you need a good laugh, I highly recommend this book. 

Ape House

I recently finished reading Ape House by Sara Gruen.  I picked it because Gruen wrote Water for Elephants, which I loved.  I enjoyed this book, but not as much as her first novel.  Ape House is about Isabel Duncan, a researcher who works with a group of bonobos.  When there is a bombing at the lab where she works and the bonobos live, she must work to figure out where they are and get them back.  She turns to a reporter named John Thigpen for help. 

The book is interesting, but it seemed like there should have been more to it.  The book seems like it's missing something.  I think part of that might be because there seems to be foreshadowing of certain events that never actually happen. 

Outside of that, the book is interesting.  Gruen seems to do a decent amount of research for her books and it shows in this one.  She clearly researched both sign language (which wasn't entirely necessary, though it did make it more interesting for me) and bonobos. 

The writing is wonderful and flows really well.  It was easy to get lost in the book and suddenly look up to realize I'd read nearly half the book.  While this book wasn't as wonderful as Water for Elephants, it was definitely worth the read and I look forward to more books by Gruen. 

Forgotten Books

In creating the list of books I've read (which you can find here), I realized that I left a few books out.  I read all of them while I was recovering from surgery so I'm not all that surprised that they were passed over.  It has nothing to do with how much I enjoyed them, though.

First I read Just a Geek by Wil Wheaton.  It was a Christmas gift from my husband and, while I started it on Christmas Eve, I quickly stopped.  I realized that I was going to fly through it because of how easily the book flowed so I decided to save it for my recovery.  I loved it.  It's Wheaton's story of how he created a new career for himself by writing and also about learning to be honest with himself and with the fans who read his blog.

He uses a lot of his old blog posts to illustrate not only his thoughts and feelings at the time the posts were written, but to show the evolution of his writing style and his story-telling abilities (which are fantastic, by the way).  I'd recommend any of his books.

Secondly (and thirdly, and fourthly), I read the Tenebrea trilogy by Roxann Dawson and Daniel Graham.  Dawson is well-known for her role as B'Elanna Torres on Star Trek: Voyager.  She was one of my favorite characters on the show and I loved the episodes she directed so I decided to give the first book, Entering Tenebrea a shot.  I figured that if it was awful I didn't need to buy the other two books.  I ended up ordering Tenebrea's Hope and Tenebrea Rising when I was only about half-way through the first book.  I knew that I wouldn't want to wait to see what happened to the characters.

The story is about a young woman named Andrea who witnesses the murder of her husband and daughter.  She is taken in by an alien named Hal K'Rin who trains her to be part of his personal army called the Tenebrea.  Under his command she infiltrates a planet of humans who manufacture clones and ends up helping with a clone rebellion.

These books are so well-written.  They move quickly and have very vivid descriptions as well as great characters and an intriguing plot.  There are more than enough twists and turns to keep you occupied.  I rarely say this, but I would read these books again.  I can only say that about a handful of books that I've read so it really means something.  If you have any interest in science-fiction at all you should read them.  Even for the non sci-fi fan I think these books would still be enjoyable.

Packing for Mars

My latest book was Packing for Mars by Mary Roach.  I'd heard good things about the author from both Epbot and from a Nerdist podcast where they interviewed Jeri Ryan.  The premise sounded interesting so I picked it up from my library.  Mary Roach writes books on scientific topics, but presents them in a way that is not only easy to understand by those outside the field she's studying, but also funny.   

Packing for Mars is a collection of information about the current NASA program.  It covers early NASA missions and some of the issues they faced along with how new technologies are tested before they're sent into space and information on the potential for our journey to Mars.  The book was published before NASA's budget was basically decimated, so some of the information doesn't stand anymore (like dates about when we might try to visit Mars), but the information in the book is still really interesting. 

I love getting my scientific information from someone so funny.  She shares some of the stories that she finds that don't generally see the light of publication, which not only shows the reality of what's happening, it makes her a more credible source.  I could definitely tell that she did a ton of research.  She also participated in a lot of the activities herself (when she could), such as a parabolic flight to feel weightlessness, and a visit to Devon Island to see how NASA prepares for missions on the moon or Mars.  The book is by no means comprehensive (that much information wouldn't fit in a single book), but it does give a good idea of what it takes to be an astronaut and how much planning goes into sending humans into space.  I highly recommend this book. 

Happy Birthday to Me

My birthday was ten days ago, but I'm just now getting a chance to write about the awesome gift my husband got me.  Technically, I asked for it, including sending him the link in the right size. 

I got this baby:

I borrowed the photo from the seller's listing.  I found it on Etsy from a shop called Chain of Being.  They're out of Alameda, CA so for me they're relatively local, which was an added bonus.  The only downside was that it took almost a week to be shipped, though it did arrive fairly quickly after that (and I realize that the seller has no control over how long it takes to arrive once they send it). 

Outside of the slowness, I love this bracelet.  It's well-made and gorgeous.  Plus, it's nerdy without being obviously so.  In case you weren't sure, it's the planets of our solar system along with the sun and the distances between them are proportional to the actual distances between the planets.  Each of the tiny black beads represents about 40,000 miles.  A lot of work went into making these and I think it paid off.  I've worn my bracelet since the day I got it. 

The seller has a lot of other cool nature-based jewelry including a necklace with the different layers of the atmosphere and one that looks like veins and arteries.  You should definitely check it out. 

Prometheus

This weekend my husband and I went to see Prometheus.  I have to say I had high expectations for this movie.  The trailer looked awesome and it had so many great names attached to it.  Unfortunately, it was a bit of a letdown.  It felt like they put all of their money into graphics and special effects (which, admittedly, were awesome), but they forgot to put enough money into the story.  It seemed like they wanted to have a big ensemble cast, but they didn't develop the characters enough.  The characters would make random decisions that felt completely contradictory to how the character had been up to that point. 

The acting is decent.  Charlize Theron does a great job (when does she not?) and Noomi Rapace did a pretty good job too.  Outside of that you barely get to know any of the other characters so they don't really have a chance to shine. 

Like I said, the graphics are amazing and there are some really cool shots, especially at the beginning.  Also, the setting that they chose for the beginning shots is incredible (it turns out it's in Iceland).  That said, it doesn't make up for a weak plot and poor characters.  I don't recommend seeing this one in theatres.  Save your money and get it from Redbox in a couple months. 

The Book Thief

I finished The Book Thief by Markus Zusak last night and I have to say that I loved this book.  It's told from the point of view of death about a young girl who steals books.  He develops a fascination with her and ends up telling a story about her adolescence and experiences growing up in Germany during World War II.

The writing style is different than usual, which took me a few pages to get used to.  It's totally worth it, though, because it adds something to the book.  It's a bit haunting as well to hear so much about death.  However, it completely makes sense considering the time period.

The story is beautifully told and has very rich descriptions without seeming over done.  Dialogue was very realistic and if you read it you'll even learn a handful of swear words in German.  It makes sense in context, though.

The author has written a couple other books and I'm hoping to find at least one of them at my library.  I couldn't find them in the bookstore last night, but I was a bit rushed.  I highly recommend this book. 

Thank you, Wil Wheaton

I read Wil Wheaton's blog religiously and he's mentioned a few times that a friend of his does this podcast called The Nerdist.  That little tidbit stuck in the back of my mind, but I didn't really do anything about it.  I've been really bored with my current music selection and I wanted something else to listen to while I'm by myself at work so I decided to check it out.  As it turns out, it's not the best idea for something to listen to at work because I'm too busy laughing hysterically to get much work done.  I learned that the hard way when my coworker came back from lunch and looked at me like I'd lost my mind because I was crying from laughing so hard and I was all by myself.  That said, it's still awesome and something you should definitely check out.  So far I've only listened to two of them (the one with Wil Wheaton and another with Jeri Ryan), but I can't wait to listen to others.  I highly recommend it. 

The Kite Runner

I just read The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini, which is the story of Amir and his life growing up in Afghanistan.  It starts out when he is about twelve years old and covers his relationship with his best friend, Hassan, and his father throughout his life. 

This book was incredible.  Engaging and descriptive writing that really gave me an idea of what it was like to grow up in Afghanistan during the last thirty years or so.  Not only that but it tells a very touching story that left me heartbroken a few times.  The book isn't exactly full of twists (though there is one big one), but it wasn't needed in order to keep me connected.  I read the book in four days while doing plenty of other things (including getting attacked by a bee, but that's another story). 

I will say, there are at least two parts that are disturbing.  Had I know that they were coming, I might have skipped reading it, so if you tend to be sensitive, I would recommend skipping this one.  However, the story that is told is beautiful and well worth those few moments. 

Snow White and the Huntsman

Yesterday my husband and I wanted to get out of the house so we decided to go see a movie.  We checked out what was playing and picked Snow White and the Huntsman.  I was a little wary since I can't stand Kristen Stewart, but the trailer looked good so we decided to go for it. 

It's an interesting way of doing the traditional story.  She still meets the dwarves (though they have different names) and she eats the poison apple, but it happens a bit differently than in the Disney version. 

Chris Hemsworth plays the huntsman (who is never given a name) and he does it well.  I sort of expected him to play the traditional hero, but he's not.  He's a bit reluctant to help and he's a drunk.  As expected, Kristen Stewart is less than stellar.  I just couldn't get into her as Snow White.  She just seemed so useless.  It was partially the writing, I'm sure, because she wasn't really given a chance to do much until the end, but it seems like she should have had something to do other than just relying on other people to help her.  Charlize Theron is amazing as the evil queen, though.  She gives an incredible performance that left me with goosebumps more than once.  She was certainly the highlight of that movie for me. 

The movie was very well done, and there are some really interesting cinematic effects, but I just couldn't get over how lackluster Snow White was, both in the way she was written and in the performance.  I realize that Snow White isn't supposed to be the hero of her own story, but it seems to me they could have given her something to do or some sort of magical powers, since she's supposed to be the only one who can take down the evil queen. 

Overall, not my favorite movie, but still worth watching if for no other reason than to see Charlize Theron's scenes.  There's another Snow White movie out this year with Julia Roberts and I'd be curious to compare the two. 

Origins

I just finished reading Origins by Randolph Lalonde.  I found it for free for the Kindle App that I have on my ipod and it sounded interesting.  It's a science fiction story, told from the point of view of Captain Jonas Valent, of a crew that is essentially forced into service after they are found participating in military simulations and doing surprisingly well.  He must take his largely untrained crew and defend their home from the corporations that are trying to take over. 

It's self-published, so I was a little wary at first.  It turns out it's the first in a series, thought I didn't realize that when I bought it.  The beginning is a little confusing.  It seems to jump around a lot, but the characters were intriguing so I kept going.  I'm glad I did.  There are a few minor spelling issues, but that's to be expected with self-published works.  I've found errors in books from big publishers.  It's not enough to detract from the story.  After my initial confusion at the beginning, the story got interesting.  It's well-written and the dialog is very realistic.  It has some pretty funny moments in it as well.  The characters seem fairly well-developed as well, especially considering that there's a message from the author at the end that explains that the story basically started out as practice for him with no intention of publishing.

I was a little disappointed with the ending, but it makes sense now that I know there are more stories that involve this crew.  I might have to pick one up just to see what happens to them.

Top Ten Star Trek: Voyager Episodes

I hear a lot of people talk about Star Trek: Voyager very negatively.  It's the poor, unwanted step-child of the Star Trek world and everyone seems to love to hate it.  Personally, I loved the series.  This is the series that turned me into a real Trekkie.  I'd watched almost all of TNG before we started watching Voyager, and I loved TNG, but Voyager had much more interesting characters, in my opinion.  I loved that Star Fleet and the Maquis had to work together in order to survive.  I agree with a lot of critics that they should have used that conflict a bit more throughout the story, and it would have been nice to see them really struggle for a few episodes at a time rather than having everything fixed at the end of every episode, but it was still a great show.  It had very real characters and some fantastic acting. 

So, for those who are a little wary of watching Voyager, or those who just need to see that there were some really good episodes, here's my version of the top ten Voyager episodes. 

1.  "Thirty Days"

The episode starts with Tom Paris' demotion back to ensign and Janeway punishing him with thirty days in the brig.  He spends the episode writing a letter to his father about why he's there and what he thinks of the situation.  It's told through flashbacks, but is a very well-done episode.  Robert Duncan McNeill's performance is great.  He does a good job conveying Tom's regret that he disappointed his captain, but that he knows that what got him in trouble needed to be done.

2.  "Blood Fever"

There are a lot of people who don't like this episode because they think it's just an episode about sex.  While that is the basic issue that's going on, there's a lot more to it.  It's a continuation of B'Elanna's struggle with herself.  A Vulcan on board is experiencing pon farr (Vulcan mating) and he wants B'Elanna.  He touches her and she ends up going through the same thing, but doesn't know about it until she's freaking out inside some caves on a planet.  While the episode is really hot (Roxann Dawson and Robert Duncan McNeill are adorable together), both actors do a great job to convince you that it's not just about sex. 

3.  "The Killing Game"

In this two-part episode, the Hirogen have taken over Voyager and they're using the holodecks to put almost all of the crew into simulations so that they can be hunted.  Most of the crew is in a World War II simulation where they believe they are part of the French resistance.  The crew has some sort of device implanted in them so they believe that they are the characters they're playing.  I enjoy just about anything that has to do with the resistance movement during World War II, so this combined two things I love, but it's also a very interesting episode.  They use Roxann Dawson's real-life pregnancy and Jeri Ryan gets to show off her amazing voice.  The fights with the Hirogen are also very enjoyable.

4.  "Real Life"

The Doctor decides that he wants to see what it would be like to have a family so he creates one on the holodeck.  They're perfect in every way, until B'Elanna points out that their perfection is unnatural and his experience is unrealistic.  She offers to make some changes to the program to make it a little less perfect.  The EMH has to learn to deal with a sullen teenager and an injured daughter.  This episode has made me cry like a baby every time I see it.  Robert Picardo's performance as a father watching his sick little girl in bed is very moving.  For a character who is usually comedic to be so emotional (and do it so well) really shows the acting strength of Picardo. 

5.  "Riddles"

This episode is Roxann Dawson's directing debut (which is why B'Elanna isn't in this episode) and she does a great job.  Tuvok, played by Tim Russ, has been his by some sort of weapon right as he discovers that someone is concealing themselves aboard the shuttle that he's on.  The weapon causes him to lose his memory and his Vulcan control.  Neelix helps him find a new function on the ship while they search for a cure.  Russ' performance is excellent.  It was nice to see him get a chance to show off what he can really do because he's normally so controlled and fairly boring. 

6.  "Infinite Regress"

After Voyager gets too close to a Borg debris field, Seven begins to embody a variety of people who were assimilated by the Borg.  Not only does this episode have some really funny parts (like when Seven believes she is a Ferengi), it shows a large range for Jeri Ryan.  She goes from playing a Klingon who wants to mate with B'Elanna to a little girl playing with Naomi and just about everything in between. 

7.  "Latent Image"

The EMH discovers that he is missing memories from a few months prior.  When he goes in search of what happened, he discovers that someone on board is keeping him from finding out the truth.  He discovers that Captain Janeway deleted those memories and she is forced to tell him that he lost a patient and it sent him into such a state that they nearly lost his program.  He fights for his right to not have his program altered without his consent and she agrees.  This leads him into a tailspin that sends him from completely fine at the beginning of the episode to a mental breakdown by the end.  Again, Robert Picardo does a fantastic job.  My favorite Doctor episodes are the ones where he isn't as funny as usual because Picardo really gets to shine.

8.  "Sacred Ground"

After Kes gets hit by an energy burst in a shrine while visiting a planet, Captain Janeway must go through a grueling ritual to try to save her.  This episode is Robert Duncan McNeill's directing debut (both he and Dawson have gone on to become great directors).  I love this episode.  Kate Mulgrew's performance and the wonderful directing make this a very powerful episode that furthers the relationship between Janeway and Kes.

9.  "Body and Soul"

When their shuttle is boarded by a race who hates holograms the Doctor downloads his program into Seven's borg implants in order to hide.  Seven is forced to share her body with someone who is experiencing all that life has to offer.  This episode has a great performance by Jeri Ryan and also manages to be hysterical.  The fact that the doctor is controlling Seven leads to some very interesting situations.

10.  "Remember"

While transporting a group of telepaths, B'Elanna starts to have very vivid dreams that turn out to be someone else's memories and she must figure out what happened to this woman.  This is the episode that made B'Elanna on of my favorite Trek characters and really showed what a great actress Roxann Dawson is.  Dawson herself has even said that this is one of the episodes that she's proudest of and you can see why when you watch it.  Amazing performance.

As you can see, I tend to be drawn toward character-driven episodes with great acting, which is something that Voyager was very good at at times.  There are a lot of other great episodes too.  What do you think?  Did I miss any of the great ones?

The Avengers Review

My husband and I went to see The Avengers this afternoon.  It turns out just about everyone else in town had the same idea because it was packed. 

I will start this by saying that I've never read the comics.  I just happened to enjoy all of the other Marvel movies that came out.  So, if it's not entirely accurate to the original story, I wouldn't know.

The basic plot is that Loki (Thor's brother) is back and he wants to take over Earth and turn humans into his slaves.  He has some new friends, the Chitauri, who are going to help him do that.  In order to fight him and save Earth, the Avengers must learn to work together, despite their differences.  

The movie was awesome.  The beginning did spend a little too long reintroducing the characters again in my opinion (except for Hawkeye, which is the one character I couldn't place), but once the actual story got going it was really good.  The movie is just under 3.5 hours and it flew by.  Definitely not a movie where you're checking your watch.  I've seen a lot of action movies that just seem to be focused on explosions rather than plot, but this one has a good story behind it.  All of the actors did a fine job, not that that's a big surprise considering the list of big names that they have. 

I also liked that it let all of the characters shine.  Each of them has a story going on in this movie and no one was more important than the others so it truly felt like they were coming together.  It didn't feel like it was just another movie about any one character with some appearances by the others. 

The ending leaves an opening for more Avengers movies, which I will eagerly await. 

I highly recommend this movie, especially if you've enjoyed any of the other Marvel movies. 

Updates

Yeah, it's only been about six months since I last posted anything.  We'll call it settling in.  A lot has happened in the last six months.  We moved into our house and painted one of the rooms.  We've done very little to the house outside of that because I had the worst work schedule in the world and barely saw my husband.  But now my schedule is at least semi-normal so we've been enjoying our new time together. 

I've crossed a bunch of things off my list.  We rode a train near Santa Cruz.  It took us through the redwoods and was a ton of fun, even if we were the only people there without kids. That also counted as visiting a new city as we'd never been there before. 

We celebrated Christmas at our house, which was a lot of fun.  It was so nice to have everyone together and not have to worry about traveling as much (although we did still travel).

Yesterday we had a picnic, which was awesome.  It was the first really nice day that neither of us had to work so we spent it outside where we watched people ride a zip line.  Hubby almost talked me into riding it, but we decided to go do other stuff instead.

I also had surgery.  My gallbladder finally came out and I feel so much better.  Laying around for a couple weeks led to me reading a few books.  I read Wil Wheaton's Just a Geek, which is hilarious and sweet, much like his blog.  I love reading his stuff.  If I can ever get it to work for me, I plan on reading Memories of the Future soon.  That book is a bunch of his memories and critiques on the first season of Star Trek: The Next Generation (yes, I'm a huge nerd).  If it's even half as funny as the podcasts that he created for it it'll be great. 

I also read the Tenebrea trilogy by Roxann Dawson and Daniel Graham.  Those books were freaking awesome.  I had to order the second and third ones when I was only halfway through the first because I knew I didn't want to wait to read them.  The writing is incredibly well-done and the characters are so realistic.  It's sci-fi, but very relatable at the same time.  I wish Roxann Dawson would publish more as she's an excellent author. 

So basically that's been my life outside of work for the past few months.  I'm looking forward to getting back to blogging.

Etsy Review

I'm finally going to buy some of the fabric I've been looking at on Etsy.  Since I can't seem to find one retailer who carries all of the ones I want, I'm buying from four different stores.  So I decided to turn it into an opportunity to review these stores and share that info with you in case you're looking to buy from some of the same stores.  I'll be placing my order today and then sharing info with you along the way. 

The stores are:

Poppy Seed Fabrics
Fabric Closet
Ladybug Quilt Shop
Zipit (this one isn't fabric-it's zippers)

Feel free to follow me so that you can get updates as I post them.