Dear Readers,
today is the end of April 2016. Unfortunately I red and reviewed less books than expected. But I don't want to look back and yammer. It is much more helpful to think positive and look into the future. May is the month which offers me more time for reading than any other month. The reason for that is quite simple: a number of public holidays offering the opportunity for long weekends and my official holiday.
When I look back I must say I always read less than I expected. I remember times when I took ten books with me for two weeks. With an e-reader the number of books does not matter.
Nevertheless I will take a few paperbacks with me. It is always a longer process to come to the final decision which books to choose.
This year I do not want to spend too much time for it and fortunately I got some unexpected help. I will talk about it within this post.
ENJOY READING ....
Edi's Guidepost
The Lighthouse
News and information straight from the horse's mouth by Lighthouse keeper ediFanoB
Reading progress
Books
The latest report from our shelf shop net correspondent Bona
New books on my shelf/reader or when one book leads to another
The value of documentation
Blogosphere
Messages from the depths of the blogosphere by spheronaut Bona Fide
3D chalk art
Sheep put you to sleep
To be in the pillory
A very special tourist guide
Movies
Remote control junkie Fide and his zapping highlights
The final trailer with a very short introduction at the end
Quotes
The member of the house of quotes and a quote himself the Keeper of the minutes ( we call him Kotm) fished for you
German proverbs, sayings and idioms Quote related to desk
The Lighthouse
I started a book on Friday and finished it today (Saturday) It's a bit unusual but sometimes it is good to be spontaneous. Beside that I started to read a book which is also not typical for me.
I finished
- Unexpected Rain(digital, 7th May 2015) [Kindle ASIN: B00PFBQRW4] by Jason W. LaPier which is the first book in The Dome Trilogy. I bought the digital copy in October 2015 but forgot to present it.
"In a domed city on a planet orbiting Barnard's Star, a recently hired maintenance man has just committed murder.
Minutes later, the airlocks on the neighbourhood block are opened and the murderer is asphyxiated along with thirty-one innocent residents.
Jax, the lowly dome operator on duty at the time, is accused of mass homicide and faced with a mound of impossible evidence against him.
His only ally is Runstom, the rogue police officer charged with transporting him to a secure off-world facility. The pair must risk everything to prove Jax didn't commit the atrocity and uncover the truth before they both wind up dead." [Source]
I wrote on GOODREADS:
"I wanted to read something what I define as space murder mystery. I flipped through the content of my e-reader and found a copy of Unexpected Rain.
I read it in two days and have not been disappointed. I liked the two main characters who are far from being perfect fighting against bureaucracy, space pirates and other obstacles. Sometimes it seemed there are more pawns than in a chess game.
Humanity conquered space but still suffers from problems we know from today. Skin colour is still important.
There is one thing which hindered me to give a higher rating. Sometimes explanations and discussions slowed down the story a bit too much.
Nevertheless I want to read the second book in the trilogy - Unclear Skies - which is available."
I'm
- 186 pages in The Victoria Vanishes (digital 2014) [Amazon Kindle ASIN: B00H51SZO0] by Christopher Fowler, which is the sixth book in the Bryant and May Mystery series.
As good as the previous books
- 81 pages in The Jade Owl(digital, 23rd October 2008) [Kindle ASIN: B001J54AWO] by Edward C. Patterson which is the first book in The Jade Owl Legacy. Again a book which I did not show you when I got the digital copy for free in November 2013.
"In China they whisper about the Jade Owl and its awful power. This ancient stone, commissioned by the Empress Wu and crafted by a mineral charmer, long haunted the folk of the Middle Kingdom until it vanished into an enigma of legend and lore. Now the Jade Owl is found. It wakes to steal the day from day. Its power to enchant and distort rises again. Its horror is revealed to a band of five, who must return it to the Valley of the Dead before the laws of ch’i are set aside in favor of destruction’s dance. Five China Hands, each drawn through time’s thin fabric by the bird, discover enchantment on the secret garland. Five China Hands, and one holds the key to the world’s fate. Five China Hands. Only one Jade Owl - but it’s awake and in China, they whisper again.
Professor Rowden Gray has come to San Francisco following a new opportunity at the East Asian Arts and Culture Museum, only to find that the opportunity has evaporated. Desperate, he means to end his career in a muddle of pity and Scotch, but then things happen. He latches on to a fascinating young man who is pursuing a lost relic that Professor Gray has in fact been seeking. Be careful for what you seek - you may just find it. Thus begins a journey that takes the professor and his companions on a spirited adventure across three-thousand miles of Chinese culture and mystery - a quest to fulfill a warrant long set out to ignite the world in myth and legend. The Jade Owl is the beginning of a series - a legacy that fulfills a terrible truth; and in China, they whisper again." [Source]
There is something in the book which force me to continue reading .....
No progress
- 77 pages in Kaisersturz (digital, 13th November 2015) [Kindle edition ASIN: B017XLAIYQ] by Felix A. Münter which is the first book in the Imperium von Westrin trilogy.
Enjoy your weekend ....
Books
Dear readers, I'm the one to tell you about books - only books? What about novellas and other stuff? My name is Bona. I scour shelves, shops and the net for books. If you call me a book whore I would not gainsay you. But be aware I have my own, sometimes elusive taste.
New books on my shelf/reader or when one book leads to another
Two more digital books found a new home on my e-reader.
As I wrote above I enjoyed Unexpected Rain.
Therefore I decided to buy a copy of Unclear Skies (digital, 25th January 2016) [Kindle ASIN: B014U1HAXE] by Jason W. LaPier which is the second book in The Dome Trilogy.
"Justice isn’t what it used to be
Rogue cop Stanford Runstom blew open a botched murder case and was given a promotion – of sorts. But doing PR work for ModPol, the security-firm-for-hire, is not the detective position Runstom had in mind, particularly when his orders become questionable.
Freedom always comes at a price
Despite being cleared of false murder charges, Jax is still a fugitive from justice. When ModPol catches up with him, keeping his freedom now means staying alive at any cost, even if that means joining Space Waste, the notorious criminal gang.
Security can be deadly
When ModPol and Space Waste go head to head, old friends Runstom and Jax find themselves caught between two bloodthirsty armies, and this time they might not escape with their lives." [Source]
After reading the first book and the description of the second book I recommend to read the books in order.
The description of the following book was/is a bit eerie. The whole mankind without memory. Is it possible to survive? I'm highly interested in the book and that is the reason why I bought a digital copy of The Raft (digital, 22nd April 2015) [Kindle ASIN: B00WGSX9N4] by Fred Strydom.
""The day every person on earth lost his and her memory was not a day at all. In people's minds there was no actual event … and thus it could be followed by no period of shock or mourning. There could be no catharsis. Everyone was simply reset to zero."
On day zero, humankind collectively lost its memory. The collapse of civilisation was as instantaneous as it was inevitable. For a man named Kayle Jenner, confined by a regime to a commune on a remote beach, all that remains is the vague and haunting vision of a son … That, and a wooden raft.
It is a raft that will set Kayle on a journey across a broken world to find his son.Braving a landscape of elusive encounters, a maze of other people's dreams, and muddled memories, Kayle will discover more than just his lost past. He will discover the truth behind Day Zero – a truth that makes both fools and gods of men." [Source]
The value of documentaries
I'm a big fan of the BBC documentaries. Especially when the look back into certain periods of times. It is no secret that I'm fascinated by the Victorian era.
Furthermore I'm happy that the BBC share their documentaries via YouTube.
Since a couple of months we own a modern TV with the functionality to see YouTube videos on the screen.
Last week my wife and I saw the excellent documentation about bakers in Victorian era. Did you know that the anticipated average life of baker in 1840 was just 40 years!!
BBC Victorian Bakers Part One
BBC Victorian Bakers Part Two
These two videos reminded me of the birthday gifts from my daughter last year. One these books will be part of my holiday reading.
During my holiday I want to read following two books related to the Victorian era:
The Victorians ( pb, 2003)[ISBN-13: 978-0099451860] by A. N. Wilson.
"People, not abstract ideas, make history, and nowhere is this more revealed than in A. N. Wilson's superb portrait of the Victorians, in which hundreds of different lives have been pieced together to tell a story - one which is still unfinished in our own day. The 'global village' is a Victorian village and many of the ideas we take for granted, for good or ill, originated with these extraordinary, self-confident people. What really animated their spirit, and how did they remake the world in their view? In an entertaining and often dramatic narrative, A. N. Wilson shows us remarkable people in the very act of creating the Victorian age." [Source]
How to be a Victorian (first published 2013; this issue 2014) [ISBN-13: 978-0670921362] by Ruth Goodman.
"Step into the skin of your ancestors . . .
We know what life was like for Victoria and Albert, but what was it like for a commoner? How did it feel to cook with coal and wash with tea leaves? Drink beer for breakfast and clean your teeth with cuttlefish? Dress in whalebone and feed opium to the baby? Catch the omnibus to work and wash laundry while wearing a corset?
How To Be A Victorian is a new approach to history, a journey back in time more intimate, personal, and physical than anything before. It is one told from the inside out--how our forebears interacted with the practicalities of their world--and it's a history of those things that make up the day-to-day reality of life, matters so small and seemingly mundane that people scarcely mention them in their diaries or letters. Moving through the rhythm of the day, from waking up to the sound of a knocker-upper man poking a stick at your window, to retiring for nocturnal activities, when the door finally closes on twenty-four hours of life, this astonishing guide illuminates the overlapping worlds of health, sex, fashion, food, school, work, and play.
If you liked The Time Traveller's Guide to Medieval England: A Handbook for Visitors to the Fourteenth Century or 1000 Years of Annoying the French, you will love this book." [Source]
Beside that I will take two more paperbacks and of course my e-reader with me.
No more today, see you next week ......
Blogosphere
Hey, I'm Bona Fide. I just came back from my last foray through the blogosphere. What can you expect from me? I tell you: Everything from Art to Fart as long as there is any faint connection to books. And here is some honey from the beehive blogosphere...
3D chalk art
Again and again I'm impressed what you can do with chalk. Enjoy 3D chalk art over at Weburbanist.
Depth-Defying Art: 3D Chalk Characters Blend into City Streets
Sheep put you to sleep
Maybe it would be wise to visit the following link over at Atlas Obscura after reading the whole post because I can't ensure that you will still be awake.
Watching Sheep Herding Online is the New Counting Sheep
To be in the pillory
"As every single person on the Internet knows, women who dare to enter the public eye are regularly pilloried. Message boards are rife with misogyny. Trolls lurk under every tweet. "Don't read the comments" has become a necessary mantra."
This is the introduction to a most interesting post over at Atlas Obscura.
It is a proof that a lot of things happened before the era of social media.
The First Woman To Put Her Face On Packaging Got Trolled Like Crazy
A very special tourist guide
There are many tourist guides and guidelines available round the world. Some of them put a smile on our face like the following one over at Atlas Obscura.
I do not want to spoil the party for you. Therefore the link does not show the real header of the post.
This is not the real post header
That's it for today. Come back next week for more ......
Movies
Hey, it's me Fide. I'm a remote control professional. I'm that fast that I can watch two movies at the same time.
This is the final trailer of ..... X-Men: Apocalypse
Now we are sure that a certain mutant will be back ....
That's it for today. Come back next week for more ......
Quotes
I 'm the Keeper of the minutes. But I don't mind when you call me Kotm. No, no. I don't explain to you how to pronounce.
I'm still thinking about the possible answer to following quote. Brain death? Thoughtless? At-rest? ......
"If a cluttered desk is the sign of a cluttered mind, what is the significance of a clean desk?”
Laurence J. Peter, Canadian educator, 1919 - 1990