Libertine: On the Prowl

Vidi, vici, veni -- I saw, I conquered, I came. _______________________________________________________________

Current Booklist

01:27, 2008-May-17 .. Posted in books .. 5 comments .. Link

This is the book I'm currently reading, which is the fifth of a currently ten book series known collectively as The Dresden Files by Jim Butcher. The main character is a private detective, who is also a wizard. I came upon this series awhile back when looking for books that would appeal to adult Harry Potter fans. And this series fits the bill nicely, while also appealing to fans of more traditional detective novels.

Following below are a few books I hope to read soon.

The 18th book in John Sandford's Lucas Davenport mystery series

Escape by Carolyn Jessop

This is a tell-all memoir from a former member of the FLDS church.

Beyond Straight and Gay Marriage by Nancy Polikoff
The Publisher's Weekly blurb sums this book up best:

Polikoff, who has taught, litigated and written about family law, civil procedure and sexuality for more than 30 years, deftly argues that the law's narrow definitions of family and marriage no longer work in today's society—not just for the LGBT community but the country at large. With many households following untraditional family models, Polikoff says, we need to look at ways the law can change to value all families beyond those created by marriage, including same and different-sexed, married and unmarried couples. Polikoff draws on legal history and contemporary (often eye-opening) court cases to make her argument. Topics such as inheritance, tax consequences, workers' compensation death benefits, social security, probate, adoption and health care, plus their impact the diversity of today's family units are simplified for the reader. Polikoff wades through legislation and legalese with style and substance, plus a touch of flair. Impeccably researched, the book offers an evocative read that takes in the full breadth of the issues affecting marriages and avoids pedantry while remaining persuasive.

I'd be curious to know what my readers are reading and planning to read in the near future.

How Much Money Is Enough?

11:19, 2008-Apr-17 .. Posted in books .. 3 comments .. Link

This past week, Harry Potter author, JK Rowling, has been testifying in court in a suit she brought against a fan, Steve Vander Ark, and publisher RDR Books, for attempting to turn Vander Ark's long-established website, The Harry Potter Lexicon, into print version. The Harry Potter Lexicon is a popular reference site to the popular book series.

Rowling claimed that publication of the lexicon has "gutted" her plans to publish a comprehensive Harry Potter Encyclopedia and that Vander Ark's book would be plagiarism. Vander Ark's publisher contends that the books would fall under a fair use allowable by law for reference books.

I don't buy Rowling's contention. First of all, Vander Ark's Lexicon is simply a handy guide to the Harry Potter world; it only arranges Rowling's own words by topic in encyclopedia form to make it easier for fans to look up things. He doesn't claim that he wrote any of the original material. In other words, he's an arranger, not a composer. Anthony Falzone, the attorney representing the book's publisher, countered that the encyclopedia, meant to be a companion to the books or the films, not only does not diminish the original novels, but actually enhances the enjoyment of them. Falzone said the point of the Lexicon is "to organise and discuss the complicated and very elaborate world of Harry Potter". Indeed, what's the point of buying the Lexicon, if one does not buy the original books first?

Secondly, the Lexicon was not meant to supplant Rowling's planned Encyclopedia and cannot for one simple reason. His Lexicon is limited to material already revealed in the books. Rowling's Encyclopedia, on the other hand, will contain background information not included in the books that will flesh out what has already been written. This information was not included in the novels so that the novels would flow better and for reasons of avoiding excessive verbosity. Rowling's Encyclopedia, above all, will answer all the unanswered questions readers still had after finishing the final novel. Most Harry Potter fans will want a copy of both the Lexicon and the Encyclopedia and, if made to choose, nearly all would choose Rowling's book over Vander Ark's.

Rowling has said "This isn't about money." I don't buy that, either. For one thing, the Lexicon site has been online since 2002 and Rowling never complained about it until Vander Ark planned to turn the site into a book. Warner Bros. had even flown him to the set of the fifth Harry Potter movie and used his lexicon every day during production, without Rowling objecting to his role as a consultant.

Earlier today it was announced that Judge Robert Patterson advised Rowling to settle her dispute with Vander Ark out of court.

Having read the various news articles about this case in the last few days begs the question: How much money is enough? JK Rowling is already the richest woman in the UK, considerably richer than the Queen herself. Her suit against Vander Ark, whose internet Lexicon has only served to help increase popularity of Rowling's books, smacks of petty greed in my view. She'd be much better off if she simply let it go and not fret over any small profit Vander Ark could gain from the publication of the Lexicon, as it could only be a paltry sum compared to her fortune.

This is just my opinion and your mileage may vary, of course.

New Books For Deep Space Nine Fans

11:57, 2008-Mar-28 .. Posted in books .. 3 comments .. Link

Fans of Deep Space Nine have four new books to look forward to this spring. Three of the books are a trilogy all bearing the subtitle, Star Trek: Terok Nor. These books are a prequel to Deep Space Nine and tell the story of the Cardassian occupation of Bajor before the Federation took over in 2369 and cover the years 2318 to 2369.

The first in the trilogy, Day of the Vipers, 2318-2328, was published last week and I'm reading it now. The other two, Night of the Wolves, 2345-2357 and Dawn of the Eagles, 2360-2369, will follow in monthly intervals. This is a story I'd long wished that would be told and from what I've read of the first book so far, they're doing an excellent job of it.

The fourth book, Fearful Symmetry, picks up the threads of unanswered questions from the third season episode, Second Skin, where Kira discovers that there was a Cardassian spy who had been surgically altered to look like her. The episode ends without revealing what had happened to this Cardassian spy. This book will answer that question. As this was one of my favorite DS9 episodes, I especially look forward to this novel.

What Kind of Reader Are You?

12:45, 2007-Dec-18 .. Posted in books .. 5 comments .. Link

What Kind of Reader Are You? Your Result: Dedicated Reader You are always trying to find the time to get back to your book. You are convinced that the world would be a much better place if only everyone read more.
Literate Good Citizen
Obsessive-Compulsive Bookworm
Book Snob
Fad Reader
Non-Reader
What Kind of Reader Are You? Create Your Own Quiz

Old vs New Technology

01:26, 2007-Nov-10 .. Posted in books .. 11 comments .. Link

Recently I read an article over at Alternet that addressed the question as to whether digital books and e-books will replace traditional ink-and-paper books.

The author cited the convenience of digitized; that books that fill rooms in traditional book form, can all be reduced to disks and read on computers and PDAs. At present, there is a woefully inadequate inventory of such books, nor is there a device designed just for this purpose that displays digital books to their best advantage.

I have no problem with digital books as an added format, much in the same sense as audio books. I'd hate them to entirely replace traditional books, however. Reading is a sensory experience in addition to being a way to gather information and to be entertained. A sterile file of book disks in no way can compare to browsing a used bookstore with every corner crammed with books, redolent with the slightly musty smell of old print, coffee, and prowling store cats. Nor can it compare to the fresh ink smell of new books and the artistic dust jackets.

At home, the sight of my my many overflowing bookshelves make me feel content and at home, and give every visitor insight into my personality in a way that no disk file ever could.

I think many other people believe likewise and while they will no doubt use this new format, especially when space considerations are at a premium and in work situations, I don't think bibliophiles are ready to part with real books just yet. And traditional books have one big advantage: they are not subject to hard drive failures, corrupted software, power failures, dead batteries, and so on.

When the internet first caught on in the 1990s, I'd thought at the time that traditional newspapers would gradually disappear, just as vinyl records did after the introduction of CDs, and as DVDs inched out VHS tapes. But this hasn't happened. I still see traditional printed newspapers everywhere, even though I usually read my local newspaper online. And I still like to get a printed Sunday paper every now and then -- you can't take a computer into the bathroom with you like a newspaper when you want to spend extended time in there answering the call of nature.

Similarly, when the VCR took off in the late 70s, many people worried that this would be the end of movie theaters. This didn't happen either, mainly because the industry made sure of it by not releasing movies directly to VHS, and delaying the release for a time sufficient for films to make a profit in theaters. Secondly, most people like the experience of going out to the movies. It's a traditional date activity, most movies are seen to their best advantage on a big screen, and there's nothing quite like popcorn from the movies. Movie theaters do as much business as they did before the VCR, DVD, and so on, and will likely continue to do so.

One technology where early predictions were wrong was that of TV. Many people in the late 40s and early 50s thought television was a gimmick; a passing fancy whose novelty would soon wear off. Obviously such naysayers were dead wrong on that one, There were others who predicted that TV would mean the death of radio, and were equally as wrong. Radio changed, but it didn't die; it adapted.

To return to the original subject, ink-and-paper books may one day be overshadowed by digital books, but I don't think it's going to happen in my lifetime. At least I hope not.

Thoughts?

What I'm Reading Now

01:42, 2007-Oct-19 .. Posted in books .. 8 comments .. Link

I made a run to the library the other day and stocked up on some books I'd been looking to read:

Bastard Out of Carolina
by Dorothy Allison

This book, what I call "bookclub fiction", had been recommended to me by a friend, because it takes place in a town near to where I live now.

The Castle in the Forest: A Novel
by Norman Mailer

This is a fictionalized account of Hitler's childhood, with psychological speculations as to why Hitler turned out the way he did.

11 Days in December: Christmas at the Bulge, 1944
by Stanley Weintraub

This book is about the Battle of Bastogne.

Night
by Elie Wiesel

A classic I'd never gotten around to reading.

Following below are some books that I want to read that I have yet to find either at the library or the bookstore. All of these books are about politics.

The Conscience of a Liberal
by Paul Krugman

The Conservatives Have No Clothes: Why Right-Wing Ideas Keep Failing
by Greg Anrig.

Nanny State: How Food Fascists, Teetotaling Do-Gooders, Priggish Moralists, and other Boneheaded Bureaucrats are Turning America into a Nation of Children
by David Harsanyi
____________________________

What have you been reading lately?

Predictable Fiction

03:06, 2007-Oct-17 .. Posted in books .. 23 comments .. Link

Quite some time ago, I wrote about reading some of the romance novels one lover had lying around. I criticized their predictability; that they always ended, without exception, in a monogamous marriage, no matter how unlikely a candidate for marriage the main male character seemed in the beginning.

Now, I'll elaborate a bit -- romance novels are most definitely not the only culprit here. In mystery/crime/thriller novels, you know from the very beginning that the good guys will always win in the end and that the main character will not die, no matter how dire their circumstances become during the course of the novel. This also holds true for movies in both genres.

You also know that if they do something really stupid while looking for clues to solve the mystery, they'll nearly always get caught and temporarily captured by the bad guys, though they'll be rescued in the end. And they WILL do something foolhardy, never choosing to take the safer paths. Said bad guys will usually take the time to gloat, to confess to the good guy what they've done bad so far and what mayhem they have planned for the good guy, in order to waste time so that the cavalry can come save the day just in the nick of time.

As romances are always told from the female point of view, mysteries/thrillers are always told from the good guys' point of view, in the same way that history is nearly always recounted by the winners.

Where's the "thrill" in thriller if you know how it's going to end before you even read the first page? Why must the good guys always win? Mystery/thriller fiction is supposed to be just that; fiction, a make-believe tale of "what if". There shouldn't always be a morality, "crime doesn't pay" lesson in fiction, as fiction is mainly about entertainment, not a prescription of what "should" be.

I'd like to see some fiction told from atypical points of view -- romance from a male perspective that doesn't always end in a monogamous marriage and mystery/thrillers told from the "bad guy's" point of view. Indeed, I'd like to see more novels where the dividing line between good guys and bad guys is blurred; where the characters on both sides of an issue are multifaceted and each have points of views and agendas that make sense to them.

What would you like to see different in the types of fiction you read that you currently see very little of? And if you know of any authors who write less predictable plots, feel free to list them in the comment box.

Good Reads

12:33, 2007-Sep-26 .. Posted in books .. 18 comments .. Link

First of all, I'd like to thank Audsmom for turning me on to a great new website, Good Reads.

Good Reads is an interactive site where you can list what you've read, are currently reading, and what you've put on your "to read" list. Members can rate books using the five-star system, and can also write detailed reviews, if they so choose.

Members can browse through what other members have read, along with their reviews, plus add other members as friends. There's also a listing of authors who are members of Good Reads, plus several reading groups for members to join.

Ever since getting Melissa's email inviting me to the site, I've been busily adding books, plus transferring the reviews of books I've written on my blogs. This will be an ongoing process, as I go through my vast collection of books.

This is a site that is guaranteed to keep any bibliophile busy for hours and it's a great way to meet other book lovers.

Thanks again, Melissa!

Home Library

09:22, 2007-Sep-23 .. Posted in books .. 14 comments .. Link

As anyone who has been reading my blog for any length of time knows, I'm a hard-core bibliophile. I've been able to read since age four and I grew up in a home filled with books, receiving books as gifts from my parents at every gift-giving occasion. As an adult, I'm continually in the process of adding new books to my collection, so that after 40+ years of acquiring books, I've currently got quite a sizable collection.

Right now, I've got more books than I have places to put them. I have seven bookcase filled to overflowing and more books are stacked in various places around my tiny home, including the back of the toilet tank. I'm in serious need of more shelving units, but lack of funds and an increasing lack of places to put new shelves hinders my plans at the present time.

If I had money and a big house, my home library would look something like the two following pictures:

Practically, however, I know I'll never live in a home or have the money to build such a space for myself. I'd be happy enough to organize my books with similar floor to ceiling shelving as in the following pictures:

Thoughts?

The Perfect Woman

11:12, 2007-Sep-9 .. Posted in books .. 0 comments .. Link

Thanks to Cyn for sending it to me.

Exercise Your Mind

02:11, 2007-Aug-22 .. Posted in books .. 0 comments .. Link

I'm a bibliophile. I've loved to read pretty much since I've been able to pick up a book. Able to read for myself since age four, I've always had a book in progress ever since. As a kid, I brought a book to the dinner table and it didn't matter what it was. I can remember going through our family's set of encyclopedias, volume by volume, at around age ten.

As an adult, I read about 75 percent non-fiction and 25 percent fiction. What I'm interesting in reading goes in spells -- I'll read lots of one type of book for months, then I'll get a taste for something else and the first type will go on the backburner until my interest is piqued for that type of book again. In non-fiction, just one or two books about a particular topic isn't enough -- I have to read everything I can get my hands on about it. For example, I own over 25 biographies of Harry Truman. The way I see it, every author takes a slightly different slant on the topic and includes some information another author missed.

As a libertine bibliophile, I'm in good company, as the most well-known libertine of all time, Casanova, was even a librarian in his last years.

I know there are many people who don't like to read; that they consider reading to be a chore or even work. This baffles me, as reading is as easy as breathing to me and it has provided hours of enjoyment over the years. It's stimulated my imagination and allowed me to "travel" to different times and places I could never go to in real life. I also credit my avid reading with my ability to write -- after so many books, writing simply rubbed off on me by osmosis.

I even know people who actively scorn reading. I once worked with a young man who bragged he'd not read a book since leaving school. I looked at him and said I'd never brag about being a dumbass in public like that.

So, I was not surprised when I recently read that one in four Americans had read no books at all last year. And even among those who had read something last year, the typical person claimed to have read four books — half read more and half read fewer. Excluding those who hadn't read at all, the usual number read was only seven. A measly amount, compared to the dozens of books I read each year.

It makes me wonder what these people do to exercise their minds -- if they do at all. If they don't, it explains a lot of things wrong with this country.

At a time when everyone is jumping on the bandwagon about physical fitness, few are alarmed about the erosion of mental fitness in our society. Though many harp on the dangers of being physically unfit, I'm guessing a nation of physically fit intellectual lightweights isn't going to do the country a whole lot of good, either.

Pick up a book and read something today.

Flying Under the Fundamentalist Radar

08:32, 2007-Aug-7 .. Posted in books .. 0 comments .. Link

My primary lover will be teaching fourth grade this year, rather than the third she's taught in her first two years of teaching. When I'd mentioned to her that I was looking for stuff to read that was similar to Harry Potter in feel, now that I'd finished with Deathly Hallows, she said that she was going to put me to work for her. She'd been wanting to find some Harry Potter readalikes to read aloud in class that were on the same reading level, but shorter and would allow her to get through more books in a single school year. So, she asked me to read a few and to give her my opinion.

I'd mentioned a book to her, The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan, so I read that one first. This book is first in a series of three (so far) called the Young Olympians. The main characters in the books are the half blood children of Greek gods and mortals.

It was an engaging read, though not quite as satisfying for an adult reader as the Potter books. But there were definite elements in it that would resonate with Potter readers. Percy Jackson, the "Harry" character, is the son of Poseidon and a mortal(Muggle) woman. His two best friends Grover (Ron) is a satyr, and Annabeth (Hermoine) is the daughter of Athena and a mortal(Muggle) man. Percy has a stepfather, Stinky Gabe, who is amazingly like Vernon Dursley.

The half-blood children attend Camp Half-Blood(Hogwarts), where Dionysus(Snape) is a counselor who doesn't much like Percy. Percy's former teacher, Chiron (Lupin), also helps out there. There are 12 cabins that correspond to the 12 major gods and goddesses and a camper is assigned to the cabin that corresponds to their divine parent. The children of Ares(Slytherin) are particularly nasty to Percy, with Clarisse(Draco) being their leader. Percy is alone in the Poseidon cabin, but most of his friends live in the Hermes(Hufflepuff)cabin.

During his adventure, Percy, Grover, and Annabeth fight all sorts of monsters, but end up dealing the the Furies(Dementors) most often.

I won't give away the plot so as not to spoil it for anyone interested in reading it for themselves or to give it to a preteen or teenager, but I was able to recommend this book for my lover to use in her classes. I think once she reads it to her students, they'll want to read the others in the series.

But there were certain elements in the book that might cause problems with fundamentalist parents if they happen to read the book themselves. First of all, the Greek gods and godesses were never much on monogamy. Let's face it, most of them were decidedly libertine in their proclivities. And Riordan doesn't sugar coat this fact in the books, either.

Every kid at Camp Half-Blood was born out of wedlock and Riordan presents this in a matter-of-fact, non-judgmental way. The only concession to traditional morality he makes is to refer to the mortals as "girlfriends" and "boyfriends" of the gods and goddesses, rather than properly referring to them as "lovers". And he highlights the fact that some had more "girlfriends" and "boyfriends" than others, sometimes concurrently.

In Percy's case, his mother was single when she had an affair with Poseidon and there was never any pretense that there would ever be any marriage. She kept her own last name when she married Gabe, and it's made clear in the book that she didn't marry him for love, but rather for security.

After reading the book, I wandered over to Amazon.com to read the reviews, fully expecting to see angry reviews from fundamentalists claiming that the book was immoral and eeeeeeeeeevil, as they've done with the Potter books. But there was nary a fundie review to be found; the book enjoyed high ratings from nearly everyone.

I was a bit baffled at how this book fell under the fundie censorship radar -- perhaps they're so busy frothing at the mouth over the Potter books that these less well known books were able to slip by unnoticed.

At any rate, I'll get a perverse satisfaction knowing that my lover will be reading the first book to her fourth graders this year. I hope she's able to get through it without any fundamentalist parents being any the wiser.

Thoughts?

What I'm Reading Now

11:49, 2007-Aug-2 .. Posted in books .. 0 comments .. Link

After finishing Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, I felt a bit let down because there won't be any more, except in fan fiction. I've been looking around to find other books that are "readalikes" or at least bear some similarity to the Potter books. Another blogger had recommended Jim Butcher's Harry Dresden series about a wizard private detective. I got the first one in that series and, while an engaging enough read to make me want to read more, it doesn't really have the same feel as the HP books.

I've scoured several sites where recommendations are given to Harry Potter fans looking for something new, but similar to read. As one who had not read much fantasy previous to the Potter books, I found these lists quite useful. After reading several such lists, I went to Amazon to read plot descriptions and made a list of the ones that seemed most promising.

One newer series that sounded interesting involves modern day Americans who are "half bloods"; the children of Greek gods and mortals. While the books are intended for teen readers, what I read of the plot descriptions indicate they might be worth reading for adults, as the Potter books were. I ordered the first in that series at the bookstore and if it proves to be as interesting as it looks, I'll read the other two currently available.

I also took the list I'd made to the used bookstore, and found a copy of "Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell" by Susanna Clarke in new condition. This is a one-off novel for adults about two wizards at the beginning of the 19th century. It's a thick book with small print, so it should keep me busy for awhile. If anyone has read this one, I'd be curious to hear what you think.

On the non-fiction front, I was reading an essay at Alternet that was an interview with Mike Jones, the male escort who outed the antigay evangelist Ted Haggard. Jones mentioned his new book, "I Had to Say Something", which tells about his relationship with Haggard and why he outed him. It sounds interesting, so I'll see if my library has it the next time I'm up there. To read the Jones Alternet interview, click here.

Later this month, I'm going to attend the "Really Good, Really Big, Really Cheap Book Sale", which is an annual mega book sale of used books of all types, put on by a group that promotes adult literacy in order to raise money for its efforts. I'd first heard about it last summer after the fact and made plans then not to miss it this year. The sale is held in a closed-down mall and will have over a hundred thousand books available at yard sale prices. I intend to make a list of books to look for so I can stock up on books properly.

I'm not much of a bookworm, am I? ;)

If you have any book recommendations, feel free to list them in the comment section.

Reading and Sorting

11:44, 2007-Jul-22 .. Posted in books .. 0 comments .. Link

I've had to work this weekend, so I've not yet finished the Harry Potter book. I'm going to go back and read a bit more now, so I leave you with the results of two different Sorting Hat tests. It would seem as if I'm on the borderline of two different houses, as I got different results for each:

Which Hogwarts house will you be sorted into?

I'm
a Ravenclaw!

Busy Reading

10:37, 2007-Jul-21 .. Posted in books .. 0 comments .. Link

I waited over an hour last night in a hot, packed bookstore to get the last Harry Potter book and I was up most of the night reading. Now, I'm going to read more before I have to go to work, so there will be no entry today.

What I'm Reading Now

03:44, 2007-Jun-19 .. Posted in books .. 0 comments .. Link

As my regular readers know, I am an avid reader. Following is a short list of what I've been reading lately and what I'm about to read.

American Fascists: The Christian Right and the War on America
by Chris Hedges

A profile of the Dominionist variety of Christian fundamentalism whose avowed goal is to turn the US into a theocracy. Though the book seemed a bit over the top in some places, it's a book for every American who wishes to preserve the form of government the Founding Fathers established.

Brainless: The Lies and Lunacy of Ann Coulter
by Joe Maguire

As the title suggests, this book is an unflattering portrait of the right-wing pundit. But don't buy this book -- everything in it is available free on the internet. There's no new information here. Worth checking out of the library, however.

Where Have All the Leaders Gone?
by Lee Iacocca

I picked up this book at the library after reading this review. I just started it yesterday, but from what I've read so far, I recommend it highly. Iacocca's common sense observations about the state of our nation make me wonder why someone like Iacocca isn't running for president. I just might have to go to the bookstore and get my own copy of this one.

Moral Minority: Our Skeptical Founding Fathers
by Brooke Allen

This book debunks the mistaken notion put forth by religious fundamentalists that the Founding Fathers intended America to be a Christian nation. I haven't started this one yet, but from flipping briefly through it, it seems like a promising read.

I'd be interested to hear what my readers have been reading lately.