Category Archives: Book Talk

Games People Read About

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Hearing a couple of golfers mention Cobra golf gear in Starbucks the other day, made me think about the way sports are depicted in fiction. You don’t see a lot of novels where there’s a dead body draped over the front of a Zamboni, or where love affairs take place in the SkyBox of a major arena, but sports and games are often used in fiction. Here are some of my favorites:

  1. Harriet the Spy: Notebook Tag. The game in which you run around trying to knock people’s books out of their arms, until you are the last person left.
  2. The Dick Francis mysteries: Almost everything he ever wrote involved horse racing in some fashion, either because the protagonist was a jockey or trainer, or because a murder took place in the turf world. I used to read these like candy.
  3. The Harry Potter books: Who can resist the lure of Quidditch – I mean the notion of any sport played on airborne brooms is pretty cool.
  4. Sara Paretsky’s work: Hockey is prevalent in at least one of the adventures of V.I. Warshawski, and Paretsky always weaves in mention of the Chicago Cubs.

Your turn: If you’re reading this, tell me about some of your favorite uses of games and sports in fiction.

Technology and Magic

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Arthur C. Clarke, aged 90, died this morning at his home in Sri Lanka, and while I can’t say I was a total fan of all his work, how can you not mourn the passing of the man who said that “Any technology that is sufficiently advanced is indistinguishable from magic” ?

The New York Times has a piece about him here, but it might require a login to read.

So many icons of the geek world have died in the last six months – Gary Gygax among others. I’ve never really been a D&D fan, but I recognize his contribution to a hobby my husband loves (a bit unhealthily at times.). Honestly, all this death is enough to drive one past addiction and right into drug rehabilitation.

As for me, I’m thinking tonight might be a good time to curl up by the fire with some vintage science fiction, as a sort of private memorial.

Party On?

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Last night, in the week hours, I received a note from Borders informing me that a local Waldenbooks was closing and that everything within (except magazines, electronics, and gift cards) would be discounted 40% on Saturday the 22nd.

Rather than choosing to be sad over a bookstore closing (it’s doing so because a big B&N is taking it’s place), I’m beginning to look at announcements like this one as somewhat akin to party invitations. The difference is that instead of going to a party to engage in stimulating conversation, dance, mingle, and maybe hook up with a person, I’ll go to dance around other shoppers, see what titles stimulate my imagination, mingle with other bibliophiles, and maybe hook myself up with something great to read. Or something I’ve always wanted. Like the OED, which is incredibly expensive and worth considering when discounted.

Except, of course, as often happens with parties, we have a previous engagement on a different end of town. (Actually in a different town altogether.

I guess it’s a good thing we don’t have to RSVP.

Upcoming Reviews at Bibliotica

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I’ve got a stack of books to read, enough that I seriously need to invest in new luggage just to cart them around the house when I’ve finished reading and reviewing, and I thought I’d mention them here.

In Science Fiction, I’ve got Immortal Coil, and also the Vulcan’s Soul trilogy, all from the world of Star Trek.

In Paranormal Romance, I’ve got the third book in the Gardella Vampire Series – I interviewed the author last month.

In Fantasy, I’m reading Kushiel’s Scion but that, like Kiss Me Kill Me, by Lauren Henderson, will be reviewed at All Things Girl just as Midori by Moonlight was.

And of course, in April, I’m going to be focusing on Jane Austen, beginning with Pride and Prejudice

Stay tuned.

Logo-rhythmic

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Logo

I often use business cards as bookmarks, so when I picked up a book that I’d read several years ago, I wasn’t at all surprised to see one of my old business cards fall from it. Instead, I was reminded that I don’t HAVE business cards any more. And I really need some, if only to drop in the “free lunch” bucket at my favorite restaurant.

I’ve used online business card providers in the past, but while they were cheap, their design interfaces were clunky and their graphics limited. I was turned onto the logo design feature at LogoYes, however, and fell immediately in love. It’s so easy. You select the general type of logo you want – high tech, staid and stable, or creative – and they give you a bunch of graphics to choose from. You can then add a name or a company name, and change the color of the image you’ve chosen. From there, it’s easy to see what your logo would look like on stationery or business cards, because the design engine takes you right to a business card engine.

LogoYes’s site loads quickly, and it never feels awkward or confusing. Everything is arranged on a grid so you can see how it looks, and while the font choices are limited to the few that print best, there are enough options to suit almost anyone.

I’m thrilled that I’ve found LogoYes.
Maybe someday someone will use my card as a bookmark…in my book.

Glimmer Train

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I spent $87 at Border’s today, and didn’t technically buy any books. I did by some literary anthologies, but since they were on the magazine rack, they don’t count. One of them Glimmer Train was recommended to me by my aunt as a place I should consider submitting short stories, but at the time she suggested it, I was in denial about having any talent.

I’ve since decided I have as much talent as anyone else, but I need to work on turning off the business part of my brain when I’m writing, and not turning it back on til the muse is satisfied.

As always, it all comes down to balance.

Anyway, I’d looked for this anthology at Barnes and Nobel, which I usually find is the place to get the best buy on books, because their rewards card is better than the one at Borders, and the copy there was mangled. One copy, mind you. Since I had occasion to be at Borders today, anyway, and they had more than one copy, life was good.

So, a lovely chat, a good collection of short stories, and projects galore, and I’m a happy woman.

For the moment, anyway.

Midway and Michael Knight

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While neither of these shows was overtly about CAT6 cable, both had lengths of strewn around in many themes, which is why I’m connecting the Stargate Atlantis episode “Midway” with the Knight Rider movie that was on tonight. Well, that and my love of alliteration.

The first was a satisfying episode: snarky Teal’c, muscley Ronin, wraiths dying all over the place and a gratuitous scene in which Shepard stowed himself in a space suit. I don’t always focus on Stargate when I watch with Fuzzy, tuning out to read, or whatever, but staying in the room to keep him company, but “Midway” kept me interested.

“Knight Rider” on the other hand kept me laughing. Serious mockery was occurring in our living room, and can you blame us? We were wagering on and off all evening about whether or not Hasslehoff would have a cameo, and I complained a lot about the new Voice of KiTT. I’m sorry, but I miss William Daniels. A Lot.

It’s pretty sad when the Mike on a Date four-part commercial was more interesting than the actual show.

Unkept Keepsakes

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When I was a teenager, I went through a phase when I could not read enough of those Silhouette Desire romances. You know, the red-covered novels with advertisements that promise you a cute heart pendant on a gold chain, if you just agree to have the books shipped each month, in a carton of six.

I never got the shipments, since a friend got the books for free, but I confess that a part of me wanted the necklace. I never got that, either, but when I was cleaning out my office the other day, I found a box that dated back to high school, and in it was one of the advertisements ripped from one of those novels.

I know that there are many who think those romance novels are silly and stupid. I’ll grant that they are a bit formulaic. (More than a bit.) But now, I also know that they are an important entrance into professional writing for many authors, and that being successful in that genre can lead to much greater success, though it can also be a satisfying career in and of itself.

I confess, if I could write such a novel, I totally would.

Writer’s Toolbox

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One of the things I picked up at Barnes and Nobel the other day was The Writer’s Toolbox, which was 40% off it’s discounted site. I haven’t used it yet, but I took it apart last night to see what was inside, and it looks like fun.It comes with a book full of examples, explanations of the games, and helpful hints, some of which are oft-repeated wisdom. “Be specific,” it reminds, as Natalie Goldberg also often does. It reminds you to name people and things. Not ‘a sedan’ but a Honda Accord. Not a funky doorknob but one designed by Baldwin.The games are what appeal to me most, as they’re meant to help unstick you when you feel blocked. One involves popsicle sticks with first sentences, non sequiturs and such, that you have to blend, another involves spinning wheels to find your protagonist’s character, goal, obstacle and action required to move forward.

It all seems like a lot of fun, and I can’t wait to have time to use it.

Presidents’ Day Consumerism

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Well, this Presidents’ Day won’t see us shopping for discount furniture or painting the kitchen, though I still want a chaise for my living room and a daybed for my office, and though we’d planned to paint the kitchen over the long weekend, when we thought the long weekend was next week, but it did see me picking up some great discounts from the bookstore after my facial and eyebrow wax yesterday.

Am I the only one who loves the $4.98 table at Barnes and Nobel? I often find stuff I’d planned to read months before and never got to, so then I get it for a quarter of the price.

Among my purchases yesterday were a chick-lit-ish book called Notting Hell and another title that looked interesting, The Electric Michelangelo. Both will eventually be reviewed here.