Books I've Read This Week

Necessary Evil by Ian Tregillis is the third novel in his Milkweed Triptych trilogy. At the stunning conclusion of the cold war has come at a great price and only Raybold Marsh with the help of the Nazi precog Gretel can set the world right again. This book is an excellent conclusion to the series. Go back and pick up the first novel The Coldest War and you won't be disappointed.

Diary of a Wimpy Kid #8 - Hard Luck by Jeff Kinney. Man it is hard not to laugh at the titular character Greg Heffley in this books. He's even more of a loser in this one as his only friend Rowley has got a girlfriend so Greg is on the outside looking in. It is super hard to cheer for him as he brings his troubles on himself but at the same time there is something endearing about Greg and you end up liking him. Dare I say it, he may even be growing up a bit in this one. It's quite a funny series of books for kids and kids at heart.

New Recipe Blog

Friends of mine have started a new recipe and fitness blog. I've already had quite a few of their creations and they are quite good. I'm really looking forward to trying Slow Cooker Buffalo Chicken (pictured to the left) and Chicken Wing Burgers.

Check it out, it's at http://www.setsandrecipes.com/

Books I've Read This Week

The Republic of Thieves by Scott Lynch is the third novel in The Gentlemen Bastards series. At the conclusion of the last volume Locke and Jean were in a rough spot. Now they've been forced into taking a tough job where they run into a childhood friend and once the love of Locke's life Sabetha. The novel has two intertwined narratives. One which takes place in present day and the other who's events take place before the first novel. It's not typically a structure I enjoy but in this novel it works. My only complaint about the story is a fantasy trope that they were avoiding have come into play. I can only hope that it is a red herring but I'm very much looking forward to the next instalment.

Dune by Frank Herbert was our book club selection last month. It was actually the third time I've read the book and I like it a little bit less each time. What I did like was the first part of the novel with all the political manoeuvrings of the houses. What I didn't like was when Paul becomes the leader of the Fremen. It just kinda smacked of white privilege, Lawrence of Arrakis.

Books I've Read This Week

The Martian by Andy Weir is a novel I was quite intrigued to read. The book takes place in a near future in which we've successfully had two manned missions to Mars and it is only our third one which runs into problems. The book kicks off with a sand storm overwhelming the astronauts, forcing them into an emergency evacuation. During the evacuation astronaut Mark Watney is lost and presumed dead. Now stranded alone on Mars, Mark, must figure out a way to survive on Mars for 4 years until the arrival of the next planned Martian mission. Okay this book is technically Robinson Crusoe in space but it is funny and engaging and well worth the read. I'm sure that some people will nit pick that the science is not 100% correct in this book but then they are missing the point. Obviously Andy Weir did his homework and gets a lot of it right but the story is about Mark Watney and how he is able to keep his head even when confronted with such a huge amount of adversity. The book itself keeps you guessing on whether or not Mark will actually make it through 4 years alone on Mars. I really liked and would recommend this book.

Nemo: Heart of Ice by Alan Moore and Kevin O'Neill is another in the long series of graphic novels in The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen universe. In it we have the daughter of Captain Nemo who is now firmly entrenched as the Captain of the Nautilus and wanting to leave her mark on the world in much the same way as her father. Needing to step out of the long shadow of her father she travels to Antarctica to attempt a voyage whom her father was unable to complete. It is there she and her crew run into Lovecraftian horrors.

Comic Covers Now Supports DC Comics

My extension to Muzei called Comic Cover now supports DC covers. You can now select Marvel, DC or all under the customization section.

Let me know what comic company I should target next in the comics.

Books I've Read This Week

Doctor Who: Shada: The Lost Adventure by Douglas Adams updated by Gareth Roberts. Any new Douglas Adams is always good and an un-produced script Doctor Who script so much the better. Tack on the fact it is the 4th Doctor (Tom Baker) and Romana and I'm in heaven. The Doctor and Romana are responding to a Time Lord distress call in Cambridge. What follows is a lot of crazy shenanigans and running about. Old time lords, crazed time lords, Cambridge students and Time Lord artifacts. I'd recommend it to anyone who is a fan of Adams or Doctor Who.

The Coldest War by Ian Tregillis is the second novel in his Milkweed Triptych trilogy. WWII is over and the English Warlocks have defeated the Nazi Supermen but at a great cost. Now the cold war has set in as Russia has moved decisively to secure the Nazi Supermen technology. Now the only thing that stands between the expanding USSR and the British Isle's are the warlocks and someone is killing them. This is a really worthy follow up to Bitter Seeds and the questions that were brought up at the end of that book were more than answered here. I can't wait to get onto Necessary Evil!

Books I've Read This Week

The Design of Everyday Things by Donald Norman is a book I've been meaning to read for a long time. It is considered one of the top books to read for user interface designers. The version I have can be considered to be a bit quaint as it was written and published well before the invention of the cell phone so it can be a bit jarring when read it. However it is filled with a bunch of practical advice and I found it to be quite enlightening.

Born Standing Up: A Comic's Life by Steve Martin is not exactly a biography of the man as it doesn't cover his full career rather it focuses on his accession into stand up super stardom. It is a funny and poignant look into his early life and career written by Martin himself. I really enjoyed reading it and I understand he reads the audio book version himself.