The Painter of Trees by Suzanne Palmer

What a tragic story! Man it made me sad to listen to the story of the extinction of another sentient species due to human colonization. I love the stories Suzanne Palmer makes. And I loved her first novel, Finder as well.

House of Reeds by Thomas Harlan

I bought this novel long ago from somewhere I don’t remember anymore. Maybe a Borders when it existed, or maybe from the UofA bookstore when I was graduating.

Frightful's Mountain by Jean Craighead-George

I just finished listening to this audiobook via Scribd on my way to work today. It was a good story with a happy ending, and I really liked seeing the world through a Peregrine falcon's eyes. The shift in the falcon's expected pattern in life was interesting to me, because it saved the falcon and it's legacy in numerous occasions. There is still one more book to read or listen to in this series, and this one was not written by Jean directly. It's titled Frightful's Daughter and it's a picture book from what I can tell on Goodreads. It's only 32 pages. A nice way to notch up my Goodreads reading challenge for the year. Frightful's Mountain is the first book I have finished for the new year! And the first book logged for my 50 book reading challenge for the year. 

Reading Journals

I've been writing summaries of what I read in a nice hardcover notebook specifically designed as a reading journal. One day I'll expand on those jottings and post on this blog. The Leuchturrm1917 reading journal is a really nice way to record my impressions of the short stories and novels I read. I'm also posting reviews on Goodreads, and maybe one day I'll post more about what I read on this blog as well.

Of Finest Scarlet Was Her Gown by Michael Swanwick

This was more of a fantasy story than science fiction. At first I enjoyed how our young heroin was makeing the best of living in Hell in order to save her dad. Hell was whatever the people living there made of it, so in the girls case it was just a run down city.

She didn't let her environment bring her down, which is what I always imagined doing if I were in hell (sometimes it feels like I get a taste of that already). 

A Game of Thrones by George R. R. Martin

I have been listening to the audiobook version of this book for a long time now. I have seen the HBO series of this story advertised here and there on the interwebs. People at work have also asked if I watch the show. I have not watched a single episode, but judging from all the hype I see I assume it's very popular right now.

So I decided to read the books to try to understand why this story is so popular. I. guess it has just been all the drama, sex, and violence found in all things HBO that has drawn people to the story. The book is very much the same way. It's hard for me to like the book because there is no hero in it. Everybody is out to get one another for their own selfish goals. 

I read about the Roman Empire the other day and browsed through the long list of emporers and kings and tribal revolts and other tribes coming in to destroy the empire. It all sounded a lot like A Game of Thrones. History is such a mess. I don't know why people can't just be happy farming their land or writing books or making things. Lazy people are the ones behind all the fighting and rebelling and conquest nonsense. They are the ones causing either themselves to starve and fight or others to suffer their violence.

I'm still trying to finish the book although I lost interest in the story long ago. It's such a sad world they live in, like monkeys with swords whacking each other for one reason or another. 

There was another fat book with a similar world I partially read a long time ago. It was called Maia, and I gave it away to either Salvation Army or my parents. It's a sad story about a girl living the life of a sex slave. It was written by Richard Adams, who also wrote a more interesting novel called Watership Down. In that story, which I have only watched the animated film, a bunch of rabbits fight for their civil rights against an oppressive rabbit empire.

Strategies for Optimizing Your Mobile Advertising by Brenta Blevins

This story was interesting to me because it shows a practical application of a technology that I work on everyday for my day job.

Research into flexible electronics is over 30 years old now. Work at Arizona State University