Below are the 20 most recent journal entries recorded in krinek's LiveJournal:

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Monday, November 9th, 2009
6:38 pm	49. Foreigner by C.J. Cherryh Title: Foreigner Author: C.J. Cherryh Year: 1994 # of pages: 423 Date read: 10/7/2009 Rating: 3*/5 = good Description: "It had been nearly five centuries since the starship Phoenix, lost in space and desperately searching for the nearest G5 star, had encountered the planet of the atevi. On this alien world, law was kept by the use of registed assassination, alliances were defined by individual loyalties not geographical borders, and war became inevitable once humans and one faction of atevi established a working relationship. It was a war that humans had no chance of winning on this planet so many light-years from home. Now, nearly two hundred years after that conflict, humanity has traded its advanced technology for peace and an island refuge that no atevi will ever visit. Then the sole human the treaty allows into atevi society is marked for an assassin's bullet. The work of an isolated lunatic?. . .The interests of a particular faction?. . .Or the consequence of one human's fondness for a species which has fourteen words for betrayal and not a ingle word for love? My thoughts: This was a very good science fiction novel about different cultures interacting. I liked how Bren Cameron has to figure out what's going on without inadvertently offending his atevi hosts. I look forward to learning what happens next in the second book in the series, Invader. (Comment on this)
Sunday, October 18th, 2009
3:59 pm	48. Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer Title: Into the Wild Author: Jon Krakauer Year: 1996 # of pages:203 Date read: 10/1/2009 Rating: 3*/5 = good Description: "'God, he was a smart kid...' So why did Christopher McCandless trade a bright future--a college education, material comfort, uncommon ability and charm--for death by starvation in an abandoned bus in the woods of Alaska? This is the question that Jon Krakauer's book tries to answer. While it doesn't—cannot—answer the question with certainty, Into the Wild does shed considerable light along the way. Not only about McCandless's "Alaskan odyssey," but also the forces that drive people to drop out of society and test themselves in other ways. Krakauer quotes Wallace Stegner's writing on a young man who similarly disappeared in the Utah desert in the 1930s: 'At 18, in a dream, he saw himself ... wandering through the romantic waste places of the world. No man with any of the juices of boyhood in him has forgotten those dreams.' Into the Wild shows that McCandless, while extreme, was hardly unique; the author makes the hermit into one of us, something McCandless himself could never pull off. By book's end, McCandless isn't merely a newspaper clipping, but a sympathetic, oddly magnetic personality. Whether he was "a courageous idealist, or a reckless idiot," you won't soon forget Christopher McCandless." My thoughts: This was an interesting book about not only Chris McCandless's tragic and unnecessary death, but about how someone's romantic view of nature can blind them to its harsh reality. (Comment on this)
Sunday, September 27th, 2009
3:08 pm	47. Body Dump by Fred Rosen Title: Body Dump Author: Fred Rosen Year: 2002 # of pages: 289 Date read: 9/19/2009 Rating: 3*/5 = good Description: "In October 1996, women began vanishing off the streets of Poughkeepsie, New York. All were young, pretty and petite. Most were hustlers and crackheads. By August 1998, as the toll reached eight, a victim's mother said bitterly, 'When they find one they will find them all.' She didn't know how horrifyingly right she was. At the height of the manhunt, prostitute Christine Sala, hysterical, told police she had barely escaped being strangled by Kendall Francois, 27, a 6'4", 300-lb middle school hall monitor whose slovenly personal hygiene had earned him the nickname 'Stinky.' When caught, Francois said that he'd killed the women because they hadn't given him all the sex he claimed he'd paid for. Investigators in white bio-hazard suits entered the house where Francois lived and found eight female corpses, almost all decomposed. Some were placed in plastic bags together in the attic. Others lay in shallow graves in the crawl space under the house. It was such a tangle of rotting flesh and bones, even the investigators couldn't tell how many bodies there were. Now, sentenced to life in prison without parole, the man whom others dismissed a smelly oaf had finally been unmasked as one of the most bizarre serial sex-killers of modern times." -- from the back cover My thoughts: This was an interesting book about the efforts of the local Poughkeepsie city and town police to catch the serial killer, Kendall Francois. (Comment on this)
Sunday, September 13th, 2009
5:49 pm	46. Un Lun Dun by China Miéville Title: Un Lun Dun Author: China Miéville Year: 2007 # of pages: 429 Date read: 9/13/2009 Rating: 4*/5 = great Description: What is Un Lun Dun? It is London through the looking glass, an urban Wonderland of strange delights where all the lost and broken things of London end up . . . and some of its lost and broken people, too–including Brokkenbroll, boss of the broken umbrellas; Obaday Fing, a tailor whose head is an enormous pin-cushion, and an empty milk carton called Curdle. Un Lun Dun is a place where words are alive, a jungle lurks behind the door of an ordinary house, carnivorous giraffes stalk the streets, and a dark cloud dreams of burning the world. It is a city awaiting its hero, whose coming was prophesied long ago, set down for all time in the pages of a talking book. When twelve-year-old Zanna and her friend Deeba find a secret entrance leading out of London and into this strange city, it seems that the ancient prophecy is coming true at last. But then things begin to go shockingly wrong. My thoughts: This was a wonderful book filled with quirky and interesting characters. I liked how Miéville played with descriptions and turned London into UnLondon. I especially admired Deeba's courage and her insistence that sometimes prophecies may not come true exactly as written. (Comment on this)
Saturday, September 12th, 2009
7:50 pm	45. Green Rider by Kristen Britain Title: Green Rider Author: Kristen Britain Year: 2000 # of pages: 471 Date read: 9/7/2009 Rating: 4*/5 = great Description: "On her long journey home from school after a fight which will surely lead to her expulsion, Karigan G'ladheon ponders her future as she trudges through the immense forest called Green Cloak. But her thoughts are interrupted by the clattering of hooves as a galloping horse bursts from the woods, the rider slumped over his mount's neck, impaled by two black-shafted arrows. As the young man lies dying on the road, he tells Karigan that he is a Green Rider, one of the legendary messengers of the king, and that he bears a "life and death" message for King Zachary. He begs Karigan to carry his message, warning her not to read it, and when she reluctantly agrees, he makes her swear on his sword to complete his mission "for love of country." As he bestows upon her the golden winged-horse brooch which is the symbol of his office, he whispers on his dying breath, "Beware the shadow man..." Karigan's promise changes her life forever. Pursued by unknown assassins, following a path only her horse seems to know, and accompanied by the silent specter of the original messenger, she herself becomes a legendary Green Rider. Caught up in a world of deadly danger and complex magic, compelled by forces she cannot understand, Karigan is hounded by dark beings bent on seeing that the message, and its reluctant carrier, never reach their destination." -- from the back cover My thoughts: I enjoyed this book. I liked how Karigan gradually learned about her role in the fight for the kingdom of Sacordia between Zachary and his brother Amilton. I also liked the interactions between the characters Karigan and the friends she makes. I look forward to reading the next book in the series, First Rider's Call. Progress: 45 / 100 books. 45% done! 14660 / 30000 pages. 49% done! (Comment on this)
Friday, September 11th, 2009
8:40 pm	44. Denial by Keith Ablow Title: Denial Author: Keith Ablow Year: 1997 # of pages: 358 Date read: 9/4/2009 Rating: 3*/5 = good Description: "He's in deep. A series of grisly murders has forensic psychiatrist Frank Clevenger on the case of a lifetime and the fight of his life against a brutal killer with a horrific trademark and his own howling demons of sexual compulsion, self-destruction, and. . . denial." -- from the back cover My thoughts: At first I wasn't sure if I would like the book as the main character, Frank Clevenger, was not the most likable person. But as the story progresses and Frank has to both solve the crimes and face the reason he tends to self-destruct, I got more interested in how the story would end. I look forward to reading more about Frank and his friends and enemies in the next book, Projection. (Comment on this)
Monday, September 7th, 2009
12:01 pm	43. A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson Title: A Short History of Nearly Everything Author: Bill Bryson Year: 2003 # of pages: 478 Date read: 8/24/2009 Rating: 4*/5 = great Description: "One of the world's most beloved writers takes his most challenging trip yet, through some of the toughest questions that scientists of all kinds have been trying to answer for years - sometimes for centuries. On this intellectual odyssey, Bill Bryson puts his insatiable curiosity to use as he apprentices himself to the great scientific minds of today, and of history. In the course of this entertainingand revealing question, Bryson asks not only "what" and "how," but more importantly,"why." Are the oceans getting saltier over time, or less salty? How do earthquakes happen? What is a black hole? And how on earth did we ever figure these things out? Here's science like you never learned it in school - lucid, relevant, entertaining, and often very, very funny." -- from the back cover My thoughts: I think this will be the book that I will go back to again and again. There were so many interesting facts to learn, and I enjoyed reading about how various scientists discovered new information that often surprised them. I liked reading about William Herschel's discovery of the planet Uranus in 1781 and how he wanted to name it after King George III (Georgium Sidus). I also liked learning about prehistoric guinea pigs the size of cows. (Comment on this)
Sunday, September 6th, 2009
5:53 pm	42. Have Space Suit - Will Travel by Robert A. Heinlein Title: Have Space Suit - Will Travel Author: Robert A. Heinlein Year: 1975 # of Pages: 175 Date read: 8/20/2009 Rating: 4*/5 = great Description: "Kip is a volatile teenager whose desire to go to the moon launches him on a much, much longer journey. Struggles haunt his path, desperate seeking forces him on. Eventually he is set down on an ancient planet, finds within himself a primal strength and finally accepts the mantle of responsibility for the entire human race." -- from the backcover My thoughts: I enjoyed this book. I liked Kip and Pee Wee's friendship and their interactions with the "Mother Creature." I also liked how Kip's father challenged him to learn more than what the school was teaching him. (Comment on this)
Saturday, September 5th, 2009
7:46 pm	41. The Lobster Chronicles: Life on a Very Small Island by Linda Greenlaw Title: The Lobster Chronicles: Life on a Very Small Island Author: Linda Greenlaw Year: 2002 # of pages: 235 Date read: 8/18/2009 Rating: 3*/5 = good Description: "After seventeen years at sea, Linda Greenlaw -- author of the New York Times bestseller The Hungry Ocean -- decided it was time to take a break from being a swordboat captain, the career that earned her a prominent role in Sebastian Junger's The Perfect Storm and a portrayal in the subsequent film. She felt she needed to return home, to a tiny island seven miles off the Maine coast with a population of seventy year-round residents, thirty of whom are her relatives. She would pursue a simpler life; move back in with her parents; become a professional lobsterman:; and find a man and settle down. But almost none of this works out as planned, and soon she is forced to reevaluate everything she thought she knew about life, luck, and lobsters. In this hilarious and moving true story, Greenlaw reveals her keen eye for the dramas of small-town life, as well as her talent for fascinating nautical descripton. The Lobster Chronicles is a must-read for everyone who loves boats and the ocean (and lobsters), everyone who has ever reached a crossroads in life, and everyone who has wondered what it would be like to live on a very small island. A celebration of family and community, this is a book that proves once again that fishermen are the best storytellers around." -- from the back cover My thoughts: I enjoyed reading this book about trying to make a new life back home. I especially like Linda's observations about her relatives and other Islanders. (Comment on this)
Monday, August 31st, 2009
11:51 am	40. Picoverse by Robert A. Metzger Title: Picoverse Author: Robert A. Metzger Year: 2003 # of Pages: 389 Date read: 8/9/2009 Rating: 3*/5 = good Description: "In the early twenty-first century, a team of scientists has done the impossible -- ripped apart the fabric of space-time and created a brand new universe. . .one million-millionth the size of our own. Now, they're going to see where it takes them." -- from the back cover My thoughts: This was an interesting and challenging book to read. I liked the way the characters entered various alternate picoverses, sometimes for seconds at a time. Progress: 40 / 100 books. 40% done! 12943 / 30000 pages. 43% done! (Comment on this)
Friday, August 28th, 2009
11:10 am	39. Dead City by Joe McKinney Title: Dead City Author: Joe McKinney Year: 2006 # of pages: 288 Date read: 7/26/2009 Rating: 3*/5 = good Description: "Battered by five cataclysmic hurricanes in three weeks, the Texas Gulf Coast and half of the Lone Star State is reeling from the worst devastation in history. Thousands are dead or dying - but the worst is only beginning. Amid the wreckage, something unimaginable is happening: a deadly virus has broken out, returning the dead to life - with an insatiable hunger for human flesh...Within hours, the plague has spread all over Texas. San Antonio police officer Eddie Hudson finds his city overrun by a voracious army of the living dead. Along with a small group of survivors, Eddie must fight off the savage horde in a race to save his family...There's no place to run. No place to hide. The Zombie horde is growing as the virus runs rampant. Eddie knows he has to find a way to destroy these walking horrors...but he doesn't know the price he will have to pay." -- from the back cover My thoughts: While the battle scenes got to be repetitive after a while, I enjoyed this horror book about a virus which turned people into zombies. I only wish that the zombie portion ended earlier in the book so that the story would move onto how Eddie and others dealt with the aftermath. (Comment on this)
Monday, August 24th, 2009
11:26 am	38. The Climb Up to Hell by Jack Olsen Title: The Climb Up to Hell Author: Jack Olsen Year: 1962 # of Pages: 212 Date read: 7/10/2009 Rating: 3*/5 = good Description: "The north wall of the Eiger Mountain in the Bernese Alps has longed fascinated the world's best mountain climbers. Almost every attempt to conquer it has resulted in defeat or disaster. Once again in print, this is the story of the tragic 1957 ordeal on the Eiger Mountain's north wall -- the classic account of one of the most awesome drams in mountaineering history." -- from the back cover My thoughts: This was a very interesting book about the 1957 rescue of Claudio Corti from the north wall of Mt. Eiger. The descriptions of the climb and the rescue were very good and I could imagine being there myself. (Comment on this)
Friday, August 21st, 2009
11:48 am	37. Renfield: Slave of Dracula by Barbara Hambly Title: Renfield: Slave of Dracula Author: Barbara Hambly Year: 2006 # of pages: 291 Date read: 7/9/2009 Rating: 3*/5 = good Description: "Renfield -- confined to an asylum -- obsesses in his diary, pens letters of insane passion to his wife, and still answers his Master's calling. Ordered to hunt and kill Van Helsing, Renfield complies, setting the stage for the ultimate battle between good and evil, the living and the dead. It will take him from the dark crypt of Dracula's castle to the more personal darkness of his own descent into madness, and the shocking truth of where it all began." -- from the back cover My thoughts: I enjoyed this book which looked at the events described in Bram Stoker's Dracula from Renfield's, John Seward's and Van Helsing's point of view. I especially liked the interactions between Renfield and Dracula's wives. (Comment on this)
Tuesday, August 18th, 2009
2:37 pm	36. Gipsy Moth Circles the World by Sir Francis Chichester Title: Gipsy Moth Circles the World Author: Sir Francis Chichester Year: 1967 # of Pages: 222 Date read: 7/7/2009 Rating: 4*/5 = great Description: "Here is a magnificent book to match a magnificent venture -- Sir Francis Chichester's personal account of the extraordinary feat that captured the imagination of the world. Told in his own colorful words and illustrated with his own photographs, some taken by remote control of himself in action, the book literally takes the reader aboard the Gipsy Moth IV throughout the entire fabulous voyage." -- from the inside flap My thoughts: Sir Francis Chichester tells a fascinating and detailed story of his historic solo circumnavigation via the Southern Oceans. From day to day, with changes in the weather and the boat's responses to it, there were plenty of surprises both good and bad. I enjoyed reading this book very much. (Comment on this)
Monday, August 17th, 2009
7:05 pm	35. The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett Title: The Secret Garden Author: Frances Hodgson Burnett Year: 1911 # of pages: 234 Date read: 6/21/2009 Rating: 4*/5 = great Description: "When orphaned Mary Lennox, lonely and sad, comes to live at her uncle's great house on the Yorkshire moors, she finds it full of secrets. At night, she hears the sound of crying down one of the long corridors. Outside, she meets Dickon, a magical boy who can charm and talk to animals. Then, one day, with the help of a friendly robin, Mary discovers the most mysterious wonder of all--a secret garden, walled and locked, which has been completely forgotten for years and years. Is everything in the garden dead, or can Mary bring it back to life?" -- from Amazon.com My thoughts: I enjoyed rereading this childhood favorite. I liked how Mary "blossomed" as she started caring about others and let others care about her. I also liked how she and Dickon showed Colin a new way to live. Progress: 35 / 100 books. 35% done! 11621 / 30000 pages. 39% done! (Comment on this)
Wednesday, August 5th, 2009
10:49 am	34. The Mouse and His Child by Russell Hoban Title: The Mouse and His Child Author: Russell Hoban Year: 1967 # of pages: 182 Date read: 6/16/2009 Rating: 4*/5 = great Description: "'What are we, Papa?' the toy mouse child asked his father. 'I don't know,' the father answered. 'We must wait and see.' So begins the story of a tin father and son who dance under a Christmas tree until they break the ancient clockwork rules and are themselves broken. Thrown away, then rescued from a trash can and repaired by a tramp, they set out on a perilous odyssey to follow the child's dream of a family and a place of their own. What happens to the mouse and his child in their search for the magnificent doll house, the plush elephant, and the tin seal they had known in the toyshop is a tale to remember and return to." -- from the back cover My thoughts: Although it's been many years since I had read this book, I still found it as poignant, funny and moving as I did when I was a child. I enjoyed the interactions between the tin mouse and his son in their quest to find a home and a family. (Comment on this)
Sunday, August 2nd, 2009
7:25 pm	33. The Book of Three by Lloyd Alexander Title: The Book of Three Author: Lloyd Alexander Year: 1999 # of Pages: 186 Date read: 6/14/2009 Description: "Taran is bored with his Assistant Pig-Keeper duties, even though his charge is none other than Hen Wen, Prydain's only oracular pig. He'd rather be doing something more heroic, like making swords and learning to use them. When Hen Wen escapes and Taran goes after her, he finds himself farther from home than he's ever been. Soon he begins to realize that heroism is no easy task. With the dreaded Horn King on the loose and King Arawn gathering the forces of evil, Taran must look past his own dreams to warn the population of Prydain -- before it's too late." -- from the back cover My thoughts: I enjoyed rereading this childhood favorite featuring the characters Taran, Eilonwy and Fflewddur Fflam. I especially liked how Taran learned that being a hero takes more than swinging a sword and looking handsome. I look forward to rereading the next book in the series, The Black Cauldron. (Comment on this)
Tuesday, July 28th, 2009
1:35 pm	32. 1610: A Sundial in a Grave by Mary Gentle Title: 1610: A Sundial in a Grave Author: Mary Gentle Year: 2005 # of pages: 666 Date read: 6/6/2009 Rating: 3*/5 = good Description: " 'It's about sex, and cruelty, and forgiveness.' Thus begins a sweeping historical adventure about two dueling swordsmen and the plot to kill a king in the grand tradition of Dorothy Dunnett and Alexander Dumas. The year is 1610. Continental Europe is briefly at peace after years of war, but Henri IV of France is planning to invade the German principalities. In England, only five years earlier, conspirators nearly succeeded in blowing up King James I and his Parliament. The seeds of the English Civil War and the Thirty Years War are visibly being sown, and the possibility for both enlightenment and disaster abounds. But Valentin Rochefort, duelist and spy for France's powerful financial minister, could not care less. Until he is drawn into the glittering palaces, bawdy back streets, and stunning theatrics of Renaissance France and Shakespearean London in a deadly plot both to kill King James I and to save him. For this swordsman without a conscience is about to find himself caught between loyalty, love, and blackmail, between kings, queens, politicians, and Rosicrucians -- and the woman he has, unknowingly, crossed land and sea to meet." -- from the back cover My thoughts: I enjoyed this historical fiction filled with adventure and intrigue set in 17th century France and England. At first, it seemed slow to me, but once Rochefort and Dariole meet Saburo and head to England, the pace definitely picked up. (Comment on this)
Sunday, July 26th, 2009
7:50 pm	31. Artemis Fowl: The Arctic Incident by Eoin Colfer Title: Artemis Fowl: The Arctic Incident Author: Eoin Colfer Year: 2002 # of Pages: 277 Date read: 6/5/2009 Rating: 3*/5 = good Description: "Eoin Colfer's bestselling antihero is back in Artemis Fowl: The Arctic Incident--the superb sequel to the hyper-hyped Artemis Fowl, shortlisted for the Whitbread Children's Book of the Year. The Arctic Incident sees the slightly older, perhaps slightly more mellow arch-criminal Artemis recovered from his last adventure, richer now that he has his half of a hoard of fairy gold, and happier since the Clarice Starlingesque superfairy Captain Holly Short of the LEPrecon returned his mother's ailing mind to full health.But there is still much unfinished business: Artemis Fowl Sr. disappeared when a daring escapade designed to free his family from their criminal--not to mention deeply lucrative--past and move the family's assets into legitimate enterprises went horribly wrong. Held captive by the Mafiya (the Russian organized crime syndicate) for over two years, he has been declared officially dead, but Artemis Jr. knows in his heart (yes, he does have one) that his beloved father is still alive, and he is determined to find him. Meanwhile Captain Short is temporarily on assignment to Customs and Excise as punishment for letting Fowl separate her and her People from their gold and is finding her stakeout duties a little dull. It soon becomes obvious that the pair have need of each other's considerable skills, and before long they are on track for an adventure that will ultimately have far-reaching consequences for both of them." -- from Amazon.com My thoughts: I enjoyed this second book in the Artemis Fowl series. I especially liked how Artemis, Butler, Holly and Commander Root worked together to save the day. I look forward to reading the next book in the series, The Eternity Code. (Comment on this)
Monday, July 20th, 2009
2:57 pm	30. Talking Hands: What Sign Language Reveals About the Mind by Margalit Fox Title: Talking Hands: What Sign Language Reveals About the Mind Author: Margalit Fox Year: 2007 # of Pages: 368 Date read: 5/28/2009 Rating: 3*/5 = good Description: "Imagine a village where everyone "speaks" sign language. Just such a village -- an isolated Bedouin community in Israel with an unusually high rate of deafness -- is at the heart of Talking Hands: What Sign Language Reveals About the Mind. There, an indigenous sign language has sprung up, used by deaf and hearing villagers alike. It is a language no outsider has been able to decode, until now. A New York Times reporter trained as a linguist, Margalit Fox is the only Western journalist to have set foot in this remarkable village. In Talking Hands, she follows an international team of scientists that is unraveling this mysterious language. Because the sign language of the village has arisen completely on its own, outside the influence of any other language, it is a living demonstration of the "language instinct," man's inborn capacity to create language. If the researchers can decode this language, they will have helped isolate ingredients essential to all human language, signed and spoken. But as Talking Hands grippingly shows, their work in the village is also a race against time, because the unique language of the village may already be endangered. Talking Hands offers a fascinating introduction to the signed languages of the world -- languages as beautiful, vital and emphatically human as any other -- explaining why they are now furnishing cognitive scientists with long-sought keys to understanding how language works in the mind. Written in lyrical, accessible prose, Talking Hands will captivate anyone interested in language, the human mind and journeys to exotic places." -- from the inside flap My thoughts: I learned a lot about language, both sign and spoken, by reading this book. I especially found the chapter on the brain very interesting as linguists learn how signers perceive signs as language and not just movements through space. Progress:   30 / 100 books. 30% done!   10076 / 30000 pages. 34% done! (Comment on this)