Heart Shaped Box

I read about this in the New York Times and I bought it for my Dad for his birthday as he's a big fan of the horror genre. He loved it, read it in two nights and loaned to it a friend who also loved it and read it in two nights. The plot, according to Amazon and the Times, anyway, is that a middle aged rock star buys what is billed as a haunted suit online as a curiosity and gets far more than he bargained for. Horror hijinks ensue. Side note, the author, Joe Hill, is Stephen King's son.

The Android's Dream

The Android's Dream opens with a scene where United Nations of Earth trade official farting grievious insults to his alien counterpart using the alien Nidu's scent language. In the aftermath of this fatal meeting, tensions have escalated between Earth and Nidu which could lead to a war in which Humanity would not fare very well. However, all this unpleasantness could be averted if Earth can provide the Nidu with a sheep.

You read that correctly: a sheep. This isn't any ordinary sheep, however. It is a very special sheep that our hero Harry Creek must go to a great deal of trouble to find and protect. Shockingly enough, this involves lots of narrow escapes, creative applications of force, and hell-raising AIs. Creek's first date with the sheep is a complete disaster as well. While the sci-fi action comedy that follows is unlikely to be mistaken for serious literature, it was a most entertaining, light hearted read that left me wanting more. This was my first John Scalzi book, but it will not be my last.

Julie and Julia

The book's full title is Julie and Julia: 365 Days, 524 Recipes, 1 tiny Apartment Kitchen. Julie Powell, in her early 30's, stuck at a soul sucking job decides that she will make every single recipe in Julia Child's Mastering the Art Of French Cooking. Even the gross ones (aspics, chicken liver and so on)In one year. The act of doing this (and blogging about it) transforms her life. The book describes cooking disasters, scouring New York City for obscure cuts of meat, (imagine trying this in the Midwest!) and noting the new pounds of "butter weight" she and her husband put on. At the end of the book she is able to leave her hated job to become a professional writer to turn the blog into this book. I really enjoyed this book, but I have no desire to repeat her experiment, she is one brave person.

Snow Crash

Perhaps one of the best novels in the cyberpunk genre, Snow Crash depicts a near future, though completely unrecognizable America. We are introduced to the book's main character, Hiro Protagonist, in a brilliant opening scene depicting him as the Deliverator, a pizza delivery guy for the mob owned Uncle Enzo's Cosa Nostra Pizza. Hiro is later thrust into dangerous intrigue as he discovers a mind altering known as Snow Crash, which is being used by an industrialist to take over, well, pretty much everything. The book does contain a rather massive info dump as Hiro discovers the virus's connections with ancient Sumerian mythology, but the characters, story, humor, and action are all so engaging that they easily make up for it.

Used Books Online

Since yesterday's book is out of print, here are some links to assist you. The above link and abebooks are supposed be great, but I hven't used them, just browse. I have used half.com and actually been burned by them (but it was my fault for not complaining promptly enough). Amazon also offers used books and I have had good luck with their sellers. Happy shopping!

The President's Daughter

Today's post is in honor of Crowinator, of Trapped Inside my Huge Chattering Head fame. We read this book over and over again along with the sequels (White House Autumn and Long Live the Queen). Meg is a typical 16 year old girl. She lives in Boston, her dad is a lawyer, her mom is a senator and she has two younger brothers, Steven and Neal. Then her mother runs for president and wins and her life goes crazy. She has to deal with moving, boys asking her out just because of who her mother is and dealing with pressures to be the perfect political kid. The characters in these books are really witty and sarcastic, especially her best friend Beth and her mother's press secretary Preston. Some of the references are a little dated as these are from the 80's, but who cares, we love 'em!. I just found out while working on this post that a fourth sequel, Long May She Reign is scheduled to come out in October 2007. So stay tuned.

Sleeper: Out in the Cold

Sleeper is not your typical superhero comic. Sleeper tells the story of Holden Carver, a super-powered deep undercover government agent who is infiltrating a dangerous super-powered criminal syndicate. So deep undercover is Carver that only his boss John Lynch knows what he is really up to, but at the time the story begins Lynch had been attacked and rendered comatose. Carver, now trapped in his criminal identity, must simultaneously avoid detection by the criminal mastermind running the organization he is infiltrating while eluding capture by his former government compatriots, all the while dealing with having lost his way. Backing up an intriguing premise is an entertaining (if heinous) cast of characters including Carver's colleague and lover Miss Misery, best friend Genocide Jones, evil mastermind boss TAO, and more. While perhaps not the most beautifully drawn book out there, it is dark and definitely suits the mood of the series. Highly recomended.