Teaser Tuesday

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can
play along!
Just do the following:

Grab your current read.

Open to a random page.

Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page.

BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)

From Chapter 6 of Inferno, by Dan Bown: "Langdon felt firm hands lifting him onw, urging him from his delierium, helping him out of the taxi. The pavement felt cold beneath his bare feet."

I know I am a few months late to getting around to this one, but ... what can I say?

Book #51. Callahan's Legacy

reCallahan's Legacy, by Spider Robinson.

I have read the prior volumes in Robinson's Callahan series. This series started out as a collection of short stories, and as each volume has passed, each book more closely resembles a trasitinal novel that the one before. From an authorial perspective, this is an accomplishment worth noting.

This book had a familiar feel to it from some of the prior books i the series. The crew at the bar has to save the world from its coming destruction through the power of loving friendship. And the near-telepathic connection that arises from the power of loving friendship. And they tell stories along the way to keep each other calm, each usually ending in horrible puns.

Oh. And a baby is born.

There is a nice and pleasant aspect to the familiarity here, characters and settings that are warm and welcoming. But I would prefer the plots to not be som familiar, and for the science fiction aspects to be more prominent that they sometimes are.

Between Audiobooks (3)

I have written before of my habit of listening to a few episodes of PodCastle or Escape Pod in between audiobooks -- short story palate cleansers between novels. I am still waaaay behind (9 months?) on these podcasts), so I listened to a bunch of Escape Pods last week, in between Severe Clear and Callahan's Legacy. I listened to these episodes:

373: Chandra's Game, by Samantha Henderson. The sad life of an asteroid farmer.

374: Oubliette, by J Kelley Anderson. Trying to kill an alien that just won't die.

375. Marley & Cratchit, by David Steffen. The REAL story behind what we know from the Dickens classic.

 376. Shutdown, by Corry L. Lee . To be a soldier or a ballerina -- that is the question.

377. Real Artists, by Ken Liu. Digital movie-making of the most extreme sort.

Teaser Tuesday

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can
play along!
Just do the following:

Grab your current read.

Open to a random page.

Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page.

BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)

From Chapter 1 of Callahan's Legacy, by Spider Robinson: "There are very few things a very pregnant woman will wake up for, but peeing is definitely one of them. Getting Zoe to a sitting position on the side of the bed was probably less difficult that portaging a piano in rough country. The smell of coffee may have helped."

Podcasting updates!

We have interviewed some fascinating authors the last few weeks for the Book Guys -- Thomas Deja (The Shadow Legion: New Roads to Hell) and Bobbie Oliver (The Tao of Comedy).  These interviews have not quite been released on the Internets just yet, but trust me, they'll be awesome! In the latest episode that he have released (# 91), we got the band back together and talked about books, book news, and the largest gathering ever of Daleks in one place.

I am being interviewed soon for a comic book related podcast, and will certainly post a link when that episode is recorded, edited, and posted.

The New 52, One Year Later

Two years ago, in September, DC Comics launched comic books in its "New 52" initiative, starting all 52 of their monthly books with new #1 issues. I took this opportunity to pick up some of these books, and review many of them on this site.

Now that two years have passed, I am going to stop using the label "New 52" on my reviews of these comics; they will be treated the way other comic book reviews are treated. The titles I expect to keep reading (and potentially keep reviewing) are: All-Star Western, Aquaman, Wonder Woman, and World's Finest.

But I did want to list here all of the New 52 titles I've read (over 100 issues total), and link to those that I have reviewed on the site:

Action Comics 1-8
All-Star Western 1-3 & 4-6
Animal Man 1-6
Aquaman 1-6
Blackhawks 1-8
Catwoman 1-6
Demon Knighs 1-7 & 8-12, 0
Frankenstein: Agent of SHADE 1-7
Fury of Firestorm 1-6
Green Arrow 1-6
I, Vampire 1-6 and 7-12
Justice League Dark 1-6 & 7-8
Resurrection Man 1-7
Supergirl 1-7
Wonder Woman 1-6 & 7-12
World's Finest 0-5

September Reading List

50. Severe Clear (ua), Stuart Woods
49. The Third Kingdom (ua), by Terry Goodkind
48. Gotham Central: In the Line of Duty HC (gn), by Ed Brubaker, Greg Rucka, and Michael Lark
47. Mockingjay (ua), by Suzanne Collins


Earlier in 2013:
46. The Shambling Guide to New York City (pb), by Mur Lafferty
45. The Hound of the Baskervilles (ua), by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
44. Guild of the Cowry Catchers: Book 4 (ua), by Abigail Hilton
43. The Big Cat Nap (ua), by Rita Mae Brown and Sneaky Pie Brown
42. Free (ua), by Chris Anderson
41. Iron Man: Legacy of Doom (gn), by David Michelinie,
40. The She-Hulk Diaries (pb), by Marta Acosta
39. Elizabeth the First Wife (Nook), by Lian Dolan
38. The Maze (nook), by Jason Brannon
37. The President's Vampire (ua), by Christopher Farnsworth
36. The Pope Who Quit (pb), by Jon M Sweeney
35. Memoirs of Sherlock Homes (ua), by Arthur Conan Doyle
34. More or Less (ua), by Jeff Shinaberger
33. Blood & Wine: Readings for Lent and Easter (pb), by various
32. The Children of Hurin (ua), by J.R.R. Tolkien
31. Atlantyx, (pb), by Chase Dalton
30. Callahan's Secret (ua), by Spider Robinson
29. Take Four (ua), by Karen Kingsbury
28. Skull-Kickers, Treasure Trove volume 1, by Jim Zub and various artists
27. The Dalek Generation (pb), by Nicholas Briggs
26. The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (ua), by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
25. The Areas of My Expertise (pb), by John Hodgman
24. The Skin Map (ua), by Stephen Lawhead
23. Catching Fire (ua), by Suzanne Collins
22. Quitter (ua) , by Jon Acuff.
21. The Bone Bed (ua), by Patricia Cornwell.
20. Stop Asking Jesus Into Your Heart (hc), by J.D. Greear
19. Left Behind: The Kids #28 (pb), by Jerry B. Jenkins, Tim LaHaye, & Chris Fabry
18. Left Behind: The Kids #27 (pb), by Jerry B. Jenkins, Tim LaHaye, & Chris Fabry
17. Left Behind: The Kids #26 (pb), by Jerry B. Jenkins, Tim LaHaye, & Chris Fabry
16. Time Travelers Strictly Cash (aa), by Spider Robinson
15. The Devil's Company (ua), by David Liss
14. Deadly Straits (ua), by R.E. McDermott
13. Doctor Who: Paradise Towers (ua), by Stephen Wyatt
12. DC Universe Secret Origins (gn), by various writers and artists
11. The Gods of Mars (ua), by Edgar Rice Burroughs
10. Craving Grace (hc), by Lisa Velthouse
9. The Sign of Four (ua), by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
8. DC Dead (ua), by Stuart Woods
7. A Study in Scarlet (ua), by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
6. The Hunger Games (ua), by Suzanne Collins
5. Take Three (ua), by Karen Kingsbury
4. Mary Through The Centuries (hc), by Jaroslav Pelikan
3. Roil (ua), by Trent Jamieson
2. The Devil You Know (ua), by Mike Carey
1. Ender's Shadow Ultimate Collection (gn), by Mike Carey