Bogieblog

Vehicle Maintenance

Took the Jeep in for inspection yesterday. I waited until almost the last minute, just because I kept forgetting to make an appointment (remembering after the shops have closed, does not help a bit). Anyway, after 42k miles, in 2.25 years, it needed tires. I had figured I would need tires before the next snow season, so thought I would buy them in the fall. Alas, two of the tires were too far gone, and it is a front wheel drive vehicle, which means I had to replace all at the same time. And, of course, AT (all terrain) tires, even for my little vehicle, are not cheap.

Just trying to help out the economy in my own little way. I did have the foresight to have brought coupons that they had sent me several weeks ago, so in effect, the inspection (a normal $40 value) was free plus a little off the tires. Total cost, was $10 less than what just the tires were quoted at (including mounting and balancing). I had forgotten how much I hate the new tire highway whine until my drive home.

To add insult to injury, I'm pretty sure that I left my book in the waiting room, and I am not driving 32 miles just to get a book. On the plus side, WS works in the area, so maybe he can drop by and pick it up (if someone else didn't decide they really needed Larry Correia's book Spellbound: Part II of the Grimnoir Chronicles.)

Birding App

Cop Car forwarded and email to me on Friday about Amazon having the Audubon Birds: A Field Guid to North American Birds app on sale for 99 cents. Unfortunately, that was their Deal of the Day, and the email had been sent to her on Thursday, so it wasn't applicable when I received it. However, I looked around, and finally checked the Google Play store, and sure enough, they had it for 99 cents (that sale is over as far as I can tell, but it is on sale at theiTunes store if you have an Apple product). I immediately downloaded it and found that it not only is a field guide, but provide samples of the birds' songs too. Way cool.

You are given the opportunity, after download, of actually downloading the entire content (downloading the app just gives you access to the content, so saves memory if you don't have much) so that night I did so. The only issue I've had with it so far is trying to create an account, which allows the saving of life lists and sightings, but that may be me. Also, not a huge deal, just a bit of an annoyance.

Anyway, just wanted to give Cop Car a shout out for pointing out this app to me!

Good Read

I've been reading Perigee, by Patrick Chilis, for the last couple of weeks. I actually abought the electronic version and have it on my phone so I can read while in line at the store, or other times that I have a couple of extra minutes. I bought the book, not because I knew anything about the author, or the book, but because Amazon had suggested it to me and it was on sale for $0.99.

I have been thouroughly impressed - a very good book. If my airplane loving relative hasn't read it yet, I suggest she hie herself to the library (or the book store) and grab a copy. Oh, and I suggest it for anyone else that is in for airplane / aerospace thriller. Although I haven't finished it yet, I find it hard to put down when my couple of minutes of reading time is over.

Since I've recommended it, I'm hoping the ending doesn't suck!

Blogger Book Sale

Forgot to mention that John Eddy (part time blogger on Weekend Pundit) has a special price on the Kindle/Nook versions of Methuselah's Daughter for only 99 cents. I downloaded my copy from Amazon (I can read such things off my phone when in line at the store) - I would assume you can download your copy from whatever is your favorite retailer. Really, for 99 cents, you can't go wrong.

I'm unsure of how long this special will last, so download today to ensure you get the best price and help him raise money for insurance for his youngest.

Other Doings While Away

We were driving around one day, taking the long way to Casa Cop Car, when we passed by Boeing. WS noticed a strange looking plane and I esclaimed that it must be the DreamLiner, but it looked strange. WS noticed that it had no windows.

Then, I saw the name on the side and did what any red-blooded American does in times like that; I whipped out my smart phone and Googled DreamLifter. I thought I had just remembered the name of the plane incorrectly. But no, DreamLifter is the largest cargo loader that hauls DreamLiner assemblies to reduce transport time from as much as 30 days, to as little as one day.

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The evening that we arrived in Wichita, we were a bit on the hungry side so we hit the hotel restaurant. While sitting there eating some appetizers (what we had for dinner) at the bar, somehow a conversation was struck up with another patron.

Turns out he was in the process of moving back to Hooksette, NH. Small world!

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I don't normally have a lot of time to read, and it has been taking way too long to finish even relatively short bookls (Im talking weeks for a lousy 400 pager - forget longer books, it literally takes months). Anyway, I got to finish one book and not only start, but finish another while on vacation (travel time helped!) They weren't very intellectual books, but light action thrilllers.

I had started Monster Hunter Alpha by Larry Correia a couple of days before leaving home. Alpha is book three in the Monster Hunter series (Monster Hunter International and Monster Hunter Vendetta were read previously) which is set in present day but there are werewolves, vampires and other nasty creatures that most people think of only as myth. One I finished MHA, I went on to Dead Six by Larry Correia & Mike Kupari. This book was set in present day and there are no monsters in this book besides the bad guys. It is a shoot 'em up with some twists and turns and made for good, fast paced reading.

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And that folks, is the end of my reporting on our vacation. It was a good time, great to see everyone, we were fed very well, we got to see sights we normally wouldn't see, and I got in some good reading - what a vacation should be all about!

RIP

Cop Car broke the news (at least to me) that Anne McCaffrey has died. I remember her dragons and their riders well but the books that I loved best were the Crystal Singer series.

May the talented writer rest in peace.

How to Find a Book

Earlier this year there was the top 100 Science Fiction Books that I voted on. Many of my favorites didn't make it, but it had a lot of stuff I hadn't considered. Apparently someone made a huge flow chart (with a whole lot of decision points) to determine which of the 100 a person might enjoy. I took the interactive version and found that indeed, it did figure out my tastes and suggested the Gunslinger Series by Stephen King.

Having read the series, and owning all the books, it is a good choice. Now I have to figure out how to make it suggest something I haven't read.

Via Cop Car

Top 100 SciFi-Fantasy Reads

I forgot to go back and check out the results of the voting for the top 100 greatest scifi/fantasy reads. Cop Car was kind enough to remember and put up the list as part of a meme. So, I will play the game and bold the one's I have read. 

1. The Lord Of The Rings Trilogy, by J.R.R. Tolkien

2. The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy, by Douglas Adams

3. Ender's Game, by Orson Scott Card

4. The Dune Chronicles, by Frank Herbert

5. A Song Of Ice And Fire Series, by George R. R. Martin

6. 1984, by George Orwell

7. Fahrenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury

8. The Foundation Trilogy, by Isaac Asimov

9. Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley

10. American Gods, by Neil Gaiman

11. The Princess Bride, by William Goldman

12. The Wheel Of Time Series, by Robert Jordan

13. Animal Farm, by George Orwell

14. Neuromancer, by William Gibson

15. Watchmen, by Alan Moore

16. I, Robot, by Isaac Asimov

17. Stranger In A Strange Land, by Robert Heinlein

18. The Kingkiller Chronicles, by Patrick Rothfuss

19. Slaughterhouse-Five, by Kurt Vonnegut

20. Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley

21. Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep?, by Philip K. Dick

22. The Handmaid's Tale, by Margaret Atwood

23. The Dark Tower Series, by Stephen King

24. 2001: A Space Odyssey, by Arthur C. Clarke

25. The Stand, by Stephen King

26. Snow Crash, by Neal Stephenson

27. The Martian Chronicles, by Ray Bradbury

28. Cat's Cradle, by Kurt Vonnegut

29. The Sandman Series, by Neil Gaiman

30. A Clockwork Orange, by Anthony Burgess

31. Starship Troopers, by Robert Heinlein

32. Watership Down, by Richard Adams

33. Dragonflight, by Anne McCaffrey

34. The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress, by Robert Heinlein

35. A Canticle For Leibowitz, by Walter M. Miller

36. The Time Machine, by H.G. Wells

37. 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea, by Jules Verne

38. Flowers For Algernon, by Daniel Keys

39. The War Of The Worlds, by H.G. Wells

40. The Chronicles Of Amber, by Roger Zelazny

41. The Belgariad, by David Eddings

42. The Mists Of Avalon, by Marion Zimmer Bradley

43. The Mistborn Series, by Brandon Sanderson

44. Ringworld, by Larry Niven

45. The Left Hand Of Darkness, by Ursula K. LeGuin

46. The Silmarillion, by J.R.R. Tolkien

47. The Once And Future King, by T.H. White

48. Neverwhere, by Neil Gaiman

49. Childhood's End, by Arthur C. Clarke

50. Contact, by Carl Sagan

51. The Hyperion Cantos, by Dan Simmons

52. Stardust, by Neil Gaiman

53. Cryptonomicon, by Neal Stephenson

54. World War Z, by Max Brooks

55. The Last Unicorn, by Peter S. Beagle

56. The Forever War, by Joe Haldeman

57. Small Gods, by Terry Pratchett

58. The Chronicles Of Thomas Covenant, The Unbeliever, by Stephen R. Donaldson

59. The Vorkosigan Saga, by Lois McMaster Bujold

60. Going Postal, by Terry Pratchett

61. The Mote In God's Eye, by Larry Niven & Jerry Pournelle

62. The Sword Of Truth, by Terry Goodkind

63. The Road, by Cormac McCarthy

64. Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, by Susanna Clarke

65. I Am Legend, by Richard Matheson

66. The Riftwar Saga, by Raymond E. Feist

67. The Shannara Trilogy, by Terry Brooks

68. The Conan The Barbarian Series, by R.E. Howard

69. The Farseer Trilogy, by Robin Hobb

70. The Time Traveler's Wife, by Audrey Niffenegger

71. The Way Of Kings, by Brandon Sanderson

72. A Journey To The Center Of The Earth, by Jules Verne

73. The Legend Of Drizzt Series, by R.A. Salvatore

74. Old Man's War, by John Scalzi

75. The Diamond Age, by Neil Stephenson

76. Rendezvous With Rama, by Arthur C. Clarke

77. The Kushiel's Legacy Series, by Jacqueline Carey

78. The Dispossessed, by Ursula K. LeGuin

79. Something Wicked This Way Comes, by Ray Bradbury

80. Wicked, by Gregory Maguire

81. The Malazan Book Of The Fallen Series, by Steven Erikson

82. The Eyre Affair, by Jasper Fforde

83. The Culture Series, by Iain M. Banks

84. The Crystal Cave, by Mary Stewart

85. Anathem, by Neal Stephenson

86. The Codex Alera Series, by Jim Butcher

87. The Book Of The New Sun, by Gene Wolfe

88. The Thrawn Trilogy, by Timothy Zahn

89. The Outlander Series, by Diana Gabaldan

90. The Elric Saga, by Michael Moorcock

91. The Illustrated Man, by Ray Bradbury

92. Sunshine, by Robin McKinley

93. A Fire Upon The Deep, by Vernor Vinge

94. The Caves Of Steel, by Isaac Asimov

95. The Mars Trilogy, by Kim Stanley Robinson

96. Lucifer's Hammer, by Larry Niven & Jerry Pournelle

97. Doomsday Book, by Connie Willis

98. Perdido Street Station, by China Mieville

99. The Xanth Series, by Piers Anthony

100. The Space Trilogy, by C.S. Lewis

I have probably read other's on the list, I just don't remember actually doing so (I am like Cop Car - I can re-read books every couple of years because I've forgotten that I've read them). Plus, I have a weird thing going on on my computer where I can't scroll the list, so some I may not have seen as I was trying to highlight them (clicking the down arrow actually gets me back to the top of the list!?!?!). Some of them I marked as read because I at least attempted the feat (M. Moorcock's series was painful and I didn't make it all the way thru).

I've read 28 out of the 100. Actually, that is misleading as there are several series in there. The Malazan Book of the Fallen series is 10 books - of which I am currently reading the last of. The Thomas Covenant series has something like 5 or 6 etc.

Some of those I voted for didn't even make the top 100 (complete list here); CS Friedman's Coldfire Trilogy is one such. Just goes to show, we all have our own tastes in reading material.

Vote For Top-100 Science Fiction, Fantasy Titles : NPR

 Vote For Top-100 Science Fiction, Fantasy Titles : NPR

 

Go vote now - only good for another couple of days (results available August 11).

 

Link via Instapundit

Posted via my Android Phone

Not Reading This One

The other day while on Amazon buying a keyboard and mouse, I saw Jean M Aul has a new book out in the Earth Children series (yes, Amazon knows me well, so knows what to suggest to me). I thought about buying the book, but figured I would wait for the soft cover to come out.

However, I read Lissa's review, and have decided against it. I really enjopyed the first 3 books, book 4 wasn't bad, though it got a bit long. Heck, I don't see book 5 on my shelves, so I must have missed that one - although what Lissa describes sounds familiar (so maybe I am remember 5 as being long for what was accomplished).

Anyway, thanks to Lissa, I won't be wasting my time. Really, I'll watch Discovery or History channels for stuff about the Painted Caves. Oh, and I've seen awesome photos and read write-up in National Geographic, so I think I am pretty set with that. I want character interaction, but it doesn't sound like there is much of that.

Pity.