Saturday, August 31, 2013

Sixty Days and Counting

Sixty Days and Counting (Science in the Capitol, #3)Sixty Days and Counting by Kim Stanley Robinson

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


Who knew that a book about the end of the world could end on a positive note? Robinson is obviously a humanist and believes that the angels of our better nature will kick in at some point before we destroy the earth completely. Me, I'm not so sure, but it made for a nice thought. He ties up the problems of the previous 2 books perhaps a little too neatly in this one (and why do authors think that a happy ending must always involve someone getting knocked up). However, along the way he tells a fast-paced story that seems all too real (ripped from the headlines, as it were), which is one of the reasons the rainbows-and-unicorns ending seemed so off.



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Saturday, August 24, 2013

Forgotten review: Ashen Winter

Ashen Winter (Ashfall, #2)Ashen Winter by Mike Mullin

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


In the second book of a planned trilogy, Mullin's focus moves from the horrors of a ruined world (thanks to a huge volcanic eruption in Yellowstone) to the horrors of the people left in that ruined world and the horrific things they'll do when trying to survive. In the meantime, teenage boys can still be immature, and mothers are still overbearing. I'm looking forward to the next volume.



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Tuesday, August 20, 2013

Lots of books!

First the reviews:

Ancestor, by Scott Sigler

Forty Signs of Rain, by Kim Stanley Robinson

Fifty Degrees Below, by Kim Stanley Robinson

Spillover, by David Quammen

Now the rest.

Yes, it's been 2 months since I've finished a book, for a variety of reasons. First, I didn't want to get involved in another nonfic book until I finished Spillover, which was loooong (but totally worth it). Fictionwise, I just didn't get into anything for a bit. On the homefront, I was busy knitting and Netflixing, and...

Life has gotten really weird and life-changing recently. When the summer started, Spouse and I were seriously contemplating leaving the New Orleans area. I couldn't find a library job, the state legislature is batshit insane, and Spouse thought it would be rather difficult to be a family attorney doing crazy things like trying to help women and gay people (crazy for LA at least, where change won't happen until at least 2 more generations die off, although between the chemical and oil industries that may happen sooner than later). We both applied for positions in the Bay area, and I made it to the second round of the hiring process for my wet dream medical librarian job when...

I got a library job here, at last, and everything changed once again. Because the position would involve a pay cut and because Spouse still doesn't have a professional job, keeping our house was simply untenable. So, with some cash from my 401K at former job, we're going to clean it up a bit and put it on the market this fall. We're on the sliver by the river, and I don't expect we'll have any problems selling. With the money from the sale, we can dig ourselves out of the financial hole that Spouse's delayed re-entry into Grown-Up Land has caused. And I can finally get to enjoy New Orleans again, going out with friends (I actually have some!) to eat and hear music and maybe Spouse if he's good.

And in the midst of all this, I was sending resumes, prepping for interviews, and doing the work of at least 2 people since we were so understaffed (for about 3 weeks, I brought editing home every night).

So it's been a busy, crazy summer, and the fall looks to be similarly stress inducing (getting the house ready to sell, finding a rental, seeing if Spouse graduates and registers for the bar exam, and digging in to the new job, which is going quite well so far). Hopefully it won't be another 2 months before I finish a book.