Scooter Chronicles

On Sunday afternoon I finished reading “The Complete Persepolis” by Marjane Satrapi. This book contained both parts of the “Persepolis” story that were originally published as two separate books.

“Persepolis” is a memoir of Satrapi’s life from 1979 to 1994 (from approximately the ages of 9 to 24). It is similar to a graphic novel. This is part of what Amazon has listed as the “product description”:

“Persepolis” is the story of Satrapi’s unforgettable childhood and coming of age within a large and loving family in Tehran during the...

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On Friday afternoon I finished reading “The Brief Life of Oscar Wao”, the debut novel by Junot Diaz, which also won the 2008 Pulitzer Prize for fiction.

From Publishers Weekly, a review by Matthew Sharpe will have to serve as a plot synopsis for my review:

A reader might at first be surprised by how many chapters of a book entitled The Brief and Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao are devoted not to its sci fi–and–fantasy-gobbling nerd-hero but to his sister, his mother and his grandfather. However, Junot Diaz’s dark and exuberant first novel makes...

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On Wednesday at lunch, I finished reading “Last Dragon”, the debut novel by J. M. McDermott.

I mentioned in a meme before that I have never received an “advanced reader copy” (or ARC’s for short) of a novel before. I have come across a few people on the internet that have enough clout that they do get them. Well, by luck, I am a member of LibraryThing.Com and recently members have been able to sign up for ARC’s of certain books. They are sent out to you directly from the publisher. Though it seems that it is AFTER the book is released. My thinking...

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This past Sunday I finally finished reading “A Soldier of the Great War” by Mark Helprin.

For a synopsis, I am using Barbara Hoffert’s review from 1991 that appeared in Library Journal:

In summer 1964, a distinguished-looking gentleman in his seventies dismounts on principle from a streetcar that was to carry him from Rome to a distant village, instead accompanying on foot a boy denied a fare. As they walk, he tells the boy the story of his life. A young aesthete from a privileged Roman family, Alesandro Giuliani found his charmed...

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We’re Back
We got back Monday afternoon from our visit to Michigan. It was a good trip, though too short as always. The ride home was pretty good considering it rained a good portion of the way, and we had a forced stop of 30 minutes waiting for an accident to clear. Marcia was sleeping at the time, and Nigel was watching a video, so I did a crossword puzzle while waiting.

Bookworm Carnival
The Bookworm Carnival that I am hosting has finally been put together. You can see the PAGE here on my site. The theme was urban / contemporary fantasy. A few books I have read were reviewed, but some good suggestions...

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Just wanted to say thanks to those that submitted a review (or two … or more) to the 11th Edition of the Bookworm Carnival that I am hosting. The Carnival should be up sometime this weekend.

Also, I drew TWO names for books. I said that I was going to give a book away, and Dewey of The Hidden Side of a Leaf, and the SuperHost of the Carnivals, said that she would match the offer. The winners of the books are Melissa at Book Nut and Rebecca at Adventures in Reading. Congratulations! I will be talking to Dewey and then contacting both of you after the Carnival is up about your prize.

The deadline is FAST approaching! Friday as a matter of fact! If you would like to participate, and have a chance at winning a free book, you have to get those submissions into me! For more information, you can visit the special PAGE I have set up for it. You can email me with any questions. Even with me being out of town, I will be available to answer them.

New Job
I am busy already. And that’s a good thing. Right away they got me started on something. It was also a great project to start back with, refreshing my memory of a particular software they use.

Posts
Because of being busy, I haven’t been able to post much. Home life is busy with other things, and we don’t ever get to do all we want to begin with. I had been doing many of my posts from work, and post dating them. I liked the idea of having one new post a day. Why do four or five in one day? So in this respect it looked like I was always running behind on reviews of books or movies or other things in general. Now I may be running behind with them but it will...

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Another friendly reminder that I am to host the next Bookworm Carnival. The theme is Urban/Contemporary Fantasy. For suggestions or help you can look at the PAGE I set up for it. You can email me with any further questions.

And as I mentioned before, there is an added incentive to get involved. I will have a drawing of one name of those that submit a review to win a book of their choice (so long as it is under $20 and available through Amazon.Com). So send in your submissions!

On Monday morning I finished reading “Bad Monkey” by Matt Ruff. This was the third book of mine and David’s Mini Brew and Book Club. We have an elimination process we go through when choosing a book, and this was the first book that was one of my nominations.

Thanks to Amazon.Com and Publishers Weekly, here is a rundown on the plot from their review:

In this clever SF thriller from Ruff, almost everyone is a bad monkey of some kind, but only Jane Charlotte is a self-confessed member of The Department for the Final Disposition of Irredeemable Persons. Or is she? In a series...

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