Year in Review - 2014

Another year, another end of year look back!  My Goodreads tally for books read this year is 80 81 books, which is quite a few books down from my previous year tally of 121!  I need to up my game!  There were some new developments for my blog this year - like a new blog layout which I still love, and a sudden focus on things Star Trek.  It's so funny to think how quickly a fandom can take over my life.  Last year, I had mentioned bringing down the number of my posts to four a week, and I'm glad I've been able to maintain that for the most part and I think it has really benefited me to have that extra time to do other things.  The past couple months have been especially busy for me, but I'm sure things will settle down now and I'll get back into my rhythm.

I wonder if other bloggers think throughout the year, when they finish a fantastic book - "This is the best book I've read this year".  Or do bloggers only think about it at the end of the year?  I do tend to think about it throughout the year, and already set the order in my head.  My picks below were already in my head by the time I drew up this post, so this post was very easy to set up!

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Favorite and Not So Favorite Genres

About a month ago Lola at Lola's Reviews wrote a post on the book genres she loved and the ones she didn't like so much, and I liked the idea of talking about what appeals to me in stories and why, so I'm doing the same!  With many thanks to Lola!

My Favorite Genres

Gothic Fiction: Because Jane Eyre is my favorite book, I think this genre appeals to me the most.  There's suspense, romance and melodrama, and that sense of heightened emotion really appeals to me!  And there's something about the darkness of the story that captures me as well - light paranormal aspects are interesting to me for the sense of danger it conveys and the otherworldly, mysterious side of it.  Gothic stories can be like fantasy, but more grounded in reality compared to fantasy.

Fantasy: This is my second favorite genre since apparently I do like fantastical aspects to take me out of reality.  And for me, European medieval based fantasy is more appealing - as opposed to urban fantasy or fantasy that takes place in other cultures.  There's something that feels right about castles, kings, and knights in fantasy stories.  It takes me to a period of time that I would like to experience (although I'm sure it would not be as fun for me in reality!)

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Suspense Sundays (130) Dynamite Run

Suspense was a radio series from 1942 to 1962.  I have a fondness for "Old Time Radio" as we call it now, and Suspense is my favorite show.  It sets up weird, dark, scary, or intriguing stories with a plot twist in the end, and all in half an hour.  For Suspense Sundays I'll give a short review of an episode.

"Dynamite Run"

Air date: December 6, 1959
Starring Mason Adams

>>Episodes here<<

Ben plans to do one more dangerous dynamite delivery for the sake of his sick kid and his wife.  On the drive, he meets a man who needs a jump start to his car, but Ben declines because his cargo is just too dangerous.  But the man decides to hijack the truck because he just robbed the bank earlier that day and needed a new getaway vehicle.  And people tend to stay away from the TNT truck.

The dangers of a dynamite delivery is something I've not thought of before - I'm sure it's much safer now, but it's crazy that people put their life on the line for that decades ago.  The bank robber though seemed to have taken on the risk with no fear which of course didn't work well in his favor.  This was a so-so story overall though, it's pretty silly that the bank robber would choose the TNT truck over other available cars just because people won't bother him.  He could still getaway faster in a car.

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas everyone!  Because Christmas is my favorite holiday, I decided to celebrate it by answering some Christmas favorites questions.  Please do comment with your favorites if you wish!

Favorite Christmas--

Song

Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas 
I pretty much love to listen to this song year round!  There's something so poignant about the lyrics that touches me!

Movie
Home Alone
Not a traditional Christmas story at all, but such a solid film, and really unexpectedly touching.  With my Christmas anything I guess I like it to move me in some way.

Story
The Gift of the Magi by O. Henry
Another touching story - where two people realize that what they already have is more important than what they can buy.  And it's a very neatly done short story!

Food
Harvest Pie
There's a chain restaurant around here called Coco's, and they do this really yummy version of a pumpkin pie with a layer of whipped, creamy pumpkin goodness on top.  So fattening.  But delicious!

Scent
Pine
I just had to include this question because of how much I love the smell of pine.  Not a cleaners type scent, but the deep woodsy smell from a Christmas tree.  It's really comforting!

Review: Star Trek: Silent Weapons

Star Trek: Silent Weapons (Cold Equations #2)
by David Mack
Science Fiction
Amazon  /  Goodreads

Plot Summary:

The second book in a new trilogy by the national bestselling author of Star Trek: Destiny!

Three years after the disastrous final Borg Invasion, a bitter cold war against the Typhon Pact has pushed Starfleet’s resources to the breaking point. Now the rise of a dangerous new technology threatens to destroy the Federation from within. Captain Jean-Luc Picard and the Enterprise crew answer a distress call, only to become targets in a deadly game of deception. To protect a vital diplomatic mission, they must find a way to identify the spies hiding in their midst, before it’s too late. But Worf soon realizes the crew’s every move has been predicted: Someone is using them as pawns. And the closer they get to exposing their enemy, the deeper they spiral into its trap…

Review:

After thoroughly enjoying the first book in this series, I dived right into the second because the author did such a great job capturing the experience of being in the Trek world.  The world-building and the characters were again amazing in this book - there are so many details that bring everything to life perfectly.  The plot however was not as absorbing for me.

There was a lot going on in this book, but it was all sort of a mystery until the very end as the author kept jumping to the actions of different groups of people and for some groups it was never clear what they were really doing until the end.  And it was a long wait for me to find out.  To the point that I became disinterested in the action many times.  Unfortunately the pacing just felt very off and I felt that I almost didn't care what the answer was.  "Almost" because I did still keep reading.  The final few chapters of the book did wrap things up nicely and set up even more mystery for the third book.

The technical aspects of the world was the highlight for me though as there are some ideas that are really exciting when it comes to how advance the technology is.  There are social responsibility questions raised too about those advancements which is perfectly in keeping with the Trekkian philosophy.  Even though the plot was disappointing to me in many ways, I was impressed again with how well the author writes for Star Trek.  And I'm hoping that this book is merely suffering a bit from middle book syndrome.

Suspense Sundays (129) Leiningen vs the Ants

Suspense was a radio series from 1942 to 1962.  I have a fondness for "Old Time Radio" as we call it now, and Suspense is my favorite show.  It sets up weird, dark, scary, or intriguing stories with a plot twist in the end, and all in half an hour.  For Suspense Sundays I'll give a short review of an episode.

"Leiningen vs the Ants"

Air date: November 29, 1959
Starring Luis Van Rooten

>>Episodes here<<

Leiningen is determined to defend his plantation against a swarm of ants.  They are as big as a man's thumb, and can strip a man to the bone.  There are tense scenes of ants crossing the moat and shovel to ant combat.

Apparently this is a classic short story written by Carl Stephenson, but I kinda felt this was a ridiculous story.  I guess army ants are very dangerous and deadly, but I don't really have a visual for that, so the story just fell flat for me.  And the suspense didn't grab me, as I never really felt sympathetic to Leningen's plight.  

Star Trek Convention San Francisco

(L-R: Denise Crosby, Jonathan Frakes, Marina Sirtis, Brent Spiner, John de Lancie, Michael Dorn

This photo is sadly washed out, but I love that Marina was relaxing on Jonathan ;)

It's been more than a year since I started watching Star Trek.  I've become very enamored with the message of the show, the intriguing storylines and the wonderful characters.  And with so many different series, it is such a rich world!  So last week I went to the Star Trek convention in San Francisco.  To tell the truth, the fact that so many of the TNG cast was going to be there was the major draw.  Unfortunately I just haven't gotten to watching Voyager and Enterprise yet, and most of the other actors were from those series.  I hope I don't really regret not getting their autograph!  (Although autographs and photo-ops are so pricey!)

For the sake of the length of this post I'll pass over all the stress I had getting to San Francisco (and later getting out!) because of the storm and delayed flights.  I arrived and was ready to go Friday morning.  The TNG crew weren't there right when the convention started though so I spent time in the main room where they held all the panels and talks.  I have to say that the convention was on a much smaller scale than I was expecting.  I've only been to the Doctor Who convention here in L.A., and it has multiple panel rooms and a much larger vendor room.  There are some pros and cons to smaller conventions I think, and one of the cons is that there's not alot going on.  Going through the vendor room was quick, and there were a few panels I was not that interested in seeing.  Mostly if it was one of the actors talking, I really wanted to see that.  I did see two of the actors to play Klingons - Robert O'Reilly (Gowron) and J.G. Hertzler (Martok) and they were both in full Klingon makeup!  So I have no idea what they really look like.  But it was very cool to see them walking around completely made up.  Garrett Wang and Robert Picardo were there as well and I was glad I caught their panel - originally Sean Kenney was doing a talk, but his flight was delayed so they put on Garrett and Robert together and they were really fun to listen to!  Unfortunately I wasn't familiar with their characters. 

Around noon, I noticed the first TNG cast member at his signing table - Brent Spiner!  YAY!  Data is my favorite, so Brent was priority 1 for me.  I managed to tell him how much I enjoyed his album Dreamland and also I had him sign my commonplace book and when he asked me what I would like him to write, I couldn't think of anything so he said 'here' and wrote something down.  I read it back after and lo and behold he actually just wrote "here".  That amused me.  He also called me darling! ;)  Michael Dorn came in soon after that and after pretending to punch Brent in the face, he went to his table.  I got his autograph and asked him why he didn't tweet anymore, and he gave a shake of his head and said he gave it up.  Marina Sirtis was next and the funny thing was when I went up to her, the first thing she said was that I'm beautiful!  Which was so lovely, but when I was waiting in line for her, I was just thinking how gorgeous she was and still is, so maybe she is half betazoid? :D  With Jonathan Frakes I told him how I used to watch Beyond Belief with my family when I was younger (has anyone seen that show?) and we talked a bit about that.  

The big panel that Friday evening was the TNG reunion talk which was a glorious hour-ish of stories and teasing.  I made a quick audio of what I thought was one of the funniest moments in the talk when someone asked what was the worst scenes/episodes of Star Trek the cast had to act in.  Hilarious bashing of 'Code of Honor' and 'Justice' ensue.

Saturday, my friends were able to meet up with me at the convention, but they aren't big Trek fans, so they weren't really as into it, I could tell.  So since I had accomplished most everything I wanted to accomplish the day before, I suggested we head over to the nearby shopping town of Burlingame and that is what we did.  We made it back in the late afternoon though because I wanted to see Kate Mulgrew's panel.  Since she was the only captain at the convention.  And you. guys.  Kate Mulgrew is an amazing woman!  I could not believe how much I adored her just from hearing her speak.  She has such presence and grace!  She talked about the circumstances behind her writing her first book - a memoir (which sounds really interesting, and not out yet) and then segued into talking about working on Orange is the New Black.   And then took questions which she answered with humor and sometimes biting truth.  Someone asked her if there was sexism on the series while she was on and how she dealt with it, and it was kind of heartbreaking how strongly she wanted Captain Janeway to be regarded just as highly as the other Captains, but there were times when the people behind the scenes struggled with letting her just be the Captain.  And then there was a question about a quote of which I'm not sure of the origin - perhaps someone can let me know here - something about coming from oblivion and going back into oblivion(?).  Kate then talked about facing death and how it's not a cause for despair but to appreciate life which is wondrous in itself.  I was so moved by her answer (which of course I can't do justice to in this post.)  I am really looking forward to watching Voyager now and seeing what the show is all about.

Queen Kate Mulgrew!

I didn't attend the convention on Sunday (even though George Takei was going to be there!) because I had plans to go to the Dicken's Christmas Faire that day and that was a ton of fun!  I didn't really do as much at this convention as I was expecting.   I mean I accomplished everything I wanted, but I was expecting more to do.   I think the way it was organized was a bit awkward - with such short photo-op opportunities, and the fact that unless you had a Gold or Silver ticket you had to re-register every day (so annoying).  Also annoying that we had to re-register for the 'special' TNG reunion panel.  I think the Doctor Who convention (Gallifrey One) is much better run, and much more fan-friendly so in a way I'm not really keen to do another Star Trek convention run by Creation Entertainment.  Unless they have some stars I really want to see.  Of course I am so happy I went though, and I had a great experience meeting the actors!

One last picture - with Marina wearing Brent's hat!

Review: Olalla

Olalla
by Robert Louis Stevenson
Gothic short story
Amazon  /  Goodreads

Plot Summary:

"Do you know that house?" I said, pointing to the "residencia." The gaunt peasant, who had just told me he had much frequented these mountains in former years, looked at me darkly and crossed himself.

"Too well," he said. "It was there that one of my comrades sold himself to Satan; the Virgin shield us from temptation He has paid the price and is now burning in the reddest place in Hell."

He then spoke words that had the ring of prophecy, leaving me shaking with terror. Which way to turn I knew not. But fate decided for me: for while still hesitating I beheld the veiled figure of a woman drawing nearer up the pathway . . .

"Olalla" is the tale of an Englishman's search for romance in distant lands, by the author of "Kidnapped."

Review:

Olalla is a short story that is said to have helped inspire Dracula by Bram Stoker.  There are very interesting Gothic elements to this story - with the dark and mysterious house, a decline in noble blood, strange occurrences at night and a beautiful young woman.  But the story as a whole feels like a study in ambiguity.  There's much left to the imagination in regards to what exactly is going on in the 'residencia', what the fate of the family is, and what happened in their past.  Even the narrator goes nameless, as we see from his point of view, that something is not quite right in the house.  That level of ambiguity is a double edged sword in my opinion, because on the one hand, not knowing has a deceptive creepiness to it - when you finish the story you wonder what it all meant, and the imagination can make things pretty creepy.  But on the other hand, it is pretty frustrating to not know and not get that closure.

As this story includes some elements of vampire lore, that made me more interested while reading, but I was a bit frustrated by the ambiguous ending.  However, thinking over the story after, I realize it's a great piece of atmospheric writing.  The romance is stereotypical in how the main character falls for the daughter first by seeing her features in a painting, and then being overwhelmed when he sees her in the flesh.  The pathos of their relationship was the best part though, as they apparently have some obstacles to happiness (although it's not clear what exactly that is).

I think this is a intriguing short story on many levels, and especially interesting for people who like vampire-ish stories.  I can see why it has become mostly forgotten though, when more detailed and salacious stories like Dracula and Carmilla eclipsed it through the years.

Many thanks to N.B. Roberts who recommended this story to me, and who is also planning to include some element of this story in one of her Shadows of the World books!

A Book Blogger's Life - in Gifs!

It's been a particularly busy few weeks for me, and I feel like I haven't had enough time to properly schedule posts, so here - have a fun (and easy) gif post! :)  I don't know why gifs are so fun to look at but to justify all the time I have spent looking at them - I've put together this post!  And hopefully distract people from the sad fact that I have not been visiting and commenting as much for awhile now!  But I hope to get back on track soon!

Reading Life:

I'm. Reading.

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Suspense Sundays (128) The Thimble

Suspense was a radio series from 1942 to 1962.  I have a fondness for "Old Time Radio" as we call it now, and Suspense is my favorite show.  It sets up weird, dark, scary, or intriguing stories with a plot twist in the end, and all in half an hour.  For Suspense Sundays I'll give a short review of an episode.

"The Thimble"

Air date: November 22, 1959
Starring Whitfield Connor

>>Episodes here<<

A distraught Miss O'Neal asks the assistant D.A. to investigate the death of her mother because she believes it was murder but her mother's physician (also romantically involved with the mother) refuses to perform an autopsy and insists cause of death was a heart attack.  Miss O'Neal does not believe her mother had heart problems, but from the reports the physician presents, it's clear that she did.  So was it murder?

This was a rather excellent little murder mystery.  There were many moments when I was just completely unsure whether there was a crime and who is actually guilty.  This felt different from the normal Suspense episodes I listen to, because it felt so much like a procedural.  But there is a very neat little twist in the end, which the title of the episode hints at, but even with that hint, I didn't guess it before the solution was revealed.

Review: Touch Not the Cat

Touch Not the Cat
by Mary Stewart
Romance/Suspense
Amazon  /  Goodreads

Plot Summary:

Bryony Ashley knows that Ashley Court, the grand estate, is both hell and paradise -- once elegant and beautiful, yet shrouded in shadow. After the tragic death of her father, Bryony returns from abroad to find that his estate is to become the responsibility of her cousin Emory. Her family's estate with its load of debt is no longer her worry. Still, her father's final, dire warning about a terrible family curse haunts her days and her dreams. And there is something odd about her father's sudden death...

Bryony has inherited the Ashley 'Sight' and so has one of the Ashleys. Since childhood the two have communicated through thought patterns, though Bryony has no idea of his identity. Devastated, she believes, that the mysterious stranger is her destiny... the lover-to-be who waits for her now at Ashley Court. Now she is determined to find him. But passion is not all that will greet Bryony upon her return -- for the crumbling walls of the old mansion guard dark secrets, tragic memories... and inescapable peril.

Review:

I generally enjoy Mary Stewart's brand of romantic suspense - especially when it's set in English manor homes - but this book was a very slow starter for me.  It became very intriguing around the midway point, and then tapered off until a nail-bitingly suspenseful finale.  Unfortunately, that was not enough to make me love this book.

The voice of this story is very English - although from the 1970s.  This book is contemporary with that time, so it makes sense, and I found that aspect to be pretty delightful.  The way the characters spoke and carried themselves seemed so quaint and nostalgic somehow, and I appreciated how much this book seemed like a time capsule of that time.

Byrony is faced with many dilemmas throughout the narrative, but her approach to dealing with it was so drawn out and lackadaisical that I found the pace to be painfully slow at times.  There's more than one mystery brewing though and the focus is much more on the characters involved and how much Byrony really knows about her cousins so I felt this was a well constructed story.  The suspense, slow as it was to build, was the best part of the story however, as the romance really fell flat for me.  Starting with the fact that some of the characters involved are cousins and it's strange to me that a relationship between them seems fine in the 1970s.  There's also the matter of Byrony knowing the person she's in love with all her life because of the Ashley 'gift' and yet she doesn't know his exact identity.  Which seems pretty hard to believe.

The story's finale really made up for a lot of my dulling interest in the book however, because it was a bit shocking in a way and fraught with danger.  Yes, it was somewhat predictable, but I still was eager to know how it would all turn out.  However, this was not one of Mary Stewart's best books for me, but a suspense story with an intriguing idea that took a long time to develop.

Review: Star Trek: The Persistence of Memory

Star Trek: The Persistence of Memory (Cold Equations #1)
by David Mack
Science Fiction
Amazon  /  Goodreads

Plot Summary:

A BRAZEN HEIST Captain Jean-Luc Picard and the Enterprise crew race to find out who has stolen Data’s android brother B-4—and for what sinister purpose.

A BROKEN PROMISE One desperate father risks all for the son he abandoned forty years ago—but is he ready to pay the price for redemption?

A DARING MISSION Against overwhelming odds, and with time running out, Commander Worf has only one chance to avert a disaster. But how high a price will he pay for victory?

Review:

This book managed to capture the world of Star Trek along with strong science fiction writing.  The story feels like a proper Star Trek adventure but it's not just about the characters because this book delivers a lot of detail when it comes to the technical aspects and the realities of the future. I think that's the author's strength - how he manages to bring so much detail to make this book such a strong Star Trek novel.  I was so impressed by how immersive this was.

This book delves into the backstory of Dr. Noonien Soong, creator of androids, and manages to bring a character we only see briefly in the TV series, to a very believable and detailed life.  The author also made a lot of sense in how he characterized Dr. Soong, as I felt he drew well from what we knew about the character to make him a fully realized and nuanced person.  His story makes up a large part of the narrative and even though most of it is backstory, I thought it was the most interesting part of the book.

The mystery behind who is interested in the Soong type androids is the major plot line of this story, and it's a great suspenseful plot point to hold the whole narrative together.  The mission the Enterprise undertakes in the end is a great finale to this book - full of danger, heroism, and loss unfortunately.  It is a daring mission as the plot synopsis promises, and it's very exciting!

There's something that happens in this book that made me really happy which I can't mention for fear of spoilers, but I thought I should say that is another reason why I enjoyed this book so much.  As a Trek novel and as a science fiction adventure, I highly recommend this book!

Thoughts on Peter Pan Live!

Last week, NBC aired another live musical on TV - this time of Peter Pan - a musical which I thought I was not familiar with, but as it turns out I was in that so much of what I know about Peter Pan comes from the way the story is told in this show.  I watched the 'Making of' special that aired the Thanksgiving week before this, so I was in a way prepared for some of my thoughts and feelings on the actual production.  Thankfully they went with an actress who could really pull off the lead with Allison Williams as Peter Pan.  There were a few times in the beginning when she sounded out of breath so I attributed that to her not going for some of the big notes in her first couple numbers, but later she was fantastic, and I really enjoyed her overall performance.

Casting-wise they really did a great job in every respect (save one) especially with bringing back Christian Borle (it would be so cool if he was in a role in every NBC live musical production).  I thought Christian really subtly nailed both performances of Mr. Darling and Smee.  Alanna Saunder's Tiger Lily was excellent too - she was so believable in the role, and I loved how she seemed the perfect leader for the Indians.  Mrs. Darling - Kellie O'Hara - geez what a wonderful voice! I wish she was in the production more.

Captain Hook was an interesting choice.  On the one hand, I completely understand why they cast Christopher Walken - for the publicity, and the fact that he is a respected actor.  But on the other hand, he seemed very flat the whole way through.  And even barely committed to the role which was odd since it seemed like he wanted the part.  And of course, he can't really sing.  But I do love that NBC embraced that and had a couple moments where they simply cut back to the production during commercials to show Capt. Hook still singing and holding that awkward, awful sounding note.  It felt like NBC knew that people were tuning in to see how bad this could be, and they had a sense of humor about it.  I wouldn't have really minded that he can't sing actually if only Walken had embraced the part more.  My private wish was that they got Dustin Hoffman to do it - it would have been fantastic to see him as Hook again.  And Dustin's version of Hook just seems perfect for this production.

Overall then, I thought this wasn't a bad or a even a good production.  It was just there.  I enjoyed the fact that I could see a live musical on TV, but I wish that if they continue this, they don't try to exclusively seek musicals that are so family-oriented.  The story and music for this show is okay to me (admittedly I'm not the biggest fan of the story of Peter Pan - although I love the movie Hook, so maybe if it's done right...)  I didn't really get the Peter and Wendy dynamic in this musical because Wendy is just being creepy around Peter.  And I don't even get why Tiger Lily, Tinkerbell and Wendy are so obsessed with him...  He's kind of a brat.  The only song that I really enjoyed was "I Won't Grow Up" which is probably going to go into my iTunes library soon.  One thing that really surprised me though was how distracted I was by seeing the lines that hoisted people up for flying!

If they do another live musical, I really hope it's a better musical, but I am afraid that since the ratings for this wasn't nearly as good as The Sound of Music last year, they are going to go for another less than talented, but well known lead.  Fingers crossed that they will find someone talented enough to carry a live production!

Suspense Sundays (127) Companion

Suspense was a radio series from 1942 to 1962.  I have a fondness for "Old Time Radio" as we call it now, and Suspense is my favorite show.  It sets up weird, dark, scary, or intriguing stories with a plot twist in the end, and all in half an hour.  For Suspense Sundays I'll give a short review of an episode.

"Companion"

Air date: November 15, 1959
Starring Elizabeth Lawrence and Rita Lloyd

>>Episodes here<<

Lois takes on a companion to help her care for her invalid mother.  Lois needs the help, especially with her husband away on business so much of the time.  When the companion - Ms. Lord - arrives, Lois starts to feel that something is wrong.  Ms. Lord is so cold and unfriendly and on a dark and stormy night Lois finds the telephone line has been cut and Ms. Lord carries a gun in her handbag.

I was so mad at Lois and her mother for not confronting Ms. Lord right away!  They acted like they were helpless when they were far from it.  There were many tension filled scenes as Lois tried to find some way to appease Ms. Lord and she didn't seem like she was having any of it.  It seemed like it would have been so easy to just lock Ms. Lord in her room or something.  But of course, there is a twist and nothing is at it seemed.  I loved the twist on this one actually - it made so much sense and I never saw it coming!

Review: Jane F---ing Eyre

Jane F---ing Eyre
by J.K. Really
Humor/Mashup
Amazon  /  Goodreads

Plot Summary:

"You can trust and believe I had the childhood from hell. When my spoiled-ass cousins weren't cracking me upside the head with leather-bound novels, I was getting locked in the family murder room by my bitchface Aunt. Just the fact we even had a murder room should tell you something about the next level kind of bullshit I endured."

Jane F---ing Eyre is the Victorian gothic romance Jane Eyre, retold by a heroine who's ready to get real. While Charlotte Bronte's classic has spawned dozens of film iterations, it's never been updated, probably because Mr. Rochester's little tricks wouldn't fly with any woman navigating the dating scene today. Re-telling this iconic piece of literature as a mashup of the original verbatim dialogue and what Jane's thinking with her Victorian filter off, allows fans to experience the romance, the horror, and the passive-aggressive jabs of Ms. Fairfax again as though for the first time... but with all the boring parts cut out.

Review:

You know that strangled, eruptive laugh that comes out sometimes when you are surprised into laughing at something?  Well that happened to me a lot with this novella.  As a huge fan of the original, I wasn't expecting to be so delighted and entertained by this retelling.  I always thought Jane had a lot of restrained sass in her in the original novel, and it's wonderful to get all that sass unrestrained in this book.  To the extent that I wanted to high-five this real talking Jane multiple times!

What really impressed me too with this novel, was how spoken dialogue, as they were said in the original novel, was repeated in this book, but the real story is told through Jane's irreverent internal commentary.  And both worked together so well!  Profane and saucy comments followed logically from what Jane actually says - given that she has to hold back from really speaking her mind.  This book does a great job of mashing up the original novel with this extremely cheeky Jane.

The last fourth of the novella is a little rushed, and I would have wanted to read more of Jane's thoughts on St. John, but perhaps there's only so many times Jane can inwardly curse out someone.  If you are sensitive to bad language then this isn't for you, but for a fun, modern and hilarious interpretation of Jane's story, you should definitely give this a read!  And now I'm going to have trouble not seeing Mrs. Fairfax as a hater.

And in the author's note at the end, it says she's working on a version of Pride and Prejudice!

Review: Imzadi

Star Trek The Next Generation: Imzadi
by Peter David
Science Fiction
Amazon  /  Goodreads

Plot Summary:

Years before they served together on board the "U.S.S. Enterprise." Commander William Riker and ship's counselor Deanna Troi had a tempestuous love affair on her home planet of Betazed. Now, their passions have cooled and they serve together as friends. Yet the memories of that time linger and Riker and Troi remain "Imzadi" -- a powerful Betazoid term that describes the enduring bond they still share.

During delicate negotiations with an aggressive race called the Sindareen. Deanna Troi mysteriously falls ill...and dies. But her death is only the beginning of the adventure for Commander Riker -- an adventure that will take him across time, pit him against one of his closest friends, and force him to choose between Starfleet's strictest rule and the one he calls "Imzadi."

Review:

There is so much depth to this story.  To the realization of the characters, the world of Betazed and what it's like being Betazoid, and to the relationship between Riker and Troi which is never really explored on the show.  It also is a beautifully done romance which goes so well with a story that involves the Guardian of Forever (which is from the Original series episode "The City on the Edge of Forever.")  And it's beautifully done because there are complications to the romance, and to Riker's actions, which made for some very interesting dilemmas that even Data wasn't able to see his way through clearly.  The characterizations of the characters we are familiar with was spot on, although I was sometimes at some doubt to Data's decision-making in the story, since I think as a character he can be swayed from logic sometimes by loyalty.

The story combines action, adventure, time travel and romance to create a very moving tribute to the relationship of Riker and Troi, and I'm a little sad that the potential of exploring their romance and history more wasn't a real part of the show.  But perhaps it was only through this novel that their complicated relationship could be explored and come off so believably.  Because this book does fit in so well with the way the characters developed on the show.

This is a book that transcends the TV show and fully captures the world and the characters in an absorbing, suspenseful and touching read.  It is apparent that this book came out before the end of the TV series as there are some changes from canon as it were, but this was ultimately such a satisfying and believable extension of the the characters' stories that I wish it was canon.

Stephenie Meyer book signing from 2007

I was remembering my first book signing experience recently and went back and found my old livejournal blog post about seeing Stephenie Meyer when she was on tour for Eclipse.  It was a great memory for me, especially since I'm such a fan of Twilight, that I wanted to talk about it on my blog now.  And luckily I made an audio of the Q&A for that signing so I can relive that again.  It's so strange to think that this was before things got really crazy with Twilight mania.  The movie hadn't come out yet, but there was still an enthusiasm for Stephenie that I haven't really seen for any single YA author book signing I've been to yet.  I got to the event and was pretty surprised to see how many people came and how many were showing their Team Edward or Team Jacob support.  (I was wearing a Team Edward shirt btw!)  I'm not sure how many were there, but I was pretty taken aback at seeing so many fans of this series.  But definitely things were escalated when Breaking Dawn came out the next year and Stephenie had to have her signing at Royce Hall at UCLA which is a 1,800 seat theatre!

The Q&A went by very quickly - Stephenie didn't give a speech, but began taking questions immediately.  What I was struck with, listening to this audio again after so many years, was how specific the questions asked were.  There were so many aspects of these books that everyone had throughly thought about and sometimes it felt like people were asking about real people.  And that was probably aided by the answers Stephenie gave which were so specific as well.  It was interesting to hear her talk about these characters in that way.  For instance there was a question on what was Jacob's relationship with Bella now that she had chosen Edward.  Which led to Stephenie remarking that she heard some boos when Jacob's name was mentioned and she felt for him because Edward can take care of himself, but Jacob is still a kid.

One fun and oddly specific question was 'are vampires ticklish' which Stephenie said she had never been asked before.  Her answer was she didn't know but she was sure Emmett would try.

At the very beginning of the Q&A Stephenie thanks the audience for making her feel like a rock star, and it's funny to hear people cheer so much in the audio - she does seem like a rock star.  So now here's a clip!  The audio recorder I used to make this 7 years ago was not as good as my iPhone so the sound is tinny unfortunately.  I thought this particular clip was interesting because the first question asked is about the status of the movie.  There's also questions about what does The Host being an 'adult' book mean, on the distinct personalities of her characters, who should play Edward and who she likes more Edward or Jacob. (Such a diplomatic answer on that last one)

The signing itself I really don't remember much.  I think it took awhile to get to Stephenie, but I think the line went much longer behind me.  Stephenie was only personalizing one book, and I feel like there was a three book limit too for her autograph.  I think the only thing I managed to say to her besides thanks is to ask if her hand hurts from all the signing.  Really original.  (I still don't know how authors can sign for so long!)