hawkwing_lb: (Default)
2013-01-23 08:21 pm

Books 2013: also, exercise log

Log: 12km exercise bike in 30:30, benchpress 3x10 @20kg, bicep curl 4x5 @10kg/arm, back extensions 3x10, lat raises 3x12 @5kg/arm, faily attempt at chin-ups (perhaps one whole wobbly chinner, not sure), treadmill 1 mile in 14 minutes, intervals (pathetic, will have to relearn how to run), six minutes crosstrainer, 500m rowing machine.

Mass: 102.7-103.4kg.




Books 2013: 12-24


12-22. Kerry Greenwood, Blood And Circuses (1994), Ruddy Gore (1995), Urn Burial (1996), Raisins and Almonds (1997), Death Before Wicket (1999), Away With the Fairies (2001), Murder in Montparnasse (2002), The Castlemaine Murders (2003), Queen of the Flowers (2004), Death By Water (2005), Murder in the Dark (2006). Ebooks.

Cosy mysteries starring the Hon. Phryne Fisher. Readable, undemanding, pleasantly period and wish-fulfillment.


23. Deb Taber, Necessary Ill. Aqueduct Press, 2013. Forthcoming, copy courtesy of Aqueduct Press.

Review forthcoming, I hope, from Tor.com. An interesting if somewhat odd science-fictional novel.


24. Aliette de Bodard, On a Red Station, Drifting. Immersion Press, 2012.

Marvelous, delightful space opera novelette. Dear world: please read this and put it on awards ballots, kthnx.




If I read anything else, I've forgotten. Have an interesting link:

Everything Is Nice on "A Worm In The Well".
hawkwing_lb: (Helps if they think you're crazy)
2013-01-13 09:22 pm

Books 2013: reviews, research, and other things that begin with R

Books 2013: 9-11


9. John Scalzi, Redshirts. Tor, 2012. Review copy from Vector.

A shallow, disappointing novel far too in love with its own meta and conceit.


10. Angélica Gorodischer, Trafalgar. Small Beer Press, 2013. Translated from the Spanish by Amalia Gladhart. Review copy courtesy of the publisher.

Luminous. Delightful. Magical realism for science fiction. Short incidents related conversationally, linked by the character of Trafalgar Medrano. Fantastic. Go read it.


11. Arthur Kleinman, M.D., The Illness Narratives: Suffering, Healing, & the Human Condition. Basic Books, 1988.

Read for research. A very readable book on chronic illness, life-worlds of the patient, and the physician-patient relationship. Most interesting and quite applicable.
hawkwing_lb: (Ned virtue)
2013-01-10 06:34 pm

Books 2013: a handful of mysteries

Books 2013: 4-8

4-8. Kerry Greenwood, Cocaine Blues, Flying Too High, Murder on the Ballarat Train, Death at Victoria Dock and The Green Mill Murder. Ebooks.

Pleasantly, eucatastrophic mysteries set in 1920s Melbourne Australia, starring the Hon. Miss Phryne Fisher, Lady Detective, an independently wealthy woman whose confidence and savoir-faire (and fashion sense, and beauty, and interesting friends) make her a wish-fulfillment fantasy in the best possible way.

Entertainingly light.




I am home from Berlin. Not leaving house for a while, I think. Ohgodsomuchtodostill.
hawkwing_lb: (Mordin wrong)
2013-01-04 09:26 pm

Books 2013: this year I mean to read more slowly

Books 2013: 1-3


1. Felix Gilman, The Rise of Ransom City. Tor, 2012. Review copy from the publisher.

With luck, review appearing in spring Ideo. Odd, compelling, interesting, sometimes slow book.


2. Pam Rosenthal, The Edge of Impropriety. Ebook.

Interesting and entertaining historical love story.


3. Meredith Duran, A Lady's Lessons In Scandal. Ebook.

Entertaining, despite the title.




My head hurts. This seems to me to be unfair.