hawkwing_lb: (Criminal Minds JJ what you had to do)
Last night was fairly awful. I'd just gotten to sleep when I woke myself up coughing - hacking - a phenomenon which rapidly thereafter disappeared. Just as soon as I was completely and miserably awake. So not a great night's sleep.

As it's now five o'clock and I've yet to make any great achievements, I think this qualifies as a Day Off. I guess I shouldn't be surprised...


Achievements:

Reading, four chapters Goodman. (Done.) Latin, six sentences, pronunciation.

Walking: somewhere between three and four miles, the latter half with six kilos of shopping on my back. I don't know how some people go hiking with twenty kilo packs. Seriously.


Books 2008: 102, non-fiction

102. Martin Goodman, The Roman World: 44BC - AD180 (London and New York, 1997)

Goodman, as a scholar, has most recently been acclaimed for his treatment of the relationship between Rome and Jerusalem in antiquity (Rome and Jerusalem, 2007). His particular research interests are quite visible in The Roman World, particularly in the final section, "Humans and Gods", but that's by no means a criticism: it's very useful to see a wider range of perspectives than, say, the Wells book incorporated.

The Roman World is divided into five sections, the "Introduction", which includes a brief discussion of the sources and the Roman world c.50 BCE; "Élite politics", which discusses political life and attitudes in Rome from Augustus down to Marcus Aurelius, although with less emphasis on the later emperors; "The state", which discusses the military autocracy, the operation of the state machinery, so to speak, imperial imagery, and the extent of political/cultural/economic unity; "Society", which discusses various different reactions to imperial rule**, the social and cultural organisation of the city of Rome, and a chapter dedicated to discussing in brief each of the major regions/provinces controlled by Rome; and the final section on "Humans and Gods", which is not as balanced as it could be: the chapters dealing with 'paganism', Judaism and Christianity are roughly equivalent in size, which is rather disproportionate to the relative significances of the latter two to the former in the period of the early principate. But I suspect the disproportionate weighting has more to do with Goodman's research interests than anything else.

It's an excellent overview of the early principate, with a good bit more social and economic analysis than the Wells book, well written, clearly laid out, with a number of helpful maps and a few useful illustrations. If you want a really solid introduction to the early Roman empire, this is it.


Hell and Earth came in the post yesterday. But my brain has informed me (emphatically) that it's not in the fiction place. I seem to remember this from the last time I did intensive non-fiction reading: I seem to have trouble switching back over.

I'm torn between trying to write and going to sit in a comfy chair and watch some DVDs. Maybe I'll watch some S3 M:I and come back to write when my shoulders stop hurting.

(Maybe I'll take a painkiller, too.)


*The souls of dead men live amid darkness under the earth.

**Accommodation, dissociation, and opposition: the chapter only gives the briefest overview, but reaction to empire by individiuals, communities, and lesser kingdoms is one of the most fascinating areas of study in the ancient Mediterranean, not least because in the Levant and in Egypt documentary and literary survivals make it possible to reconstruct a somewhat more extensive picture than usual.
hawkwing_lb: (Criminal Minds JJ what you had to do)
Last night was fairly awful. I'd just gotten to sleep when I woke myself up coughing - hacking - a phenomenon which rapidly thereafter disappeared. Just as soon as I was completely and miserably awake. So not a great night's sleep.

As it's now five o'clock and I've yet to make any great achievements, I think this qualifies as a Day Off. I guess I shouldn't be surprised...


Achievements:

Reading, four chapters Goodman. (Done.) Latin, six sentences, pronunciation.

Walking: somewhere between three and four miles, the latter half with six kilos of shopping on my back. I don't know how some people go hiking with twenty kilo packs. Seriously.


Books 2008: 102, non-fiction

102. Martin Goodman, The Roman World: 44BC - AD180 (London and New York, 1997)

Goodman, as a scholar, has most recently been acclaimed for his treatment of the relationship between Rome and Jerusalem in antiquity (Rome and Jerusalem, 2007). His particular research interests are quite visible in The Roman World, particularly in the final section, "Humans and Gods", but that's by no means a criticism: it's very useful to see a wider range of perspectives than, say, the Wells book incorporated.

The Roman World is divided into five sections, the "Introduction", which includes a brief discussion of the sources and the Roman world c.50 BCE; "Élite politics", which discusses political life and attitudes in Rome from Augustus down to Marcus Aurelius, although with less emphasis on the later emperors; "The state", which discusses the military autocracy, the operation of the state machinery, so to speak, imperial imagery, and the extent of political/cultural/economic unity; "Society", which discusses various different reactions to imperial rule**, the social and cultural organisation of the city of Rome, and a chapter dedicated to discussing in brief each of the major regions/provinces controlled by Rome; and the final section on "Humans and Gods", which is not as balanced as it could be: the chapters dealing with 'paganism', Judaism and Christianity are roughly equivalent in size, which is rather disproportionate to the relative significances of the latter two to the former in the period of the early principate. But I suspect the disproportionate weighting has more to do with Goodman's research interests than anything else.

It's an excellent overview of the early principate, with a good bit more social and economic analysis than the Wells book, well written, clearly laid out, with a number of helpful maps and a few useful illustrations. If you want a really solid introduction to the early Roman empire, this is it.


Hell and Earth came in the post yesterday. But my brain has informed me (emphatically) that it's not in the fiction place. I seem to remember this from the last time I did intensive non-fiction reading: I seem to have trouble switching back over.

I'm torn between trying to write and going to sit in a comfy chair and watch some DVDs. Maybe I'll watch some S3 M:I and come back to write when my shoulders stop hurting.

(Maybe I'll take a painkiller, too.)


*The souls of dead men live amid darkness under the earth.

**Accommodation, dissociation, and opposition: the chapter only gives the briefest overview, but reaction to empire by individiuals, communities, and lesser kingdoms is one of the most fascinating areas of study in the ancient Mediterranean, not least because in the Levant and in Egypt documentary and literary survivals make it possible to reconstruct a somewhat more extensive picture than usual.
hawkwing_lb: (Default)
Coming and going to and from town this afternoon, I missed delays due to flooding on the train line by about fifteen minutes each way. I guess today is a lucky day.

...Now, where do I go to get me some sandbags?


Achievements:

Reading, Breeze and Dobson. (Done.) About 80 pages of Martin Goodman, The Roman World 44BC-AD180. Greek. Latin.

Today I started translating some actual Latin sentences, albeit with one finger on the vocabulary guide and another finger on the grammatical paradigms. As an undertaking, it appears to be going reasonably well.

Climbing: Sent with much struggle a route that I could do with fair competence at the end of May. Project wall #1 (grey ~4b): fail x2. Project wall #2 (yellow ~4c): fail, but due to good advice, I can now see how it should be done, even if I can't quite do it. Project wall #3 (white ~4c): fail, but some small progress was made.

The wall's closing Fri-Wed for maintenance and to change the routes, so I guess that's the last time I see those particular routes. Alas.

Writing: .25K


Books 2008: 101, non-fiction

101. David J. Breeze and Brian Dobson, Hadrian's Wall (London, 2000, 4th edition).

I feel justified in stating that this is not a book for the general reader. This is the book you read if you want an introduction to Wall scholarship.

To quote from the Preface: This book... is not a guide to the Wall nor is it a description in detail of the actual physical remains. It is an attempt to review the evidence for the best-known and best-preserved of all Rome's artificial frontiers in an attempt to explain why it was built at a particular time on a particular line across Britain, and to follow its history till the end of Roman control in Britain.

That's pretty much what it does. It's divided into seven chapters, each dealing in substantial detail with topics such as the concept of a frontier in the Roman world and Roman thought, the building of the Wall, the Antonine Wall, the function of the two walls in the period where both were in use, the army of the wall and its life, and the changes which took place over the third and fourth centuries. The appendices detail the governors of Britain, the 'regiments' of the wall, an overview of the gods worshipped in the region of the Wall, the Roman names of the Wall forts, and the archaeological evidence.

It's fortunate that I'd read Wells and Cameron immediately prior to this, or references to the various emperors and the context of the wider empire would have been very confusing. I do feel in need of a general work on Roman Britain to clarify my picture of the wider context of Britain-as-a-whole, not just Britain-of-the-Wall, but you can't expect a book to deliver more than it promises, and this one certainly delivers a wealth of Wall information.

Now all I have to do is finish the Goodman, and I get to take a change of book!diet, with selected readings from Bart D. Ehrman's The New Testament: A Historical Introduction to the Early Christian Writings. Which will be a change, at least.

Schedule of books )

That's enough for going on with, especially with a two-week holiday scheduled for the end of next week. If I can find a decent (cheap) copy of a general intro to Roman Britain, that'll make the list, too, but for now, that'll have to do.


*You were hoping for the friendship of the girls, O sailors, but you do not obtain [it] [by request]. Yes, that's one of the sentences I translated today, and yes, I'm inordinantly proud of the fact that I'm on actual! sentences! after only a bit under two weeks. :P
hawkwing_lb: (Default)
Coming and going to and from town this afternoon, I missed delays due to flooding on the train line by about fifteen minutes each way. I guess today is a lucky day.

...Now, where do I go to get me some sandbags?


Achievements:

Reading, Breeze and Dobson. (Done.) About 80 pages of Martin Goodman, The Roman World 44BC-AD180. Greek. Latin.

Today I started translating some actual Latin sentences, albeit with one finger on the vocabulary guide and another finger on the grammatical paradigms. As an undertaking, it appears to be going reasonably well.

Climbing: Sent with much struggle a route that I could do with fair competence at the end of May. Project wall #1 (grey ~4b): fail x2. Project wall #2 (yellow ~4c): fail, but due to good advice, I can now see how it should be done, even if I can't quite do it. Project wall #3 (white ~4c): fail, but some small progress was made.

The wall's closing Fri-Wed for maintenance and to change the routes, so I guess that's the last time I see those particular routes. Alas.

Writing: .25K


Books 2008: 101, non-fiction

101. David J. Breeze and Brian Dobson, Hadrian's Wall (London, 2000, 4th edition).

I feel justified in stating that this is not a book for the general reader. This is the book you read if you want an introduction to Wall scholarship.

To quote from the Preface: This book... is not a guide to the Wall nor is it a description in detail of the actual physical remains. It is an attempt to review the evidence for the best-known and best-preserved of all Rome's artificial frontiers in an attempt to explain why it was built at a particular time on a particular line across Britain, and to follow its history till the end of Roman control in Britain.

That's pretty much what it does. It's divided into seven chapters, each dealing in substantial detail with topics such as the concept of a frontier in the Roman world and Roman thought, the building of the Wall, the Antonine Wall, the function of the two walls in the period where both were in use, the army of the wall and its life, and the changes which took place over the third and fourth centuries. The appendices detail the governors of Britain, the 'regiments' of the wall, an overview of the gods worshipped in the region of the Wall, the Roman names of the Wall forts, and the archaeological evidence.

It's fortunate that I'd read Wells and Cameron immediately prior to this, or references to the various emperors and the context of the wider empire would have been very confusing. I do feel in need of a general work on Roman Britain to clarify my picture of the wider context of Britain-as-a-whole, not just Britain-of-the-Wall, but you can't expect a book to deliver more than it promises, and this one certainly delivers a wealth of Wall information.

Now all I have to do is finish the Goodman, and I get to take a change of book!diet, with selected readings from Bart D. Ehrman's The New Testament: A Historical Introduction to the Early Christian Writings. Which will be a change, at least.

Schedule of books )

That's enough for going on with, especially with a two-week holiday scheduled for the end of next week. If I can find a decent (cheap) copy of a general intro to Roman Britain, that'll make the list, too, but for now, that'll have to do.


*You were hoping for the friendship of the girls, O sailors, but you do not obtain [it] [by request]. Yes, that's one of the sentences I translated today, and yes, I'm inordinantly proud of the fact that I'm on actual! sentences! after only a bit under two weeks. :P
hawkwing_lb: (Garcia freak flag)
Accomplished:

Greek, revision of one chapter, new vocabulary; Latin, future active indicative, past perfect, some vocabulary. Four chapters of Averil Cameron's The Later Roman Empire (done now!), started Breeze and Dobson's Hadrian's Wall.

Writing: .8K


Books 2008: 100, non-fiction

100. Averil Cameron, The Later Roman Empire (London, 1993)

Like the Wells book, this is another entry in the Fontana History of the Ancient World series, aimed as much at the general reader as at the student with a background in the period.

Essentially, this book provides a general introduction to the Roman empire of the fourth and fifth centuries CE: i.e., from Diocletian (284-305) to Theodosius II (408-450). It gives a solid introduction to the literary sources available, although it's somewhat less useful as a guide to the archaeological evidence, and also a solid introduction and preliminary discussion to the various trends and topics of interest within this period: the stability/instability of the empire, economic and social development, the place of the military in politics and society, the 'Christianisation' of the empire, the interaction between Christian and pagan 'culture', the decline of central authority in the west.

It's a very sound introduction, and Cameron has fewer annoying quirks than Wells. Her appendices on the sources and on further reading are also clear and useful. Pretty good and nicely compact book.


So, today was mostly a day off from exercise, mainly due to the moan factor when I tried to get up this morning. Yeah. Felt as though I had put staples in my shoulders to hold them to the bed. Ouch.

So I spent a little longer on Latin than I would have otherwise - no, I'm not going to bore you by enthusing about how much fun it is to start learning a dead language: but wait until I start translating Actual Sentences! - and after I did my quota of writing, went with the parent for a swim.

God, it was freezing. Well, not freezing as such, but not as warm as it was the last time I went. The water was green and dark and just after high tide, with a little breezy chop, and chill enough to take your breath away until you got used to it. Only stayed in for about fifteen minutes. Not warm.

Tomorrow, I crawl out of bed at an early hour to go see the pretty horsies.
hawkwing_lb: (Garcia freak flag)
Accomplished:

Greek, revision of one chapter, new vocabulary; Latin, future active indicative, past perfect, some vocabulary. Four chapters of Averil Cameron's The Later Roman Empire (done now!), started Breeze and Dobson's Hadrian's Wall.

Writing: .8K


Books 2008: 100, non-fiction

100. Averil Cameron, The Later Roman Empire (London, 1993)

Like the Wells book, this is another entry in the Fontana History of the Ancient World series, aimed as much at the general reader as at the student with a background in the period.

Essentially, this book provides a general introduction to the Roman empire of the fourth and fifth centuries CE: i.e., from Diocletian (284-305) to Theodosius II (408-450). It gives a solid introduction to the literary sources available, although it's somewhat less useful as a guide to the archaeological evidence, and also a solid introduction and preliminary discussion to the various trends and topics of interest within this period: the stability/instability of the empire, economic and social development, the place of the military in politics and society, the 'Christianisation' of the empire, the interaction between Christian and pagan 'culture', the decline of central authority in the west.

It's a very sound introduction, and Cameron has fewer annoying quirks than Wells. Her appendices on the sources and on further reading are also clear and useful. Pretty good and nicely compact book.


So, today was mostly a day off from exercise, mainly due to the moan factor when I tried to get up this morning. Yeah. Felt as though I had put staples in my shoulders to hold them to the bed. Ouch.

So I spent a little longer on Latin than I would have otherwise - no, I'm not going to bore you by enthusing about how much fun it is to start learning a dead language: but wait until I start translating Actual Sentences! - and after I did my quota of writing, went with the parent for a swim.

God, it was freezing. Well, not freezing as such, but not as warm as it was the last time I went. The water was green and dark and just after high tide, with a little breezy chop, and chill enough to take your breath away until you got used to it. Only stayed in for about fifteen minutes. Not warm.

Tomorrow, I crawl out of bed at an early hour to go see the pretty horsies.
hawkwing_lb: (Criminal Minds JJ what you had to do)
The plan goes ever forward.

Achievements:

One chapter Greek; familiarisation process with 1st and 2nd declensions and present active indicative Latin. Six chapters of Colin Wells' The Roman Empire - done with that now. More organisation work on duellist.


I went out for a walk this evening. My thighs are holding a grudge against me for yesterday, and oh joy! tomorrow we repeat the experiment.

The rain, however, had cleared, although a couple of the streams that come out along the shore were swollen from run-off. The beach smelled like water and seaweed, fresh, and on the way back I met the most gorgeously bouncy friendly six-month-old Siberian husky, pulling her person along by the lead. I have puppy envy.


Books 2008: 98-99, non-fiction

98. Marcus Rediker, The Slave Ship: A Human History (London, 2007)

Rediker is an impressive social historian of the maritime world, with at least one landmark work - possibly more, depending on your criteria - under his belt already. The Slave Ship is at least equal to Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea in its scholarship, range, and clarity. In terms of accessibility, it has a slight edge.

Rediker discusses the history of the slave trade over the course of the 18th century, until the official abolition of the trade by Britain in 1809. His interest is in history 'from below', as he puts it: specifically in the experience of African captives, and the seamen who were at the same time both the victims and active participants in the Africa trade and its violence.

Examination of that violence, and its various stages, forms the central part of the book. The violence experienced by African captives on their way to the coast; the violence experienced by sailors who died in their thousands in the 'Guinea trade', both from disease and the violence performed upon them by their captains; the ship itself, the 'floating dungeon', and the use of torture and terror in the transformation of African captives to black slaves; resistance, insurrection, and the formation of new kinship ties among the Africans, including a handful of occasions on which insurrection was successful and the former captives brought the ship ashore and escaped.

The final chapter concerns the famous diagram of the slave ship Brooks and its relation to the abolition movement. This chapter I found, arguably, the most fascinating of all, because of the case which Rediker makes that even in the argument for abolition, the abolitionists focused not on the experiences of the slaves who survived the Middle Passage, but on those of the sailors.

It's a very interesting book, if, understandably, somewhat horrifying. Two figures especially stand out as people of interest on whom I would do further reading if I had the time: Olaudah Equiano, also known in his own time as Gustavus Vassa, an African kidnapped as a boy and enslaved who became a sailor, acquired his freedom, and wrote an autobiographical account, and the abolitionist Thomas Clarkson, who collected first-hand testimony about the slave trade from sailors in Bristol and Liverpool in the face of threats to his life.

Anyway. Quite fascinating.

99. Colin Wells, The Roman Empire (London, 1984).

Where Rediker is engaged in 'history from below', Wells is writing history in a more traditional vein. In an overview of the history of the Roman empire from Augustus to Alexander Severus and aimed at the non-specialist reader, it's hard to see how he could do much different, but the ratio of historical narrative to analysis is strongly biased towards the narrative.

Good points: it's accessible, straightforward, and clear, probably an excellent introduction to the subject. Bad points: it crams an awful lot of material into a very compact space, and thus as one might expect, suffers the limitations of its length in some oversimplification and the material it has to leave out.

Personal twitch: Wells quotes non-period-source, non-modern-historian authors whenever he feels they have something interesting to say. A couple of incidents of this, fine. But ten, twelve, more? This gets annoying, especially when one gets the feeling he's quoting Shakespeare for the sake of quoting Shakespeare (to take one example), not for any relevance to the subject at hand.

But that aside? Perfectly readable, useful little book.
hawkwing_lb: (Criminal Minds JJ what you had to do)
The plan goes ever forward.

Achievements:

One chapter Greek; familiarisation process with 1st and 2nd declensions and present active indicative Latin. Six chapters of Colin Wells' The Roman Empire - done with that now. More organisation work on duellist.


I went out for a walk this evening. My thighs are holding a grudge against me for yesterday, and oh joy! tomorrow we repeat the experiment.

The rain, however, had cleared, although a couple of the streams that come out along the shore were swollen from run-off. The beach smelled like water and seaweed, fresh, and on the way back I met the most gorgeously bouncy friendly six-month-old Siberian husky, pulling her person along by the lead. I have puppy envy.


Books 2008: 98-99, non-fiction

98. Marcus Rediker, The Slave Ship: A Human History (London, 2007)

Rediker is an impressive social historian of the maritime world, with at least one landmark work - possibly more, depending on your criteria - under his belt already. The Slave Ship is at least equal to Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea in its scholarship, range, and clarity. In terms of accessibility, it has a slight edge.

Rediker discusses the history of the slave trade over the course of the 18th century, until the official abolition of the trade by Britain in 1809. His interest is in history 'from below', as he puts it: specifically in the experience of African captives, and the seamen who were at the same time both the victims and active participants in the Africa trade and its violence.

Examination of that violence, and its various stages, forms the central part of the book. The violence experienced by African captives on their way to the coast; the violence experienced by sailors who died in their thousands in the 'Guinea trade', both from disease and the violence performed upon them by their captains; the ship itself, the 'floating dungeon', and the use of torture and terror in the transformation of African captives to black slaves; resistance, insurrection, and the formation of new kinship ties among the Africans, including a handful of occasions on which insurrection was successful and the former captives brought the ship ashore and escaped.

The final chapter concerns the famous diagram of the slave ship Brooks and its relation to the abolition movement. This chapter I found, arguably, the most fascinating of all, because of the case which Rediker makes that even in the argument for abolition, the abolitionists focused not on the experiences of the slaves who survived the Middle Passage, but on those of the sailors.

It's a very interesting book, if, understandably, somewhat horrifying. Two figures especially stand out as people of interest on whom I would do further reading if I had the time: Olaudah Equiano, also known in his own time as Gustavus Vassa, an African kidnapped as a boy and enslaved who became a sailor, acquired his freedom, and wrote an autobiographical account, and the abolitionist Thomas Clarkson, who collected first-hand testimony about the slave trade from sailors in Bristol and Liverpool in the face of threats to his life.

Anyway. Quite fascinating.

99. Colin Wells, The Roman Empire (London, 1984).

Where Rediker is engaged in 'history from below', Wells is writing history in a more traditional vein. In an overview of the history of the Roman empire from Augustus to Alexander Severus and aimed at the non-specialist reader, it's hard to see how he could do much different, but the ratio of historical narrative to analysis is strongly biased towards the narrative.

Good points: it's accessible, straightforward, and clear, probably an excellent introduction to the subject. Bad points: it crams an awful lot of material into a very compact space, and thus as one might expect, suffers the limitations of its length in some oversimplification and the material it has to leave out.

Personal twitch: Wells quotes non-period-source, non-modern-historian authors whenever he feels they have something interesting to say. A couple of incidents of this, fine. But ten, twelve, more? This gets annoying, especially when one gets the feeling he's quoting Shakespeare for the sake of quoting Shakespeare (to take one example), not for any relevance to the subject at hand.

But that aside? Perfectly readable, useful little book.

Books

Aug. 3rd, 2008 05:24 pm
hawkwing_lb: (No dumping dead bodies!)
Books 2008: 97

97. Park Honan, Christopher Marlowe: Poet and Spy

I'm not anything close to well read about the period or the personalities thereof. But this is a clear, concise, extremely readable and informative book.


In other news, the cat has had a relapse of his mouth infection. And he's getting thinner and pickier about his food. I bought him some mackeral in tomato sauce, which he seemed to enjoy, so I hope he'll eat his medicine when I mix it with some tuna, later.

(Cat likes tomato sauce. Hope it's good for him.)

I am rotten with laziness. I'm going to have some food and then see if I feel like going for a run.

Tomorrow, oh joys, we begin the 'rise at six am' programme of affairs. Wish me luck?

Books

Aug. 3rd, 2008 05:24 pm
hawkwing_lb: (No dumping dead bodies!)
Books 2008: 97

97. Park Honan, Christopher Marlowe: Poet and Spy

I'm not anything close to well read about the period or the personalities thereof. But this is a clear, concise, extremely readable and informative book.


In other news, the cat has had a relapse of his mouth infection. And he's getting thinner and pickier about his food. I bought him some mackeral in tomato sauce, which he seemed to enjoy, so I hope he'll eat his medicine when I mix it with some tuna, later.

(Cat likes tomato sauce. Hope it's good for him.)

I am rotten with laziness. I'm going to have some food and then see if I feel like going for a run.

Tomorrow, oh joys, we begin the 'rise at six am' programme of affairs. Wish me luck?
hawkwing_lb: (Criminal Minds mathematics is like sex)
The Dark Knight may not be a film made wholly of win - apparently Gotham city has a distinct aversion to women in starring roles - but it's at least halfway to excellent.

I went to the preview in the local cinema last night. It was hot - damn was it hot - and crowded; full, I suspect. But the audience was silent: I confess myself entirely surprised.

It has explosions, some decent-to-good performances, fisticuffs, and possibly some attempt at social commentary. But don't quote me on that: I was too much distracted by Christian Bale's muscles to pay it much attention (and I ignored it as probably being the sort of social commentary with which I tend to argue, anyway).

So, yeah. Not too bad.

Books 2008: 96

96. Ariana Franklin, The Death Maze.

I believe the US title is different. However, this is the sequel to the award-winning Mistress of the Art of Death, and as a historical murder mystery with attached intrigue and character development, not to mention excellence of historical verisimilitude, it is yet another book of the highest water.

Seriously. If you are going to read any murder mystery, or historical novel, read this one and its predecessor. They are very, very good.


Running: 3 intervals of 5 minutes and one interval of 3 minutes, separated by 4 minutes each, pushing.

Situps: 5 sets of 10 reps, 20 second rest period between sets.

Pushups: 3 sets of 10 reps, 30 second rest period between sets.

Writing: 2 notebook pages.
hawkwing_lb: (Criminal Minds mathematics is like sex)
The Dark Knight may not be a film made wholly of win - apparently Gotham city has a distinct aversion to women in starring roles - but it's at least halfway to excellent.

I went to the preview in the local cinema last night. It was hot - damn was it hot - and crowded; full, I suspect. But the audience was silent: I confess myself entirely surprised.

It has explosions, some decent-to-good performances, fisticuffs, and possibly some attempt at social commentary. But don't quote me on that: I was too much distracted by Christian Bale's muscles to pay it much attention (and I ignored it as probably being the sort of social commentary with which I tend to argue, anyway).

So, yeah. Not too bad.

Books 2008: 96

96. Ariana Franklin, The Death Maze.

I believe the US title is different. However, this is the sequel to the award-winning Mistress of the Art of Death, and as a historical murder mystery with attached intrigue and character development, not to mention excellence of historical verisimilitude, it is yet another book of the highest water.

Seriously. If you are going to read any murder mystery, or historical novel, read this one and its predecessor. They are very, very good.


Running: 3 intervals of 5 minutes and one interval of 3 minutes, separated by 4 minutes each, pushing.

Situps: 5 sets of 10 reps, 20 second rest period between sets.

Pushups: 3 sets of 10 reps, 30 second rest period between sets.

Writing: 2 notebook pages.

more books

Jul. 22nd, 2008 05:21 pm
hawkwing_lb: (Criminal Minds JJ what you had to do)
Books 90-95.

90. Lisa Shearin, Armed and Magical.

Stupid, but entertaining.

91. Lilith Saintcrow, Night Shift.

Urban fantasy. Not stupid. The werewolf boy, however - let's just say it was looking very good until the werewolf, and then it still looked good, only less so.

Werewolves. I am sick of them.

92. Ann Aguirre, Grimspace.

Smart, well-paced science fiction - space opera? Anyway, good plot, good characterisation, and great props for tension.

93. Laurie J. Marks, Fire Logic.

Eh. Apart from the characters, who are interesting, I don't really see what this book has going for it.

94. Lynn Flewelling, Shadow's Return.

I've had a soft spot for the adventures of Alec and Seregil since I first picked up Luck in the Shadows. This latest installment is no different. I like it quite a bit.

95. Tanya Huff, Valor's Trial.

Good book.

more books

Jul. 22nd, 2008 05:21 pm
hawkwing_lb: (Criminal Minds JJ what you had to do)
Books 90-95.

90. Lisa Shearin, Armed and Magical.

Stupid, but entertaining.

91. Lilith Saintcrow, Night Shift.

Urban fantasy. Not stupid. The werewolf boy, however - let's just say it was looking very good until the werewolf, and then it still looked good, only less so.

Werewolves. I am sick of them.

92. Ann Aguirre, Grimspace.

Smart, well-paced science fiction - space opera? Anyway, good plot, good characterisation, and great props for tension.

93. Laurie J. Marks, Fire Logic.

Eh. Apart from the characters, who are interesting, I don't really see what this book has going for it.

94. Lynn Flewelling, Shadow's Return.

I've had a soft spot for the adventures of Alec and Seregil since I first picked up Luck in the Shadows. This latest installment is no different. I like it quite a bit.

95. Tanya Huff, Valor's Trial.

Good book.

Books

Jul. 22nd, 2008 12:03 pm
hawkwing_lb: (Default)
Books 2008: 85-89.

85. Patrick O'Brian, The Mauritius Command.

An excellent chewy book to distract one from the inability to sleep.

86. Poul Anderson, Three Hearts and Three Lions.

I recollect being slightly disappointed in this book's logic, but hell, I was really underslept at this point.

87. Roger Zelazny, Lord of Light.

I wish I'd been awake when I read this, because as far as I can tell it was made of cool.

88. Jack McDevitt, Deepsix.

See above re #87.

89. Eric Flint and Andrew Dennis, 1635: The Cannon Law.

Unchallenging and fun alternate history.

Books

Jul. 22nd, 2008 12:03 pm
hawkwing_lb: (Default)
Books 2008: 85-89.

85. Patrick O'Brian, The Mauritius Command.

An excellent chewy book to distract one from the inability to sleep.

86. Poul Anderson, Three Hearts and Three Lions.

I recollect being slightly disappointed in this book's logic, but hell, I was really underslept at this point.

87. Roger Zelazny, Lord of Light.

I wish I'd been awake when I read this, because as far as I can tell it was made of cool.

88. Jack McDevitt, Deepsix.

See above re #87.

89. Eric Flint and Andrew Dennis, 1635: The Cannon Law.

Unchallenging and fun alternate history.
hawkwing_lb: (Default)
I am wrecked and nervous, and the cat is needy. Also, my brain and my motivation have eloped, leaving me here alone. With the packing. And the needy cat who is very needy.

Books 2008: 83-84

83. Charles Stross, Saturn's Children.

I liked it. A lot.

84. Marcus Rediker, Villains of All Nations: Atlantic Pirates in the Golden Age (Boston, 2004)

A short book, but nonetheless an excellent overview of piracy as a social phenomenon.

#

Gods, I'm tired. And anxious, and under-exercised. Bad combination.

I really just want to go hide in a wardrobe until the packing magically does itself and all this shit goes away.

(And on an unrelated topic, I am pissed off at the racist and sexist dialectic I keep coming across in the national papers. It makes me want to hit something. Can I not just have a civilised country already?)
hawkwing_lb: (Default)
I am wrecked and nervous, and the cat is needy. Also, my brain and my motivation have eloped, leaving me here alone. With the packing. And the needy cat who is very needy.

Books 2008: 83-84

83. Charles Stross, Saturn's Children.

I liked it. A lot.

84. Marcus Rediker, Villains of All Nations: Atlantic Pirates in the Golden Age (Boston, 2004)

A short book, but nonetheless an excellent overview of piracy as a social phenomenon.

#

Gods, I'm tired. And anxious, and under-exercised. Bad combination.

I really just want to go hide in a wardrobe until the packing magically does itself and all this shit goes away.

(And on an unrelated topic, I am pissed off at the racist and sexist dialectic I keep coming across in the national papers. It makes me want to hit something. Can I not just have a civilised country already?)
hawkwing_lb: (Default)
Books 2008: 82 (non-fiction)

82. Tournament of Shadows: The Great Game and the Race for Empire in Asia, Karl Meyer and Shareen Brysac (New York, 1999).

This is an ambitious book, to say the least, and took me some weeks to finish. It recounts, and attempts to analyse, the conflicts between the great powers - Russia, Britain, later America and Germany as well - for control of central Asia. It spans from the end of the eighteenth century to the post-WWII twentieth, and concentrates mainly on the regions of Afghanistan, Pakistan (in the nineteenth century the North-West Frontier Province) and Tibet.

It gives a lively picture of both the personalities involved and of the major concerns and obsessions of the times, such as exploration, cartography and oh noes! the Russians are coming!

I'm not sufficiently well-versed in the history of these periods and regions to comment on their accuracy or analysis. However, their logic and their conclusions seem reasonably plausible.

A very solid introduction to the topics and the region.




In other news, I am made wholly of sloth, hunger and hate today. Gah.
hawkwing_lb: (Default)
Books 2008: 82 (non-fiction)

82. Tournament of Shadows: The Great Game and the Race for Empire in Asia, Karl Meyer and Shareen Brysac (New York, 1999).

This is an ambitious book, to say the least, and took me some weeks to finish. It recounts, and attempts to analyse, the conflicts between the great powers - Russia, Britain, later America and Germany as well - for control of central Asia. It spans from the end of the eighteenth century to the post-WWII twentieth, and concentrates mainly on the regions of Afghanistan, Pakistan (in the nineteenth century the North-West Frontier Province) and Tibet.

It gives a lively picture of both the personalities involved and of the major concerns and obsessions of the times, such as exploration, cartography and oh noes! the Russians are coming!

I'm not sufficiently well-versed in the history of these periods and regions to comment on their accuracy or analysis. However, their logic and their conclusions seem reasonably plausible.

A very solid introduction to the topics and the region.




In other news, I am made wholly of sloth, hunger and hate today. Gah.

Profile

hawkwing_lb: (Default)
hawkwing_lb

November 2021

S M T W T F S
 123456
78910111213
14151617181920
21222324252627
282930    

Syndicate

RSS Atom

Most Popular Tags

Style Credit

Expand Cut Tags

No cut tags
Page generated Jul. 6th, 2025 01:38 am
Powered by Dreamwidth Studios