Saturday, November 23, 2019
The Callahan Touch
by Spider Robinson
This is the sixth collection of Callahan's Crosstime Saloon stories. Callahan's Place is gone, but the spirit of the joint lives on in his regular customers and their new hang out, Mary's Place. It was the least enjoyable Callahan's collection of the four that I've read, but it's not bad waiting room material.
LibraryThing link
This is the sixth collection of Callahan's Crosstime Saloon stories. Callahan's Place is gone, but the spirit of the joint lives on in his regular customers and their new hang out, Mary's Place. It was the least enjoyable Callahan's collection of the four that I've read, but it's not bad waiting room material.
LibraryThing link
Labels: Callahan'sPlace, SpiderRobinson, WaitingRoomMaterial
Wednesday, November 20, 2019
Strange Planet
by Nathan W Pyle
This ones a collection of cartoons featuring the grey aliens. The schtick is that the aliens are living typical American lives and talking about them with descriptive phrases instead of the typical words. For example, the Sun is referred to as "the Star" and people are routinely called "beings". The strips are amusing and the art is cute. I don't know why I like them so much--maybe it's a break from more cynical or sarcastic humor. Whatever the reason, it's on my shelf.
LibraryThing link
This ones a collection of cartoons featuring the grey aliens. The schtick is that the aliens are living typical American lives and talking about them with descriptive phrases instead of the typical words. For example, the Sun is referred to as "the Star" and people are routinely called "beings". The strips are amusing and the art is cute. I don't know why I like them so much--maybe it's a break from more cynical or sarcastic humor. Whatever the reason, it's on my shelf.
LibraryThing link
Labels: OnMyShelf
Saturday, November 16, 2019
Kindred
by Octavia E. Butler
How come I have never heard of this book before? I've been a fan of time travel stories since I started reading science fiction, yet somehow I only heard about this 1979 novel almost 40 years after it was published. (And how the heck has it been 40 years since I was a teen? But I digress...)
Kindred is the tale of a Dana, a 26 year old African-American woman who suddenly vanishes from her home in California in 1976 and finds herself in Maryland in 1811. She never discovers why or how she has traveled back in time and space, but she does figure out that she's linked to a person back then. She's forced to navigate life on his plantation, a place where the color of her skin puts her danger. Her status as a strange "guardian angel" shields her in the beginning, but the cultural forces of oppression and exploitation are powerful. How long before they overwhelm her?
I really enjoyed the story. Ms. Butler crafted a believable tale--once you pretend that time travel is a possibility--filled with complex characters. While there's one or two moments when Dana's knowledge of the future comes in handy, for the most part she's lost in a strange place. She rises to the occasion, and learns to function in that society. Now that I know about this book, I have to add it to the other time travel novels on my shelf.
LibraryThing link
How come I have never heard of this book before? I've been a fan of time travel stories since I started reading science fiction, yet somehow I only heard about this 1979 novel almost 40 years after it was published. (And how the heck has it been 40 years since I was a teen? But I digress...)
Kindred is the tale of a Dana, a 26 year old African-American woman who suddenly vanishes from her home in California in 1976 and finds herself in Maryland in 1811. She never discovers why or how she has traveled back in time and space, but she does figure out that she's linked to a person back then. She's forced to navigate life on his plantation, a place where the color of her skin puts her danger. Her status as a strange "guardian angel" shields her in the beginning, but the cultural forces of oppression and exploitation are powerful. How long before they overwhelm her?
I really enjoyed the story. Ms. Butler crafted a believable tale--once you pretend that time travel is a possibility--filled with complex characters. While there's one or two moments when Dana's knowledge of the future comes in handy, for the most part she's lost in a strange place. She rises to the occasion, and learns to function in that society. Now that I know about this book, I have to add it to the other time travel novels on my shelf.
LibraryThing link
Labels: OnMyShelf
Thursday, November 07, 2019
Phoenix Rising
by Pete Abrams
Book 16 of Sluggy Freelance. Bun-bun returns from Timeless Space to the gang at the Kesandru House. The storyline ventures through the Land of the Shadows, a wine-tasting schmoooze-fest, and then cuts to focus on the gymnast assassin Oasis. As a bonus, the book includes filler sagas Bikini Suicide Frisbee Days and Stick Figures in Spaaaaace!.
It's on my shelf!
LibraryThing link
Book 16 of Sluggy Freelance. Bun-bun returns from Timeless Space to the gang at the Kesandru House. The storyline ventures through the Land of the Shadows, a wine-tasting schmoooze-fest, and then cuts to focus on the gymnast assassin Oasis. As a bonus, the book includes filler sagas Bikini Suicide Frisbee Days and Stick Figures in Spaaaaace!.
It's on my shelf!
LibraryThing link
Labels: OnMyShelf, PeteAbrams, SluggyFreelance
Tuesday, November 05, 2019
The Spirit of God was Moving
by Mildred Tengbom
This one is a history of the early years World Mission Prayer League, a group of college kids who started praying for God to send missionaries out into the world and ended up being the answer to those prayers. (Well, in part. The Spirit of God does a lot of moving.) It's an interesting look at missionary work and its supporters in the 1930s.
Check it out.
LibraryThing link
This one is a history of the early years World Mission Prayer League, a group of college kids who started praying for God to send missionaries out into the world and ended up being the answer to those prayers. (Well, in part. The Spirit of God does a lot of moving.) It's an interesting look at missionary work and its supporters in the 1930s.
Check it out.
LibraryThing link
Labels: CheckItOut
Saturday, November 02, 2019
Amos
by R. Reed Lessing
Another good volume in the Concordia Commentary series. The book of Amos is one of judgment, condemning the ancient kingdom of Israel for their injustice and calling out their hypocrisy. There are a few calls to repentance in there, but in the end God says He'll bring down the judgment. Dr. Lessing walks the reader through the text, showing the literary methods Amos used to communicate the message and--this is a Concordia Commentary after all--showing how the book points toward Christ and the working of forgiveness and justice through the cross.
Check it out!
LibraryThing link
Another good volume in the Concordia Commentary series. The book of Amos is one of judgment, condemning the ancient kingdom of Israel for their injustice and calling out their hypocrisy. There are a few calls to repentance in there, but in the end God says He'll bring down the judgment. Dr. Lessing walks the reader through the text, showing the literary methods Amos used to communicate the message and--this is a Concordia Commentary after all--showing how the book points toward Christ and the working of forgiveness and justice through the cross.
Check it out!
LibraryThing link
Labels: CheckItOut, ConcordiaCommentary, RReedLessing
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