Hows my little bookworm edition 13?

World War Z - Max Brooks After enjoying Brook's Zombie Survival Guide I've had this on my reading list for awhile. Now that the movie is out I've decided I should finally get around to reading it. I didn't realize that this book isn't a linear story but a group of accounts from different individuals from around the world regarding world war z. The only character who is familiar through the book is interviewing the different people giving their accounts. Sometimes he asks a few questions, other times he is hardly present. The book is cleverly written and organized. The man is interviewing people from all over the world with various backgrounds and occupations ranging from medical, smugglers, military, lone survivors, an astronaut, and government. The accounts in the beginning start with their first sightings of zombies moving to how people treated the epidemic at first. Later the accounts talk about how people survived, and finally it finishes with reconstruction after the war. This isn't just a tale about survivors in a zombie infested area like most movies, Brooks thought of everything, and makes the world seem like a place that could actually exist in the future, its as believable as a zombie story could be. For that I recommend it. I haven't seen the movie yet but talking with people who have, it seems it's only loosely based off the novel.


A Storm of Swords - George RR Martin Book three of A Song of Ice and Fire is my favorite so far. Essentially for one reason, but really there was a lot of interesting events that unfolded and it seemed like all of the characters stories went somewhere for a change. Book three continues after the chaos in Kings Landing, the warring in the seven kingdoms has subsided. There are even some weddings! The wall is finally getting some excitement beyond it giving Jon Snow the most interesting story throughout the book. Daenerys' story is finally living up to her build up and the reputation she is striving for. Surprisingly Martin managed to make just about everyone worth paying attention to with the exceptions of Bran and Sansa. Bran still is showing signs of potential for interest but with nothing to show for it yet, Sansa is still absolutely the most awful character to read through in the book. The one downside to it is aside from its thousand plus page count, is the horrifically long introduction, I think it was 200-300 pages before the story finally got over what happened  in the last book and moved onto new events.

Michael Chrichton & Richard Preston - Micro  Laura and I listend to this book on our Northern Vacation and I was pleasantly surprised. I don't know why, I love Chichton's books, maybe because this was an unfinished book when he died and Preston picked up the pieces, regardless, it was good. The story is about a group of grad students who find themselves in Hawaii scouting a new job prospect. The company has found a fantastic way to shrink things into the millimeter sizes. Of course things go wrong and they find themselves in the jungle of Hawaii no bigger than ants and many other bugs. The adventure from there was pretty exciting mostly because unexpected things happen all the time (Wait, he's dead!?). It's hard not to draw parallels to 'Honey I Shrunk the Kids' but it happens, and this story is significantly more realistic. If you're a fan of Chrichton, and adventures full of big words and bugs give this one a shot.

Born to Run - Christopher McDougall I've had this book for quite awhile and has been on my list to read for quite a bit longer. A lot of people attribute this book to the rise in barefoot/minimalist running so it's hard to read an article or troll through a forum thread without hearing it mentioned, so I thought eventually I'd give it a shot. The book starts off from the premise of McDougall asking, why does my foot hurt (when I run). From there he leaps into all sort of interesting facts about humans as runners both prehistorically and in modern times (EX: Humans have a longer stride length than a horse). Basically the human body has evolved to be an endurance running machine. I never thought I would actually find a book about running enjoyable to read but I was pretty impressed. The book is not just about him but many other runners, ancient tribes, modern tribes, ultra marathon races, and running shoes (and lack there-of). For being the flashpoint for modern barefoot running I was actually pretty surprised he doesn't even mention it until about the last third of the book. Anyone who is interested in running (at all) should give this book a try, its not preachy or instructive, just informative and interesting.

Stieg Larsson - The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets' Nest When I finished this book my first thought was, well I'm happy that's over with. Hornets' Nest had incredible potential to be a fantastic crime thriller and instead Larsson went on and on and on and on about little details  After about a quarter of the way through the book the ending was basically laid out and the remainder of the book just added words to a predictable finish. I won't say it was a bore, there were some genuinely interesting parts of the book. But Larsson is wordy, incredibly wordy, inconsequential character introductions took ages to get through, while interesting they could have been shortened to keep the book moving at a good pace. Erica's side story with the stalker was pointless and actually took away from the rest of the story that was actually interesting. I think I would have liked it better had there been one solid plot twist. If you're planning on reading the 'Millenium Series' my recommendation is stop after the first book, the second and third books are only kind of interesting but both super long with long dry parts that had I not listened to them, I would've found them hard to work through.










Mark Z. Danielewski - The Fifty Year Sword This is a challenging book to describe. After reading the House of Leaves by the same author I was quite excited to tackle this one. There are five characters who narrate the story they are telling and another character who moves things along within the story. Each time a new narrator speaks (which is like every other line, beastie boys style) they are indicated with a new colored quotation. The first third of the book is so disjointed I thought the different narrators were all telling different versions of the same story. That part sucked. Anyway, when they all got mostly on the same page it began to make sense and that was where I started to enjoy the plot. Basically the book takes place at a 50th birthday party where a strange storyteller shows up with a long black box in hand. The story teller then talks of his adventures to find his blade-less weapon that always cuts. It finishes with an unexpected twist at the end, and thats it. Short book, hard to describe. Scattered throughout the book are some really interesting and mostly abstract artwork made from stitching, most of it lends feeling to what is happening on the page. I read it in just a few nights of effort. If you're up for a slightly unsatisfying challenge, borrow my copy.

Lois Lowry - The Giver After Laura finished this book she kept saying, I can't wait for you to read this so we can talk about it! It was a welcome reprieve from the Longer books I've been reading. For those of you who didn't read it in school, its a story of a child in a utopian society where there are many rules for people and when a person has nothing to offer society any longer they are 'released' into beyond. The society is interesting enough to read about because there are so many questions about how it came to be and how they get away with certain things. I would LOVE to read an extended more adult version of the story. Anyway the boy Jonas, becomes an Adult is given the honor of the receiver of memories and learns about life beyond their society and how their world is possible. The ending is brilliantly written and is wide open for interpretation. Its a quick read, if you like 1984 or fahrenheit 451 give it a shot.

Tom Rob Smith - Child 44 We listened to this on the way to Asheville, a couple of weeks ago. Just picking this book out was a leap for me. Typically when I choose a book I'm not one to look for mysteries, political themes, or crime novels (I don't mind them, just not first picks). This one is all of those. Its staged in Soviet Russia post WWII the main character works for the state, he has a good well paying job, a house that keeps him warm and access to good food (and the money to buy it). It all gets taken away from him quickly and he is shipped out of Moscow into the country and begins working on some unsolved murders that are happening all over the country. I really enjoyed this book for more than just the interesting plot, it was the look into what I'm assuming was a mildly accurate portrayal of Soviet Russia and the impact the government can have over its people. It made me appreciate the many good aspects of our great american country. For that reason alone I recommend this book to nearly anyone who likes fiction, it was enlightening and entertaining, ground not often tread in novels.

George RR Martin - A Clash of Kings Book two of the Song of Ice and Fire was great. After getting into it a bit I realized that the whole of book one could be viewed as the prologue to the series. This story really shows the heart of what is happening in the seven kingdoms and beyond. War. The north has risen against the south and they are doing a fine job. The Islanders have decided they want no king. The mother of dragons story went almost nowhere except to show there is an intriguing city beyond the narrow sea. The red priestess is a whole mystery on her own and I'm curious about her future in the story considering how the epic sea battle at Kings Landing unfolded. What I'm most interested in is what lies beyond the wall and what will come of it. This is a book full of lively characters and I've found some favorites and some that I don't like. For example I like Arya, Jon, Tyrian. The only reason I give two cents about Lady Catelyn is because she is telling Rob's story, as well as most of the Baratheon brothers'. Bran has some potential but right now his story is a snoozer. This book was left open with interesting potential. Knowing that book three is epic I'm going to take a break between them to get my mind off of swords and knights for awhile.

George RR Martin - A Game of Thrones  I was told to read this book about 4 years ago now and I've always been nervous about reading it due to the sheer length of it. Even after War and Peace 700 pages is still a solid commitment. I loved every bit of it, I think it will be a challenge for a lot of readers though. Its written using older english (think Hobbit) and the book starts with like 12ish different characters that you have to get to know, make sense of their story, and how they relate(/are related) to other characters. Martin does a really fantastic job by using character names and nicknames with only brief mentions of events from another character's chapter to advance the entire plot wholly. Every story is tied together, some much looser than others which makes things easier to comprehend by the time you're committed to finishing. What's it about you say? It's a sort of medieval timeframe with swords, honor, and a whole lot of royal politics. The book is written following the characters different perspectives so you get to read about some of the more interesting events from the people who are directly involved in them. It's hard to generalize the plot since many stories make the whole, but its full of twists, excitement, love, and leaves plenty of room for guessing. Many times I was wrong and instead a new, more exciting twist moved it away from the predictable. Best of all the end left me anxious to start the second book in the unfinished series. If you liked the LOTR series theres a good chance you'll like this one.


Dean Koontz - Chase  I listened to this on my way to the Midwest Grape & Wine conference near St. Louis. I always have a tough time picking out books and always seem to default to some authors I have liked in the past, Koontz is one of them. This shorter novel is about a Vietnam vet with a Medal of Honor who witnesses a murder. When he is the good citizen becomes a target of the murderer himself. I'm not sure when the book was written but it takes place in the 70's and its so funny to have the different perspective (use your cell phone!) of modern times and how things are so different than today. An enjoyable mystery with a satisfying ending.

Hows my little loaner?

As most of my faithful readers know I recently got a new phone number.

If you're wondering why, it was to save money on new phones. For some reason Sprint thought it was a great idea to offer a deal to new subscribers and not old ones. So I took the deal and using the magic of Google Voice I am now porting my old number to my new phone. So basically I have two phone numbers now.

I had been resisting cutting off my last ties to MN ever since we moved here. So much that when I sold my Stratus the radio was still programed for Twin Cities radio stations. Now that I have a local number I'm regretting it to the max.

Sara Hibbler had this phone number before me,

I hope this is really her.

and she apparently has a real issue with managing money. I regularly get 10-20 phone calls a day from all over the country letting me know that Sara has recently been approved for $3,000-$10,000 Payday loans.

TEN TO TWENTY CALLS PER DAY!

It's absurd! I generally have a policy of not answering my phone if it's from an unknown number. One morning I answered an unknown caller and shit just hit the fan from that moment on. So I switched my phone to silent, which effectively made my phone a gaming device/calculator because I was missing the 1-2 calls per week I actually want.

Insert Call Control app. This app has saved my sanity. It can block calls in all sorts of ways, individual numbers, entire area codes, or anyone who isn't on your contact list. There are other options that I've employed that sends every phone call from someone not on my contact list straight to voicemail. But the app can create other rules for callers and I've now white-listed our local area code to allow calls from the mechanic, dentist, or whoever.

So this has given me the pleasure of listening to all sorts of voicemails from people using ESL informing Sara Hibbler of her successful approval for a loan through different companies from everywhere. There was even one caller who was telling Sara, very energetically, how happy she would be to consolidate her paday loan debt and lower her monthly payment.

A quick look online show the interest rate of a paday loan can range from 200% to 1400%. Average credit card rate is about 15%. Fun fact.

I still get the ocassional text message from local numbers and I've had a great time with people thinking I'm Sara. At the same time I'm pretty bitter about the whole situation and I've decided to let all of her friends know what sort of shit she's in. This weekend I had a true gem, which was really the reason for this long post:

Most of you probably wont find this as funny as I did. At the time I laughed so hard it warranted a misspelling of an acronym. 

Because indeed switching my phone number has really been bad luck.

Hows my little Missourian?

A couple of weeks ago Laura and I headed out of town on our annual post-harvest getaway, and visited St. Louis. We had tons of fun!

Since moving down here I've always wanted to visit St. Louis and check it out. I went with my family several years ago but we didn't do all that much sight-seeing. I've decided that one benefit to living in central IL is a relatively close proximity to many very different flyover cities in America's heartland.

We started off at the Budweiser Brewery which was a real sight to behold. It's HUGE! There really aren't any better words to describe it other than big, large, massive, ect.

At the end of the tour we got two free beers to sample. I really don't want to complain about free beer buuut...I'm going to, the options were terrible, there was only one darker beer otherwise there were 8 or more light options. We sampled Shock Top Pumpkin wheat, which was genuinely tasty and Shock Top honeycrisp apple which tasted like a green apple jolly rancher, not a flavor I'm interested in having in beer.

After that we headed over to Shlafly and met up with our friends Anna and Tim. There we enjoyed several brews, learned a bit about the brewery's history, walked through the brewery, and had a good time in general.

Later we headed over to iTap (International Tap House) which is probably one of the best beer bars I've been to, I just wish their draft menu was updated daily.

The next day we visited The City Museum based off numerous recommendations from people. I've learned that planning a vacation from scratch isn't nearly as much fun as taking recommendations from people who have already been there. City Museum was no exception. Laura and I climbed, crawled, slithered, squeezed, slid, dragged, lifted, pushed, laughed, and pulled our way through this fantastic maze of fun. It's not really a traditional museum as much as a playground for both adults and kids. Laura and I had tons of fun running and climbing all over and we made a rule of if there is a slide you must take it. By the end we were exhausted and bruised and smiling. If you go to St. Louis, take several hours to experience City Museum.

Rooftop experience.

View from the ferris wheel.

Taking the fun way down from beneath the mantis.

Those are all soda kegs, aka a decorative wall made of homebrewer kegs.

The 10 story spiral slide.

This cross came from the hospital that inspired the original exorcism movie.

I was actually very stuck here.

Weeeeee!

If you can fit into the space, it's not off limits.

This sign pretty much sums up the City Museum.

Laura found us a great B&B outside of town in Augusta, America's first wine region. From there we spent the next day exploring some truly remarkable Missouri wines. It was a humbling experience for me because I realized I have a lot to learn to be able to make wines of this caliber regularly. By the end of our trek through 8 different tasting rooms we realized that the white wines of Missouri were more appealing to us than reds but we found gems all over the spectrum and ended up bringing back nearly two cases worth of bottles. Fortunately we won't be needing to go wine shopping again for a few months.

On our way home we paid a visit to the Gateway Arch, because really...why wouldn't you. Plus since the government finally got their shit together it was just recently re-opened. We decided not to ride up to the top to look around because when we were on the roof of the City Museum riding the ferris wheel we realized there isn't much to look at, almost nothing of interest really. But we did explore the whole westward expansion museum and got a couple of new stamps for my national park passport book.

Altogether we had a great long weekend. Plus I've realized there is more to St. Louis than a big arch and the Budweiser brewery, we could go back for another weekend and explore new adventures, and maybe we will!