Top 5 Tuesday — Air!

Top 5 Tuesday is a weekly meme created by Bionic Bookworm, now hosted by Meeghan Reads. If you’re interested in participating, check out their blog to get the details and the prompts for each week, then link your post back to Meeghan’s blog or leave a comment on her weekly post.

23 May: Top 5 books with air

Calm like a monk, or wild like Aang? Don’t forget to breathe deeply. 💨🍃
(Variant: flight)

So, the obvious choice: Books with „air“ in the title or air travel…

Airframe by Michael Crichton — ✈️ ✈️ ✈️

I read this quite a while ago, when it came out first as a paperback. 2006-ish? Back then I probably would have given it four or five stars, but tastes change. I remember starting to read this, while sitting in a plane, about to hurl itself down a runway to take-off and thinking “How stupid can I be?” If you want some well written, fast paced entertainment, without having to engage too much brain power, this is a good choice. Unless you are afraid of flying… 

Probably around the same time or a little earlier I also read this:

Air Babylon by Imogen Edwards-Jones — ✈️ ✈️ ✈️ ✈️

Funnily enough, I bought this at duty free in Heathrow Airport. This book is a loose collection of anecdotes of the shenanigans in the airline industry. They are told in the form of one day in the working life of an airport duty manager. Very British, very shallow, occasionally very funny – especially if you have flown a few times. Brain candy. This is probably a great read during a long-haul flight.

Similar theme, still part of my TBR pile:

Cockpit Confidential by Patrick Smith — TBR pile

I got this in 2018. At the time I was still a regular flyer and I guess I thought it would be entertaining and illuminating:

„Cockpit Confidential covers not only the nuts and bolts of flying, but also the grand theater of air travel, from airport architecture to inflight service to the excitement of travel abroad. It’s a thoughtful, funny, at times deeply personal look into the strange and misunderstood world of commercial flying.“

So much for non-fiction. This meme’s prompt is a good reminder that I still have this short story on my TBR pile:

Any Way the Wind Blows by Seanan McGuire — TBR pile

Pretty cover, right? Added to my TBR pile in 2020.

“In the original Tor.com story Any Way the Wind Blows, New York Times bestselling author Seanan McGuire presents a sweet tribute to Manhattan’s iconic Flatiron building–celebrating the longtime home of Tor Books as the publisher bids farewell for new office space.”

“Composed of travelers from nine different parallel dimensions, the Cartography Corps crew aboard the airship Stalwart Trumpet of Glory descends on the New York City in our universe to collect and preserve artifacts from the legendary turn-of-the-twentieth century landmark Flatiron building.”

Can be read for free here. Yes, I still need to read her Wayward Children novellas, they are burning a hole into my virtual TBR pile. I know, I know.

Last, but not least, if you are looking for a fun graphic novel series with good artwork, I highly recommend this:

Skyward Vol. 1: My Low-G Life — read in 2019 — ☁️ ☁️ ☁️ ☁️ ☁️
by Joe Henderson (Author), Antonio Fabela (Illustrator), Lee Garbett (Illustrator)

„One day, gravity on Earth suddenly became a fraction of what it is now. Twenty years later, humanity has adapted to its new low-gravity reality. And to Willa Fowler, who was born just after G-day, it’s pretty awesome. You can fly through the air! I mean, sure, you can also die if you jump too high. So you just don’t jump too high. And maybe don’t get mixed up in your dad’s secret plan to bring gravity back that could get you killed…“

Nice artwork, fun story. In Issue #2 Willa, the main character, started to live dangerously. There is a stunning panel, showing what happened to those that didn’t make it past G-Day.

I am not sold on the whole premise of this story and the world building seems flawed. Henderson claims to have researched gravity. I enjoyed this comic so much that I was willing to roll with it and suspend my major disbelief.

What did I like? The artwork, the colours, the humour. Willa is a little daft at times, but generally likeable, so is her dad. I liked the outfits people wear.

What did I not like? The holes in the world building, aka how would all this still work with really low gravity? Loose water, loose dirt, loose everything, the weather… What happens to the polar ice caps without water? However, the story telling works just fine, even without those open questions.

At the time I read Skyward, it sounded as if it might be adapted as a motion picture for Sony. I guess Covid-19 happened, so… 🤷‍♀️

So, any air-themed books on your shelf? What did you like and what can you recommend?

Not enough food for thought.

Food: A Cultural Culinary History
by Ken Albala

“In 36 fascinating lectures, award-winning Professor Albala puts this extraordinary subject on the table, taking you on an enthralling journey into the human relationship to food. With this innovative course, you’ll travel the world discovering fascinating food lore and culture of all regions and eras – as an eye-opening lesson in history as well as a unique window on what we eat today.”

He went off script a lot into historical deep dives that were unrelate to food. A lot of it sounded like conjecture. I am not sure how much of this is really based on historical fact. The amount of time he actually spends on talking about food is comparatively small. And instead of listening to old recipes, I would have liked to get more details on the culinary impacts of various historical events and vice versa. That did happen, but not enough. 

By the time we hit the European Dark Ages, I started thinking about ending this Great Course. By the time I reached Luis XIV, I was sure that I could not listen through another 8 hours of this. Too superficial, vague and flippant.

Maybe it‘s also a problem of the format. This is not a planned and edited book, but a recording of a lecture series. I think this would probably work better as a podcast. The last Great Courses book I listened to (different topic) I also abandoned about halfway through.

DNF at 55%, after 10 hours.

Quirky animals

Strange Animals
by Tom Jackson

Great photos of spectacular animals. The cute, the bizarre and the beautiful… The book is organized by continent and each photo is accompanied by a short explanatory text about the animal.

If you love watching nature documentaries, you will probably like this. Great fun and a nice coffee table book.

How does a mudskipper fish manage to “walk” on land? Why is the Hoatzin also known as “The Stinkbird”? And once the female Pipa toad has laid her eggs, where does she put them? The answers? The mudskipper can “walk” using its pectoral fins, the Hoatzin has a unique digestive system that gives the bird a manure-like odor, and the female Pipa toad embeds its eggs on its back, where they develop to adult stage.

From the book blurb

I should probably not post too many photographic examples, as the book isn‘t out yet. But I can’t resist to show you a few more…

I received an advanced copy of this book from the publisher or author through NetGalley. All opinions are my own and I was not required to give a positive review. You will have to wait until July to get a hold of this.

@amberbooks #amberbooks

The science in science fiction…

The Science of Sci-Fi: From Warp Speed to Interstellar Travel
by Erin Macdonald 

“Woooosh”—That’s the sound of some of info-dumping parts of this book going right over my head. Perhaps I should have listened to it at less than warp speed. It was a mildly funny and rather superficial excursion into the realm of SF shows, games and movies, the laws of physics and how it could all work (or not).

This was a bit better than ok, but due to the lecture format at times very episodic and repetitive. I actually could have done with more basics. Still, it came free on Audible and offered a nice overview into the topic of how scientifically accurate some of our favourite SF shows are. 

May the Force be with you. Live long and prosper. So say we all! 

Further planned listening with Audible and The Great Courses: My Favorite Universe and The Inexplicable Universe: Unsolved Mysteries by Neil deGrasse Tyson

Reed Warblers, polar bears and an orca.

Call of the Reed Warbler
by Charles Massy

This is my current audio. I thought it‘s about time that I read another non-fiction. This one here popped up when I was researching some details about regenerative farming for my job. It sounds like a good grounding on the topic. I‘m about three hours into the audio and already learned a surprising amount of things about Australia. Well, considering how little I really know about Australia, maybe not so surprising after all.

Call of the Reed Warbler shows the way forward for the future of our food supply, our Australian landscape and our planet. This ground-breaking book will change the way we think of, farm and grow food. Author and radical farmer Charles Massy explores transformative and regenerative agriculture and the vital connection between our soil and our health. It is a story of how a grassroots revolution – a true underground insurgency – can save the planet, help turn climate change around, and build healthy people and healthy communities, pivoting significantly on our relationship with growing and consuming food. 

And my current eye reading is a SF novel that was nominated for a bunch of awards.

Blackfish City
by Sam J. Miller

After the climate wars, a floating city was constructed in the Arctic Circle. Once a remarkable feat of mechanical and social engineering it is now rife with corruption and the population simmers with unrest. 

Into this turmoil comes a strange new visitor – a woman accompanied by an orca and a chained polar bear. She disappears into the crowds looking for someone she lost thirty years ago, followed by whispers of a vanished people who could bond with animals. Her arrival draws together four people and sparks a chain of events that will change Blackfish City forever.

This one is slow going, the first third is pretty much set up for the different POVs. I am now past the first 100 pages and the separate POVs start to make connections and the plot starts to come together. It’s quite atmospheric. Neuromancer meets Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? meets The Golden Compass.

Heavenly intervention led to this…

Heroes: Mortals and Monsters, Quests and Adventures (Stephen Fry’s Great Mythology, #2)
by Stephen Fry (author and narrator)

Stephen Fry‘s second offering in his Greek Mythology series. We are looking at all of the Greek heroes, some more well-known than others. Lots of names and someone begetting someone else, etc. But as Stephen points out himself early on, don‘t get hung up on trying to memorize them all. I certainly didn‘t. Those that kept getting repeated eventually stuck.

Herakles (Hercules), Jason and Theseus are covered quite extensively and I knew their stories at least in broad strokes. I was foggier on the details of Perseus. But I had never heard of Bellerophon or Atalanta. Orpheus and Oedipus were nice refreshers. The ending dragged. I blame Theseus, he must have been quite a tosser.

Stephen‘s sometimes amusing narration made me think of Monty Python at times. Pity that they never picked up on the Greek heroes. Parts of this could have qualified.

This is quite long, so I listened to Stephen with longish breaks in between heroes. And yes, I recommend the audio, as half of the fun is listening to Fry‘s narration.

I will definitely proceed to the next book. I want to see what he makes of Troy! Should be entertaining.

The story of Troy speaks to all of us – the kidnapping of Helen, a queen celebrated for her beauty, sees the Greeks launch a thousand ships against the city of Troy, to which they will lay siege for 10 whole and very bloody years. 

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/53443339-troy

Further reading for the only female hero in this book: I came across a retelling that looks interesting, Atalanta by Jennifer Saint.

From the beloved, bestselling author of Elektra and Ariadne, a reimagining of the myth of Atalanta, a fierce huntress raised by bears and the only woman in the world’s most famous band of heroes, the Argonauts

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/61884838.Atalanta

Oh, and Ariadne makes an appearance as well in Fry‘s stories about Theseus….

Goodreads Choice Award — Nominee for Best Fantasy (2021)

Ariadne, Princess of Crete, grows up greeting the dawn from her beautiful dancing floor and listening to her nursemaid’s stories of gods and heroes. But beneath her golden palace echo the ever-present hoofbeats of her brother, the Minotaur, a monster who demands blood sacrifice.

When Theseus, the Prince of Athens, arrives to vanquish the beast, Ariadne sees in his green eyes not a threat but an escape. Defying the gods, betraying her family and country, and risking everything for love, Ariadne helps Theseus kill the Minotaur. But will Ariadne’s decision ensure her happy ending?

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/54860614-ariadne

And these three ladies will probably make an appearance in Fry‘s Troy as well:

Goodreads Choice Award — Nominee for Best Fantasy (2022)

The House of Atreus is cursed. A bloodline tainted by a generational cycle of violence and vengeance. This is the story of three women, their fates inextricably tied to this curse, and the fickle nature of men and gods. 

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/58725016-elektra

Next time I feel like reading about women in Ancient Greece / mythology, I should probably give this author a try, what do you think?

Not my style…

The Art of Cursive Penmanship: A Personal Handwriting Program for Adults
by Michael R. Sull

A practice guide to improve one‘s handwriting. We start with a discourse on the history and technicalities of handwriting. There is instructions on the correct sitting posture, how to place the paper, how to use your writing implement, on fountain pens and so on.

Chapter 5 is the beginning of the practical part. I confess to skimming the theoretical part of the book (chapters 1-4, the first 100 pages). Too much information for my reason of getting this — to practice my handwriting.

To the practice part and the physical set-up of this book: I don‘t get why this book is spiralbound. Ok, I can open the pages wider and hence write more easily on the practice pages. But the only way this would have made sense to me: being able to open the binding and take out the practice pages. Or have them come as a separate practice journal. The way this is now I have to either deface this book by writing in it and make it unusable for others or I have to make copies of the practice sheets, if I want to keep this book pristine. I probably shouldn‘t be this fussy about it. I could write directly into the book… or am I supposed to rip out the practice sheets, so I can write on a flat surface, aka that‘s the reason for the spiral-binding? You are supposed to shift the paper when writing, so that would really be the only way… In that case it would have been nice for the blank practice sheets to be one-sided, aka no having been printed on both sides of the sheet.

Anyway, I never touched the practice part. After having skimmed and re-skimmed the theoretical part, this has sat on my shelf since March 2022. Besides my comments about not liking the set-up, I also came to the conclusion that it makes no sense for me to practice with a book aimed at US Americans. The writing style is too different to what I learned at school.

DNF! I will put this aside permanently and look for something else more suited to my writing style.

November 2022 Wrap-up

My November 2022:
– The Stand-In ★★★☆☆ audio, romance, slightly more diverse than the usual fare.
– Wolfsong by T.J. Klune ★★★★★ ebook, gorgeous! What a great take on werewolves and found family.
– A Psalm for the Wild-Built by Becky Chambers ★★★★★ ebook, novella, roadtrip in the pursuit of meaning and comfort.
– Explorer (Foreigner #6) by C.J. Cherryh ★★★★★ audio, conclusion to the second trilogy. Fun!
– How the Earth Works ★★¾☆☆ audio, non-fiction, The Great Courses, exhaustive lectures on everything from the Big Bang to plate tectonics, volcanoes and more. DNF after 10.5 hours and 13 more hours to go.
– The Nox ★★½☆☆ full-cast audio, horror in the arctic circle. Meh.
– The Drowned World ★★★☆☆ paper, StoryGraph #1, anachronistic climate fic, post-apocalypse. Dated, but with some good imagery.
– Neanderthal Seeks Human ★★★☆☆ audio, romance, nothing special.

Currently reading:
–  Ship of Destiny, ebook, moving really slowly… for a while now. I like it, I just have Liveship overload.
– Thistlefoot, ebook, sweet and a little creepy…
– Children of Memory, audio, odd, but good. The zoo is growing.

Pages and minutes in November 2022
1,142 pages, 49.05 hours

Geological pace…

How the earth works
by Michael E. Wysession

⭐⭐⭐

Rating: 2.5 out of 5.

Very elementary. If you are new to the topic or need a basic refresher about geology, Earth‘s history, physics, plate tectonics, volcanoes, etc., this is a good primer.

From the book blurb:

“How the Earth Works takes you on an astonishing journey through time and space. In 48 lectures, you will look at what went into making our planet – from the big bang, to the formation of the solar system, to the subsequent evolution of Earth.“
… charting the geologic forces that churn beneath our feet to push the continents and seafloor around… Earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, and tsunamis are byproducts of our planet’s ceaseless activity, and you will focus on specific examples of each… how humans have transformed watersheds, leveled mountains, changed the balance of gases in the atmosphere, and caused the extinction of enough species to hasten the end of the 65-million-year-old Cenozoic era…“

The lectures start off with „Geology’s Impact on History“, „Geologic History—Dating the Earth“, „Earth’s Structure—Journey to Earth’s Center“. The we start to delve into some basic principles. 

Lectures 6 & 7 „Making Matter—The Big Bang and Big Bangs“ and „Creating Earth—Recipe for a Planet“ were pretty fun chapters. I think this is something I want to explore more in the future, aka how do planets and solar systems form? 

Recommended reading by Wysession:
– Hawking, A Brief History of Time. — I tried this when it was published and didn’t get far. Got a hardback version, now I just have to find the time.
– Tyson, Death by Black Hole: And Other Cosmic Quandaries. — Tyson has a style I like, at least from watching him on screen. Tempted.
– Calvino, Cosmicomics
– Ferris, The Whole Shebang: A State-of-the-Universe Report

„The Rock Cycle—Matter in Motion“, „Minerals—The Building Blocks of Rocks“ and „Crystallization—The Rock Cycle Starts“ were pretty dry, but probably a necessary foundation for another fun lecture: Lecture 12 „Volcanoes—Lava and Ash“.

Lecture 15 „Plate Tectonics—Why Continents Move“ — this was probably the best explanation about the mechanics of plate tectonics that I have ever heard. Wysession is good a breaking it down with practical examples on any topic. Here one probably needs a video to watch him with his metal sheets, ice cubes in water etc., instead of just listening to the explanations.

Lecture 16 to 19 told me more about plate tectonics though than I ever wanted to know and I almost DNFd several times. I listened to most of lecture 20, „Continents Collide and Mountains are Made“, and started on lecture 21, „Intraplate Volcanoes“, before finally deciding to call it a day. 10.5 hours done, another 13-odd hours to go… the lecture format made this pretty dull and boring a lot of the time, although there were the above mentioned highlights as well. Maybe I will pick this up again at some point and make it to some more fun chapters, but for now I am done.

July 2022 Wrap-up

My July 2022:

– Severance by Ling Ma ★★★½☆ audio, a millennial‘s coming of age, literary fiction with a touch of zombies.

– Black Tide ★★★★¼ audiobook, horror. End of the world, alien invasion meets creature feature. I had fun, couldn‘t put it down. Looking forward to everybody else‘s comments.

– The Empress of Salt and Fortune ★★★☆☆ ebook, novella, magical China, the life of an empress in very broad strokes, didn‘t do much for me.

– The Iron Duke ★★★★★ paper, StoryGraph #1 August, officially marketed as PNR, but much more steampunk-pirates-zombie-swashbuckling fun.

– Sherlock Holmes: The Definitive Audio Collection, narrated by Stephen Fry:

#1) A Study in Scarlet, Watson meets Holmes. And Mormons. ★★★½☆ 

#2) The Sign of Four, Watson meets Mary. And we take a trip to the Andaman Islands. ★★★★☆

#3) The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, A Scandal in Bohemia, Holmes & Watson meet The Woman / The Adventure of the Re-Headed League / A Case of Identity / The Boscombe Valley Mystery / The Five Orange Pips / The Man with the Twisted Lip / The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle / The Adventure of the Speckled Band ★★★★☆

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Short story anthology The Best Science Fiction of the Year: Volume Six: (ongoing)

– YELLOW AND THE PERCEPTION OF REALITY by Maureen F. McHugh ★★★★★ how do we perceive reality? For free here: https://www.tor.com/2020/07/22/yellow…

– EXILE’S END by Carolyn Ives Gilman ★★★★☆ The painful process of repatriation of stolen art. For free here: https://www.tor.com/2020/08/12/exiles…

– INVISIBLE PEOPLE by Nancy Kress — parents find out that their adopted daughter has been genetically altered as an embryo. Besides the ethical questions this throws up, it‘s a well-written thriller. Great character development for a short story, I was with them every step of the way. ★★★★★

– RED_BATI by Dilman Dila — a conscious pet robot fighting for its life and meaning on a mining ship. Read this before in Dominion: An Anthology of Speculative Fiction from Africa and the African Diaspora and found it a bit blander this time around. ★★★☆☆

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Comics:

– Copra: Round One, DNF at 42 pages, eComic, StoryGraph #1 July, rip-off/homage of Suicide Squad, messy art, no plot.

– We Stand On Guard ★★★★★ eComic, StoryGraph #1 September, Canada is invaded by the US in a war for water.

– Saga #60 ★★★★★ eComic, the end of this arc. I cried.

– They’re Not Like Us, Vol. 1: Black Holes for the Young, DNF at 47 pages, eComic, StoryGraph #2 September, teens with psychic powers, took too long to get going, didn‘t like the artwork.

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Currently reading:

– Ship of Magic, paper, I am about halfway and like it. Doorstopper of almost 900 pages, very dense, so this will take a few more weeks.

– How the Earth Works, audio, Great courses lectures.

– Sherlock Holmes: The Definitive Audio Collection, narrated by Stephen Fry: #3) The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, all the other stories…

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Specfic Movies & TV watched:

– Dune, new movie ★★★★★ re-watch. Part II end of 2023, why???

– Obi-Wan Kenobi, S1, Ep 6, season completed ★★★★☆ hard to come to a satisfying ending, when you know that they all live to fight another day.

– Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness ★★★★☆ Entertaining, a little silly, a little absurd. I think I like my entertainment to be a little less wacky. Pretty forgettable, actually.

– A Discovery of Witches, S1 completed ★★★½☆ Meh. Read the blurb of books 2 + 3, most likely a pass.

– Resident Evil, S1 completed, Netflix series ★★★★☆

(- Night Sky, S1, Eps 3… not sure if I am all that interested in continuing….

– For All Mankind, S3, Eps. 1-3 ★★★★★ OMG, I wish this was real. So cool.

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And last, but not least — I finally finished my Lego tree house…

Some statistics:

Just noticed—the format page only seems to be counting the finished books. Oh well…