Done, sort of.

Bicycles North, by Rita Ritchie. It's a little juvenile mystery from Western Publishing's Whitman imprint. I remember those little books being all over the place when I was growing up in the 1970s. That's the same imprint that produced the Trixie Belden mystery series. I never read this one. It's too bad I didn't see it when I was the right age. The story involves kids on a long-distance bicycle tour. It's the sort of adventure I dreamed of having back then.

Also a book on France's Second Empire. And Hudson Taylor's Spiritual Secret, a biography of a leading 19th-century missionary in China. He accomplished some truly extraordinary things, especially after he got rid of his European clothes and started dressing to fit in.

Do yourself a favor and pull Galileo's Dream out of the stack and read it next. It was a really good book. Almost made me cry at the end.

About halfway through re-reading Julian May's Pliocene Exile series. I'd forgotten how excellent these books are.

I had the opportunity to get the audio version of Bernard Cornwell's The Last Kingdom. I have previously read this book. I listen to it at night while I clean the kitchen and do other domestic duties. I have to say, I really enjoy the audio version. It seems less formulaic when listened to, and seems to have more gravitas (if that makes sense).

BTW, I finally understand why Stephen King was put on the Earth. So we could have Joe HIll. I highly recommend his work, folks. His books even have endings.

Love them

I have been working my way through the bargain bin at McNally Robinson (Canadian book chain that is on the verge of failing because people like me only buy books once they get cheap. ) I have had really good luck with this.

The Street Gang by Micheal Davis. Great book about the creation of Sesame Street. I love this kind of book, finding out all sorts of connections and how they lead to stuff. Also I love Jim Henson and it is cool to find out how much stuff other people did and why he did the stuff he did. I love the guys writing style, very easy and entertaining.

Before that I was reading Rip it Up and Start Again by Simon Reynolds. This was a very cool book about 80's postpunk music. It got me interested in some bands I hadn't heard of and had interesting insights on bands that I already liked. It was a little dry in places but only as dry as a history of post punk can be and well worth it. In fact I liked it so much that I wrecked it by carrying it everywhere with me and then went and bought another copy because I wanted a good copy for my bookshelf.

In between on and off I have been reading a collection of letters written by Arther Conan Doyle from childhood on. This is entertaining from a historical perspective and it was only $3! I enjoyed the bit where he wrote home to his parents about his teachers giving him booze and cigars for Christmas. trying to place the age I think he was around junior high age.

Well, today I finished listening to the last of Crownwell's Saxon series. I had previously read all of these, but found it fun to listen to them again with my MP3 player. The first three in the series (The Last Kingdom, The Pale Horseman, The Lords of the North) were expertly read by Tom Sellwood. Sword Song was read by Jamie Glover. I found the change a bit jarring, and the story (which I enjoyed when I read it), suffered for it. The last book, The Burning Land, I only listened to about 1/3, but I found that reader, Stephen Perring, enjoyable. Try as I might, I have yet to find a cite that lists all the various audio versions of these books. I started a list of the abridged, unabridged, English, and American vesions. It would be nice to have side by side reviews of these, but I am unwilling to listen to these stories again to do it. If any of you know of a good cite, please share a link. I have not had much luck in finding cites that dwelve into realm of audio books on the net.

I also finished the audio version of the Hobbit. It was read by Rob Inglis. It was great. Here is a little example.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VXLUNRvdBM0[/youtube]

Enjoying this story again it made me realize how challenging this will be to make into a good movie. I wish Del Toro the best of luck. I guess my concerns are all the music, talking animals, and the silliness of the story until the last 1/3. But, the potential is there, so my interest in the movies is renewed after listening to this version.

I'm also reading some golden age Dr. Fate. It is strangely goofy. Not at all what I expected. I find it as a huge missed opportunity for DC.

So, with a little searching, here is the breakdown.

The Last Kingdom Tom Sellwood (unabridged) Jamie Glover (abridged)
The Pale Horseman Tom Sellwood (unabridged) Jamie Glover (abridged)
The Lords of the North Tom Sellwood (unabridged) Richard Armitage (unabridged) Jamie Glover (abridged)
Sword Song Gerard Doyle (unabridged) Jamie Glover (abridged)
The Burning Land John Lee (unabridged) Stephen Perring (unabridged)

BTW, upon further review, I listened to Sword Song by Gerard Doyle, not Jamie Glover. I would never go with an abridged version.

To sum up here, Sellwood is my favorite. Armitage, for the one Saxon book he did, is good. Sword Song needs to be read by someone else. Doyle is too old sounding to be Uhtred. Perring and Lee are fairly matched for the last one, with the slight lead going to Perring. These are great fun to listen to, very cinematic in presentation, and recommended.

Listening to the audiobook of Dark Tower I: The Gunslinger on the way to work. Excellent reader.

Reading Waid's The Brave & the Bold in TPB.

Re-reading Kurt Vonnegut's Welcome to the Monkey House collection. Love his writing.

Finishing up Deep Storm by Lincoln Child. It took a little while to get going but now it is a page turner.

I finished Tarzan of the Apes, the first Tarzan book by ERB. Loved it.

Let's see...just finished a book by John Keegan, currently reading a collection of Charles Spurgeon's writings on prayer. Recently read a book of translated haiku. And currently reading Scott Korb's Life in Year One: What the World Was Like in First-Century Palestine. Donald Johanson's Ancestors: In Search of Human Origins is waiting in the wings. There's some fiction I'd like to read too, if I could make the time.

Just read the five Scott Pilgrim digests and the first two volumes of Mark Waid's Irredeemable. Pilgrim is mucho fun and has nice little Easter eggs for people who know Toronto. Irredeemable was terrific. Much better than I expected with nice art by Peter Krause (kinda Jerry Ordway and Curt Swan-ish at times). Good stuff.

On to the Life & Times of Scrooge McDuck next.

Ah! I couldn't remember who recommended Galileo's Dream... but it was WO.

Thank you, sir! I enjoyed it, and it was quite educational as well (Robinson appears to have researched Galileo's life well for the story...at least all of the technical parts that I knew beforehand appear to be accurately portrayed in the book; it's more like a biography of Galileo with a science fiction side story thrown in).

I've somewhat stalled reading prose. I've been on page 100 of Ian M. Banks' Consider Phlebas for a week now

I just re-read Jeff Lemire's Essex County trilogy. Wonderful.

"An award-winning trilogy of graphic novels set in an imaginary version of the Ontario county where he was born. In Essex County, Lemire crafts an intimate study of one community through the years, and a tender meditation on family, memory, grief, secrets, and reconciliation. With the lush, expressive inking of a young artist at the height of his powers, Lemire draws us in and sets us free."

I'm reading the People that Time Forgot, part two of Edgar Rice Burroughs Caprona series. Most enjoyable writer I've yet encountered. I've only disliked one of his books I've read so far (The Girl from Farriss's, a "realistic" story about politics of the 1910s)