Darwin’s Children by Greg Bear

Spoilers

Going Postal by Terry Pratchett

I read this a while back. I’m not sure when, but the mass market paperback came out a year ago and it’s sitting on our bookshelf with creases and dog ears, so that coupled with a vague memory of the plot makes me think I’ve read it. But I didn’t see it on the Book Log when I went looking for it a moment ago, so here it is.

I think I enjoyed it. Why not? It’s a Discworld novel.

Thud! by Terry Pratchett

This is another in the wacky Discworld series. Why can’t dwarves and trolls just get along?

Like M&Ms, this is very much like the last one I ate. Sugary, enjoyable, but I wouldn’t want to live on them.

——

On the To Be Read pile:

*The Ancestor’s Tale: A pilgrimage to the Dawn of Evolution by Richard Dawkins
*Darwin’s Children by Greg Bear
*Guns, Germs and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies by Jared M. Diamond
*Can’t Wait To Get To Heaven by Fannie Flagg
*Sloppy Firsts by Megan McCafferty
*Second Helpings by Megan McCafferty
*A whole slew of Janet Evanovich books given to for early Xmas.

Shiksa Goddess (or, How I Spent My Forties) by Wendy Wasserstein.

This book was recommended by one of the Motley Fool folks on their Eclectic Library discussion board. Non-fictional Essays are more or less my favorite type of book, so I was sold.

I’ve never seen a Wasserstein work on stage, nor do I think I’ve read any. In fact, before I read this book I knew two things about her: 1) She was a somewhat famous playwright and b) She died in January 2006.

While the essays were well written, nothing in there jumped out at me as amazing. Some stories are sad, some amusing. There was somewhat of a black cloud over the reading, as her sister died young and she is writing about how her mother was terribly concerned about Wendy’s health. Here I am, knowing she would be dead 5 years later (at the way too young age of 55), so even her optimistic essays get a tinge of unintentional melancholy.

She seems a nice lady and in fact writes an entire essay about her own niceness, and how she often uses it to her advantage. The one essay that made me think a bit was about gov’t funding of the arts (Wendy was for it, and I remain on the fence). So, since she got me to think a bit, I’ll call the book a win.

NeverWhere by Neil Gaiman

Brefly, an unremarkable London man with a mediocre life falls between the cracks of society for a while to join a quest in the magical London Below.

Skimming his bibliography on WikiPedia, I see I have read Neil Gaiman’s Good Omens, The Sandman, Don’t Panic: The Official Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy Companion, American Gods and, I’m assuming here, some text he wrote for SimCity 2000.

I originally bought NeverWhere for my brother’s birthday present back in August, but turned out he already had it. So, I put it on my To Be Read pile, and sent him the Serenity essay book as a replacement.

So, I’ve read it, but like most of his books, I end up thinking, “Well. That was that.” I expect that this book will have no lasting impact on my life or worldview, but it was a fine distraction for a couple hours, much like Terry Pratchett’s stuff (whom he cowrote Good Omens with). It gave me something to read on a recent night when I couldn’t get back to sleep after Steakette had woken us up. So, there’s that.

Probably, I should have bought a copy of the Serenity essays for myself.