I think tonight is pumpkin carving night. Michael has been in design talks with the kids. I am looking forward to helping and documenting their progress.
Michael and I are thoroughly tired of being sick and tired. Colds are such nasty drags!
I just love the phrase, "Ooga Booga". No scary costumes for this year. Noah is going to be a robot. Michael has the box cut out and spray painted with silver metallic paint. I got Noah a pair of gray sweats and some cookie tins. I look forward to seeing what the guys put together. Eve decided she wanted to wear Rachel's Kimono from 2nd grade, so easy peasy there. Rachel is going to be a white fuzzy die with black fuzzy spots. Should be weird. Good stuff!
To the Books::::
This was the second book I have read by Mary Roach. I was intrigued by the subject of what a person would have to do to get ready for and possibly expect in long term space travel. Mary Roach's style is to ask questions that are not usually asked due to their embarrassing nature, or social taboo. Her book Stiff was one that thoroughly fascinated me, as well. I found the discoveries of how the body works under long periods of forced bed rest, no bathing for several days, processing different types and consistency of food, and withstanding extreme G forces interesting. The author often interjects her thoughts and feelings, so you feel you are her silent partner along for the experience. The part that seemed tedious and unnecessary was the several pages devoted to tracking down and watching footage from a porn film because it claimed that it showed how people could have sex in zero gravity. Well the footage was just an obvious camera trick and an annoying tangent to a story that could be served with a footnote.
I did like that the book was footnoted throughout. These asides I, mostly, found pertinent to the overall story.
How animals were and are used in the space program was very informative and interesting. The Russians preferred dogs, while the U.S. used monkeys.
One of the most fascinating parts of the book was the psychological tests that the potential astronauts have to endure. The scary part is the potential for problems because if there are psychological issues astronauts will deny them because they realize they will be scrubbed from the mission. Trying to figure out optimum crew make up was pretty cool. They have found mostly male crews with a few females would probably work best for long term travel.
The book was worth the read, but the tangents were often distracting to the more interesting information in the book.
Mary Quinn accepts a new assignment that uses her early life experiences of being on the street. This time she has cut her hair and donned the clothes of a street urchin boy and gets a job hauling bricks at the construction site at the Clock Tower at the Houses of Parliament. She meets up again with James Easton who is brought in to help determine the safety of the job site after a man has fallen to his death from the tower. Mary and James have a smoldering relationship that is blanched when Mary reveals some of her past to James. The setting in Victorian England and the descriptions of life for the poor is vivid and jarring. Especially riveting is the character of Jenkins. The series continues to have a modern feel, which I wish it would shake off some how. I like the characters and feel that the writer continues to show a lot of potential.
The Story of Henry Lee, a first generation Chinese boy in Seattle and his life changing encounter with a Japanese girl, Keiko. The story moves between two time periods. The war years of the 40s and close to present day in the mid 1980s. Henry's father wants him to learn English, so doesn't allow him to speak Cantonese. This communication barrier isolates Henry from his family. Henry is also ostracized by his classmates who are caught up in hatred of anyone who looks Japanese (which means anyone with Asian characteristics). His father makes him wear a button proclaiming, "I am Chinese". While working in the school lunchroom, Henry becomes friends with Keiko. Their friendship is put the crucible of war time drama. Through machinations of his father, Keiko and Henry are separated. Their ultimate return to each other is a long time coming, but done in a satisfying and gentle way.
The themes of father-son relationships, racism, bigotry, war, internment camps, friendship, and love are explored in this novel. A thought provoking read and a great book for discussion.
I am a science fiction geek, so books in this genre help me consider interesting "What If" scenarios. This book continues to be told from Will's point of view. Will is small, scrappy, and impulsive. His strong desire to maintain his identity by avoiding Capping by the Masters has led him to a group of rebels seeking to overthrow the Masters through subterfuge. Will is able to enter the City of Gold and Lead by winning a competition held to take the strongest representatives to work for the Masters. He, along with Fritz, enter the city and find out several important secrets of the Masters that the can use to fight them.
The world created by the author was well thought out and plausible. Well plausible, if you totally dig the idea of creepy, domineering alien species. I do...so plausible, YES! This is a cool read aloud. My son keeps asking questions about the What Ifs. Curiosity...not so bad sometimes. Enjoyable series.
Charles Lennox is an upstanding gentlemen in Victorian England with a loyal butler, and an equally loyal fiance. His brother who likes to help out in Charles' detective work is also a great character. In this book of the series, Charles Lennox is running for a seat in parliament. The political machinations for running for election are a large part of the book. Lennox has to alternate his running for election with solving murders in London. The clues and characters were interesting, but I kept feeling that there was too much time spent on the run for parliament.
This is a solid detective series with good character development. This may be a bit of a vanilla review, but I like to think of it as a vanilla bean review because it does have that little somethin' somethin'.
Happy Halloween, folks!
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