Ubalblog

[  Mood: Sleepy ]
[ Currently: Breastfeeding my son ]
So some journalists trying to report on the supposed terrorist attack in Northern China where beaten. We’re not talking a few punches. According to CBC, one camera man had his face smashed into the ground. Apparently a French photographer had his pictures forcibly deleated.

Remeber when China promised press freedom to get the Olympics? Apparently they lied. And the IOC now says they are doing nothing about it.

Add that to Tibet and I am soooooo not watching this Olympics.

[  Mood: Silly ]
[ Currently: Enjoying Naptime ]
Plum Lovin’ is the second of Janet Evanovich’s Between the Numbers series. You may remember that I wasn’t very impressed with the first entry in this Stephani Plum mini-series. Think of these books as a webisode version of the main series. Evanovich is exploring light urban fantasy by giving Stephanie a turn with the superpowered (and superhunky) Diesel.

This time finds Stephanie looking for bail jumper Annie. The mysterious Diesel shows up and informs her he has Annie locked away for her protection. It appears Annie is an unmentionable like Diesel. She’s a matchmaker. If Stephanie helps Diesel with his case, he will turn over Annie. Diesel is trying to find Bearnie, another unmentionable who has it in for Annie. His power is to give people a rash. So Stephanie takes on Annie’s case load while she helps Diesel track down his fugitive.

This second entry is stronger, mostly because Evanovich plays to her strengths by including the hillarious secondary characters of Grandma Mazur and Lula to the fullest. These two, over-the-top women are the reason why many people have stuck with the main series long after it became a little repetitive.

I will give the third book a look because of how good this one was.

[  Mood: Sleepy ]
Anne of Green Gables is a Canadian children’s classic. Written a hundred years ago, it tells the story of Anne, an orphan who is adopted by Marilla and Matthew Cuthbert, middle-aged siblings who live in the mythical town of Avonlea, PEI.

This story is part of the national psyche here in Canada. L.M. Montgomery became famous in her lifetime, and has remained so. Prince Edward Island’s tourism industry is pretty much based on Anne. There have been musicals, plays, tv series, movies, heck even anime based on this book.

So is it worth the hype? In a word, yes. Anne Shirley is an over the top heroine, full of fancy language and vivid daydreams. Her bright outlook on the world is infectious. You want to spend time with Anne and be swept up in her enthusiasm. You can understand why the town of Avonlea falls in love with her.

There is a reason why this has lasted one hundred years. Go get it.

[  Mood: Happy ]
[ Currently: Breastfeeding my son ]
Madeline Bean is a caterer to the stars. While catering an event for Hollywood producer and jerk, Bruno Huntley, the host drops dead. Accusations start to fly, and Madeline’s catering partner is accused of poisoning their client. Madeline sets out to find out who really poisoned Bruno in order to save her friend and the business.

Fun little mystery. Madeline is a typical mystery heroine, nothing really outstanding like a Kinsey Millhone or V.I. Warshawski. The mystery unrolls at a good pace, keeping the reader guessing. Unlike a lot of the culinary mysteries on the market, there are no recipes.

Worth a look.

[  Mood: Happy ]
[ Currently: Enjoying Naptime ]
The sixth book of the Queen Betsy series is actually much better than the more recent entries. Maybe because MaryJanice Davidson was willing to take some risks in this book.

The main theme in this book is Betsy is alone. Through a series of strange circumstances, all of Betsy support system has disappeared, leaving her alone to figure out why she was alone. In addition, Davidson takes away the Ant, Betsy stepmother and foil. One wonders who Betsy will play off of in the next book of the series.

Worth the time.

[  Mood: Sleepy ]
[ Currently: You don’t want to know, and I don’t want to tell you. ]
So this book is a collection of the colums, which also went on to inspire a TV series, which itself lead to a movie.

All I have to say is, I don’t see how.

This is a book about some very shallow, self-absorbed people. It is hard to find anyone worth liking. Not to mention the rampant drug use gets really old, really fast.

Not worth it.

[  Mood: Fed Up WIth Life ]
So over the last few days, I have noticed a trend. Every site, and their mother’s too, is producing lists of who they think the villains in the next Batman movie should be.

No, really! Even though the current movie just came out, the blogosphere is all atwitter about whether Catwoman or Penguin should be in the third Nolan Batman movie. Which hasn’t been announced yet and may not even happen.

Think I’m kidding? Among the ones I have stumbled across in the last few days:

8 Great Villains We Want in the Next Batman Movie – From OMG Lists – This one got Dugg recently.

Who should be the next Batman villain? – From MSNBC

The Dark Knight: Bring on the Bad Guys – From TWOP

And that is just the tip of the iceberg. Out of idle curiosity, I Googled "batman villains next movie" and got 168,000 results. Now I know not all of them are articles about who should be the next Batman villain, but a lot are. Heck I even got Ten Batman Villains Who Should Never Be On Film.

What is clear is that the Dark Knight is big right now, which leads to Internet chatter. Unfortunately, instead of discussing the movie, a significant number of commentators are choosing to speculate about what will come.

What a waste.

[  Mood: Happy ]
Barak Obama is the great black hope of the current US election. But before this year, he had a pretty interesting life. This book is a memoir of his coming to grips with the absence of a father in his life.

The work spans his childhood to his time as an organizer in Chicago to his visit to his father’s famiuly in Kenya. In it, he is very blunt about his own shortcomings as well as his successes.

While it is a memoir, this book is also a snap shot of race in America. Barak grows up one of the few black people in Hawaii. And while he experienced some racism and challenges because of this, it was not a typical childhood. His time in Chicago showed him what might be termed "the typical black experience", opening Barak’s eyes to what most blacks went through.

This book was written long before Barak became a politician, yet is interesting to see some familiar themes that keep popping up. The imortance of fathers and the impact of not having one on young men’s lives reoccures again and again, both in the US and in Africa. Now I understand where a lot of the passion from his recent Father’s Day speech came from.

This was a worthwhile read. I am waiting for The Audacity of Hope to come in from the library.

[  Mood: Sleepy ]
[ Currently: Guess ]
When you first start this book, it feels like a fantasy novel. But as you get deeper into the work, you realize that this is not a fantsy, but rather historical fiction.

The book tells the tail of Octavian, the son of a African princess who finds himself growing up as the subject of a scientific experiment. As the book unfolds, Octavian finds himself caught up in the beginnings of the American Revolution, while questioning his own slavehood.

This is not an easy book to read. The reality of Octavian’s situation unfolds slowly. The reader discovers the real state of affairs alongside the main character. The author uses the lanugage of the times, especially in the latter part of the book when the story is told through letters. Given the level of inferencing skill required, this book is meant for the late junior high or high school crowd.

Very gripping.

[  Mood: Happy ]
[ Currently: Breastfeeding my son ]
This is the fifth entry in the Queen Betsy series, and it is beginning to lag. This installment sees Betsy moaning about her upcoming 31st birthday, which is also the first anniversary of her death and ressurection as a vampire. Add to that the arrival of European vampires to pay their respects and you have a stress filled time for Betsy.

Unfortunately this book does not live up to the earlier part of the series. The momentum appears to have stalled. Author Davidson needs to make a decision and move this series forward with some character development. Here’s hoping that the sixth book, with the wedding leads to better things.