Lost to Time (Sandler)

Lost to Time: Unforgettable Stories That History Forgot,Martin W. Sandler (2010)

I found a list, in my own handwriting, labelled "Books to Read". I don't know when I made this list, or why, or what the source of these particular books might have been. I only know that it had to have been in 2010 or later, judging from the first book.

I was never a big History fan, but that hasn't stopped me from being interested in certain particular stories or time period, and making up for my lack of knowledge. Maybe I'm correcting my own past here.

Anyway, I reserved this from the library (Dewey Decimal 904 S), and it arrived fairly quickly. I didn't get very far into it before it had to go back. As it hadn't really gripped me, I didn't renew it.

Of the ones I read, the first one about Ziryab was the most interesting. I knew nothing about the man, never heard of him, and yet he accomplished so much. But I get the feeling that if I traveled to Spain, I'd find that he wasn't forgotten, even if people were not aware of him. I would guess that there are museums dedicated to keeping his memory alive.

The reason for this guess is that some of the later stories seem like regional heroes, who are probably known close to home, even if they didn't get the same fame or notoriety of their compatriots. See "Chapter Five: Outdoing Revere" for examples of this. Not everyone had a Longfellow singing their praises.

If you like these kinds of stories, then this book might be for you (assuming once again that anyone other than me is reading this blog).

Graphic Novels: Superman, Supergirl, Batman, Astro City

Superman: Shadows Linger
Superman: Krypton Returns
Astro City: Through Open Doors
Batman/Superman: Volume 6 Universe's Finest

Walking through the library, I came to the shelves with all the graphic novels and manga. Sure, I checked if they had the next volume of One Piece (they didn't). But they also had regular graphic novels from DC and Marvel. I picked up the four books listed above. Something to read while floating in the pool in an inner tube.

First off, none of these books originated as a graphic novel. They are all reprints from the comics, which causes some odd breaks in the narrative and empty pages with filler art.

That, in itself, wouldn't be so bad, if the collections made any sense. Most of these do not.

Of the ones mentioned above, Shadows Linger was five consecutive issues of Superman and is composed of two separate stories, the second of which is "Shadows Linger". Both were good reads. It was interesting to see Lana Lang's evolution. I'm old enough to remember when an adult Lana Lang was brought into Galaxy Broadcasting, pre-Crisis. In this comic, Lana is now running Lexcorp, now that Luthor is missing. (Where he is or why he's missing is another story, and that's fine.) This works as well as having Lex's sister running the show on the Supergirl TV Show.

On the other hand, Krypton Returns is a hodgepodge collection of parts from multiple sources, and they don't flow together to make a cohesive narrative. Maybe if you read all the original books, you might like this summary of the plot line, but the parts from Superman, Supergirl and Superboy don't work. Also, Supergirl's outfit is horrible.

The Astro City book turned out to be the first six issues of a comic with a 12-issue run, the remainder of which were not available. I thought it was an independent comic trying to have a Justice League feel to it, but it turned out that it's put out through DC Comics. The better stories are the ones told about the people was support the heroes of the world. To be honest, I wasn't exactly sure what or where Astro City actually was. The odd thing was that the stories weren't primarily about the heroes on the cover. It was odd, but mostly enjoyable, even if the questions that arose from chapter 1 don't seem to get answered anywhere further down the line.

The Batman/Superman comic had it's moment, but again was a collection of parts of books. It even contained two non-consecutive parts of a "death of Superman" story line, which apparently isn't related to the "Death of Superman" from twenty years ago or so.

In summation: these graphic novels aren't novels. They were anthologies, and not necessarily good ones.

More Dime Novels

Last year, I have an interest in Dime Novels and checked out the Brooklyn Public Library catalog where there were two entries. One of them was 8 Dime Novels, which I reviewed last year, after having read only one novel and the introductory essay.

A few months ago, I got an email about the other book. I expected it to say that the Hold had expired, as it had been about a year.

No. Just the opposite. The book was ready and waiting to be picked up at the local branch.

I couldn't read it, but for good reasons, which I believe I confirmed with two of the librarians when I returned the book.

Despite the cover on it, there was no copyright information suggestion that these were reprints, or when this book had been assembled. From the look of the pages, I had a strong suspicion, which the librarians agreed with, that I was looking at the original dime novels, which had been bound together at some point. These books had individual copyright dates around the time of the Civil War -- the freakin' Civil War!!. I was afraid to touch these books. (Forget about the new lenses I'd need.)

Anyway, here are some pictures I took to share with you:

1634: The Baltic War (Weber / Flint)

1634: The Baltic War, David Weber and Eric Flint (2008)

This was a welcome and wonderful conclusion to 1633.

The thing you might notice is the colon in the title. The 1632 universe had taken off by this point. There are multiple books set in the year 1634 and they happen concurrently, but not as oddly as, say, A Feast for Crows and A Dance with Dragons.

If you are starting this series, and this universe, I recommend that you read this book immediately after 1632 and 1633 before branching out. One of the complaints I had about 1633 was its cover depicting a warship on its cover, but the warship wasn't ready to go by the end of that book.

In this book, Admiral Simpson finally launches his ironclads and sails off to the Baltic to win Denmark for Sweden. In the meantime, the Grantville delegation in the Tower of London needs to be rescued, along with Oliver Cromwell.

But the natives of the time period have not been idle as winter set in. They had started to emulate the up-timers, for once they see that a thing is possible, then their own scientists can try to make such things happen. It also helps that up-time books, particularly books on technology, are sold at a premium on the black market. Thankfully, for the people of Grantville, and the members of Emperor Gustavus Adolphus's army, navy or air force (yes, he has an air force!), mass production is not in place yet, so superior weapons will be limited to a few companies of soldiers.

I wish I had written this up in a more timely manner, so I could've listed more about the characters and the story lines, which is really why I have this blog in the first place more than reviews. (I mean, who is actually reading this?)

This one took a while, mostly because I was lugging a huge hardcover on the subway, and it isn't the greatest thing to hold onto when I'm falling asleep. There's also a lot to keep track of, but it's worth the effort. History is getting rewritten and the timelines are diverging. People aren't dying when they were "supposed to". The painter Reubens is aware of the masterpieces he created in the "other" universe and now has no interest to create them here because they would be derivative.

I'm taking a break from this for a while now, but I wouldn't be opposed to read more.

Side note: Eric Flint was a Guest of Honor this past spring at HeliosphereNY, a new science-fiction convention in Rye, NY, held in March 2018. I was in attendance. There was a "1632 Mini-Con" occupying one of the conference rooms for the entirety of the weekend. There were discussions on the tech, the world, and, of course, writing. Many newcomers have been published in the Grantville Gazette. The idea did intrigue me, but I needed to get more familiar with the world. (Not the characters, those are reserved.) It's something to consider, but I need to familiarize myself with more of what has already been written.

On the Decay of the Art of Lying (Twain)

On the Decay of the Art of Lying, Mark Twain (1882)

You can't go wrong reading Twain, essentially if it's just a short essay. People lie, but there is an art to it, and Twain noticed that the Art of it was dying.

In short, lying is polite. Lying is fine when the truth would serve no good purpose, only ill. But imagine it written in a more witty style.

Recommended.

The Middle Ages: A History From Beginning to End

The Middle Ages: A History From Beginning to End, 2016

I don't remember where I heard about this book or why I downloaded it a few months ago, but it was a quick read. The book is part of an Hourly History series. I don't know if that means that the book was meant to be read in an hour or that there was an hour-long program on, say, the History Channel.

In whichever case, about 1000 years of history are crammed into one book. It was split into three segments and had some interesting highlights, but not much that I can remember two months later. I guess that shows you why I really need to keep this blog up-to-date.

TL;DR: It was interesting. Didn't hate it. Better than reading the material on wikipedia. Overall, I forgot most of it already.

Frostbite (2008)

Vampire Academy, Richelle Mead, 2007, Graphic Novel

Frostbite, Richelle Mead, 2008, Graphic Novel

This review is about two graphic novels. The entry for the novel, Vampire Academy can be found here.

First off, I read the Vampire Academy graphic novel months ago, and could have sworn that I had an entry for it, but I don't see one. The school I'm currently assigned to has the graphic novels for the first two books in the series in their library. I figured that I'd "reread" the first book, just to familiarize myself with the characters and the story line. I'm glad I did. I needed to get used to the images of the characters. Rose in the comic looks nothing like the cover of the first novel, but that's okay because it's a different artist.

The other thing that struck me, and which wasn't really a surprise, was how much of the book had to be left out to make it into a comic. I was still able to follow along for two reasons: one, the essentials are there, and two, I'd read the book, so I could fill in the gaps.

After reading the first book, I was not opposed to reading the second installment. However, as I'm not the target audience for the book, I wasn't going to go out of my way to track down a copy. I have plenty of things to read that I never get around to. (Another reason for this blog: I can't write new entries unless I read new books, so it'll prod me along sometimes.)

The comic was enjoyable, but I thought it likely missing parts of the book. The teen drama parts fill up a good part of the graphic novel and then the ending comes rushing at you. Again, that might just be my perception because of my demographic. But it didn't turn me off from wanting to read the book, which is something.

Frostbite gives us more background about the mythos governing the two types of vampires. We also get to meet Rose's mother, and learn about their strained relationship. Not surprising that they can't have a normal family life -- they are both dhampirs. Rose is training to a Guardian, and her mother already is one. The vampire's they protect will always be their first priority. That's part of the reason Dmitri resisted Rose in the first novel (other than the whole icky age thing, and the fact that she's a student in the academy).

Speaking of which, the relationship between Rose and Dmitri moves along, not just as trainer and pupil. The twist here is that another vampire comes along wanting Dmitri to be her Guardian, and he considers it.

The other twist to this book is that the Strigoi have enlisted the aid of humans to attack the Moroi. This is discovered from the use of weapons, such as a silver stake, that Strigoi can't touch.

In the end, Rose grows as a Guardian, getting closer to her hopeful position being Lissa's Guardian.

Grimm's Fairy Tales (Grimm)

Grimm's Fairy Tales, Jacob Grimm and Wilhelm Grimm (unknown)

The ebook has a publication date of 2012 online. The book itself has a date of 1922, which I assume is for the illustrations. Wikipedia puts publication at 1812.

Over the past few years, I have read a few books that were updated takes on fairy tales: either continuations or retellings from a different point of view, with or without "modern sensibilities". Going through some of these made me realize that I've never read the original fairy tales, even though I've had hard-cover copies of them.

I don't remember when I downloaded this book, probably a couple of years ago. Like with most fairy tale books, though, I can only read so many before I need to move on to something else and get back to it. Basically, I started this sometime last year, reading a tale or two on short train rides or when I was between books.

Most of familiar with the sanitized or "Disney-fied" versions of the stories, and many know the harsher realities. I thought I did. Maybe it was the translation, but it seemed that some of the "real" endings that I thought I knew to some tales weren't real. Likewise, it seems like there was some borrowing amongst the stories as well. Plus, some tales have similarities, like "Tom Thumb" and "Thumbkins", or similar names, like "Snow White" and "Snow-White and Rose Red". Most have similar morals and harsh penalties.

This is something everyone should read (maybe not this particular version). This edition has only 25 tales, so I could see myself downloading another one in the future. Just not right now.

A Brave and Startling Truth (Angelou)

A Brave and Startling Truth, Maya Angelou (1995)

I saw this in the school library, a slim volume of poetry, and I needed something to read while I was on hallway duty.

I am not going to critique Maya Angelou, but I will comment. First off, this wasn't a collection, it is a single poem, which she read at the 50th anniversary of the United Nations. It is about the people of this planet coming together, united.

To talk about my usual poetry complaints: they aren't here. This is free verse that is pleasant and pleasurable to read. The line breaks make sense. The page breaks (which would be stanza breaks) make sense.

Also, I love the imagery and word choice. Just to pick a couple of lines out:

When the curtain falls on the minstrel show of hate
And the faces sooted with scorn are scrubbed clean

Minstrel shows are offensive. The characters have faces blackened with soot (or makeup), and the players scrub them clean afterward. "Sooted with scorn" carries so many meanings here. That's what I like about poetry, when it accomplishes this.

Otherwise, poetry is not a preference of mine much any more.

Library catalog number 811 ANG C.4

Black Cat, Volumes 1-4 (Yabuki)

Black Cat, Volumes 1-4 Kentaro Yabuki (2006)

Unlike the last series I read, there are more than 4 volumes of Black Cat. It's an ongoing series, but only the first four were available for me to read. The series was release in 2001, with the English versions arriving in 2006.

The series follows the exploits of Train Heartnet, once an assassin for an organization called "Chronos", who now makes a living as a "sweeper" or bounty hunter. Train has a tatoo of the Roman numeral XIII, which is as much a reference to bad luck as the name "Black Cat" itself. The name "Chronos" would indicate time, and the fact that he is number 13 is a little odd, but definitely keeping with his character. He's also an expert marksman, having as much luck as skill with his pistol. He can hit other people's bullets mid-flight.

The organization he worked for, and those who know of it, believe that the Black Cat has been dead for the past two years. It's likely that there will come a reckoning when Chronos comes after him, but, thankfully, that doesn't happen in the first four books. There's time for that.

Train's partner at sweeping is Sven Vollfied, who wears an eye patch (for a reason) and follows a code of conduct. Chivalry isn't dead. His backstory, and what's so special about the eye under the patch, show up early on.

The two of them rescue a girl named Eve, who was basically bio-engineered and filled with nanites or nanobots or whatever terminology you want to use. She'll like be a superhero in her own right in the future, but right now, she's just a kid who needs someone looking after her even if she wants to be useful to Sven and Train. She can morph parts of her body by concentrating so that, for example, her arm can become a sword.

Recurring in the first books (and on the cover of Volume 1) is Rinslet Walker. (There are times I read that as "Ringlet" -- I need new reading glasses.) She's a thief who hires the sweepers when it meets their mutual interests. She gets something valuable, and they get a bounty.

One of the problems so far is that Train and Sven are in a bit of debt from bills (no loan sharks or anything nefarious), so they could use one big job to pay it off. But even when they manage to score a big one, the money seems to get away from them pretty quickly. It may be a running gag, but it'll get old fast.

As mentioned before, Chronos is not looking for Train, but there is another organization that is forming, called Apostles of the Stars, and they intend to challenge and topple Chronos. Its leader is Creed Diskenth, who is surprised to learn Train is still alive. Train beat out Creed to be XIII in Chronos. (Numbered people are the important ones. Or the important ones get numbers.)

Where it will start to get wearisome is that everyone will have special powers and abilities. This will, in effect, make Black Cat less special. (This was a problem I had with One Piece, where eating the Devil fruit should've been bad for pirates, but it seems every powerful pirate had done just that!) We have people who can cut themselves and manipulate their blood or touch a person and raise their body temperature to explosive levels.

And even though we've met Number II in Chronos, who seems somewhat normal, who knows what powers I, and III-XII will possess?

Will that stop me from reading farther? Probably not. I'll probably start looking for these in the library before summertime.

Life's Little Instruction Book, Vol III (Browne)

Life's Little Instruction Book, Vol III H. Jackson Browne, Jr. (1995)

I probably picked up this little gift-book edition sometime in the late 1990s and it's been sitting on a shelf or in a box ever since. You could classify it as self-help or inspirational or something like that, but it's a list of 500+ things that you could or should do to make your life, or the lives of those around you, better.

This is the kind of thing you could probably find on a list on the Web somewhere. Even in 1995, this could probably be found on a "listserv" or a place like "cathouse.org". (I have no idea if that site still exists, and I'm not checking.)

Most of these instructions are short, pithy one-liners, reminders of advice that your parents or grandparents might've told you. There are things that they told you that you should do, but you didn't know why, so maybe you don't. But then you realize, what if you did? Would things be better?

Suggestions are both general and specific, and sometimes brief and rapid-fire. The specific ones aren't too bad, but they could be problematic. For example, if it says to hike a particular piece or watch a specific movie, you run the risk of filling the book with these. It doesn't need to be (and it isn't) a travel brochure.

Spoiler Alert: here's a page from near the end of the book

"Teach by example Commit yourself to a might purpose Live simply Think quickly Work diligently Fight fairly Laugh loudly Love deeply Plant more flowers than you pick Remember that all important truths are simple Rescue your dreams Include your parents in your prayers"

A quick read, but don't read it too quickly. Read a few pages, and think about them. If it's a book that you're likely to keep, circle or highlight some of the items. Maybe color-code them.

Me? I've had it long enough without reading it. I'm leaving it on the bookshelf of the Teacher Center at my current school before the end of my assignment here.

Note: This was one of the last two books I read in December, finally getting a write-up.

Azumanga Daioh, Volumes 1-4

Azumanga Daioh, Volumes 1-4 Kiyohiko Azuma (2000-2004)

I had a recent assignment in the Library of the school to which I'm currently assigned. I spent part of that day organizing the manga shelves. Part of the reason for this was to scope out something new to read.

Oddly, despite all the volumes, the choices where slim. I wanted something where the first volume wasn't missing nor were there any early gaps in the sequence in case I got interested and the story dragged out for multiple books. Of the ones that qualified, quite a few were romance books, which I wasn't interested in. And one seemed to be about chess, which was a maybe. But I saw the four volumes of Azumanga Daioh, so I took the first one. It wasn't objectionable, so I borrowed the other three as well.

First off, I'm not the target audience. Secondly, I understand that there's animation of the series (doesn't surprise me), and if it were available on some platform I currently subscribe to, I might check it out.

Basically, the four books tell the story of a group of girls as they go through high school, each book being roughly a year in the life. There are boys at the school, but rarely seen, and there's no romance (or lovestruck teens, wishing from afar) to be found in these pages. Also, there are two teachers, one the girls' homeroom teacher and the other the P.E. teacher, are important. (I originally thought it was going to deal more with them.) As for male teachers, the only one there, which I guess would've been comic relief back then, is a little too creepy today. Although he's married with a daughter, he likes looking at teen girls. (He doesn't try to date them or anything, but it's creepy.) Also, he's drawn in a style that suggests that he's an anime character that always SHOUTS his lines. I didn't like him.

As for the girls, well, some of them were a little interchangeable. The artwork was small and the characters wore uniforms. Between some of them, the only difference is the way their hair is drawn and maybe their eyes or mouth -- until they're shouting or being expressive, when I wasn't sure who was who. (At least once, I didn't know if it was a student or the teacher.)

One exception was Chiyo Chan, who at the age of 10, was placed in high school. She was also wealthy and had a summer home that the girls and their two teachers went to each year. She didn't seem to get any bigger over the four years.

Another is Sakaki, who was the tallest. She was quiet, brooding one who actually wanted to be friends and included in things. She also wants to pet stray cats, but they always bite her hand. It's a running gag, which takes an interesting turn later on.

Yomi is the second tallest, has lighter hair, and wears glasses (sometimes you can see her eyes through them). Her main concern is her weight, although her later concern is getting into college or university.

Tomo and Osaka round out the cast, except that Osaka is not her real name, it's where she's from. They except her to have a certain attitude (in the English translation, it might as well be a Brooklyn attitude), but she isn't like that at all.

The format of the books looks like four-panel vertical strips, two columns to a page. Each column had its own title, but I stopped reading those for the most part. At least once in each book, the format would switch up to a more traditional comic format, which was welcome. The biggest problem I had was the small print was sometimes a killer on my eyes, even with reading glasses. Yes, I used my phone's camera's zoom lens a couple of times.

While I enjoyed these books, they weren't anything great for me. They had good moments and I'm not sorry I read them. The four books are the entire series.

I'm assigned to this school until the end of the month, so I might try to sneak in a few more books. Oddly, one comic I considered taking out was checked out by a student before I had a chance. (I can't deny the students -- it's their library!) However, it's supposed to be back this week. I'll make an exception for Richelle Mead's Vampire Academy because I've read the first book and there were two graphic novels on the shelf. However, I didn't want to read the second without re-reading the first to get familiar with the characters again.