Dragonshadow

by Barbara Hambly (1999)
ISBN 0-345-42187-6

Sequel to Dragonsbane, this book adds demons to the fantasy mix. I love the concept of dragons being rainbow coloured when young and growing into their particular colouring as they develop the music that describes them and is their name. The drama and battle with evil continues with the addition of fabulous machinery invented and constructed by one of the main characters. The story does not end yet - I have requested the next volume, The Knight of the Demon Queen.

Amazing Disgrace

by James Hamilton-Paterson (2006)
ISBN 0-571-22939-5

A crazy book with recipes, medical "experimentation"; musical references and poetic quotes/inventions. The hero is a writer who works with sports people to "write other people's books for them" and sees his work as "the personal toad beneath which I have suffered for years", referring to Philip Larkin's Toads.

The recipes are incredible, probably inedible, and explained in detail. One can imagine them but they don't exactly set the saliva flowing!

The Daily Telegraph is quoted as saying that the author has "a genius for comic witticisms". Here is one I particularly enjoyed:
"... here we all, drowning in food and goodies as though to the manna born."
Another clever use of language that kept me on my mental toes was the character named Christ - to rhyme with wrist - I found it impossible to make my brain see Christ and think anything other than the obvious/religious one!


I finished reading this book over the weekend of my 50th birthday, and wondered if there was an omen in the tragic ending - but you will have to read the book yourself to express an opinion as I do not want to spoil the tale. (There is a hint in the picture on the front cover of the book!)

Endeavour's Children

by R.J. Tinsley (1992)
ISBN 1-86948-090-2

Found on my bookshelf when out of library books, I started this from desperation for something to read.
To start with I found it irritating, as the descriptions of nautical terminology used so many of what I assume to be the correct words, that I felt like I was being lectured without having taken the prerequisite beginners course. There continues to be a didactic tone to the writing style, but I found it less annoying as I became more attached to the main character. Set in the early days of the European exploitation and settlement of New Zealand and Australia, and based on a true story, this is a jolly good yarn. If the original heroine had a fraction of the spirit of Lisla (with a silent s) in the book, she would have been an amazing woman.
I would really have appreciated a map to go with the story - set mostly in the South Island of New Zealand, and using place names that were known around 1800, i should have done some research to get the geography straight in my head.
I can't find a picture of the cover and don't have a flat bed scanner at home, hence no picture this time.

SQ-EQ Test results

While researching programming aptitude tests I found a paper that showed a correlation with SQ-EQ test results. I then took these two tests online and got the following results.
EQ: 44
SQ: 94
Brain Type: Systemizing

These results show a fairly extreme systemizing tendency, while my empathizing tendency is lower than average for women.

If you want to take the tests yourself you can use this website.

2nd Chance

by James Patterson with Andrew Cross
2002
ISBN 1 876590 80 7

Following on from 1st to Die, this is another tale of the Women's Murder Club. More drama for Lindsay, Cindy, Jill and Claire, and new threats to life and well-being. The killer gets personal and Lindsay's father turns up from the distant past - what is the connection? Again, a good beach/airplane/sick bed story.

1st to Die

By James Patterson
2001
ISBN 0446610038

A great read for holiday or sickbed - I read it when suffering a nasty cold that kept be off work for a few days. Four strong women form a club to track a vicious killer of newlyweds. Also Negli's aplastic anemia and a new and promising relationship for Lindsay, the homicide inspector and heroine.

Next

Michael Crichton (2006)
ISBN 978 0 7322 8363 6

Another Rotorua purchase, this one is a thriller with a basis in genetics. It has some characters with surprising characteristics and poses questions about ethical practice in the field of genetic science. An author's note at the end gives Crichton's opinion on some of the core issues. I am not a genetics expert but it seemed to me that this book could be a useful starter for discussion around the issues for Biology students and I will offer it to my colleagues who teach Biology. The novel also talks about "wet art" so may be of interest to Art teachers as well! A section on Internet Sources at the end points to articles about

• the Italian Prime Minister Berlusconi whose fat was removed by liposuction and then made into soap.
• the Chilean artist who cooked meatballs in his own fat and served them for dinner.
• the New Zealand boatie who powered his speedboat with fuel made of fat from his backside.

An interesting side issue to ponder is that the IT professional in the book invented a syndrome to explain the oddities of her stepson and embedded it in the Internet so that it looked real.
Overall a stimulating book and a great read.

The Lovely Bones

By Alice Sebold
2002
ISBN 978-0-330-48538-8

I bought this in Rotorua, the first in the display of Whitcoulls Top 100 List that I had not yet read.
I had heard about the movie-in-the making, and was not sure that I would like the book but did thoroughly enjoy it. The characters made sense, as did the concept of life-after-death that is central to the plot. The idea of an "intake counselor" in heaven took me by surprise, and I loved the way that the younger brother grew up after the early loss of his big sister. Now that I love the book, I don't know whether I will ever want to see the movie!

Beach Road

James Patterson with Peter de Jonge (2006, ISBN 9780755323135)

Different from my normal choice of reading and not part of my progression through writers starting with H, I picked this up to bring to Rotorua with me. Small enough to fit in my laptop bag and not too heavy either physically or mentally it has been good for those in between moments presented by the hectic programme of keynotes, breakouts, eating and socialising. The story of a black teenager wrongfully accused of several cold-blooded murders and his defense, it is not as straight forward as it first seems. I did not find it ‘unputdownable’ as The Times is quoted as saying on the back cover, and I did find it hard to get inside the head of the actual murderer. I guess it is written to be read in a hurry and not analysed to death, but I prefer more meat to my reading.

Lilah

By Marek Halter
Translated from the French by Howard Curtis
2006

Third in the series which includes Sarah and Zipporah, this is a tragedy.
Lilah is the sister of Ezra, and encourages him to lead the exiled Jews to Jerusalem to rebuild the temple. At great personal cost she accompanies him.
As the story moves from Susa to Jerusalem via Babylon and its ziggurat, hope gives way to despair. Zealotry and the desire to be pure to please Yahweh lead to the tragic ending.
As with the other stories in this series, Biblical stories are brought to life and ancient cultures described in a way that adds colour.

UML A Beginner's Guide

Jason T. Roff
2003

Knowing nothing about UML, other than a rough idea of what it is, I found this a very useful reference book and am ordering a copy for school from Fishpond.
Each module follows a similar format, addressing the topics of

• defining the type of diagram described
• explaining why the type of diagram is used
• identifying the components of the diagram type
• demonstrating how to make the diagram

Each module then offers a project that follows the "how to" steps, and then shows a model answer.
The book is supported by online diagram files (click the Code link on this page to download a zipped folder of the project diagram files).

Love Without Hope

By Rodney Hall 2007

Madness - or insanity, or even lunacy - are these set and scientific states, or are they labels applied to suit personal agendas?
In this book, an elderly lady is put into an institution controlled by the "Master in Lunacy". Other residents wear coir head protectors in case of epileptic fits. An equally elderly alcoholic doctor comes to a dramatic rescue, and there is a bull involved.
Quotes I liked:
"You are not dying because you are ill. You are dying because you are alive." Montaigne
And, describing a view from the main character's bedroom, when she thinks she can hear a storm approaching:
" Each tree stands in its customary pot of shadow. Upright remains upright. Reflections on the dam lie flat. And down at the sea's edge sculpted dunes expose flanged and sensuous curves to the sun. Grasshoppers swarm unharmed and unswept from the sky till the non-impeded birds swoop among them for a mid-air harvest."

Introduction to Programming Using Visual Basic

Introduction to Programming Using Visual Basic by Petroutsos et al
2008
978-0-470-10188-9

I found this book by chance on the library shelf and have ordered a copy to use with my second and third year programming students this year - coincidentally we have just made the move from VB 6 to VB 2005, which is the version used by this book. I have read as far as Chapter 8 and have found the explanations and examples to be pitched right to make sense. It is also good to see a student website that supports the book with pre-tests, post-tests and files to download.

Dragonsbane

Dragonsbane by Barbara Hambly
1985
ISBN0345349393

I started reading the third book in this series, and realised that I needed to go back to the beginning to make sense of it. I am glad that I made the effort to request Dragonsbane and now look forward to reading the rest of the series.
Themes include magic, power and the secret desires of mages, dragons, gnomes and humans. And it is a great story, with vivid descriptions. There are very strong female characters.
If you want to know more about this book read this comprehensive review or get the book yourself.

Note that I am not posting so often now as I am back at work again!

Hangover Square

Hangover Square by Patrick Hamilton
Originally published 1941, the edition I read was a Penguin Classic. Sometimes when selecting books I avoid the old ones in favour of the modern, but I have really enjoyed some of the older ones that I have tried recently. This one is acclaimed as "One of the great books of the twentieth century" but I spent most of the time I was reading it being puzzled by the decision to republish this very dated book, set in 1939 England. Things that did grab my interest early on were

• the acknowledgment of quotations taken from Roget's Thesaurus
  
• the definition of schizophrenia from Black's Medical Dictionary early in the book
• the refrain, introduced in the first chapter: "...he had to kill Netta Longdon. He was going to kill her, and then he was going to Maidenhead, where he would be happy."

The poor man suffers from periodic clicks in his head, which change him from one state to another. In one state, he is consumed by love for Netta, who treats him with scorn, and in the other state he needs to kill her.

The story grew on me, and by about 3/4 of the way through I really did care about what was happening to the characters. However it is not a joyful easy read.

The Design of Future Things

The Design of Future Things by Donald Norman
2007
ISBN 978-0-465-00227-6

This author is a guru of design, and I have his "The Design of Everyday Things" aka
"Psychology of Everyday Things" also in my reading pile - not being a library book it is getting less attention, in spite of having better pictures!
One thing that really impressed me was the author's willingness to admit to changing his maind about things in a public forum - shows integrity.
The book talks about intelligent cars and smart houses which are being developed in research facilities now. It discusses rules for good design, and considers (in a playful Afterword) how machines might feel about people. An interesting discussion is the difference between automation and augmentation. I think it was a green book with dormouse in the title (John Markoff's What the Dormouse Said ) which first alerted me to the centrality of this debate in the early years of computr design and development.

The Raw Shark Texts (Part Two)

The Raw Shark Texts Part 2

This story continued to intrigue and challenge right until the end.
Described on the spine of my copy by Mark Haddon as "The bastard lovechild of The Matrix, Jaws and The Da Vinci Code"! Also has overtones of "The Old Man and the Sea", and a book I read just before I started blogging on my reading which was a thriller involving deepsea fishing and technological tracking of fish.
Thoroughly recommended.

An aside to explain what I am doing here. About 25 years ago I started at A in the Fendalton Public Library. I am currently reading H from the South Library (still in Christchurch). My online library account reports on authors I have read but is not yet smart enough for me to be able to find information on books I read previously. I particularly enjoy making links between themes, styles and content matter, and I was looking for a topic to blog on. So here I am.

The Raw Shark Texts (Part One)

The Raw Shark Texts by Steven Hall
2007
ISBN 9781921145742

I am only up to page 77 so far, but I am intrigued by this book which has code, puzzles, illustrations, accompanied by loss of identity, loss of girlfriend, loss of memories AND a cat called Ian. It also has a "Ludovician conceptual fish", and the "non-divergent conceptual loop" to provide protection from said Ludovician.
The accompanying website is way cool but Define: Ludovician in Google gives nothing.
I am looking forward to getting further into this book and will report back later.

Why software sucks...

Why software sucks... and what you can do about it by David S. Platt
2007
ISBN 0-321-46675-6

A reminder that programmers are the last people who can possibly understand the average user, by definition. Should make normal users feel happier - and less alone - about their frustrations in using software. And should make programmers think more carefully about what they are doing and why. Some lovely examples and jokes.
Visit the book's website or see Plattski's own blog.

Disobedience

Disobedience by Jane Hamilton
2000
ISBN 0-385-50117-X

A seventeen-your-old boy, Henry, discovers his mother's affair by reading her email over a period of time. Meanwhile his father and younger sister reenact Civil War battles, with the sister pretending to be a boy. A tarot reader suggests that Henry and his mother were married in a previous life, and Henry develops the theme to consider all members of his family in different combinations in past lives. Henry is growing up and preparing to leave home but is also closely engaged with his family's day-to-day life.