My Year of Reading

A nearly eight month absence from posting on a personal blog is quite a long time, so I guess we’ll see if there’s anyone who will even see or read this. My goal for keeping this blog around instead of shutting it down entirely when I started Faith & Geekery was to have someplace to post whatever random thoughts pop into my head, but I guess I either haven’t had many of those or haven’t taken the time to jot them down. Oh well.

That said, I am excited about this. I realized today that I haven’t read a single book this year that I had read previously. This is a big deal for me! My home bookshelf is full of favorite novels that I enjoy reading and re-reading. Frequently, though, this means that when I finish one book, if I don’t have another already in mind to read (or even already have one checked out from the library) that I’ll fall back on an old favorite and not read anything new.

In other words, my reading list has worked! It has kept me on track, reminding me of books that I want to read and continuing to challenge me to move outside of my comfort zone and try new and different things.

Sadly, while I had every intention of reviewing each book that I read, that didn’t quite pan out. In lieu of that, though, now that we’ve pretty much reached the end of 2009, I want to at least write a couple of sentences about each of them.

One additional note: two authors dominated my reading list for this past year. Neil Gaiman was an author I was intentionally trying to read more from, and Jeffrey Overstreet was an author with whom I’d been previously familiar, but whose work I really found myself drawn to and impressed by. Okay, on to the list:

• Coraline by Neil Gaiman. Having heard a lot about Gaiman and after liking Stardust but not having been that taken with American Gods, I decided to try Coraline for a tiebreaker. It’s a shorter book aimed more toward children and one which had a film adaptation hitting theaters. While American Gods didn’t do much for me, Coraline was (like Stardust) more to my liking and a ton of fun. Perfectly creepy (in the way that original, un-Disney-fied fairy tales are often creepy) and full of expressive, descriptive language, I very much enjoyed Coraline — which is a good thing, since it motivated me to keep reading Gaiman.
• Auralia’s Colors by Jeffrey Overstreet. From my radio days, I knew about Jeffrey Overstreet as a Christian film buff who often made guest appearances on one of the talk shows at the station where I worked. I had read his moviegoing book Through a Screen Darkly and very much enjoyed his perspectives, so I was intrigued when I heard about this first volume in his fictional series. Although it took me a while to get around to reading it (it came out in 2007), I was hooked from nearly the first page. Unlike much that is fluffy and pointless in today’s popular fiction, I found Auralia’s Colors to be full of depth, purpose, and meaning. This series was a most pleasant literary surprise this year, and is probably the one I would most recommend to any average reader. (I did do a review for this book at Faith & Geekery for those interested in more information.)
• Cyndere’s Midnight by Jeffrey Overstreet. As soon as I finished Auralia’s Colors, I started in on the sequel. Like its predecessor, it was written beautifully, and there was more going on between its pages than just the plot elements themselves. It also blossomed in scope, introducing more characters, locations, creatures, and themes than the first book in the series. Quite fulfilling. (Mini-review here.)
• Tuck by Stephen R. Lawhead. Tuck is the third book in the King Raven trilogy, completing Lawhead’s historical re-imagining of the classic Robin Hood legend. While I don’t feel that this series measures up at all well against some of Lawhead’s better works (the Pendragon Cycle, Byzantium, Patrick, etc.), it was still enjoyable and he remains one of my favorite authors.
• Marvel Chronicle: A Year by Year History by Tom DeFalco, Peter Sanderson, Tom Brevoort, and Matthew Manning. The only non-fiction book that I read this year was this comprehensive volume on the history of Marvel Comics. While that may sound boring, it was quite fascinating. The book chronicled the rise of Marvel on a year-by-year basis, relating some of the important comics released each year, the characters that were created, the stories they appeared in, the people who made it happen, and the historical events that impacted Marvel’s it all. With a very clean, graphically appealing layout and lots of bite-sized pieces of information (instead of long chapters), this book was really fun to read and never felt weighty despite going through seventy years of history.
• Offworld by Robin Parrish. This one came about because of Faith & Geekery. An email in my inbox one day inquired as to whether we’d be interested in reviewing this publisher’s new book. Of course we’d be interested! While I wrote a full review, I’ll say again that this book was pretty good! An interesting concept that (in my opinion) ultimately wound up being a little too odd, Offworld was a very good step forward in the world of Christian sci-fi novels.
• Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman. Neverwhere is probably my favorite of the Neil Gaiman books I’ve read so far. It was darkly imaginative with lots of very vivid imagery, terrifically British descriptive language, and colorful characters. The premise (a world beneath our world that remains unseen simply because nobody notices it) was very inventive, and the ride the book took me on was quite a wild one. Although at least one person to whom I recommended the book found it to be a little more bizarre than preferred, I enjoyed it greatly.
• Out of the Silent Planet by C.S. Lewis. Although I’d heard dubious aspersions cast upon its quality, how could I claim to be both a sci-fi fan and a C.S. Lewis fan if I hadn’t read his Space Trilogy? It turns out that this first book of that series is justified both in being a classic and in being slightly maligned by those who have read it. For starters…well, it’s a little slow. That’s not always a bad thing, but here there was a lot of explanatory plodding, full of musings by the main character and overly-detailed descriptions of his surroundings and circumstances. The basic plot itself was also fairly simple. While that left room for fun nuggets of truth and philosophical/theological symbolism by Lewis, made for a pretty bland story. The other element that made this book hard to take seriously was the laughably out of date descriptions of space travel and other science fiction staples. Written before mankind had ever left Earth’s atmosphere, Lewis’ conjectures on anti-gravity, spaceships, the surface of Mars, and other things were quite humorous.
• Perelandra by C.S. Lewis. The second book in his Space Trilogy, Perelandra offered more of the same stuff as the first book, although I did enjoy it more than Out of the Silent Planet. What’s odd is that I prefered it to its predecessor because it featured even more philosophical musings. Regardless, it still wasn’t a wonderful book, although I’m glad I’m reading the series and plan to finish it with the third book, That Hideous Strength, early next year.
• Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman. I had been putting off reading this one because it’s based off of one of the characters from American Gods. Mistakenly, I was perceiving it as some sort of sequel, and since I hadn’t like the “original,” I procrastinated on reading this one. Anansi Boys, though, isn’t really a sequel to American Gods; although it does build upon the story of one of the characters, it does so in a way that doesn’t really require you to be familiar him. Anansi Boys also took on a much different tone than did American Gods, and it was much more fun.
• Raven’s Ladder by Jeffrey Overstreet. This was a real treat and another fun opportunity that came about through Faith & Geekery. Through a series of events that are fairly boring to relate, I was offered the chance to preview Raven’s Ladder (the third book in this series) several months before its February 2010 release. While I’ll hold off on saying much about it until I can do a full review at Faith & Geekery, I will say that it’s a fantastic book and continues the trend of the novels in this series of getting better with each volume.

That’s it! In retrospect, it seems like such a short list for one year’s worth of reading, but hopefully I’ll do better next year. With several weeks left in 2009, I may go and read an old favorite just for fun during the busy holiday weeks, or I may try to squeeze in one more unfamiliar book. We’ll see what happens!

Mini-Review: Cyndere’s Midnight

I recently finished reading Jeffrey Overstreet’s novel Cyndere’s Midnight, the second book in the Auralia Thread series and the immediate followup to Auralia’s Colors.

I don’t think I’ll get into a full review here as this book was very similar to the first one in many ways, and all of my compliments from my review of Auralia’s Colors about Overstreet and his writing style, as well as my comments on the deeper themes he has worked into these books, still apply. 

Cyndere’s Midnight builds on the excellent foundation that Overstreet created in the first book, making the world of The Expanse a little bit bigger and giving us greater glimpses at a few corners of it that we haven’t seen before.  While we continue to follow the unfolding story of House Asbascar, we’re also introduced to new characters from House Bel Amica.  We also learn a lot more about the fallen realm of House Cent Regus and its vicious beastmen.

Like its predecessor, Cyndere’s Midnight is worth a read; just like Auralia’s Colors, it hooked me early on and kept me turning page after page until the end.  I think I actually enjoyed it more than the first book.  I’m definitely looking forward to the next installment, Raven’s Ladder, though I think I’ll have a bit of a wait!

In lieu of finishing this book (and starting my next one: Stephen R. Lawhead’s Tuck), I’ve again updated my reading list, adding a new section at the bottom tracking my progress and, where applicable, linking to reviews I’ve written on the books I’ve read.

The Death of the Corner Ice Cream Parlor

Where did they all go?

At one time (certainly prior to my own personal recollection), small neighborhood ice cream shops were everywhere.  They were a local hangout — a place for people of all ages to gather for some creamy homemade goodness.  These days, small mom-and-pop-owned ice cream parlors are a rareity.  If you were locate your house on Google maps, then do a quick search of the surrounding area for “ice cream,” the list you would end up reading might have you sounding like a broken record: “Dairy Queen, Dairy Queen, Dairy Queen, Cold Stone, Dairy Queen…”

Sure, the chains are great.  I was definitely excited when Cold Stone came to the Twin Cities, and there’s rarely a day when you couldn’t successfully offer me a DQ Blizzard.  And while we don’t have any Baskin Robbins and hardly any Ben & Jerry’s around here, I sure wouldn’t mind it if we did.

Yet there’s something special about the small, independently-owned store, decorated with second-hand soda fountain tables and ’50’s nostalgia wall hangings.  The same guy is always behind the counter when you come in, and while there may not be as many varieties or menu options, the ice cream always tastes better, and the service is always friendlier.

I had the tremendous good fortune the other day of accidentally running across just such an ice cream parlor after bowling with some friends.  Ice cream sounded good, and a quick iPhone Google search of the nearby environs yielded results similar to the aformentioned broken record — with one exception.  “Grandpa’s Ice Cream.”  Intrigued, we all decided to check it out.

It was spectacular.

Wonderful homemade flavors, including some exotic ones like ginger, pink grapefruit sorbet, and toasted coconut, with familiar favorites and standbys like Butterfinger, rocky road, and brownie sundae.  This locally-owned establishment is open seasonally and has been there since 2005.  Some of the ice cream flavors are named after the owners’ grandchildren, and the kids’ handdrawn art decorates the walls.  The shop has won several awards and was included on Metromix’s list of the top ten desserts in the Twin Cities for their black licorice ice cream.  Grandpa’s website lists all their product offerings and even talks about why their ice cream is so good.

All in all, it was worth a visit to Fridley, and I’ll definitely be back.  I hadn’t seen a hometown-style ice cream shop like this one since Mike’s in Nashville (check them out on Metromix) — another great place to try if you ever go through that part of the country.

Ultimately, while the chains do a decent job in a pinch, they’ve also unfortunately squeezed out some places with better products and more heart.  However, some are still hanging on and perhaps even making a resurgence as many Americans begin to look for more authenticity, not just in their lives, but in their ice cream, too.  It also shows that it’s worth it to get off the beaten path once in a while, look for things you didn’t know were there, and be a little adventurous.

You might just discover a new favorite in a hidden treasure.

Another Review: Auralia’s Colors

The last time I posted, it was kind of a cheater post, linking to a post I’d made elsewhere.

Today, I’m going to do it again.

I’m slowly making my way through my reading list, and just recently I finished Jeffrey Overstreet’s Auralia’s Colors, which I enjoyed very much.  My review is, of course, at Faith & Geekery, but for those of you who read this blog, I’ll tell you in a bit less professional, “review-y” fashion: read this book.  It’s excellent.  I’m halfway through the sequel, Cyndere’s Midnight, and am enjoying it, too.

Unfortunately, I’m not progressing very quickly through my book list because I’ve been allowing myself to get distracted by other passtimes.  I’m going to have to work on that…

My Review of Watchmen

Being the comic book geek that I am, I decided to attend a midnight screening of the highly-anticipated (by me and by other geeks around the world) movie Watchmen last night.  It was the first time I’d been to a midnight screening for a long time — probably since one of the Lord of the Rings movies or Star Wars prequels.  I had a good time, but I also consequently drank a lot of coffee this morning.  :-)

As to the movie, I enjoyed it very much;  it’s worth seeing, but I’d suggest being prepared for it.  It’s not mindless escapism, so go in with your brain engaged, and know that the movie earns every bit of its R rating.

If you’re curious, I posted a more thorough review at my other site, FaithandGeekery.com.

The Reagan/Obama Debate

Enough said.

Thanks to The Conservative Manifesto for this one.

Blogaholic

I seem to be turning into something of a blogaholic.

You see, I have two other blogs. One is a little blog where Lauryn and I chronicle our lives for friends and family.

The other can perhaps be described as the transferred incarnation of what this blog had once become: a destination for news, reviews, and commentary. I’ve now set up shop for that sort of content in a more “respectable” fashion at FaithAndGeekery.com, and I’d love it if you wanted to check things out over there.

Meanwhile, I didn’t want to simply shut down this space, so I’m returning it to its roots. This is a personal blog again, dedicated to…well, whatever the heck I want to write about that doesn’t seem to belong on either of the other sites. Rambling thoughts about life, rants about annoyances, keeping up with my reading list, and whatever else crosses my mind. I have a few other ideas that might take shape at some point.

Right off the bat, I want to make something clear as much for myself as for anybody who happens to want to visit: I make no promises about the frequency of content here. Whatever happens will happen as often or as infrequently as it does.

My other sites have specific purposes; this one is now my white space (a bad pun, I know, but what else did you expect from me?) — a place to be creative with few objectives or constraints.

So, to anyone still reading — especially if you’re someone who has been missing the more personal content — thanks for sticking around!

We’ve Moved!

Perhaps you’ve noticed that things have been a little quiet around here lately.  There’s a reason for it.

I’ve been working for the last couple of weeks on setting up a new place for this blog to live.  For whatever reason, over the last nine months or so (since before my statement of repurposing, but especially since then), this site has been experiencing somewhat significant amounts of monthly growth.

That’s a good thing, by the way.

For this and other reasons, I decided it would be good to transition to a system that offers more flexibility and freedom in terms of setup, but also the potential for greater visibility.  That meant moving from WordPress.com’s one-size-fits-all hosting system to a self-hosted domain using the installable, more-customizable WordPress.org platform.

I now present to you the all-new FaithandGeekery.com, which is hopefully bigger and better in nearly every way.  As Inigo Montoya declared in The Princess Bride, “…let me ’splain.”

At FaithandGeekery.com, you’ll find a site that looks familiar but which sports a cleaner, brighter layout (and that also works better in both Firefox and IE).  There’s better support and integration for feeds of various kinds, as well as other customization options that we will continue to utilize more and more to better suit both the needs of readers and authors.

Yup, you heard correctly…authors with an S.  That’s another major change.  I’ve recruited several other guys to join me as The Geeks, and together we’ll not only be able to offer multiple perspectives on the world of geekdom, but also more content more frequently.  As a team, we’ll also hopefully be able to provide posts that better integrate the “faith” aspect of “Faith and Geekery,” because let’s face it…things have been leaning quite a bit more toward simple “geekery” lately!

One other addition you may want to take notice of is our Twitter account.  If you’re on Twitter, please follow us @FaithandGeekery!  The more the merrier, right?  You can also just keep up with our updates via the Twitter widget right on the homepage.  (If you’re saying, “Huh? What’s Twitter?” then click here.)

So I guess that’s about it.  Don’t forget to update your bookmarks and feed reader, because in it’s current form, this site is closing up shop.  You might still want to check back here every once in a while because I’ll probably do something else with this space before too long.

FaithandGeekery, though, is moving on!

Is This A Dharma-Approved Foodstuff?

Probably not; it’s a little too colorful to be worthy of the black-and-white Dharma hex logo.

However, in a bout of true geekery, my wife and I concocted the confection pictured here as our addition to the spread at the LOST premiere event we attended last night.

To read the rest of this post, visit its new location here!  Thanks for stopping by.

Jaw-dropping LOST Sneak Peeks

ABC has released three more (that I know of) sneak peeks at this Wednesday’s season premiere of LOST.  (That’s in addition to the one posted earlier here.)

Naturally, I need to offer up the usual spoiler warning, but if you’re like me,  you’re already itching for more LOST and these brief videos only add to the building excitement of waiting for Wednesday!

To read the rest of this post, visit its new location here!  Thanks for stopping by.