Precision and Accuracy: January Reading

Not a high pagecount, but good stuff. Expect even less in February, since I sort of compulsively read novels when I'm the most stressed and it's the least best idea in the world.

One of these days I ought to have a read-a-thon for a "send ase to college!" charity drive. Chill out at dad's and try to persuade people to give me one cent for every page I read in a week. (Let's see. Say 300 pages a day, times seven... that's a lot of bad fantasy.) The entire concept works better if the money were headed for people with cancer, or tsunami victims, or generally anywhere but to a lazy college student.

Anyway. This year's reading resolution: less! And more nonfiction!

(We'll see how long that lasts.)

Eats, Shoots and Leaves (Lynn Truss): ( My first attempt went badly. )

I reread Forty Signs of Rain (Kim Stanley Robinson) because it was sitting on the library shelf and I really liked it the first time. I'm a sucker for that whole, "yeah, I've been there... and there... and that's where? Hey, I walked past that!" sensation.

The Double Helix: A Personal Account of the Discovery of the Structure of DNA (James D. Watson): ( How to get a Nobel Prize while still meeting girls. )

Finally - totally irrelevant moment. Is it just the sideburns, or does Paul Bettany sometimes look an awful lot like the guy on the right, Francis Crick?

(I said it was irrelevant, didn't I?)

The Steerswoman's Road [The Steerswoman, The Outskirter's Secret] (Rosemary Kirstein): Omnibus of yet another out of print series initiated in the '80's, revived fifteen years or so later. The premise focuses on a Steerswoman, a sort of information collector and disseminator, whose minor research project evokes an unexpected response from the Wizards, whose agenda is unknown.

The worldbuilding is fairly standard, other than the order of the Steerswomen. They're required to answer any question you ask them, but you have to answer any and all of their questions in turn. The presentation, however, is really nicely done.

The coolest part is definitely the ( major plot and worldbuilding spoiler. )

Also, Kirstein does a nice job of keeping up the inter-novel tension. It looks like the third book deals with an event set up in the first novel. I have a sneaking suspicion there's a twisty connection to the events of the first two novels. At least, I hope so.

As in all books, the story breaks down in a few places. Some of Rowan's actions in "The Steerswoman" hit an irrational personal narrative dislike, and made that part hard for me to read. The Outskirts food chain in the second book feels really wrong to me. ( Look, ma! Ecology rant! Also vaguely spoilerish. )

It drives me slightly crazy, but I understand why Kirstein chose to do it.

Next month: well. I've got a copy of Watchmen sitting next to my bed at home... maybe I'll even start it before it's due back... Wednesday?

Or maybe I'll shell out for a copy of The Collected Short Fiction of C. J. Cherryh.

Or... nonfiction. Anyone interested in comments on my organic chem book?