then she appeared

Even though I have a super obsessive completist streak, I cannot catch up on book reviews for the year. I will however post what I've read so far.

MARCH BOOKS
13. Hermit's Peak, Michael McGarrity, Crime. Kevin Kerney #4.
14. The Judas Judge, Michael McGarrity, Crime. Kevin Kerney #5.
15. Under the Color of Law, Michael McGarrity, Crime. Kevin Kerney #6.
16. The Big Gamble, Michael McGarrity, Crime. Kevin Kerney #7. Kerney and his recently-discovered cop son work two ends of a case and meet in the middle.
17. Everyone Dies, Michael McGarrity, Crime. Kevin Kerney #8. Well, not EVERYONE.
18. Slow Kill, Michael McGarrity, Crime. Kevin Kerney #9.

APRIL BOOKS
19. Nothing But Trouble, Michael McGarrity, Crime. Kevin Kerney #10.
20. Altered Carbon, Richard K. Morgan, Audio, SF. Really good world and character building. Distasteful torture scene, really graphic for audio. Sort of unexpected, really. But the rest is really good. Set a few centuries from now, when people have chips in their heads that record their entire lives/personalities so they can switch bodies when they get damaged or old. Catholics refuse to be resleeved because they believe the soul doesn't come along for the ride. Solving murders of non-Catholics is as easy as downloading the dead person into a synthetic body and asking them who killed them. Crimes are punished by being put into storage for many years. True death can only happen if you haven't backed up your stack and you get your stack destroyed. Our hero is a merc who is hired by a super-rich super-old guy who claims he was murdered, but everyone else thinks killed himself. He lost two days of time, so he doesn't know what happened to him.
21. Death Song, Michael McGarrity, Crime. Kevin Kerney #11.
22. Dead or Alive, Michael McGarrity, Crime. Kevin Kerney #12.
23. Allegiant, Veronica Roth, Young Adult. The finale of the series. Stuff happens. I skipped two thirds of this because I got spoiled by a review somewhere and knew that something happened, so I skipped to the end.

MAY BOOKS
24. Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore, Robin Sloan, SF/YA/?. Loved this. Very clever.
25. 10% Happier, Dan Harris, Self-Help. Dan Harris has a breakdown while reading the news on tv, so he explores meditation and writes a book. Very good! He's funny and charming.
26. The Martian, Andy Weir, SF. Loved this. So compelling!

JUNE BOOKS
27. Face of a Killer, Robin Burell, Oyster Books, Crime.
28. The Bone Chamber, Robin Burell, Oyster Books, Crime.
29. A Nasty Piece of Work, Robert Littell, Crime.
30. Veronica Mars: The Thousand Dollar Tan Line, Rob Thomas, Audio, Crime. Loved this. Book set immediately after the end of the Veronica Mars movie. Narrated by Kristen Bell herself, so it felt very right.

JULY BOOKS
31. Mr. Mercedes, Stephen King, Audio, Crime. Narrated by my favorite, Will Patton.
32. Any Other Name, Craig Johnson. Ah, Longmire. Why did they cancel you??? I hope some other network picks up the series. At least we'll have the books.
33. Silence of the Grave, Arnaldur Indridason, Crime. I am almost done with this one, so I'm giving myself credit for this in July because that's when I read most of it.

AUGUST BOOKS
Nope. Nuthin.

SEPTEMBER BOOKS
34. Gideon's Corpse, Preston & Child, Thriller. Gideon saves the day. And has a brain tumor.
35. Station Eleven, Emily St. John Mandel, SF. Compelling, but I had so many problems with the world-building it made me sad. End of the world plague, only 0.001% of the world survives. The plot follows a handful of people who all knew or interacted with one guy, a famous actor who dies of a massive heart attack right before the plague starts. It's a musing on art and how it is necessary for humanity. It's fascinating, but again, an average SF reader will have problems with the decisions people make and the society that forms (or doesn't) in the aftermath. However, I definitely recommend it as a discussion piece. Here's the Times review, which I pretty much agree with.

OCTOBER BOOKS
36. Personal, Lee Child, Crime. Reacher goes to France and England to revisit an old foe, the sniper from way way back. Is he going to shoot one or several members of the G8 that are due to visit England in a couple weeks? Can Reacher find him before? Who's setting all this up and funding it?

I'm in the middle of a bunch of others, but I can't see making my 52 goal this year! The summertime vagueness and inability to focus enough to read has set me back. Ah well!

JANUARY BOOKS
1. Never Go Back, Lee Child, Thriller. In "61 Hours", our hero talks to Army Major Susan Turner, new commander of his old MP unit, on the phone and finds her very appealing as she helps him solve a problem. He decides to get himself a looksee at her and makes his way across the country to DC to say hello. Then suddenly they're both facing trumped-up charges and serious jail time, so Reacher busts them both out of military jail and they hit the road, trying to figure out what's the real story behind their troubles. Fairly typical outing, except this time both Reacher AND Turner get folding toothbrushes and don't carry so much as a backpack.

2. Fractured, Karin Slaughter, Audio, Crime. I've been reading these mostly out of order. This is the second in the "Will Trent" series by Slaughter. I had started reading her with the "Grant County" series, but the two have since combined two main characters in book 4?, 5?, so I went back to read this series. Anyway, all of Slaughter is pretty dark, with usually fairly brutal crimes and dark motivations. In this case a woman comes home to find her daughter brutally murdered and apparently raped, and a man standing over her body. She manages to kill the man, but there is evidence that there were other people at the scene when the murder happened. What is the motivation, here, and who are the others—witnesses? Other victims? Perpetrators? Will Trent of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation has to face a bully from his childhood orphanage, a new partner who has very good reason to hate him, and his own dyslexia to solve the case.

3. Tularosa, Michael McGarrity, Crime. Santa Fe ex-cop Kevin Kerney had to stop being a cop when he was badly injured on a stakeout, thanks to his partner's inattention. When that same ex-partner shows up two years later to ask Kerney to investigate his son's AWOL from the Army, Kerney only agrees because he likes the son. He really wants to go back to being a rancher, and is trying to save money to buy his own spread and cows and whatnot. His old cop buddy Andy gives him a temporary job so he'll have some legit credentials while he's investigating. There's an attractive Army Captain that helps him, and the crime ends up being quite complicated and involving insane Mexican drug lords. A decent read. I'll continue this series.

4. Mexican Hat, Michael McGarrity, Crime. Book 2 in the Kevin Kerney series. Kerney has shuffled on to another temporary gig. He's working for the Park Service for the season, and he has stumbled into a poaching ring and a couple of murders. He manages to solve them all, somehow, and meet a new attractive lady and make some new friends in the process. And solve a decades-old family feud. Busy!

5. Serpent Gate, Michael McGarrity, Crime. Book 3 in the Kevin Kerney series. Kerney has once again changed jobs (dunno yet if this authorial trick is going to wear on me), and is working for the New Mexico State PD as a detective on temporary assignment. Things quickly take a turn when a large amount of priceless art is stolen out of the Governor's office. Kerney's cop buddy Andy, who now happens to be the Chief of the New Mexico State Police, moves Kerney into the Deputy Chief position and puts him in charge of the investigation. Because who else could he trust?! Kerney does his thing, meets a new attractive lady who he puts in jail instead of sleeps with, shacks up with an old friend who's a gay artist, delivers a foal, and makes a new friend who's a raving schizophrenic.

I also finished two of the books (The Bat, and Slow Horses, both quite good!) that I hadn't quite finished last year.

JANUARY MOVIES
1. Fast and Furious 6, Redbox. Loads of fun. Made me sad about Paul Walker all over again. I mean, he was no genius actor, but he was fun to watch and seemed like a genuinely nice person outside of his fame. Poor Vin. They were obviously pals.
2. Percy Jackson and the Sea of Monsters, Redbox. Lacked the sense of wonder and fun of the first one (kind of like Harry Potter 2. Not enough of the 'dear god how is all of this real?' feeling). Percy finds out he has a half brother who's half cyclops, half son of Poseidon. They need to go on a quest to retrieve the Golden Fleece. There is mayhem. There is anti-cyclopsism from Percy's pals. Percy's brother is a nice kid. After tribulations, they succeed. Oh, SPOILERS! Sorry.

I rented The Family and The Wolverine, but returned them both unwatched. The Wolverine had some kind of defect so I couldn't play it, and I just wasn't in the mood for The Family, after all. Next time!

I don't expect anyone will read this! It's pretty long. Previously I'd update each month, but somehow this year has gotten away from me altogether, and I haven't updated since the end of March! I had written a few of these along the way, but mostly this is just quickie review crap. Made it to 56 books read this year, but a few were more reference materials, and a couple I haven't finished.

Books Read 2013 ( within )

So I am planning to dust off greenstreetbks and update with everything I've posted here for books for the past few years. I like the tag feature using author's last name that I'd set up over there—it makes my life easier to quickly check if I've read something or not. I'll probably also cross-post at goodreads, because hey, one extra click.

I will try to remember as I am posting to check off "do not post to friends pages and RSS" here, but it's possible I'll flake on it. Sorry about the potential flood on your friends page. This will not happen tonight but will be soon. My feelings won't be hurt if you unsub over there!

And the end of the year has arrived. The tally ( within )

Books list updated for October ( within )

Another month passes and so must the list be updated( within )

Another month passes, a new tally is tallied( within )

Hmm, I am a bit behind. I will start with recent and go back. Today I felt like being busy, so I decided to vacuum my bedroom, take a walk to the grocery store so I could make a big salad for lunch, change my sheets, clean the kitchen, wash the bathroom, and watch some baseball. All successful! Still need to do laundry. Still have tomorrow. Also need to go out and find new sneakers somewhere. All this walking I'm doing should really be done with proper footwear.

Friday and Saturday were a pretty fun couple of days. I was sitting around on Thursday, watching the television and reading the Internet as one does, and I saw a posting on Facebook from Colin Hay about how he was appearing in NH on Saturday. I don't really read musician postings about tour dates too often, but something triggered something in my tiny reptile brain and I realized that if he was in NH on Saturday he was probably here soon. And, hey, I got tickets to that gig for Christmas. I was under the impression that the show was at the END of May, but perhaps I should review my tickets? Aha! The show is Friday. As in (when I was looking at them) TOMORROW. EEP! I texted P to ask if he was busy, and he was. So I started asking around if anyone wanted to go with me. Due to the last-minute nature of my question, every single person I would normally go to something like that with was busy. I even asked my work friend Joanne. Alas!

So I went by myself. I can't remember if I've ever done a concert alone before. I don't think I have. MAYBE Richard Thompson once? But I don't think so. I go to movies alone all the time, I go out to eat alone all the time, not sure why I've never done a concert alone before. I guess it just seems like one of those things you do with people? But it turned out to be fun going alone, partly because he's a very entertaining entertainer. Funny, lots of story telling, good selection of songs, etc. Plus! He stuck around after the gig to sign autographs and let pictures be taken. Which was super nice, considering the size of the audience (the Berklee Performance Center seats 1,215, and it seemed pretty packed). Most people left, thank god. I only had to wait about 30 minutes (he didn't come out for the first 15) to get my time with him. Had him sign a live DVD they were selling there, thanked him for his music, and had my picture taken. Had to ask the woman in line behind me to take it, but that was really the only problem I found with attending alone. I probably wouldn't have asked whoever had come along with me to stick around for an extra amount of time after the show to get an autograph, so that was definitely an advantage to going alone.

Saturday night P and I went to see "The Avengers". We have totally lost our moviegoing IQs, I guess, because it didn't occur to either of us that the show might be sold out. Of course it was, so we had to get an early dinner and go to a later showing — in 3D. I am so sick of 3D. There were a couple of moments that things flew at my head and I sorta jumped, but honestly, Hollywood? Can you just quit wasting your money making that shit? We audiences don't like it much, we don't like wearing the glasses (especially those of us who already WEAR glasses), and we get annoyed paying an extra $5.00 for the privilege. OK? OK!

On the other hand, the movie was super fun. Every person in it is totally hot, the plot was ridiculous but in a good way, the monsters were scary, some fun dialogue ("Hulk? SMASH!"), and lots of great posturing. I guess Joss hit it out of the park! I haven't read any reviews, but I saw that it's had a huge opening weekend, so I guess that will bode well for Joss' future in features.

That all makes up for the last week+, where I was eating soft foods and being terribly careful to not dislodge my precious clots. I had two wisdom teeth out a week ago last Thursday, along with some gum surgery. I hadn't actually planned to have the teeth extracted. My periodontist had recommended it, but over time I had convinced myself that it wasn't necessary. When I walked in and sat down I had told him that I didn't want the extractions done after all, to just do the gum surgery, but he re-explained why he thought it was necessary and he ultimately convinced me. So I was totally unprepared mentally for the whole thing. I've never had a tooth extracted before in my life, and I was frankly a little shocked at how violent and primitive the tooth-removal process is. I mean, really, all they do is wiggle it the fuck around and yank it out? It's the 21st century! The hell? Where are the, I dunno, LASERS?

There was no pain, but the cracking sounds were disturbing and the bottom tooth required drilling and several attempts. I never have any kind of dental fears or problems at the dentist, but that day I was having a panic attack, weeping soundlessly and gulping big breaths every time I could breathe at all. I kept calming myself down by thinking "it's not pioneer times or anything. You have anesthetic! This is painless!" I couldn't believe how long it took, too. Then of course I came home and read the Internet about dry socket and how to avoid it, and managed to convince myself that I'd swallow too vigorously or something and would screw myself up somehow. SPOILER: I didn't. Had the follow-up on Thursday and they took out the couple of remaining stitches in my gums and said everything looked fine.

I had a prescription for Vicodin, but I didn't take any, just stuck to ibuprofen and icing my face for the first 24 hours, and really other than a little jaw soreness it was pretty much pain-free. I mean, it's 10 days now and it's a little raw-feeling and there are still big dents in my gums, but really, painless on the whole. Especially considering some guy yanked BONES out of my HEAD! And now that I can eat normally again I am happier. I'm still avoiding rice and popcorn, however—I'm not stupid! When I go in for the other two (I haven't even scheduled it yet) I will take some ativan beforehand to ward off my crazy, I think.

Otherwise in the last few weeks I saw a few other movies: "Lockout" with P, "A Cabin in the Woods" with Stephen, "Haywire" on DVD, "Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy" on DVD. All good in different ways. And hey, the end of the month came and went, didn't it? I guess I need to update my books list! ( within )

Been a not-very-busy couple of weeks. Had a long weekend last weekend, so I managed to get a lot of slacking done. Saw "The Artist" last Saturday with Patrick; very fun and lots of laughs. Loved all the movie shout-outs, and the little dog (a la The Thin Man) was adorable. Last Sunday went over to Steve and Val's with Patrick for dinner and Hearts*. Was fun. We don't play often enough for any of us to be great players, but it does come back after a while and gets fun.

*I've been playing a lot of traditional games lately, albeit in mostly non-traditional ways: I play Words with Friends (which is a Scrabble app), Scramble with Friends (a Boggle app), Hearts (both on PC and live), Cribbage (app — I play vs. the computer rather than friends), and a couple of solitaire variations (mostly FreeCell). I don't think I'll ever like MUDs or MMORPGs or anything, but I definitely like short puzzle-y games that I can play on my phone.

Work week was short, which was good. Didn't do much all week, really, except read, watch tv, some light chores. Was good downtime. Friday night P and I saw "Ghost Rider", keeping to my longstanding tradition of seeing really bad movies after seeing really good ones. I enjoyed the hell out of it — nothing beats watching Nicolas Cage twitch and grimace his way through a flick. He's still got too much face, or something (this time I think it is caused directly by his receding hairline), but he's still fun.

Spent this weekend mostly at home. Sunday I ran a couple of errands and watched the Oscars (I could live without seeing Billy Crystal host ever again, I think. His shtick is old, yo. Bring back Chris Rock! Or hell, even James Franco. I'd like to see someone under 100 host, again. Also, I seriously need to see more movies. I only saw a handful of any of the nominated ones — which is true every year. Time to fix that!), and today I did the grocery shopping, saw my doctor, and spent the night surfing the web and reading and playing more games. My doctor was impressed with my overall weight loss (around 68 pounds now since July, which is an average of 8.5 pounds per month, or 1.97 pounds per week. That hasn't been my rate lately, I've slowed a bit, but it's still a nice average!) and advised me to keep doing whatever I'm doing. We'll see when my bloodwork comes back how I'm doing blood-chemistry-wise. My BP was 112/68, which seems pretty good. I've never really had BP issues, though, but it's still good to see.

So glad February is mostly over. I always have a hard time with February. Seems longer than all the other months, and it's so bleak and usually so cold, it just wears on me. Too bad it's a leap year this year, though, but at least it's only two more days til it's over. Yay! I guess now that my work week starts tomorrow I'll have to kick it into high gear and get back into productivity mode. But for the rest of the night tonight I think all I'm going to do is finish my book and go to bed early.

( Speaking of books: )