Battle Royale Slam Book: Essays on the Cult Classic by Koushun Takami by Nick Mamatas

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

It’s been over a decade since I read Battle Royale. It was a book that amazed me with its emotional resonance. It was the first book that ever made me tear up with the lighthouse scene. The author did such a great job building up both the stakes and the relationships, that it was devastating to read. I have enjoyed many a book since then, but few in number are the books who have affected me so much.

Elantris, Part 1 of 3 by Brandon Sanderson

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This is one of Sanderson’s earlier books and it’s exploring similar themes as Warbreaker, so while I’m enjoying it, it’s definitely not as good to me so far. What does it share with Warbreaker? The idea of divinity on Earth vs a god you can’t see, humans becoming divine, and an arranged marriage between royals who haven’t met. What’s weaker from Sanderson’s lack of experience - The Prince seems to be a bit of a Marty Stu so far - a little too perfect in every way.

Hitting alt-F2 then typing email (contact name - eg Danielle) and enter and then it presents me with an email window to send an email. No need to navigate to gmail.com or go over to the screen running Kmail (actually, usually Kontact).

Uncanny Magazine Issue 1: November/December 2014 by Lynne M. Thomas

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Yet another demonstration of authors who are doing great things with the short story format. I’ll definitely be buying other issues. As usual for magazines and anthologies, a collection of my status updates.

“The Uncanny Valley” - An intro and the the mission statement of the magazine.

“If You Were …. White” - About Jungleland and a premise not unlike Roger Rabbit (the movie, not the book) where all the animal actors in movies were sentient.

I went because Danielle saw an oriole there. No orioles that day, but I did get three good shots.

At the time that I’m writing this, I’ve had Trust Issues for a few days. I signed up for the Kickstarter campaign after The Doubleclicks mentioned them. I then went to the PDX Broadsides’ bandcamp page and ended up buying the entire back catalog.

After having heard the album a few times, here are my first impressions:

• Favorite Song: Robot vs Boy - although it seems like it should be the first track to a concept album and leaves me wanting to know more about the story
• Most beautiful song: Dolores - about HBO’s Westworld
• Most fun song: Tiny Little Octopus

Now, track-by-track: