Ancient Media: Books

Just finished Dean Koontz’s SAINT ODD, the finale of the Odd Thomas books. For those that haven’t read them… they are a typical Koontz mix of science fiction, action, horror, and romance. Koontz is a tough call to categorize. This story has all his trademarks and is a good read, but it is for fans who have followed the series, definitely not a…[Read more]

Reading BLUE LABYRINTH by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child. After a divergence into high adventure in the last three novels, a trilogy, they return their hero, the enigmatic Agent Pendergast, to the Natural History Museum in New York and bring back some old familiar characters to flesh out what starts out as a murder mystery. Should make a great…[Read more]

Finally got around to working with the new software here… Just read Robert McCammon’s I TRAVEL BY NIGHT. Do you remember the old TV western HAVE GUN WILL TRAVEL? Palladin, a gunslinger for hire works out of a San Francisco hotel and fixes problems for a living. Has a calling card with the iconic “Have gun, will travel.” on it. Well, this book…[Read more]

Haven’t been posting much, but have been reading. I just finished John Banville’s (writing as Benjamin Black) THE BLACK-EYED BLONDE a new Philip Marlowe novel. Robert B. Parker tried some years ago to resurrect Marlowe, but his efforts seemed a bit flat to me. Banville seems to have truly found Chandler’s voice and mood. If like Chandler’s work, I…[Read more]

Exclusively Technical books but a true treasure trove of FREE e-books from MS
MSDN Blog
Largest collection of FREE Microsoft eBooks ever, including: Windows 8.1, Windows 8, Windows 7, Office 2013, Office 365, Office 2010, SharePoint 2013, Dynamics CRM, PowerShell, Exchange Server, Lync 2013, System Center, Azure, Cloud, SQL Server, and much more ,…

RIP Daniel Keyes
From Boing-Boing: Daniel Keyes, the MD who wrote the classic science fiction novel Flowers for Algernon, has died at 86, of complications from pneumonia. I met Keyes when he received the Science Fiction Writers of America’s Author Emertius honor in 2000, and he struck me as a sensitive and thoughtful person. He told the story of…[Read more]

from Library of Congress:
Stellar Authors Join 2014 Book Festival
An even broader lineup of authors, poets and illustrators for readers of all ages—including such writers as chef Cathal Armstrong, Mona Simpson, Elizabeth McCracken, Jack Gantos, Tanuja Desay Hidier, Anne Hillerman, Sara Sue Hoklotubbe, chef Sheilah Kaufman, Brian Lies, Francesco…[Read more]

RIP Jay Lake
one of a couple zillion obituaries this one from Cory Doctorow from Boing Boing

Authors Announced for 2014 National Book FestivalFrom Library of Congress Press ReleaseApril 10, 2014Kai Bird, Kate DiCamillo, Francisco Goldman, Alice McDermott Among Authors at 2014 Library of Congress National Book FestivalRenowned Illustrator Bob Staake Will Create Festival Poster ArtA wealth of authors, poets and illustrators for readers of…[Read more]

FYI:
From Houston Tx NBC outlet:Consumers nationwide who bought e-books through Amazon and other online retailers will get credited a total of $166 million stemming from price-fixing settlements with five publishers, according to the New York State attorney general….
The settlement applies to consumers who bought the e-books through retailers…[Read more]

From the Open Culture MOOC
The Harvard Classics: Download All 51 Volumes as Free eBooksEvery revolutionary age produces its own kind of nostalgia. Faced with the enormous social and economic upheavals at the nineteenth century’s end, learned Victorians like Walter Pater, John Ruskin, and Matthew Arnold looked to High Church models and played the…[Read more]

YouTube “presentation” of Kurt Vonnegut Reads Slaughterhouse-FiveKurt Vonnegut, Jr. Reads Slaughterhouse-Five, an album released by Caedmon Records in 1973 containing not just Vonnegut’s delivery of excerpts from his famous sixth novel, but his stories of the book’s conception.

Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America Announces 2013 Nebula NomineesScience Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America are pleased to announce the 2013 Nebula Awards nominees (presented 2014), the nominees for the Ray Bradbury Award for Outstanding Dramatic Presentation, and the nominees for the Andre Norton Award for Young Adult Science…[Read more]