Life and Things
I feel like a pin cushion, I’ve been to the doctor so often… I did finally get my referral for the rheumatologist. Despite the usual difficulty getting in, even with a referral, they called me the very same day, and my appointment is for mid-July. Also on the medical front, my ocular prosthesis work is coming along nicely. I see him again on June 7th and will hopefully have the first completed one, though it may only be a prototype. The people who do this job are true artists. He was pleased by my colour choice and looked forward to painting it. I chose amethyst.
Blog Stuff
Not really anything new going on here.
Updated Posts
The After War by Brandon Zenner
The Phoenix Cycle by Bob Collopy
Books Read and Reviewed in May
The Separation by Thomas Duffy, 3*
Whispers by Lynn Yvonne Moon, 3*
30 Animals That Share Our World collated by InkThinkTank, 4*
Casa Nostra by Chris Sarracini & Nick Kilislian, 4*
Charlie the Caterpillar by Andy Gutman, 4*
Creature Files: Sharks by LJ Tracosas, 4*
The Creature Garden by Zanna and Harry Goldhawk, 4*
Dinosaur Lords by Victor Milan, 4
ISAN by Mary Ting, 4
Purrfection by Sophie Macheteau, 4*
Song Castle by Luke Waterson, 4*
Summoner: The Outcast by Taran Matharu, 4*
Yellow Locust by Justin Joschko, May 24, 4
Angus All Aglow by Heather Smith/ Alice Carter, 5
Diwali Lights by Rina Singh, 5*
The Elements of San Joaquin by Gary Soto, 5*
Ray vs the Meaning of Life by Michael F Stewart, 5*
Wolf Sanctuary by Chuck Rineer, 5*
The Yark by Bertrand Santini, 5*
Best Reads of the Month
‘A world made by the Eight Creators on which to play out their games of passion and power, Paradise is a sprawling, diverse, often brutal place. Men and women live on Paradise as do dogs, cats, ferrets, goats, and horses. But dinosaurs predominate: wildlife, monsters, beasts of burden-and of war. Colossal plant-eaters like Brachiosaurus; terrifying meat-eaters like Allosaurus, and the most feared of all, Tyrannosaurus rex. Giant lizards swim warm seas. Birds (some with teeth) share the sky with flying reptiles that range in size from bat-sized insectivores to majestic and deadly Dragons.
Thus we are plunged into Victor Milán’s splendidly weird world of The Dinosaur Lords, a place that for all purposes mirrors 14th century Europe with its dynastic rivalries, religious wars, and byzantine politics…except the weapons of choice are dinosaurs. Where vast armies of dinosaur-mounted knights engage in battle. During the course of one of these epic battles, the enigmatic mercenary Dinosaur Lord Karyl Bogomirsky is defeated through betrayal and left for dead. He wakes, naked, wounded, partially amnesiac-and hunted. And embarks upon a journey that will shake his world.’
‘Wales, 1176: in a rain-drenched outpost of Christendom, the great lord of a newly built castle is throwing a party, the like of which has never been seen before. It will be a contest of song, of poetry and music, open to all comers. And now all are coming.
The festival is attracting a strange assortment of characters from across the known world. From the celebrated French troubadour suffering from writer’s block, to the Persian perfumer-poet claiming to have written the most beautiful words ever committed to parchment, all are descending on the castle of a man whose motives run far deeper than that of benevolent host.
Attempting to hold his own against such supreme talent is hopeful young songster Avery, a newcomer to the cutthroat world of bardism and susceptible to its intrigues. But the contest can only take place if the contestants survive the journey, which – on the perilous roads of Wales – is far from certain.
Luke Waterson’s compelling novel weaves the tales of the charismatic players of the very first Eisteddfod, still Europe’s largest competitive festival of poetry and music to this day.’
‘Selena Flood is a fighter with preternatural talent. But not even her quick fists and nimble feet could save her parents from the forces of New Canaan, the most ruthless and powerful of the despotic kingdoms populating America-That-Was. Forced to flee the tyrannical state with her younger brother Simon in tow, Selena is now the last chance for peace in a continent on the verge of complete destruction. In her pocket is a data stick, the contents of which cost her parents their lives. Selena must now ensure it reaches the Republic of California—a lone beacon of liberty shining across a vast and barren wasteland—before it’s too late. Between New Canaan and California stretch the Middle Wastes: thousands of desolate miles home to murderers, thieves, and a virulent strain of grass called yellow locust that has made growing food all but impossible. So, when Selena and Simon stagger into Fallowfield, an oasis of prosperity amidst the poisoned plains, everything seems too good to be true—including the warm welcome they receive from the town’s leader, a peculiar man known only as The Mayor. As Selena delves deeper into the sinister secrets of this seemingly harmless refuge, she soon learns there is a much darker side to Fallowfield and the man who runs it. Before long, she must call upon the skills she honed in the fighting pits of New Canaan to ensure not only her own survival, but that of her brother, in whom the Mayor has taken far too keen an interest. And she’d better act fast, for an all-out war inches ever closer, and New Canaan is never as far away as it seems.’
‘A book for anyone who secretly loves motivational posters of sunrises and mountaintops.
Grandma’s last will and testament names Ray to inherit the trailer park. It’s a million-dollar estate with one hitch: to prove he’s not as aimless as he seems, Ray must discover the meaning of life by the end of the month. (She left the answer in an envelope.) If he fails, the camp goes to his estranged family.
How does anyone find the meaning of life while running a park full of misfit miners, would-be truck racers, and one demanding little girl? There’s a bear too. A grizzly. Maybe that’ll help?
“A tale spins its answer to an age-old question into an inclusive, hilarious, and thought-provoking yarn.”–Kirkus Reviews (starred review)’
‘The Cambodian people knew only two natural seasons: the dry and the rainy. In the dry season, farmers celebrated the harvest. At the New Year, farmers and city dwellers alike brought rice and prepared foods to the temple to celebrate. During the rainy season, farmers prepared their fields and planted new crops with hopes for a bountiful future harvest. In the cities, students studied, moviegoers flocked to the popular cinemas, and sidewalk vendors hawked all manner of plentiful food and drink.
But once the barbaric Khmer Rouge seized power in April 1975, they forcibly evacuated the cities, including the capital of Phnom Penh, and fourth-year medical student Seang Seng found himself and his family of 24 persons driven into a countryside of forced labor camps that would come to be known as the “Killing Fields.” There, in a once bountiful land, a man-made season would reign: the Starving Season. Four years later, Seang Seng walked out of the Killing Fields alone.’
Best Series New to Me
‘When stable boy Arcturus accidentally summons a demon and becomes Hominum’s first common summoner, he becomes the key to a secret that the powerful overlords would do anything to keep hidden.
Whisked away to Vocans Academy so he can be kept watch over, Arcturus finds himself surrounded by enemies. But he has little time to settle in before his life is turned upside down once again, for Hominum Empire is in turmoil.
Rebellious intent simmers among the masses, and it will not be long before it boils over. Arcturus must choose a side . . . or watch an Empire crumble.
The Summoner Trilogy
The Novice
The Inquisition
The Battlemage’
