Weekly dose of books and such

Finished Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld. Enjoyed it thoroughly. It's a steampunk take on WWI, so you have giant robotic war machines on one side and living zeppelins (and other home brewed beasties) on the other. The story itself follows the young not quite heir of archduke Franz Ferdinand (the guy what got assassinated and started the whole shindig) on one side and a young girl masquerading as a boy so she can join the military on the other. The only down side is that this is the first book in a series, and so while it wraps a few things up there's still plenty to come. And I can't wait. It's typical readable Westerfeld with some fun characters and lots of good bits. Check it out.

Who watches the Watchmen? I watch the Watchmen. That's who. Movie was a decent adaptation of the graphic novel (which is still better). I'm not convinced the altered ending works as well as some have claimed (honestly I have a pretty big problem with it), but it's definitely standard Snyder. If you liked either 300 or his remake of Dawn of the Dead you'll find some decent bits here too. Lots of stylish slow-mo and some effective color palette use. (Strangely I wasn't as drawn to the opening montage as everyone else either. I think I'd have found it horribly confusing if I hadn't read the graphic novel and understood the history it was compressing. I'll have to double check with lovely wife and see if that's true...) I guess I can only really say it was alright. Not great, not horrible. I'm not convinced the message in this one holds up as well as something like V is for Vendetta. Cold War ended a while ago and most folks my age really can't relate.

I've started The Lost Symbol. It's... not good. It is standard Dan Brown. You'll get lectured a lot. The bad guy is a caricature (tattoos instead of albino-ism in this one). The plot is mind blowingly stupid. (I've spent most of my time yelling why would you do that?! No really, except for the fact the author needed you to, why would you do that?!) But it's strangely readable. And you sort of want to know what the big secret is. Guy's got a struck a deal with the devil to get it writing style, I'll give him that. So, turn brain off and read. Or wait for everyone to talk about it and nod along. You're probably not missing that much.

I really need to come up with a way to snag the two player board for Ticket to Ride. The problem is, you need either the original game, or the European sequel to cannibalize for parts. We've got Marklin. I suspect I'd really like the 2 player version of the game it's actually built for that number of players. The other boards really seem built for lots of players. At least that's my impression of Marklin. It's fun, sure, but also pretty cutthroat. If you happen to be lucky and don't end up heading for the same sections of the map the game is alright, but if you do... Well. You've been warned. Actually now that I think about it, I suspect the 2 player version probably ends in tears a lot more...

Oh and a quick plea to Dad - Send more Skinny Cows. That is all.

Too much information

Finished mostly read More Information than You Require by John Hodgman (a minor TV personality don'chaknow). I listened to The Areas of My Expertise after he gave it away for free on iTunes. And enjoyed it immensely. I suspect this one might also be better to listen to. The book is a little all over the place when it comes to layout. Who knew that Only Revolutions would be good training for future endeavors? The humor is pretty consistent and the "facts" are, well, I guess "helpful". Overall it was definitely worth perusing and would make a seriously good coffee table/bathroom book. Best read in small doses.

Rapunzel's Revenge by Shannon Hale (and others) was also amusing. I got a little tired of the spot the fairy tale mechanic, but the story was fun and the art is nice. It's a twist on, wait for it, Rapunzel that gives a few nods here and there to various versions of the traditional story while still telling something new. Best if you're familiar with fairy tales before reading.

The first book in the 39 Clues series by Rick Riordan (man I've read a lot lately...) is also fun. I don't suspect I'll get into the ARG they've got set up for it, but I do plan on reading the following books. Probably. There's a lot I want to read. And not enough time to read it all in. Anyway, this follows your typical brother/sister team as they try to follow clues that lead to treasure/world changing such and such, yadda yadda yadda. It's well told and quick to read and is fun. And that's really what matters in a series like this. And there are puzzles to solve if you want.

The "Commentary: the Musical" track on Dr Horrible's Sing-Along-Blog is funny. I don't really have anything else to say about it. Oh, the Evil League of Evil Applications were also good. So, yeah, there's stuff worth checking out on the DVD. Aside from the show, which is still awesome.

The Geek World is waiting with baited breath to see if the film version of Watchmen will vindicate them in some fashion or be chalked up as yet another notch in the "You guys are so weird" column. I'm voting the latter. I kind of hope the movie is good (the book is great natch) but I'm really not holding my breath.

Oddly, the kids really got into that first season of Psych. The girls really seem to like mysteries. I think they've read a little Nancy Drew, but probably not as much as one would expect.

And Girl Scout cookies have indeed invaded the house. Evil things that they are.