Duck for Cover: 2010-06-12T10:21:48Z Copyright (c) 2010, marrije ExpressionEngine tag:eend.nl,2010:06:12 tag:eend.nl,2010:dfc/1.1633 2010-06-12T10:14:00Z 2010-06-12T10:21:48Z marrije marrije@eend.nl tag:eend.nl,2010:dfc/1.1632 2010-05-17T19:00:00Z 2010-05-17T19:14:14Z marrije marrije@eend.nl
Horns was even better than Heart-Shaped Box, which I also loved (but didn't blog, for shame). I have high hopes for young Joe Hill. Watch this guy. ]]> tag:eend.nl,2010:dfc/1.1631 2010-04-05T08:24:00Z 2010-04-05T08:28:53Z marrije marrije@eend.nl Shutter Island is funny too, in places. Sigh. Now I'll have to read more Lehane... But I am certainly not going to see that movie, no way. ]]> tag:eend.nl,2010:dfc/1.1629 2010-02-15T17:21:00Z 2010-02-15T17:33:13Z marrije marrije@eend.nl Mobile Design and Development. On the one hand it's a very thorough overview of the things you have to keep in mind while developing for mobile web - the sections on testing services and platforms is incredibly detailed and probably quite useful if you actually develop and deploy mobile stuff (in which case: poor you - that sure sounds like a painful process!).

On the other hand, I had hoped for a practical design book, a book of case studies on what to do for the mobile web and how to do it. Examples of "we had problem A, and then we did this:" or "we did Design B first, and then we tested it, and we found out that we should have done something like Design C, and here's why...". Take the reader through a couple of recognizable projects - they don't have to be real-life examples, but I had hoped for more of an information architecture / mobile design book, with clear explanations of the choices made.

I guess I wanted this book, but then written by Christina Wodtke or Luke Wroblewski... ]]> tag:eend.nl,2010:dfc/1.1628 2010-02-04T17:36:00Z 2010-02-04T17:50:37Z marrije marrije@eend.nl Relentless a shot.

And it was very good! A Reacher-like story of being on the run, but with a rather wimpish writer guy as the hero. Entertaining, fast-paced, hugely funny in situations where you wouldn't think a writer would be able to come up with hilarious scenes that actually work - excellent. The resolution was pretty dumb, though, but who cares - if you set yourself up in this way it's impossible to resolve the story even semi-plausibly. I forgive him. Since the ride there was great.

Oh man, another writer with a rather large back catalogue discovered... ]]> tag:eend.nl,2010:dfc/1.1627 2010-01-30T19:57:00Z 2010-01-30T20:05:28Z marrije marrije@eend.nl tag:eend.nl,2010:dfc/1.1626 2010-01-27T14:57:00Z 2010-01-27T15:26:58Z marrije marrije@eend.nl
But the most annoying thing is that you have no immediate feedback on how far along in the book you are. There's a circuitous route in which you can see in which "location" you are (there are no page numbers, since the Kindle app allows you to scale the type size, and locations are adjusted accordingly), but that is nowhere near the sensation you get when reading a book cover to cover and feeling the stack of pages under your right thumb diminishing towards the end. And I missed that, it certainly adds to the tension of Reacher books when you feel only ten or twenty pages remaining, and there is still so much left to clear up and fix. Now the ending sort of snuck up on me. Which wasn't as good.

So, the book! It was brilliant! I love most of the Reachers, though he did jump the shark a bit with Nothing to Lose and it's slightly-too-grand finale. But Gone Tomorrow is Reacher in fine, witty, dry form again, sometimes violent and even rather gruesome, but superb tension and a great book to disappear into.

I still do not believe in Lee Child as the author, though - how can a Brit write such a totally American novel? And they haven't been getting more American, as far as I can see, right from the start he made Reacher such a quintessentially US-ian guy.

I have a silly suspicion that the actual author is Stephen King, though that's not very probable, since I think King would not be able to keep up this all-staccato-all-the-time thing of Reacher's diction and story, I think he would be tempted to put in more colourful characters and great weird expressions. And there aren't that many of them in these books. But when I see characters discussing a not very attractive woman as "[she] fell out of an ugly tree and hit every branch"... That's a King expression if ever I read one.

So if there is a "Lee Child is an actor" camp, I am in it. ]]> tag:eend.nl,2010:dfc/1.1625 2010-01-20T06:01:00Z 2010-01-20T06:07:22Z marrije marrije@eend.nl Subject to Change could have been so good, and I had high expectations, since I've always like the Adaptive Path people, and have learned a ton from them in their weblogs and workshops. But the book is too dense, too serious, too much filled with big language, perhaps in a bid to get it taken seriously by the business community, who knows.

It could have used a large dose of Steve Krug's light touch, or Jesse James Garrett's crystal clear explaining, or Christina Wodtke's informal but very useful style. As it is, it made my mind wander all the time while reading a book about a subject I dearly love - I had to strain to finish it. Which is not a good thing. ]]> tag:eend.nl,2010:dfc/1.1624 2010-01-17T20:26:01Z 2010-01-17T20:41:44Z marrije marrije@eend.nl
I think I would have loved reading Barnaby Grimes: Legion of the Dead (and, presumably, the rest of the Barnaby Grimes series) when I was about ten years old: it's adventurous, weird, Londony, reminiscent of the chimney sweeps in Mary Poppins - yes, I think it's the Poppins-ness/Dickensity of this that I love, plus Barnaby's courage and pluck in the face of scary adversaries.

Delicious entertainment, with deliciously creepy illustrations. I think I will seek out the rest of Stewart & Riddell's work, I like their style. ]]> tag:eend.nl,2010:dfc/1.1623 2010-01-10T20:28:00Z 2010-01-10T20:38:45Z marrije marrije@eend.nl
The second half of the book is deeply scary as well, with a young girl doing a solo sailing trip from Australia to England. Do not do this, folks. And if you think you absolutely *need* to do it, read this book, since it will probably cure you of the desire. ]]> tag:eend.nl,2009:dfc/1.1622 2009-12-10T20:15:00Z 2009-12-10T20:31:03Z marrije marrije@eend.nl Armadillo hot on the heels of Ordinary Thunderstorms - they seem like a riff on broadly the same story: corrupt corporate types, lots of London (high and low), identity and how to change or lose it, even the assault with a briefcase... Most odd. But enjoyably so!

Armadillo is a lot funnier than Ordinary Thunderstorms, although it doesn't have a clear Croup/Vandemar. There are a couple of story lines I'm not entirely sure I would have kept in: the LSD subplot and the sleep lab stuff, hmz, not so certain about those. But the Transnistrian family and its assortment of cabbies are lovely, as is the old lady downstairs and the delightfully exciting love interest. Most enjoyable book. Made me want to be back in University, so I could write a good thorough paper about the resemblances between the two stories and how things have changed in London and Boyd's view in those 10 or 11 years. ]]> tag:eend.nl,2009:dfc/1.1621 2009-12-07T10:40:00Z 2009-12-07T10:52:01Z marrije marrije@eend.nl On Writing dozens of times, but I sort of shied away from the rest of his work. Anyway, I'm glad I am over that now, because Under the Dome was fantastic again: huge, and scary, and cruel (god, the man really knows how to pile up them bodies) and wonderful. I'm only about 75% happy about how it finally turns out, how the dome came about and how that is resolved, but really, that's just nitpicking about a riveting, satisfying story with lots of delightful characters.

King says in the afterword that he was aiming for a "pedal to the metal" novel, and this certainly is that. He's also written these 1100 pages in 480 days... Good grief. Hurray for Stephen King! ]]> tag:eend.nl,2009:dfc/1.1620 2009-12-04T16:39:01Z 2009-12-04T17:06:40Z marrije marrije@eend.nl Ordinary Thunderstorms was waiting patiently for me all of November - it was my "Hell yes I completed NaNoWriMo Again!" book, my reward for being good and productive. And what a lovely reward it was.

The book reminded me a lot of my old favourite London Fields, with the extremely creepy villain resembling the delightful Mssrs Croup and Vandemar from Neverwhere: exciting travels through the upper and lower strata of London, good, thrillery plotting, and lots to think about. And really enjoyable writing, too - but that's no surprise from Boyd. I think I enjoyed Restless just a bit better, though: it felt tighter and more believable. This may just be the post-NaNo fatigue talking - perhaps I will have to re-read Ordinary Thunderstorms when better rested.

And also! I think the publishers should reconsider the covers they have put on both the US and the UK edition. The present covers say "this is a serious book", and it is, but it also works very well as a good thriller for on the train or on the beach. This would be so good for the Stieg Larsson crowd, as it is actually much better written and much meatier, but just as thrilling. Maybe a separate edition, like Harry Potter's grown-up covers? ]]> tag:eend.nl,2009:dfc/1.1619 2009-11-12T13:25:00Z 2009-11-12T13:28:10Z marrije marrije@eend.nl You can still see my progress at my NaNoWriMo page, and in the top right corner here. ]]> tag:eend.nl,2009:dfc/1.1618 2009-11-01T21:37:00Z 2009-11-01T21:41:55Z marrije marrije@eend.nl First day went really well. Onwards. ]]>