Saturday, June 24, 2017

Books and Photos

Fiction

Lockdown by Laurie R. King. The image cover says, "Trouble at a school." The dust cover says, "Explosive confrontation."

The Identicals by Elin Hilderbrand. Cover image says, "Beach story about female friendship." Dust cover says, "Identical twins, grown women, switch lives."

The Alice Network by Kate Quinn. Cover image says, "Pre-WWII London and new woman in town." Cover says, "Women in 1915 and 1947 do spy stuff in London and France."

The Fall of Shannara: the Black Elfstone by Terry Brooks. Cover image says, "Wizard with a staff." Dust Cover says, "Words words words words." [I did not try to read it.]

The Silent Corner by Dean Koontz. The cover is all graphic artisty text. Koontz's photo is weirdly blurry/fuzzy.

The Force by Don Winslow. I don't care what the cover says, I'll read it anyway.

Warning Order by Joshua Hood. Cover says, " Shoot'em Up! novel." The description says, "Yep, Shoot-em Up! novel." I read the first one. That novel was pretty decent but had a couple plot holes.

Beach House For Rent by Mary Alice Monroe. Cover says, "Gerard, don't bother. You won't be interested."

Photos

Town and Country Days in Lake Mills is the last weekend of June every year. There is a carnival, Boy Scout Dunk Tank, beer tent, live music, sidewalk sales, parade, food vendors, so on, so forth. The event continue through today and ends early afternoon on Sunday. Here are a few photos. I'm at work all day but the parade goes by the library.

Parade out front of library


Dunk Tank


Dunk Tank with names of "dunkees"


Library building


Library before parade starts


View from Library lawn
Some due I know who always poses on rocks and pedestals












Thursday, June 22, 2017

Fiction? No. Non.

NonFiction

The Encyclopedia of Deer by Dr. Leonard Lee Rue III. Lots of pretty color photos. All deer species including whitetail, mule, caribou, elk, moose. The plural of moose should be "meese".

Manga Art: inspiration and techniques from an expert illustrator by Mark Crilley. I met Crilley in Arizona when he did a bunch of library visits. He's a good dude. He also does instructional videos on YouTube. He does longer instructional videos and these time lapse ones.



Passchendaele: the lost victory of World War I by Nick Lloyd.  "The ultimate expression of meaningless, industrialized slaughter." A fight to the death in a vast mud pit that caused 500,000 dead and wounded. Yet, a continued fight by the British might, might, have crushed the Germans.

Songs of the Baka and other discoveries: travels after sixty-five by Dennis James. Retired couple travel to remote international destinations.

Special Forces Berlin: clandestine Cold War operations of the US Army's elite, 1956-1990 by James Stejskal. I thought this would be interesting. Spy guys and soldiers must have been involved in all sorts of secret shenanigans in Germany.

Trespasser by Justin M. Ryan, et al. Comic book novel dad and daughter in remote home have a "strange visitor" crash land nearby.

Bad Guys, Bullets, and Boat Chases: true stories of Florida Game Wardens by Bob H. Lee. I read a description in a publisher catalog and it sounded interesting enough to try out.

Large Print

Books with BIG LETTERS

 

Tuesday, June 20, 2017

So Much Music I "Can't Even"

Recording devices use advanced technology to transform sound waves into digital files. A "compact disc player" uses those computer files to broadcast those recordings through speakers.

Pollinator by Blondie. Blonde woman sings songs of pop.



Welcome Home by Zac Brown Band. Bearded musicians sing through there beards about gardening.



From A Room by Chris Stapleton. Another guy with a beard sings through his beard about busted hats.




Live: in Paris by Sleater Kinney. Indie band sings songs of indie rock.



Mental Illness by Aimee Mann. Singer sings songs of snow cones made from acoustic guitars.




This Old Dog by Mac Demarco. Singer with diastema sings funky love song.




Waiting on a Song by Dan Auerbach. A Black Key sings songs of kings and horses.




El Dorado by Shakira. Colombian pop star sings songs about forestry.



Witness by Katy Perry. Singer sings songs about musical detention.



Harry Styles by Harry Styles. English singer sings songs that last five minutes and 41 seconds.



What's So Funny About Peace, Love and Los Straitjackets by Los Straitjackets.  Musicians play music without any singing.




Soulfire by Little Steven and the Disciples of Soul. Famed guitarist and music historian sings songs about garage rock.



Fictional Stories

Fiction

Knife Creek by Paul Doiron. Main egame warden is killing feral hogs and finds a baby in a shallow grave. Doiron is a Registered Maine Guide. I remember reading that some people were upset with the Registered Guide testing process because it was a paper test with no skills test. That may have been 15 years ago that I read about that.

The Ultimatum by Karen Robards. Robards sells a lot of books. Here is something from page 154, "Doc shrugged."

The Switch by Joseph Finder. Some sort of thriller, I think. Probably a Spy Guy thing. Let's check... I was close. A guy picks up the wrong laptop at airport security and the new laptop is a Senator's and has classified info that is not supposed to be on there.

A House Among the Trees by Julia Glass. I like the cover.Glass lives in Marblehead, MA. I wonder where that is. Let's check...






The Little French Bistro by Nina George. There was a chain of coffee shops intended to look like French cafes. I'm not sure how many were ever established but they were kinda neat. Just about everything in the cafe was intended to be French. Furniture, signs, decor. They didn't just change the sign's font and sell croissants.





Monday, June 19, 2017

I hurt my right shoulder

I am typing left handed and will not worry about spelling.

DVD

John Wick 2 -actor shoots things.

Banshee: the final season. I enjoyed the first two seasons of this show about an ex-con masquerading as a Sheriff.

Arrow : the complete fourth season. Super hero acts super.

Rogue One. There is a war in the stars. It is a star war.

Logan. Old superhero does action drama.

A Bone to Pick. Some mystery movie.

I Am Using Both Hands Now

Get Out. Hugely popular horror movie.

Holiday Inn. Bing Crosby sings White Christmas.

Mobsters. 1991 film starring popular young actors of the time. They shoot at each other.

Sabrina. Meh, I've never seen it.

Lord of War. Arms dealer makes money selling guns and ammo.

I hurt my shoulder on vacation.

We went to South Dakota. My son and I rented mountain bikes and I wiped out and landed on my shoulder.

Badlands National Park.
Everything in South Dakota has a casino attached. Even gas stations.
Custer State Park
Custer State Park
How I felt after getting back from my bicycle accident.
We walked around Devil's Tower.
Panoramic view from the trail around Devil's Tower.
I halfway tore off my back pocket when sliding down a railing at Mt. Rushmore.