The Reading Corner.

[Lord Avalon]

Patton: A Genius for War, by Carlo D'Este

[Rusty Edge]

Patton: A Genius for War, by Carlo D'Este

So what struck you in particular about him as a person?

[Lord Avalon]

It seems Patton was at times very insecure.

[Lord Avalon]

Diamonds are Forever, by Ian Fleming

[Lord Avalon]

The Slow Regard of Silent Things, by Patrick Rothfuss

[Buster's Uncle]

White Gold Wielder by Stephen R. Donaldson.

The Power That Preserves by Stephen R. Donaldson.

Finally done after a LONG string of knocking off for the night already sleepy - and the bits from the siege of Revelstone and Mhorham's POV still make the book, while Covenant himself is as much of a waste of time as ever, despite some Foamfollower - still probably hands-down the strongest installment in the entire series.

---

The Runes of the Earth by Stephen R. Donaldson.  -I didn't make it through the summary of the previous two trilogies before I fell asleep; barring a spot of insomnia, I'm going to hate reading about Linden in the real world for two months before she finally gets to the Land...

[E_T]

Grave Peril

Book 3 of the dresden files.  I've come to really like this series.  Much better than the 'scifi' show.  Book 2 actually managed to keep me up at night with nightmares. 
Though it was evil dogs, so, ya know...

The series is getting better as it goes so far, which is unusual.

I am currently waiting for the next one in the series.

The first three books were written before any of them were published.  The series really starts to take off with  'Summer Knight', you can tell that the writing is much more polished in many ways...

Oh, and beware of that random slap by Rubber Chicken... most of the books have one really good one in them...  I think the best is in 'Proven Guilty', IMHO... laughed for 20 plus minutes...

[Buster's Uncle]

The Runes of the Earth by Stephen R. Donaldson.  -I didn't make it through the summary of the previous two trilogies before I fell asleep; barring a spot of insomnia, I'm going to hate reading about Linden in the real world for two months before she finally gets to the Land...

Well, not two months, but it was boring and unpleasant as the other two times.  I'm only up to where they're fleeing Mithil Stonedown before Stave catches up with them - and an advantage of something being forgettable is that you don't remember a lot of details spoiling re-reads.  I'm just reminded that this series isn't well-served by taking in in small doses; the style is hard to wade through, and that makes it easy to miss details as you go that will prove important; and it's a lot harder to keep the big picture falling asleep five pages along each night.  The Covenant books are best read in at least 50-100 page gulps, keeping the thread and maintaining the swept-up in the passion of the writing you can get best taking it in in marathon readings, so that strongly affects my enjoyment of this attenuated post mortem re-read of the series.

That said, the Last Chronicles sucks, just sucks except the parts in mostly the next book, but also the third, where more of the Land's past is revealed, which is genuinely interesting; that's the entire redeeming quality of this cycle, none of which is to be found in the first or last books.  This series ended with a whimper...

[Lord Avalon]

From Russia with Love, by Ian Fleming


For the first third of the book, James Bond doesn't make an appearance, though he is discussed. First mention is p. 45. I found that kind of curious.

[Lord Avalon]

Doctor No was the first James Bond film, but is the sixth book, following From Russia with Love. In both movie & book, M orders Bond to give up his Beretta .25 to be replaced by the Walther PPK, because he almost got killed in his last mission. That was in the book FRWL, where the Beretta with suppressor attached got stuck in his waistband as he met with Rosa Klebb, who actually did end up sticking him with the poisoned blade in her shoe, though that came after trying to stick him with poisoned knitting needles.

[Buster's Uncle]

I read somewhere that Flemming intended Bond to have the low-power Beretta as a tell that the man was just. that. good. - but it was considered a 'woman's gun' and didn't play well to the audience, so...

[Lord Avalon]

Geoffrey Boothroyd, a firearms expert, advised Fleming that it was the wrong gun for Bond: "It's really a lady's gun - and not a very nice lady at that!" Fleming named the service's Armourer "Major Boothroyd."

[Lord Avalon]

... In both movie & book, M orders Bond to give up his Beretta .25 to be replaced by the Walther PPK....

I was a bit wrong about the book: after the Armourer recommends the PPK, M asks for another recommendation in something bigger, so the Armourer suggests the Smith & Wesson Centennial Airweight revolver in .38 Special. M orders both guns sent to Bond & practice time set up, so he can be an expert in a week. Later in the book, Bond takes the revolver to Crab Key, due to its greater range.

[E_T]

Currently reading 'Monster Hunter: Grunge', part of the Monster Hunter International series...

[Lord Avalon]

The Peripheral, by William Gibson