I know this post is a few days late (SORRY!), but it's here nonetheless.
The 30 days for my quest are now up. I do believe that I changed a little bit, but not how I predicted I would. I said at the beginning that I wouldn't be so grouchy/grumpy all the time after this. I lied.
That hasn't changed, but something has. As a direct result of this quest and this blog, I have decided to continue doing the book reviews on a seperate blog tied to this one. This blog isn't set up as of yet, but I will put polls up with 2 or 3 books and have people vote on which one they want me to review the most, I will read the book and review it at the end.
I will also put up updates as I read to let my readers what is going on in the story.
I don't have access to my star system right at this point in time, but I give this quest 5 Stars!
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
Monday, October 27, 2008
For Those Who Fell
The second book is "For Those Who Fell" by William C. Dietz.
Please remember to vote for whichever book you want me to review more.
- After the destruction of the ex-battleship that served as its capital, the Confederacy searches desperately to find a new home planet for its government. But the alien Ramathanians are not finished fighting-and no planet wants to host the Confederacy knowing the Ramathanians will follow.
- But a new capital is born-on the snowy, windswept planet of Algeron, birthplace of William "Bill" Booly III. The move meets with resistance from the Algeron natives, forcing the part-alien Booly to fight political battles just as a disturbing discovery is made. Intelligence has detected a faster-than-ship communications antenna in a Ramathanian fortress. If this technology is integrated by the aliens, battles will be lost before they are begun. A special ops mission to seize the research facility is launched, under the command of First Lieutenant Antonio Santana, who is no more by-the-book than when he distinguished himself during the LaNor Rebellion.
- The stage is set for an epic struggle on both fronts, as two men-the much-decorated elder officer and the young upstart-each face enormous odds in their efforts to save the Confederacy at any cost. And in the course of the struggle, they will both suffer losses above and beyond the call of duty...
Please remember to vote for whichever book you want me to review more.
The Teeth of the Tiger
The first book is Tom Clancy's "The Teeth of the Tiger"- In the Brave New World of terrorism, where anybody with a spare AK-47, a knowledge of kitchen chemistry, or simply the will to die can become a player, the old rules no longer apply. No matter what new governmental organizations come into being, the only ones that could be truly effective are those that are quick and agile, free of oversight and restrictions... and outside the system.
- Way outside the system.
- In a nondescript office building in suburban Maryland, a firm named Hendley Associates does a profitable business in stocks, bonds, and international currencies, but its real mission is quite different: to identify and locate terrorist threats, and then deal with them, in whatever manner necessary. Set up with the knowledge of President John Patrick Ryan, "The Campus" is always on the lookout for promising new talent, its recruiters scattered throughout the armed forces and government agencies-and three men are about to cross its radar.
- The first of them is Dominic Caruso, a rookie FBI agent, barely a year out of Quantico, whose decisive actions resolve a particularly brutal kidnap/murder case. The second is Caruso's brother Brian, a Marine captain just back from his first combat action, in Afghanistan, and already a man to watch. And the third is their cousin... a young man named Jack Ryan, Jr.
- Jack has grown up around intrigue. As his father rose through the ranks of the CIA and then to the White House, Jack received a life course in the world and the way it works, from agents, statesmen, analysts, Secret Servicemen, and black-ops specialists such as John Clark and Ding Chavez. He wants to put it all to work now- but when he knocks on the front door of "The Campus," he finds that nothing has prepared him for what he is about to encounter. For it is indeed a different world out there, and in here... and it is about to become a lot more dangerous...
All above mentioned text from the dust jacket is Copyright © 2003 by Rubicon, Inc.
Please remember to vote on whichever book you would like me to review more.
Sunday, October 26, 2008
Indecision
As you all know, I haven't been reading books for the past few days. This is due to the fact that I don't really understand "Schild's Ladder".
I have two books that I would like to read, but I'm am caught in a pickle. I do not really know which book I want to read first. This is where you, my followers, come in. I will post a poll up where you can vote on one of the two books. I had thought about this and figured that not many people would know anything about these books, so I will post what is in the dust-covers and let you know what they are about.
I have two books that I would like to read, but I'm am caught in a pickle. I do not really know which book I want to read first. This is where you, my followers, come in. I will post a poll up where you can vote on one of the two books. I had thought about this and figured that not many people would know anything about these books, so I will post what is in the dust-covers and let you know what they are about.
Makeup of a Reader
People all over the world like to read. It is a universal way to learn, relax, or just something to take up time while waiting to do other things. One person that loves to read is my dad, Chris. I recently interviewed him about his reading habits and learned some interesting things about him.
First, my dad is in his late 30s, balding and slightly overweight. His day pretty much consists of getting up and going to work. But almost every time he’s not working, Chris is either watching TV or, you guessed it, reading. But why does he read? What does he get out of it? These were the things I sought to find out.
The first thing I asked him was “How often do you read?” I figured it would be some extravagant number like 20+ hours a week. I was wrong. I ended up getting an answer of at least every other day. Either he watches a lot more TV than I had thought or he doesn’t read that much when I don’t see him.
The next question I asked concerned why Chris liked to read in the first place. “Reading is a way for me to calm down. It acts like a relaxant.” That’s a fair enough reason. With the world the way it is today, everyone could use a way to just relax once in a while. I asked him why he likes to read, but I didn’t get to a somewhat important question in my investigation.
I never asked him what kind of books he likes to read. Not really a big deal at first glance, but to truly get a picture of what a typical reader looks like, one must know the genres of the material in question. Based on what I have seen, however, I can give a pretty accurate idea of the kinds of this Chris likes to read.
He’s not really one for series, but he loves Tom Clancy’s books. Anyone who has read any of Clancy’s work knows that all the books are connected in someway. Whether that way is through characters being carried over or plot lines crossing, it is pretty easy to tell that they are in a series together. So, political thriller novels are definitely one of his favorite’s types of books. Another thing that he has been reading recently is books dealing with the Templar Knights. These are also high up on his list.
As you can see, a typical reader isn’t much different from the rest of us. They are our age and read around the same amount as us. In my case, their favorite genres of books are even the same. Hopefully this has helped to uncover what makes up a reader.
First, my dad is in his late 30s, balding and slightly overweight. His day pretty much consists of getting up and going to work. But almost every time he’s not working, Chris is either watching TV or, you guessed it, reading. But why does he read? What does he get out of it? These were the things I sought to find out.
The first thing I asked him was “How often do you read?” I figured it would be some extravagant number like 20+ hours a week. I was wrong. I ended up getting an answer of at least every other day. Either he watches a lot more TV than I had thought or he doesn’t read that much when I don’t see him.
The next question I asked concerned why Chris liked to read in the first place. “Reading is a way for me to calm down. It acts like a relaxant.” That’s a fair enough reason. With the world the way it is today, everyone could use a way to just relax once in a while. I asked him why he likes to read, but I didn’t get to a somewhat important question in my investigation.
I never asked him what kind of books he likes to read. Not really a big deal at first glance, but to truly get a picture of what a typical reader looks like, one must know the genres of the material in question. Based on what I have seen, however, I can give a pretty accurate idea of the kinds of this Chris likes to read.
He’s not really one for series, but he loves Tom Clancy’s books. Anyone who has read any of Clancy’s work knows that all the books are connected in someway. Whether that way is through characters being carried over or plot lines crossing, it is pretty easy to tell that they are in a series together. So, political thriller novels are definitely one of his favorite’s types of books. Another thing that he has been reading recently is books dealing with the Templar Knights. These are also high up on his list.
As you can see, a typical reader isn’t much different from the rest of us. They are our age and read around the same amount as us. In my case, their favorite genres of books are even the same. Hopefully this has helped to uncover what makes up a reader.
Saturday, October 25, 2008
Update
As it turns out, I have been really busy as of late. This has not really allowed me to put up any new blogs recently.
Since my last blog, I have been taking a break from Schild's Ladder to read other things. I took this unscheduled vacation because that book is hard to understand at points and I couldn't really get into it that well. (Here is a good time to reference back to my post about time management) However, I haven't started a new book yet. I have just been reading the newspaper and the news online for my quest.
While this may sound strange to some people, I happen to enjoy reading the newspaper, if for no other reason to laugh at the stupidity of some Americans or the comics. The comics make me laugh when no other thing can. As far as American stupidity, it amazes me at some of the stupid things people do that end up on the front page of the newspaper or on the main page of Yahoo! News.
Which do you like to read more? An actual newspaper or online news? Answer in the poll on the right.
Since my last blog, I have been taking a break from Schild's Ladder to read other things. I took this unscheduled vacation because that book is hard to understand at points and I couldn't really get into it that well. (Here is a good time to reference back to my post about time management) However, I haven't started a new book yet. I have just been reading the newspaper and the news online for my quest.
While this may sound strange to some people, I happen to enjoy reading the newspaper, if for no other reason to laugh at the stupidity of some Americans or the comics. The comics make me laugh when no other thing can. As far as American stupidity, it amazes me at some of the stupid things people do that end up on the front page of the newspaper or on the main page of Yahoo! News.
Which do you like to read more? An actual newspaper or online news? Answer in the poll on the right.
Friday, October 10, 2008
Time Management
I have now missed two days of reading. This was not necessarily by choice, but because I had been doing other things that were of importance. So, I figured this would be a perfect time to talk about Time Management.
Up til now, I have used what I think is decent time management. However, these past two days, I didn't use any at all. As a result, I now must read for an hour and a half today.I've been saying all this, but I haven't really described what time management is. Time management, for those of you who don't know, is the handling of one's time efficiently. To do this, one must move things around in his/her day to make room for the things that actually need to be done. In other words, if you have a paper due, for example, don't start playing games on the computer. Start typing your paper.
Now, this isn't to say you can't skip and day and designate it for games or whatever else. On the contrary, that is exactly what I'm telling you to do. One must have diversity in their daily schedule otherwise they will get bored very quickly. So set aside a day or two in your week to pretty much screw around and have fun. Have Friday be a designated games day and the rest of the week is set aside for working on projects, papers, or whatever the case may be.
Hopefully, this will help you, my readers out. I know it certainly has helped me.
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
New Book
Well, I'm back. I was gone to Minnesota this weekend and while I was there, I bought a couple books to help me out with my quest. I started to read one of them and I must admit, it's quite interesting.
Schild's
Ladder by Greg Egan is set in the future. Not the few hundred years into the future like most authors use when they write sci-fi books. Egan takes us 20, 000 years into the future. So far, the book is somewhat confusing. The first chapters are practically nothing but a bunch of quantam mechanics and why some of it works. Then, there comes the twist.
The author departs from the conventional q.m. theories and starts talking about a Quantum Graph Theory. While Q.G.T. is a real thing, Egan's version is purely ficticious. Nonetheless, this theory basically tells us that you can predict the kind of space (vaccuum) that will be formed in these different instances by using graphs.
Have I lost everyone yet? If I have, don't feel bad, I am still lost on all of this.
Although it is difficult to understand what Mr. Egan is trying to tell us at times, the book is so far a good read. From what I have read so far, I'm going to give it 4 stars.
Schild's
Ladder by Greg Egan is set in the future. Not the few hundred years into the future like most authors use when they write sci-fi books. Egan takes us 20, 000 years into the future. So far, the book is somewhat confusing. The first chapters are practically nothing but a bunch of quantam mechanics and why some of it works. Then, there comes the twist.The author departs from the conventional q.m. theories and starts talking about a Quantum Graph Theory. While Q.G.T. is a real thing, Egan's version is purely ficticious. Nonetheless, this theory basically tells us that you can predict the kind of space (vaccuum) that will be formed in these different instances by using graphs.
Have I lost everyone yet? If I have, don't feel bad, I am still lost on all of this.
Although it is difficult to understand what Mr. Egan is trying to tell us at times, the book is so far a good read. From what I have read so far, I'm going to give it 4 stars.
Sunday, October 5, 2008
Poll
There is a poll on my blog to see what kind of books everyone likes reading.
Please vote as there is only 9 days left to do so!
S. Duerr
Please vote as there is only 9 days left to do so!
S. Duerr
Thursday, October 2, 2008
Flash of Brilliance
Well, here I am again. I had a flash of brilliance today while I was doing my reading. Why not turn this into a book review while I'm completing my quest?
It will help those who maybe want to read the books that I'm reading and don't want to buy the book blind. Aside from that, it'll help me out when I'm at a loss for words, a common problem plaguing almost every writer worldwide.
So, the first book that I am going to review is The Zombie Survival Guide by Max Brooks.
This book is an interesting look at what could happen if zombies took over. Mr. Brooks informs the reader of what he/she should do to prepare for a zombie attack. There are lists of effective weapons, the effectiveness of different types of terrain to defend against an attack and the different classes of outbreaks.
The thing that he (the Author) was always pushing was to never put off preparing for an outbreak. If you wait til the last minute, it's already too late. That throws an interesting bit of perspective into things, doesn't it?
To finish off the book, Max lists in chronological order all of the recorded incidents of zombie attacks and what happened during each one. My conclusion? Zombie attacks can happen anywhere in the world and at any time.
As far as a rating on the book, I give it 4.5 stars (5-star system). It is an easy book to read, although it drags on at times. But what was I really expecting? One can't rush learning about survival in a life or death (or should it be life or living-dead) situation.
This book is an interesting look at what could happen if zombies took over. Mr. Brooks informs the reader of what he/she should do to prepare for a zombie attack. There are lists of effective weapons, the effectiveness of different types of terrain to defend against an attack and the different classes of outbreaks.
The thing that he (the Author) was always pushing was to never put off preparing for an outbreak. If you wait til the last minute, it's already too late. That throws an interesting bit of perspective into things, doesn't it?
To finish off the book, Max lists in chronological order all of the recorded incidents of zombie attacks and what happened during each one. My conclusion? Zombie attacks can happen anywhere in the world and at any time.
As far as a rating on the book, I give it 4.5 stars (5-star system). It is an easy book to read, although it drags on at times. But what was I really expecting? One can't rush learning about survival in a life or death (or should it be life or living-dead) situation.
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Outline to Quest
S. Duerr
Comp 1
Quest Essay
9/30/2008
Questing To Read
Quest: a search or pursuit made in order to find or obtain something. That’s what I plan to do when I embark on my thirty day quest. I plan to make time to read every day. I endeavor to read, for pleasure, a minimum of thirty minutes each day. This does not include reading for school work.
Sounds pretty easy, right? Wrong. I am a very busy man. What with work, school, and the occasional video game, where would I even start to look for extra time? This calls for some major time management. I have to be able to balance the things I normally do, while still making time to complete my quest. I may even have to cut down on the time I spend surfing the net to make things work out.
Why would I even take this task on? I used to read all the time. I would even get in trouble for having my nose in a book when I was supposed to be doing other things. Lately, I haven’t really even had time to read one page other than for school. I have become so busy with other things that reading kind of took second chair to everything else.
I want to be able to enjoy a good book every now and then, especially since I have three books I have started that I need to finish. These books are “Dracula” by Bram Stoker, “The Teeth of the Tiger” by Tom Clancy and “The Zombie Survival Guide” by Max Brooks. I want to do this so I can once again be transported to another place and/or time through my books, because I love the way that feels.
This is going to be a challenge, because as I mentioned before, I am very busy. I literally have no time to myself, save for a few minutes in the morning and at night when I am getting out of or into bed. Add to this the fact that there are so many other distractions around the house like the television and the computer, and you have a verifiable problem. I have an advantage over all of this however. I love reading.
It is one of my most favorite things to do, aside from play my main sports of basketball, baseball and golf. Sit me down with a book that I find interesting, and I can guarantee you that I’ll have it done before you know it. This will be my biggest asset during my quest.
After going through with this I believe I will be a changed man. Not only will my schedule seem less hectic, but I will accomplish something that I have been meaning to do for months. This might also serve to make me less of a grouch all the time to my family because my mind will be so full of these stories that I won’t have time to be grouchy anymore. Another plus is all the things that I would be able to talk about with my family. Expect to see a brand new person (almost) at the end of the 30 days.
As with any undertaking, there will be rules to go along with this. If I don’t read for some reason on any given day, I must triple the amount that I must read on the following day. Each day that I miss will compound on top of this, making it necessary for me to keep up and not slack at all. I can read whatever books seem to trip my fancy, only limited by the books I have at my disposal. I can obtain new material from other people, stores, or the library, the treasure chest of books.
Doing this will probably affect my family in that I might not be able to spend as much time with them as they would like me to. I can always remedy this by reading near them, but I must not be distracted. Perhaps my family members will enjoy the change of pace, but then again, maybe not. Maybe they’ll just hate me until it’s over with.
Overall, it is going to be a long road. I haven’t read for sport in a long time and as a result, have lost some of my speed that I once enjoyed. Coming out of this, I hope to be just a good of a speed reader as I once was.
Comp 1
Quest Essay
9/30/2008
Questing To Read
Quest: a search or pursuit made in order to find or obtain something. That’s what I plan to do when I embark on my thirty day quest. I plan to make time to read every day. I endeavor to read, for pleasure, a minimum of thirty minutes each day. This does not include reading for school work.
Sounds pretty easy, right? Wrong. I am a very busy man. What with work, school, and the occasional video game, where would I even start to look for extra time? This calls for some major time management. I have to be able to balance the things I normally do, while still making time to complete my quest. I may even have to cut down on the time I spend surfing the net to make things work out.
Why would I even take this task on? I used to read all the time. I would even get in trouble for having my nose in a book when I was supposed to be doing other things. Lately, I haven’t really even had time to read one page other than for school. I have become so busy with other things that reading kind of took second chair to everything else.
I want to be able to enjoy a good book every now and then, especially since I have three books I have started that I need to finish. These books are “Dracula” by Bram Stoker, “The Teeth of the Tiger” by Tom Clancy and “The Zombie Survival Guide” by Max Brooks. I want to do this so I can once again be transported to another place and/or time through my books, because I love the way that feels.
This is going to be a challenge, because as I mentioned before, I am very busy. I literally have no time to myself, save for a few minutes in the morning and at night when I am getting out of or into bed. Add to this the fact that there are so many other distractions around the house like the television and the computer, and you have a verifiable problem. I have an advantage over all of this however. I love reading.
It is one of my most favorite things to do, aside from play my main sports of basketball, baseball and golf. Sit me down with a book that I find interesting, and I can guarantee you that I’ll have it done before you know it. This will be my biggest asset during my quest.
After going through with this I believe I will be a changed man. Not only will my schedule seem less hectic, but I will accomplish something that I have been meaning to do for months. This might also serve to make me less of a grouch all the time to my family because my mind will be so full of these stories that I won’t have time to be grouchy anymore. Another plus is all the things that I would be able to talk about with my family. Expect to see a brand new person (almost) at the end of the 30 days.
As with any undertaking, there will be rules to go along with this. If I don’t read for some reason on any given day, I must triple the amount that I must read on the following day. Each day that I miss will compound on top of this, making it necessary for me to keep up and not slack at all. I can read whatever books seem to trip my fancy, only limited by the books I have at my disposal. I can obtain new material from other people, stores, or the library, the treasure chest of books.
Doing this will probably affect my family in that I might not be able to spend as much time with them as they would like me to. I can always remedy this by reading near them, but I must not be distracted. Perhaps my family members will enjoy the change of pace, but then again, maybe not. Maybe they’ll just hate me until it’s over with.
Overall, it is going to be a long road. I haven’t read for sport in a long time and as a result, have lost some of my speed that I once enjoyed. Coming out of this, I hope to be just a good of a speed reader as I once was.
Every Journey Starts With the First Step, Here's Before My First Step
Right now, I am excited to actually be starting my quest. As sort of a warm up for this, I have already started reading at every possible moment. I feel that this will have an effect on how I do over the next 30 days. I figure if I can get back into the swing of things, maybe it'll be easier.
Other than feeling excited about it, I really don't feel all that different from any other day. I guess I'm a little hesitant about posting a blog because I've never really done one before. That's not a big deal because, hey look, I'm blogging right now!
Other than feeling excited about it, I really don't feel all that different from any other day. I guess I'm a little hesitant about posting a blog because I've never really done one before. That's not a big deal because, hey look, I'm blogging right now!
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