Birthday. OF DOOM!

And a happy birthday to lost_angelwings. Who will be free from the worry of EMINENT DESTRUCTION! But only for today. Because the Doom-bat is almost ready and you'll never SEE IT COMING! But not today....

Half-Nelson

Dan Dunne (Ryan Gosling) is an inner city teacher who seems to be able to actually reach his students and help them learn. Of course he's also a cokehead who generally comes into work strung out and/or hungover. Drey (Shareeka Epps) is one of his students desperate for any kind of father figure. Top rate acting and a script that doesn't offer any easy answers. Or much of any answers really. Is Dunne good (helps kids) or bad (is a junkie). Even Dunne's drug dealer isn't the simple stereotype. He's someone else looking to help Drey, but he's also looking to draw her into working for him...

April Reading List

Apr 1st: Harry Turtledove - Breakthroughs: The United States use of massed barrel tactics leads to victory over the Confederate States. Finishes up the Great War portion of the alt history series...

Apr 2nd: Joe Abercrombie - The Blade Itself: The first book in rookie writer Abercrombie's "The First Law" brutal high fantasy series. Ah book 1. When everyone is full of such hope...

Apr 4th: Abercrombie - Before They Are Hanged: 2nd book in the series. One group of "heroes" searches for a powerful weapon of the last age. Others attempt to stop the barbarian hordes in the north. And a certain crippled Inquisitor tries to delay the fall of the kingdom's southern most city...

Apr 5th: Jim Butcher - Small Favor: Harry is forced to repay part of his debt to the Winter Queen of the Fae. And its just a small thing. That involves the return of the Denarians. Most recent book in "The Dresden Files" urban fantasy/horror series...

Apr 6th: Robert Parker - Spare Change: Most recent of Parker's "Sunny Randall" series of detective books. Sunny & her retired father are brought onto a task force hunting the newly re-emerged Spare Change Killer. And Sunny goes to dangerous levels to draw out her choice of suspect...

Apr 8th: Turtledove - Blood & Iron: First of the in between wars books for the divided America alt history series. Also lays the groundwork for the Nazi-analogue Freedom Party's rise in the C.S.A...

Apr 10th: Turtledove - The Center Cannot Hold: Continued political rise of Jake Featherstone and the Freedom Party along with the Great Depression...

Apr 11th: Terry Pratchett - Soul Music: Discworld novel about sex, drugs and rock & roll. Well the music bits at least. Part of the "Death's Family" subset...

Apr 12th: Greg Rucka - Finder: One of Rucka's Atticus Kodiak books. Bodyguard Kodiak is hired to protect the daughter of an Army colonel from his days guarding officers. Of course its not so easy when you have two groups of SAS troops. One rogue mercs, the others looking to bring them down less than officially. Or when old loves and mistakes of Kodiak's are brought to light...

Apr 13th: Abercrombie - Last Arguement of Kings: Dark finale for "The First Rule" trilogy. So many asshole characters. So many less than happy endings. Man I hope he does another trilogy that gives a less depressing ending. Still a great series though...

Apr 15th: Turtledove - The Victorious Opposition: With the USA still struggling to pull out of the Great Depression, new CSA President Featherstone begin's setting his house in order and looking to his northern neighbor for payback as well...

Apr 16th: Parker - Promised Land: Only the 4th book in Parker's long running Spenser series. Begins to fully set up Spenser and Hawk's relationship. As well as Spenser and Susan. A somewhat unpolished book with Spenser being hired to track down a "missing" house wife. One who's gotten involved with some way more militant than average feminists. Of course the husband is in trouble with some criminals of his own. Luckily Spenser figures he can bail them both out at the same time...

Apr 18th: Turtledove - Return Engagement: The CSA attacks the USA without a formal decleration of war. Allowing them to make significant headway into US territory as the second World War begins...

Apr 20th: Turtledove - Drive to the East: After their military drive cuts the US in half in Ohio the CSA attempts to drive deep into the US steel working country. And the war continues on all fronts on land, sea and air...

Apr 21st: Christopher Golden - Hellboy: The Bone of Giants: Hellboy returns to northern Europe to deal with the newly unearthed Mjolnir and a reborn frost giant king...

Apr 22nd: Turtledove - The Grapple: The US successfully begins counter-attacking, gaining significant grounds against the CSA...

Apr 23rd: Rob Rogers - The Devil's Cape: Another great rookie writer. This time with a dark and violent story of super-heroes and villains in the crime wrought Louisiana city of Devil's Cape...

Apr 25th: Cordwainer Smith - The Quest of the Three Worlds: This far-future story of self-discovery and exploration was maybe just a bit to odd even for me...

Apr 26th: Golden (editor) - Hellboy: Odd Jobs: An anthology of Hellboy stories. Some good (Rucka's tale about Hellboy's missing gun), some bad (Hellboy in Vietnam)...

Apr 30th: Diane Duane - Support Your Local Wizard: Omnibus of the first three books in Duane's "Young Wizards" series. Neophyte Wizards Kit Nita and have to recover a book that is used to keep renewing the universe from the rogue Lone Power that created Entropy. Then they help some whales recast a major ritual with a fearsome cost. And lastly Darine, Nita's kid sister jumps into her own Wizard's Ordeal without fully understanding the costs it can involve...

Total books: 20