I finished Founding Brothers and have started Bellwether by Connie Willis. Founding Brothers was a good read, but a more detailed summary will have to wait, as I’m unfortunately tied up with packing for our move next weekend.

Finished Darkness of the Light (by Peter David) last night. That’s two books in four days, for an average of two days per book. The way I figure it, since I started in the Read 100 challenge on the thirteenth, I need to average about 3.52 days per book, so I’m doing pretty well.

Darkness of the Light was pretty much typical Peter David. I’m not sure if it counts as Science Fiction or Fantasy; it seems to be about Earth many, many years after it was overrun by twelve races from an alternate dimension. However, since those races are mythological races from ancient tales (the Oculars are cyclopses(?), Trulls are Trolls, etc.), and the tone of the story is mostly fantasy (if one ignores the presence of cars). Either way, it was very good.

As one can always expect from PAD, the story has plenty of puns and jokes based on literal interpretations of various figures of speech. There are also plenty of interesting plot twists. Unfortunately, there are still two more books in the series (to my knowledge, these haven’t been published yet), and the book’s end feels very unfinished.

I’m looking forward to the rest of the story.

My next book is Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation by Joseph J. Ellis.

1 down, 99 to go

I finished Blind Lake (by Robert Charles Wilson) today, and have started on book #2 on my Read 100 challenge, Peter David’s Darkness of the Light.

Blind Lake was a very good read. It was the first Robert Charles Wilson book I’ve read (I actually only picked it up because I was looking for his book Spin, which was apparently out when I went to the library), but it certainly won’t be the last.

What, exactly, does a gold library card do?

The Kanawha County Public Library is challenging its patrons to read 100 books this year:

In 2009 the Kanawha County Public Library system celebrates its 100th anniversary. To mark this event we’ll be offering special programs and displays throughout the year, plus we’re challenging our patrons to read 100 books.

Though the linked article doesn’t mention exactly what the prize might be, the book log says that participants who meet the challenge get a “special gold library card.” I have to admit, that appeals to me in a way similar to how achievements on Xbox Live or Kongregate will cause me to play games just to get a few points that are (ultimately) meaningless. I’d probably read 100 books this year anyway; why not join in the challenge?

Since only books checked out from the Kanawha County Public Library system count, I’ve only finished one book that might count (S.M. Stirling’s Dies the Fire), but since I actually checked that one out last year (and didn’t start reading it until Saturday), I’m not counting it.

Book #1, therefore, will be Robert Charles Wilson’s Blind Lake, which I started during lunch.

Mayor Danny Jones, on the week-long shutdown of the Kanawha Boulevard for the 20th Annual Convention of the Chevrolet Nomad Association:

“It’s not a big car show,” Jones said. “It will take [the Boulevard] between Capitol and Court all next week. It’s the first time they’ve ever had a venue like this. I don’t know of a city in the country that will shut down a four-lane highway for a week.“

Emphasis Mine.

One has to wonder if Danny Jones ever considered why other cities don’t shut down one of their biggest roads for an entire week in order to accomodate conventions for obscure cars. This shutdown makes rush-hour traffic absolutely horrendous for anyone who has to get anywhere near the affected blocks, and it doesn’t help that the City of Charleston seems shut down the Boulevard every other week.

Of course, Mayor Jones has proven, time and again, that he doesn’t care what the residents (and workers) of the city of Charleston want or need. If they leave, why he’ll just expand the city limits to keep the population up!