September 2009 - Page 3 of 3

wondrous words

Vermiform– \”He\’d used the vermiform appendix as the base on which to construct the necessary organ…\”
Definition: shaped like a worm, long and thin

Inchoate– \”… events had marked him, he\’d had his own scars, his dark emotions. Ignorant, perhaps. Unformed, inchoate.\”
Definition: in an early stage, not yet fully developed

Troglodyte– \”He was feeling more and more like a troglodyte.\”
Definition: a primitive person who lives in a cave

Plangent– \”Maybe they\’d pick it up now, in time for a heartfelt, plangent, and action-filled finale.\”
Definition: expressing sadness, or: loud and resounding

Homogenized– \”Just in time, fear has homogenized his bowels.\”
Definition: to make uniform in consistency, especially through a fluid (ew)

Snaffle– \”He fills up an empty beer bottle with boiled water, then snaffles a standard-issue micro-fibre laundry bag from the bedroom…\”
Definition: to seize quickly and easily

and from The Cats of Lamu:

Raconteur– \”A great raconteur, Kay was full of fun and always ready for a put-on or a joke, which the locals loved- when they understood the sometimes alien punch line.\”
Definition: a person skilled at telling stories

Find more new words at this meme\’s host: Bermudaonion.

Tags: wondrous words

winner!

There were so many entrants this time, I didn\’t do my usual paper-bound cut, fold and toss in a hat, but wrote a list and used the random number generator. And the winner of the panda bookmarks is

number 5-
Anna from
Diary of an Eccentric

Congrats, Anna! Send me your address and I\’ll mail you two pandas!

What An Animal II

After some thinking I\’ve decided to change what I\’m reading for the What An Animal I challenge. Mostly because all the books I listed before are ones I\’d reach for anyways; I\’m going to read them whether they\’re on my challenge list or not. And I want to stretch myself a bit. So I\’m making a new list, to encourage myself to read more of the \”coffee-table books\” that have sat on my shelves unread, browsed so far only for their beautiful photos. They are:

The Cats of Lamu by Jack Couffer

The Long African Day by Norman Meyers

The Majesty of the Horse by Dean Server

The Wolf Almanac by Robert H. Busch

Penguins of the World by Wayne Lynch

Encyclopedia of the Cat by Bruce Fogle

Marsh Lions by Brian Jackman

Killer Whales by Sara Heimlich

Frogs by David Badger

Alligators and Crocodiles by John Behler

Tigers in the Snow by Peter Matthiessen

I\’m going to try and read one a month, into February.

Oryx and Crake

by Margaret Atwood

There is something about Margaret Atwood\’s books that both fascinates and repels me. I found The Handmaid\’s Tale to be chilling, in a remote way. Cat\’s Eye was terribly dismal and depressing to me. And Oryx and Crake gave me the creeps- but at the same time I simply could not put it down. It is a horrifying vision of the future- a future in which humankind has altered the face of the world beyond belief. The effects of global warming are only a sidenote here; popultation growth beyond control causing a huge rift between the wealthy and poor, spawning violence and crime alongside ruthless pursuit of scientific answers to all problems. Genetic engineering and other kinds of tinkering has created things like pigs that grow human organs, fake boulders that water your lawn, babies with chosen characteristics. And society\’s utter moral degredation. It all eventually falls into chaos, until a man who calls himself Snowman is the only real human being left, alongside a group of genetically altered people who are impervious to many ills- sunburn, disease, hunger (they eat grass). Jealousy, hate, love? humor? There\’s not a lot left to make them human, so many things in their brains have been rewired by the scientist Crake. Who was once Snowman\’s childhood friend.

The main character in this story is Snowman and his younger self, Jimmy. The plot follows him through his daily struggle to survive in the present altered and (to him) harsh new environment, full of dangerous wildlife and killing heat. He starts off on a journey back to the ruins of civilization for supplies, on the way reminiscing on his childhood and all the events that led up to the final disaster- how he watched the world change and the part he played in key events.

And now a word about what frustrated me; skip this paragraph if you want to avoid spoilers. I found some things in this book really disturbing. Namely, the blatant s-x everywhere, and how the boys would watch violence (executions, suicides, killing of animals etc) for entertainment. I suppose this was to show how far society had gone, but it was pretty sickening. And I really didn\’t understand why Jimmy was so drawn to Oryx. For a character with such an important role, there wasn\’t much told about her, and she hardly felt real to me. Perhaps she was meant to remain a mystery. Then the ending of the book drove me crazy, because I got excited just as Snowman did, and hoped in those final pages to see a confrontation or discovery of some kind, and I got- nothing. For the first time I wanted to throw a book across the room! But then I found out that her upcoming book Year of The Flood, is a sequel to this one, so maybe my questions will be answered. I\’m going to wait a while before I read it, though. I can\’t take this kind of heavy stuff one book after another.

Rating: 4/5 …….. 376 pages, 2003

More opinions:
Shelf Love
Book Maven\’s Blog

Tags: 4/5- Great Book, Current Reads, Speculative Fiction

Enchantress from the Stars

by Sylvia Louise Engdahl

In the mood for more fantasy after finishing Daughters of the Sunstone, I simply picked up the next fantasy book off my TBR, and I was surprised to find it had a few similar themes, albeit presented in an entirely different way. Enchantress from the Stars is set in the future, when humankind has populated many different planets. Each world is in a different stage of development, some civilizations far more advanced than others. The most highly evolved peoples form the Federation, and are sworn to keep their presence secret from more primitive worlds, for fear of influencing their development in unforseen ways.

On the small green planet of Andrecia, some unenlightened space colonists have invaded, intending to wipe out the native inhabitants in order to use the planet\’s resources. At the same time, the Federation sends down a team of intergalactic anthropologists, who decide to intervene and save the native population- but they must do so without revealing their identity to either the natives or the colonists. What ensues is a fantastic story, as members of each group come into contact with ways of thinking and knowledge far different from their own. It is told in alternating viewpoints of the three main characters. Georyn, a native villager, is on a quest to slay the dragon that is ravaging his countryside (clearing land for the colony). Jarel, a doctor among the colonists, struggles with his conscience as he comes to realize the natives are people with real potential, not just primitives devoid of feelings as his companions think. And Elana, a teenager who snuck onto the rescue team, finds herself involved far more than she\’d expected, as she must play the role of a magical enchantress to guide Georyn against a peril he cannot hope to face alone. What I really enjoyed was that each viewpoint is written in a different style- Georyn\’s formal and stylized like a fairytale, Elana\’s in the voice of a questioning teenager, Jarel straightforward in his growing outrage. It\’s a story about perspectives and new awareness. There\’s adventure, magic, philosophy, and even a love story. I wish I\’d come across this book when I was younger, it would have blown me away.

Rating: 3/5 288 pages, 1970

More opinions at:
Rebecca\’s Recommended Reads
Anthony Pacheco: Hack Writer

Tags: 3/5- Good Read, Current Reads, Fantasy / Sci Fi, Juvenile Fic

Every Pregnant Woman\’s Guide to Preventing Premature Birth

by Barbara Luke

Here\’s something you probably didn\’t know about me: I was born several months premature. When expecting my own child, I wasn\’t at risk for having a premature birth myself. But while browsing the library shelves for books about pregnancy, the title caught my eye and I was curious. Every Pregnant Woman\’s Guide to Preventing Premature Birth is based on studies done in France, where they have actually been able to lower the nation\’s rate of premature births per year. The main message is simply to take it easy while you\’re pregnant- don\’t push the vacuum cleaner, ride a jolting train, spend long hours on your feet, lift heavy objects, etc. Also info on how to recognize signs of premature labor and when to call the doctor. The section about maternity leave was kind of boring and felt longer than necessary, but overall this looks like a very useful book if you want to avoid the chances of being put on prolonged bed rest or having a premature baby.

Rating: 3/5 239 pages, 1995

Tags: 3/5- Good Read, Parenting / Pregnancy, Past Reads

wondrous words

A day late, with this meme. Well, here are the rest of the new words I found, in Search for the Golden Moon Bear:

Ordnance– \”Unexploded ordnance still infects the countryside.\”
Definition: weapons and other military supplies

Epiphyte– \”The trees along the Mekong have epiphytes– ferns, orchids, and sometimes even cactic perch harmlessly on the branches…\”
Definition: a plant that grows on another plant for support but does not take nutrients from it

Echelon– \”No wonder he was still awaiting approval from the upper echelons of the Forest Department to proceed with his reintroduction plans…\”
Definition: a level of power or responsibility

and from Daughters of the Sunstone:

Rapproachement– \”She had made a final rapprochment with herself while she slept.\”
Definition: the re-establishment of friendly relations

Renege– \”Finally, Reyna guessed, she had grown so oppressed by the daily terror of waking and realizing that her challenge still lay ahead that she had simply gone, impulsively, without preparation or ceremony, before she could renege.\”
Definition: to renounce, disown; to fail to carry out a promise or commitment

Abrogate– \”Aberra had gone, abrogating every tradition of a palace daughter\’s leave-taking.\”
Definition: to abolish, do away with, cancel; especially by invested authority

Diffidently– \”The hall monitor approached and spoke diffidently, his wizened face concerned.\”
Definition: timidly, reserved

Impinge– \”Every sensory clue impinged upon her, demanding its brief moment of attention.\”
Definition: to trespass, encroach upon

for more wondrous words, visit Bermudaonion\’s Weblog

Tags: wondrous words

Bears

Majestic Creatures of the Wild
edited by Ian Stirling

I\’ve been thinking about bears lately. Not only because I\’ve read a few books about different species in the past week, but because they\’ve also been featured in some of the fiction I read. In Reindeer Moon, the primitive people would sometimes find where a bear had denned for the winter, and dig it out for meat. In Daughters of the Sunstone, some of the people on an imaginary planet passed the winter in an induced sleep, to avoid starvation when resources were scarce, as bears do.

In Bears: Majestic Creatures of the Wild, I learned about how bears hibernate, and all kinds of other fascinating things. This is one of those heavy coffe-table type books full of beautiful photos I\’ve had for a long time, enthralled by the pictures, but a bit intimidated by its size for reading. It was actually pretty easy to get through, most of it well-written and interesting. The book has several main sections, written by a variety of scientists. It discusses the evolutionary history of bears (answering a few of my questions about pandas), their biology and behavior. Each of the eight bear species has its own chapter, then there is a part about bears and people, everything from ancient bear myths and fables, to how bears have figured in art, to how bears have been affected by people hunting them, putting them in zoos and circuses, and finally, conservation efforts. This part dated the book somewhat, as it stated that the polar bear is the least threatened of all the bear species. Whereas whenever I think of global warming, the first thing that comes to mind is all those polar bears now facing starvation because the ice caps are melting. The only part of the book I found disappointing were the chapters on bears in mythology, culture and art. The information wasn\’t presented as well, some parts felt choppy, others not unclear. And this was the part I was most curious about! However, if you want an all-around book about bears, this is an excellent choice with many wonderful illustrations.

This book came to me as a library discard, with no cover. So the image shown here is one I put together from my scrap file.

Rating: 3/5 ……. 240 pages, 1993

Tags: 3/5- Good Read, Animals Nonfiction, Current Reads

Aug/Sept Reviews, DogEar Reading Challenge

Okay, I\’m trying this again. If you\’re participating in the DogEar Reading Challenge (signup post here) this is the place to leave links to reviews for books you read in August and September (because the Mr. Linky I put up in Aug didn\’t work- sorry!) Make sure the link goes to your actual review post, and not the main page of your blog. List your name and the book\’s title. You can also mention the category you read it for in parenthsis. Like this: Name- Title (subject). If you don\’t have a blog, feel free to tell us a little bit about the books you read in the comments.

(If you\’re viewing this in a reader, you\’ll need to click through to see the mr. linky)

bookmarks giveaway!

win a free pair of panda bear bookmarks!
This week\’s giveaway (due to some great suggestions) is of panda bears! Aren\’t they cute? These are double-sided bookmarks, laminated, each about 2 x 7.5\”. Click on the photo to see it larger. If you\’d like a chance to win this pair of pandas, just leave a comment here! The lucky name will be plucked from a hat next tuesday, 9/8.

Tags: giveaways

Month: September 2009

RATINGS / SUBJECTS: