Monthly Archives: December 2009

The Most Ingenious of Foxes

Posted on December 31, 2009 by Marion

9Tail Fox Jon Courtenay Grimwood Nightshade Books, 2007       By page 45 of 9Tail Fox, the book’s hero, police detective Bobby Zha is dead.  Not psychologically or spiritually dead, not dead in a there’s-no-cure-for-the-poison or the-bullet-will-eventually-destroy-your-brain kind of … Continue reading →

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Boneshaker

Posted on December 28, 2009 by Marion

Better to reign in hell than serve in heaven. John Milton, Paradise Lost Boneshaker Cherie Priest SciFi Essential Book, Tor, 2009 Briar Wilkes Blue is a woman of secrets, the widow of one notorious man and the daughter of another. … Continue reading →

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Holmes is Back and Downey’s Got Him

Posted on December 26, 2009 by Marion

It’s not your mother’s Sherlock Holmes. It’s not Basil Rathbone, Jeremy Brett, or Gene Wilder. Robert Downey plays the world’s most famous consulting detective as a rock star, analytical and unstable, brilliant and self-destructive, self-aware and vulnerable. And he’s an … Continue reading →

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The Books We Got for Christmas

Posted on December 25, 2009 by Marion

Christmas day dawned clear, blue and cold. Over coffee, orange juice and fresh cinnamon rolls, melted butter seeping into the pastry cracks, the day seemed much better than yesterday. I’m in a much better mood. I said I had hoped … Continue reading →

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Not the Best Christmas Week Ever

Posted on December 24, 2009 by Marion

I hope that tomorrow or the day after I will be posting a blog full of joy and light, boasting shamelessly about the wonderful books I got for Christmas, or reviewing a movie I saw, or something. Something fun. Something … Continue reading →

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200th Post

Posted on December 21, 2009 by Marion

This is my 200th post. I’m posting it on Winter Solstice, 2009, which seems appropriate. I looked back at my very first post in March, 2008. I said I might blog about books, movies, trips and experiences, random thoughts, and … Continue reading →

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Quoth the Raven

Posted on December 20, 2009 by Marion

Thanks! Which holiday, exactly?

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Quote of the Week; Three Tricks for a Happier New Year

Posted on December 19, 2009 by Marion

The Winter Solstice is upon us. The darkest days of the year are about to lighten again. We join together to celebrate the ending of one year and the beginning of the next. It’s a time of impending rebirth. Even … Continue reading →

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The Streets of Laredo

Posted on December 17, 2009 by Marion

Here is a link to the very sad story of the closure of the last bookstore in the town of Laredo, Texas. Not the last chain bookstore. Not the last independent bookstore. The only bookstore. I worry about us. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/34452179/ns/business-retail/

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A Manner of Speaking, Part II; Word Choice

Posted on December 16, 2009 by Marion

I suspect they meant to write “antidote.” This way, though, it’s almost a koan. What anecdote would you share with fear?

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