archeology

I  can't think of anything I want to do this evening,my hands being cramped  from a serious ton of knitting I've done this weekend.  This is a little bit less intense.  Especially since I'm doing this during the commercials of watching junk on Hulu.  (this is what I'm doing, by the way.)

The Gospel of the Flying Spaghetti Monster by Bobby Henderson.   This book spoofs religion while ripping holes in evolution and making fun of science.  Most of it is just made up and I don't think you can trust a single fact, but it is hilarious and makes the reader think about one's own religious choices.
(I don't remember this book at all.)

Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett.  This may well be the funniest book I have ever read.  I absolutely love the authors' style. Not only was it funny,but the story-- plot and all that-- was great.  Plus there was plenty there to think about if the reader so desired.  I absolutely must have a copy of my own.  (I do now.)  (Also, this was my introduction to Terry Pratchett and so I must thank this book for changing the course of my reading life.)

The Greenlanders by Jane Smiley.  Another book I didn't finish.  The interesting thing about this book was the style the author chose-- it copied early novels well, which give no account of emotions, do not have a main character,or focus on one theme.  It is merely a historical accounting.  While this is interesting, it was very boring, and I quit.

The Grey King by Susan Cooper.  They really should put warning labels on these things: caution, this book has prerequisites.  I thought the book seemed kind of odd, like I was missing something, but it didn't say anything in the front anywhere about a series. It was on the last page. So I didn't really get into it.

The Grim Grotto by Lemony Snicket.  These have definitely taken a u-turn toward evil.  The question posed is, is it "good" because you are on that side?  Where is the evidence, if there is any?  The fight against evil is no longer black and white, but gray and less gray.

Guards!  Guards! by Terry Pratchett.  As to the story and all that, it was the same as usual.  This was quite an early one, though, so a lot more came out about the characters. Someday I'm going to  really have to go through these all  again, in order.
This book says a lot about people: rulers, sheeply masses, the idle, the discontent. I thought there was a very poignant  section beginning on the bottom of page 12, which could be useful as a starter quote.  I typed it down and saved it; it's a bit long for my front-of-the-collection collection.

Guises of the Mind by Rebecca Neason.  This book did not have many endearing qualities. Like most others in the set, it employed italics to specify emphasis within a spoken sentence or personal thought; I find this distasteful.  It relied heavily on the reader intimately knowing all past books, episodes, and movies.
The story was very action-oriented and the characters stayed mostly true to themselves; I find these books marginally enjoyable in the absence of any TV.  I would not recommend them for serious reading.

The Halfling's Gem by R.A. Salvatore.  This book had mostly action in it, not so much traveling as in the last book.  These battles are quite detailed and gory, which is more noticeable in this book because there are so very many of them.  Possibly because of this, the author tries to throw in a bunch of sentimental crap that obviously doesn't below. And he is still doing that annoying
Fragment thing.
But for all that the writing style gets on my nerves, the story, the action was compelling, really drew me in.  I want to read the next book though, because the ending wasn't much of an ending at all.

The Hammer of Eden by Ken Follett.  The plot progressed fairly well, kept the reader involved; this was a mystery, with a geology flair which I actually enjoyed.  There was a fair amount of swearing, but it was by characters only.  ...
What I really disliked about this book was that it took the last chapter and said, this is what happened to this person and this what happened to this person right through the whole cast.  It had no flavor, felt rushed,and felt compartmentalized.

Also, I watched Black Books, season 1, with Dylan Moran.  On hulu, actually.  I've been meaning to watch this for years.  It's not perfect, but it's funny.  I'm glad I'm watching it.