my foot is up.

Since a few days after my last post, I've been laid up with a stress fracture.  Stupid metatarsal.  I'm getting pretty tired of the couch.

The hollow men by Rob McCarthy.  I seem to be experimenting more with suspense/thriller.  This was enjoyable-- enough space for getting to know the character, not all action that doesn't actually result in much change or growth.  There is a series heading in the bib record, but you could just read this one and be done.  I'm not even totally clear on what direction future series installments would take.

Rocket science for babies, General relativity for babies, and Newtonian physics for babies by Chris Ferrie.  I picked up these picture book ARCs for my expected nephew while at Digipalooza.  The illustrations are very simple with tons of white space, and very short, bold sentences, one per page.  The design is very good.  I like that these might help parents think about using more science terminology with young children.  Why is the sky blue?  Physics.

Blackout by Marc Elsberg.  I was pretty excited about this title when I read a review a couple weeks ago, but this will only appeal to a small number of readers.  The story is told by following the situation in (at least) four European locations.  There are way too many people to track.  It reminded me of the set-up in a number of Harry Turtledove stories, with all the different people to follow.  Not a good way to tell a story.  I guess I still don't understand why a reader would care about the story or about any character(s) if we don't get a chance to understand and identify with them.

The hammer of Thor by Rick Riordan.  I don't feel compelled to continue this series.   The plot structure for each book is pretty formulaic, but since the intended audience isn't the most discerning, I can't really complain.  It looks like book three is going to tie in more cross-over characters from two of this author's other series, but having read all of those isn't a requirement.

One thing that has me thinking, though, are the pop culture references.  First, there are tons of off-handed comments about Game of Thrones or pop singers, etc., that will probably make the books age quicker than they would have normally.  In a few years, it'll still be a good story, but the frequent references to 15-minute-famous internet sensations will bore future readers.  The second thought I have is to the older pop culture references.  Many chapter titles, and also a few places in text, are references to cultural events I wouldn't expect the target reader to recognize-- The princess bride, Prince songs, and other stuff from the 1970s and '80s that is barely on my radar.  If my young reader gets to these, I'll have to remember to ask his opinion.