A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson

Extremely interesting reading. I enjoy Bill Bryson because he writes very well and with a lot of wit. This one is not nearly as humorous as his other books and in fact seems to be full of more than a little doom and gloom. Still there is much to be learned here.

My only criticism is that the book focuses entirely on the discoveries of western culture. Many of the historical discoveries described here were actually made first in the East and Middle East, but no mention are made of them here.

Still, it really puts the fragile place we hold in the universe in perspective.

Professor Layton and the Curious Village

This is quite possibly the most fun I’ve had on the DS in the year and a half I’ve owned one. This one may not be for everyone, but I love riddles and puzzles of all kinds and this game has hundreds of them with a great story to go along with them. The movie sequences were kind of amazing; they reminded me of Miyazaki films. I enjoyed the fact that you can work along at your own pace, hitting the puzzles as the mood strikes with no time limit or stress.

This is probably the best game I’ve played on the Wii. Inventive puzzles, unique gameplay, not too hard or too easy, and wow, beautiful graphics.

It was especially nice for me because of the cooperative opportunities it offered. My wife loved to be the second player: picking up star bits, stunning the bad guys, etc. We had a lot of fun together.

Depending on your tastes, this game is super fun and addictive for either the first few days or the first few weeks you play it. At some point, you hit a stage where the novelty wears off and it turns into a grind.

I guess that sounds like I don’t recommend it, but I actually do. It’s super fun, especially if you like being creative. There’s a lot you can do with the furniture building, etc.

This is a series of loosely connected short stories set mostly in the near future of earth. The stories try to address the question, “What would happen if advanced alien intelligences developed a relationship with human civilization?” It sounds a little corny when put that way, but the stories are insightful and intelligent.

I enjoyed some stories more than others, but still found the whole thing an easy and fun read. Recommended if you like genuine science-fiction (as opposed to space operas.)

I enjoyed this book. I found the vernacular a little odd. I’ve read quite a few books by British authors, but still it seemed odd. Of course, it was written in the 70’s and American books written in the 70’s have an odd-sounding vernacular, too. It was short but fairly fun to read.

Recommended if you like other Diana Wynne Jones books.

A really refreshing science-fiction read. I find the epic space operas that seem to predominate the science-fiction genre a little overrated. I really enjoyed this one. It kept me reading “just one more page” right to the end.

It helped that it was set in Disney World, which I’m a fan of. I suppose if the Magic Kingdom isn’t to your taste, you might not appreciate the story. However, it had lots of really good sci-fi ideas that I fully expect to see if I live long enough.

I read this book because I really loved the Miyazaki movie by the same name. Honestly, names are practically all the book and movie have in common. The characters and cities have the same names, but personalities and appearances are largely different. Likewise the plot is almost entirely different. However, both are excellent and worth checking out because they are such completely different stories. Just don’t expect things to be the same or even similar.

It wasn’t bad, but not really great. It felt like it was missing something. It lacked a feeling of hope that most superhero comics usually maintain. It also never really explains who this Batman is. Is it the original? Or some kind of new imitator.

I don’t mean to sound so down on it though. I liked it on the whole and I’m glad I checked it out of the library.

I really enjoyed this book. I generally do enjoy Terry Pratchet, though. The book is funny and insightful, like Terry Pratchet generally is. I read the last three quarters of it today.

For some reason, this book is classified as Teen Fiction. Though there is nothing inappropriate in this book for teenagers to read, it seems like a particularly limiting designation. I can tell you from working in a bookstore that adults are more likely to read books from the children’s section than from the teen section. However, I believe any adult that enjoys novels by Douglas Adams or any kind of humorous fantasy would like this book. I suspect the designation has more to do with drawing younger readers to Terry Pratchet than an honest attempt to properly classify the book.