Books of 2010

So here is the reading list for 2010. It is a real tradition with me and has been infinitely useful to look back at these. Sort of like a photo album I can remember books by. Many warm feelings. Emily is out getting us some lunch and I am just puttering around here at the house. I seem to have already caught a bit of a bug in 2011, but hopefully that will clear up soon. The day is cold but sunny and I am basking in the sun and sipping some nice nescafe. This years list is pretty heavy on sequential author runs since this is the first year I have had a kindle. It is much easier to get fixated on one author and just keep feeding that hunger until you kind of burn out. I still have at least 76 pages of books loaded on the kindle and have already picked out the first few for 2011. It feels really weird to write that! So futuristic.

• All the Myriad Ways, by Larry Niven
  
• The Forever War, by Joe Haldeman
  
• Limits, by Larry Niven
  
• Line War, by Neal Asher
• Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk: A Modest Bestiary, by David Sedaris
  
• Polity Agent, by Neal Asher
• The Tank Lords, by David Drake
  
• Brass Man, by Neal Asher
• Understand Western Culture, by Pam Wadeson
• North American Folklore and Folk Customs, by Ellyn Sanna
• Popeye Vol. 2, by Bob Sagendorf
• Popeye Vol. 1, by Bob Sagendorg
• Unusual Tales, by Ken Methold and Clare Vickers
• Someone Comes to Town, Someone Leaves Town, by Cory Doctorow
• Thirty Seconds, Thirty Days, by Asimov, Clarke, Sheckley, and Bradbury
• The Line of Polity, by Neal Asher
• A Place So Foreign and Eight More, by Cory Doctorow
• Overclocked: Stories of the Future Present, by Cory Doctorow
• Reflex, by Steven Gould
• Girlfriend In a Coma, by Douglas Coupland
• The Darwin Awards: Evolution In Action, by Wendy Northcutt
• Snuff, by Chuck Palahniuk
• Makers, by Cory Doctorow
• The Scarlet Plague, by Jack London
• The Gabble and Other Stories, by Neal Asher
• Mason's Rats and Bioship, by Neal Asher
• Shadow of The Scorpion, by Neal Asher
• Prador Moon, by Neal Asher
• One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, by Ken Kesey
• Blind Waves, by Steven Gould
• Wildside, by Steven Gould
• Flying Finish, by Dick Francis
• The Danger, by Dick Francis
• Under Orders, by Dick Francis
• Come to Grief, by Dick Francis
• Whip Hand, by Dick Francis
• To the Hilt, by Dick Francis
• Break In, by Dick Francis
• Bolt, by Dick Francis
• Twice Shy, by Dick Francis
• The God Engines, by John Scalzi
• To Outlive Eternity, by Poul Anderson
• Hell To Pay, by George Pelecanos
• Dead Cert, by Dick Francis
• Life, by Keith Richards and James Fox
• Bonecrack, by Dick Francis
• Bolt, by Dick Francis
• The Jungle:The Uncensored Original Edition, by Upton Sinclair
• Hercule Poirot's Christmas, by Agatha Christie
• Murder on the Orient Express, by Agatha Christie
• The Casebook of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
• The Labours of Hercules, by Agatha Christie
• Poirot Investigates, by Agatha Christie
• Poirot's Early Cases, by Agatha Christie
• And Then There Were None, by Agatha Christie
• The Casebook of Hercule Poirot, by Agatha Christie
• Cannery Row, by John Steinbeck
• The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, by Agatha Christie
• Tortilla Flat, by John Steinbeck
• Pirate Latitudes, by Michael Crichton
• The Dharma Bums, by Jack Kerouac
• Wastelands: Stories of the Apocalypse, ed. by John Joseph Adams
• A Hole in Space, by Larry Niven
• This Crowded Earth, by Robert Bloch
• The Shape of Space, by Larry Niven
• Solar, by Ian McEwan
• The Mammoth Book of Zombies, ed. by Stephan Jones
• The Reality Dysfunction, by Peter F. Hamilton
• Garcia: An American Life, by Blair Jackson
• Starliner, by David Drake
• Ship Breaker, by Paulo Bacigalupi
• Pump Six and Other Stories, by Paulo Bacigalupi
• Gridlinked, by Neal Asher
• Packing For Mars, by Mary Roach
• Ringworld's Children, by Larry Niven
• The Ringworld Throne, by Larry Niven
• The Ringworld Engineers, by Larry Niven
• Spin, by Robert Charles Wilson
• Zima Blue and Other Stories, by Alastair Reynolds
• Woman of Kleenex, Man of Steel, by Larry Niven
• The Windup Girl, by Paulo Bacigalupi
• Year's Best SF 15, ed. by David G. Hartwell and Kathryn Cramer
• Tales of Known Space, by Larry Niven
• A Gift From Earth, by Larry Niven
• World of Ptavvs, by Larry Niven
• Ringworld, by Larry Niven
• Protector, by Larry Niven
• Red Shift, ed. by Al Sarrontonio
• Anubis Gates, by Tim Powers
• Africa Zero, by Neal Asher
• The Ghost Brigades, by John Scalzi
• Old Man's War, by John Scalzi
• The Fall of Hyperion, by Dan Simmons
• Hyperion, by Dan Simmons
• Live Without a Net, ed. by Lou Anders
• Break In, by Dick Francis
• Typee, by Herman Melville
• Orsinian Tales, by Ursula K. Le Guin
• Longshot, by Dick Francis
• Odds Against, by Dick Francis
• Thirteen Moons, by Charles Frazier
• Wild Horses, by Dick Francis
• Field of Thirteen, by Dick Francis
• Infinity Beach, by Jack McDevitt
• Star Trek Omnibus Volume 1, by IDW
• World War Z, by Max Brooks
• The Dragons of Springplace, by Robert Reed
• To the Hilt, by Dick Francis
• Confessions of An Economic Hitman, by John Perkins
• The Member of the Wedding, by Carson McCullers
• Our Band Could Be Your Life, by Michael Azerrad
• Get Fuzzy: Groovitude, by Darby Conley
• Knockdown, by Dick Francis
• Still a Few Bugs in the System, by G.B. Trudeau
• Young Zaphond Plays It Safe, by Douglas Adams
• The Californios, by Louis L'Amour
• The Steampunk Trilogy, by Paul Di Filippo
• Bill & Ted's Most Excellent Adventures, Vol. 1, by Evan Dorkin
• Star Trek Enterprise: The First Adventure, by Vonda N. McIntyre
• Rose, by Jeff Smith and Charles Vess
• Showcase Presents: Booster Gold, Vol. 1, by Dan Jurgens and John Byrne
• The Mammoth Book of Extreme Science Fiction: New Generation Far-Future SF, ed. by Mike Ashley
• The Steampunk Trilogy, by Paul Di Filippo
• Star Trek 1, by James Blish
• The Golden Apples of the Sun, by Ray Bradbury
• Extraordinary Engines: The Definitive Steampunk Anthology, ed. by Nick Gevers
• Miles Davis: Jazz Master, Pamela Dell
• Coelura, Anne McCaffrey
• The Game of Empire, by Poul Anderson
• A Talent For War, by Jack McDevitt
• The Story of Jazz Bop and Beyond, by Franck Bergerot and Arnaud Merlin
• Space Stations, ed. by Martin H. Greenberg and John Helfers
• The Worst-Case Scenario Survival Handbook, by Joshua Piven and David Borgenicht
• Dark Star Safari, by Paul Theroux
• Prey, by Micheal Crichton
• The City Who Fought, by Anne McCaffrey and S.M. Stirling
• Deepsix, by Jack McDevitt
• X-Men: Age of Apocalypse Vol. 2-4, by Various
• It's About That Time: Miles Davis On and Off Record, by Richard Cook
• Batman Chronicles, Vol. 6, by Bill Finger, Bob Kane, and Jerry Robinson
• Essential Dr. Strange, Vol. 1, by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko
• Fagin the Jew, by Will Eisner
• Clawing at the Limits of Cool: Miles Davis, John Coltrane, and the Greatest Jazz Collaboration Ever, by Farah Jasmine Griffin and Salim Washington
• Isis and Osiris: To the Ends of the Earth, by Jeff Limke aand David Witt
• Batman Illustrated: Vol. 1, by Neal Addams
• Partnership, by Anne McCaffrey and Margaret Ball
• Legion of Super-Heroes: Enemy Manifest, by Jim Shooter, Francis Manapul, and Livesay
• Federations, ed. by John Joseph Adams
• Miles Davis: A Biography, by Ian Carr
• Microcosmic Tales, ed. by Isaac Asimov, Martin H. Greenberg, and Joseph Olander
• The Rebel Worlds, by Poul Anderson
• Batman: Ego and Other Tails, by Darwyn Cooke
• Kingdom Come, by Mark Waid and Alex Ross
• The Adventures of Daniel Boom and Loud Boy: Game On, by D.J. Steinberg and Brian Smith
• The Killer Angels, by Michael Shaara
• A Graphic Biography of Che, by Sid Jacobson and Ernie Colon
• Nylon Road, by Parsua Bashi
• It's Not About the Bike, by Lance Armstrong
• Off The Record: An Oral History of Popular Music, by Joe Smith
• The Sun Also Rises, by Ernest Hemmingway
• Wonder Woman: Love and Murder, by Jodi Picoult
• Logicomix: An Epic Search for Truth, by Apostolos Doxiadis, Christos Papadimitriou, Alecos Papadatos, and Annie Di Donna
• Maus II, by Art Spiegelman
• Maus I, by Art Spiegelman
• Only You Can Save Mankind, by Terry Pratchett
• Wings, by Terry Pratchett
• Diggers, by Terry Pratchett
• Truckers, by Terry Pratchett
• The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents, by Terry Pratchett
• Rainbow's End, by Vernor Vinge
• Smile When You're Lying, by Chuck Thompson
• Kinship With The Stars, Poul Anderson
• The Ship Who Searched, by Anne McCaffrey & Mercedes Lackey
• Nation, by Terry Pratchett
• Norwood, by Charles Portis
• The Book of Exodus: The Making and Meaning of Bob Marley and the Wailers' Album of the Century, by Vivien Goldman
• The Show I'll Never Forget, ed. by Sean Manning
• The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year, Vol. 3, ed. by Jonathan Strahan

About Time!

Here's Emily with my new uke, Emus. She looks pretty doesn't she?


This is our Christmas pig!

Our friend Maggie and Emily at Heyi Plaza

Heyi Plaza, Emily's fave place to shop.

The snow starting in Ningbo on our campus.

So it has been another long wait between blogs, but this time it was really just because I was lazy. I played another show here in China. It was pretty fun. It seems that their shows are a lot like the old rock shows they had in America, where a bunch of bands would come out and play 2-4 songs and not really a whole set. I played two songs, one on guitar and one on my uke. Emily and her sister got it in Shanghai for me. It is pretty fun and I hooked a piezo pickup in a plastic candy box to it so I can plug it in. The crowd seemed to enjoy it, but they mostly enjoy anybody singing. Abby is leaving for America tomorrow and Emily is pretty sad about it. She is over at Abby's house now to spend the night and spend some extra sister time with her. We haven't really been up to too much. The weather has been really cold, and it snowed which was exciting. The thing that we realized is that in Ningbo it is not as cold temp wise as Greensboro, but hardly anywhere has heat. Once you leave the house in the morning there will usually not be any heat in the buildings. So your classes, the bus, and just walking around in the cold all the time make it seem a lot colder. I enjoy the cold, but Em's hates it. She tends to just want to hibernate, while I want to go take a walk and take some pictures.
++couldn't find camera card, and so I just waited until the next day to finish this blog++
I've been listening to a bunch of old sci fi radio programs (namely Dimension X) on archive.org, and it is really awesome to hear the old radio programs on my nifty laptop in China! They have a lot of old shows available for download or streaming and they are pretty small files if you download them. We are not sure what we will be doing for the coming break. Initially we planned on going to Thailand, but have recently been invited to go with one of our friends on a trip to Cambodia and Vietnam. I would like to go to Thailand, but I am not sure if we will have the time. Emily and I are about to go and visit one of our friends Larkry (pronounced Lucky) that we met at our usual restaurant. She didn't go to college, but speaks pretty good english and likes to visit/practice with us. We are going to meet her at Starbucks as soon as I get off my lazy butt and get going. Not much else to report for now, but will try and think of something interesting later!