Obscene Language Not Included, Vanilla Ice Cream for Some, Others Chocolate Pudding

The other day I was ruminating on how I might want to scale down on how many times I use "fuck" in my reviews. Not that I think I use it that often mind you, in fact, I think I've been quite tame for what comes natural to me. But the fact remains that I have interest in re-posting my reviews on Amazon, so it means that I have to do double the work to edit some sentences so that they're vanilla enough for public consumption. But what the fuck, the trouble is worth it. So all the "shits" and "fucks" will remain as I move forward with my reviews on the blog.

Accordingly, George Carlin came to mind and how long it has been since I've shared with the world just a little piece of his awesomeness. He's by far my favorite comic of all time. A person who I consider to be of high intellect, and to my pedestrian vocabulary limit, a true wordsmith.

It's only fitting that I found this gem for a video that compiles George Carlin imparting fuck bombs from left to right. How awesome is that? A 10-minute video purely showcasing the different ways he's delivered the word "fuck", and it's fucking great. No one can deliver the word "fuck" as Carlin does, including such stellar favorites like "fuck Lance Armstrong" and "fuck Tiger Woods". Considering how things developed after his death in 2008, I think he was onto something.

Needless to say, NSFW, but very well worth the watch. Hope you enjoy. As they say, practice makes perfect.

We are over at The Qwillery with some book gift ideas for Christmas

Mihir and I today visit The Qwillery in which we were asked to contribute by answering this question, "Which book would you give for the holidays?".

I chose The Legend of Eli Monpress by Rachel Aaron, while Mihir chose Blood Song by Anthony Ryan. If you're interested in why we chose them, and of course to read what other bloggers advised, then please visit The Qwillery. You'll also get to learn a bit more about myself, my superpowers, and my chatting habits.

What books will you gift to yourself this Christmas?

So, it's finally December and the fast approaching Christmas time of the year. While everyone is busy planning what gifts to buy family members and friends (and in my case, should also be planning birthday presents for mother and sister), I personally say screw them and worry about what to buy for myself. Let's face it, I deserve it and I'm going to self-indulge.

It's with that in mind that I've been working on a small list of books I'd like to gift to myself on this very special holiday. I'm not sure if I'll manage to get them all, but they're some books that are missing from my shelves for one reason or another, and it's something I should remedy. Being a hoarder at heart, I have no alternative course of action to take.

Knife Sworn by Mazarkis Williams

This is the second novel in the Tower & Knife series, and sequel to The Emperor's Knife which I really enjoyed and reviewed some months ago. It was released last month, and still haven't managed to buy myself a copy despite my anticipation for reading it.

Scourge of the Betrayer by Jeff Salyards

I was offered a copy of this one prior to Summer, and for some idiotic reason I declined the opportunity. Something about not wanting to commit to a review at the time when I knew I was pressed for time; something silly like that. Still, very much looking to read this one, it's been highly recommended to me.

The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson

I purposely avoided buying this when it came out. First, I was sure that I wasn't in the mood to read a 1,000+ page novel. Secondly, it was quite evident that it would take some time for the sequel to come out, particularly with Sanderson, despite being some sort of writing robot, was busy finishing up The Wheel of Time. But I think it's time now.

The Constantine Affliction by T. Aaron Payton

I'm a big fan of Tim Pratt's Marla Mason urban fantasy series, so this is a definite buy for me. I reviewed two of them, Poison Sleep and Dead Reign. Been hearing some great things about this one, and quite eager to experience the author in a new setting.

Spellbound by Blake Charlton

I've all ready read Spellbound and loved it. I managed to receive a signed ARC from the author, the very first ARC I received once I started this blog, but I want a real finished copy of the book and I also want my brother to read it. Considering that he practically destroys any book I lend him, there's no way in hell I'm going to give him a signed copy.

The Whitefire Crossing by Courtney Schafer

I won a finished copy of this book from The Night Bazaar, which was also signed by the author. So, the rule from above applies here too since I want my brother to read this series. I also reviewed the novel, while Bryce did a guest review here. Also finished the sequel recently, which was also very good and should be reviewing shortly.

The Rise of Renegade X by Chelsea M. Campbell

I've always seem to be in the mood for a YA superhero novel, or simply a superhero novel. Been wanting to give this a try for some time now, and since there have been recent rumors of a forthcoming sequel, I thought it was time to give it a shot. Has an interesting premise about an aspiring supervillain.

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

From all I've seen, The Night Circus is a book tailored made for me. It gathered a lot of praise and hype when it came out, yet every time I got out to buy a few books, this novel never comes to mind.

Tomorrow, the Killing by Daniel Polansky

Low Town was one of my favorite fantasy reads of last year, together with Douglas Hulick's Among Thieves, they provided a winning mixture of some of the elements I like in my urban fantasy reading, but taken to a secondary world setting in a first person narrative. Really looking forward to reading more about the Warden, but haven't heard any news about Tomorrow, the Killing being published in the US, and that won't stop me from getting myself a copy.

The King's Blood by Daniel Abraham

Much to my chagrin, I've haven't read as much of Daniel Abraham as I'd want. My only experience with him has been his urban fantasy books, The Black Sun's Daughter. Even though I've enjoyed them, I'm quite aware that his other books should be even better, and I've been missing out. I own all The Long Price Quartet books, and I also own the first of The Dagger & the Coin which I hope to read soon, so I'm hoping that buying the sequel will motivate me to read it sooner rather than later.

At the Gates and Echoes of the Past by Tim Marquitz

Demon Squad is one of my top urban fantasy series, and At the Gates in particular one my favorite reads in the last couple of years in the subgenre. I reviewed Resurrection, the 2nd novel in the series. Tim Marquitz keeps sending me unsolicited eARCs for these books when he knows full well I rather read the physical copies. Yet, I can't help myself and read them regardless, but now I need the actual books.

When We Were Executioners by J. M. McDermott

I really enjoyed the first in the series, Never Knew Another which I did a quick-reaction to not long ago. The book was as unique as it was thoughtful and insightful. Really want to get back to this very interesting world by quite the talented writer.

The Sword-Edged Blonde by Alex Bledsoe

A couple of months ago, Tor sent me a copy of the latest in the Eddie LaCrosse series, Wake of the Bloody Angel, as a gift. Probably they were hoping I'd review it, but since I haven't read any of the prior novels, it simply wasn't going to happen. So a gift it is. That said, I've been quite interested in the series for some time now, and now that I have a copy of one of the books in the series, I've been forced to start the series at some point. It looks like Wake of the Bloody Angel might get reviewed after all. Well played Tor, well played... though it'll be quite some time before I get there.

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Well crap, a bit longer of a list than I intended (and I'm sure I forgot a few as it is), so I doubt all of these will make the cut in the end for Christmas. Decisions, decisions...

What books will you be buying for yourself this Christmas? Any other recommendations for me?

What should Bastard read next? And other random crap...

Still finishing up editing some reaction drafts, so while we wait for those I thought I should at least make a post to keep the blog content a bit fresh.

First of all I got a lot of books in my reading pile, but I narrowed down the list to 10 I might read soon. Just wondering if the three of you who follow this blog have any particular interest in learning my reaction to any of them to give them priority:

The Warlord's Legacy by Ari Marmell
No Hero by Johnathan Wood
Touch of Frost by Jennifer Estep
Skulls by Tim Marquitz
The Soul Mirror by Carol Berg
Among Thieves by Douglas Hulick
The President's Vampire by Christopher Farnsworth
Prince of Thorns by Mark Lawrence
Black Prism by Brent Weeks
City of Hope & Despair by Ian Whates

                 

Also of interest, last night and today the essay titled Boys and Reading: Is There Any Hope? posted in the NY Times has raised a bit of a controversy. And although I don't agree with the essay as a whole, and he mentions a lot of misguided crap, I think he raises some good points that are quite valid and are worth considering. Yet, what I've found more troubling is the reaction to the essay, in part completely ridiculing the issue. It makes little sense to me, and completely devalues all the female authors who have lodged similar complaints, in other areas of fiction, and have struggled to position themselves as they are currently (and still do). I don't know, a lot of hypocrisy going around in my opinion, and that pisses me off more than what some ass-hat in the NY Times has to say. It's like no one is willing to do a bit of listening for understanding and the only interest is furthering selfish agendas using straw-man arguments, whatever they may be.

Here are some links of interest/relevance (had some others, but can't find them now damnit):
Through a Forest of Ideas
Sundra Mitchell's Blog

Currently reading Skeleton Crew by Cameron Haley and it's been quite good so far. More on that later.



And lastly, some George Carlin because I love him: