![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Books for December, 2002
Dec. 31st, 2002 06:54 amMy list is extremely short this month, understandably. I was distracted by the Two Towers movie and the holidays:
Sandman: The Doll's House, by Neil Gaiman. First time read. Thanks to![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
kijjohnson for lending me this. Liked it very much.
The Book of Night With Moon, by Diane Duane. Re-read. This is the first book in the series of the cats-who-are-actually-wizards, which companion her So You Want to Be a Wizard series. I picked it up again because I started thinking about it from readingkijjohnson's Fudoki and wanted to compare how cats as characters were handled culturally in this book. Duane does a good job; the cats' culture is really carefully thought out. The cats' job is to maintain the world gates that wizards use for intergalactic travel. They are really theoretical physicists; they activate the gates by manipulating the hyperstrings in the gates with their claws and teeth, and their conversations are amusingly technical. Really a fun read. The scene where Luciano Pavarotti is eaten by a dinosaur at a concert at Central Park is not to be missed.
To Visit the Queen by Diane Duane. Re-Read. The cats are back.
A Wizard Alone by Diane Duane. First time read. This one focuses more on Kit and Ponch.
Vernon Can Read, by Vernon Jordan, Jr. First time read. Fascinating autobiography. Jordan, of course, was a civil rights lawyer who rose to become head of the National Urban League, and head of Clinton's transition team, etc. This book made me think a lot about deliberate career planning. Vernon had to cope with the worst of the segregated South, but never let it stop him. He attributes much of his determination to the character of his really redoubtable mother. From the time he was a small boy, he seemed to be really clear-minded, not letting bigots stop him, because he felt that their time was ending, and it was his job to make their time end. He would take a job, and do his best, but always be on the lookout for the next job, which would allow him to do more. Reading this has made me do some serious reflection (mostly about how bored I am with my own job--think I will look at/address that in the coming year).
And that's it for this month. As I said, a really short list, but that's understandable at this time of year. Right now, I'm in the middle of Guns, Germs and Steel, so that will start out next month's list.
Cheers,
Peg
Sandman: The Doll's House, by Neil Gaiman. First time read. Thanks to
kijjohnson for lending me this. Liked it very much.The Book of Night With Moon, by Diane Duane. Re-read. This is the first book in the series of the cats-who-are-actually-wizards, which companion her So You Want to Be a Wizard series. I picked it up again because I started thinking about it from reading
kijjohnson's Fudoki and wanted to compare how cats as characters were handled culturally in this book. Duane does a good job; the cats' culture is really carefully thought out. The cats' job is to maintain the world gates that wizards use for intergalactic travel. They are really theoretical physicists; they activate the gates by manipulating the hyperstrings in the gates with their claws and teeth, and their conversations are amusingly technical. Really a fun read. The scene where Luciano Pavarotti is eaten by a dinosaur at a concert at Central Park is not to be missed.To Visit the Queen by Diane Duane. Re-Read. The cats are back.
A Wizard Alone by Diane Duane. First time read. This one focuses more on Kit and Ponch.
Vernon Can Read, by Vernon Jordan, Jr. First time read. Fascinating autobiography. Jordan, of course, was a civil rights lawyer who rose to become head of the National Urban League, and head of Clinton's transition team, etc. This book made me think a lot about deliberate career planning. Vernon had to cope with the worst of the segregated South, but never let it stop him. He attributes much of his determination to the character of his really redoubtable mother. From the time he was a small boy, he seemed to be really clear-minded, not letting bigots stop him, because he felt that their time was ending, and it was his job to make their time end. He would take a job, and do his best, but always be on the lookout for the next job, which would allow him to do more. Reading this has made me do some serious reflection (mostly about how bored I am with my own job--think I will look at/address that in the coming year).
And that's it for this month. As I said, a really short list, but that's understandable at this time of year. Right now, I'm in the middle of Guns, Germs and Steel, so that will start out next month's list.
Cheers,
Peg