Mechelle Morrison's Blog: in a world where ...., page 8

This week's BOW is awesome! I'm only 46 pages in a laughing my guts out. Funny, how you forget how funny a book is ...

Here's a quote to get you through Monday:
"My doctor says I have a malformed public duty gland and a natural deficiency in moral fiber," [Ford Prefect] muttered to himself, "and that I am therefore excused from saving universes."

Ha! I love Ford. Seriously.

Read on, gentle Goodreaders.
M

I have to say: Andy Weir deserves to be king among modern science sci-fi writers. 'The Martian' is SO good. Funny. Nerdy. Suspenseful. The vaguest dash of romance.

A few quotes to get you through the afternoon:

"They say no plan survives first contact with implementation."

"In space, no one can hear you scream like a little girl."

People of Goodreads, if you like sci-fi like I like sci-fi, or even if you don't, you'll find 'The Martian' worth the read.

Read on,
M

'Seeds' giveaway winners: your books have been traveling toward you for a while now. Everyone should receive their copy this week. A big whoohoo to the postal service!

So this week I'm reading 'The Martin' by Andy Weir. I'm only a few pages in, but so far, so good. It's intense sci-fi, though not in an imaginary worlds kind of way. It's more along the lines of how-long-can-one-puny-earthling-make-it-alone-on-Mars.

I'll let you know ....

Read on, Goodreaders!
M

Good morning cyber-space,
I've just finished 'The Restaurant at the End of the Universe.' Fabulous book, Douglas Adams. You are sorely missed. Though I must say the book ends rather mid-breath, if you know what I mean. So I won't wait too long before diving into 'Life, the Universe and Everything.'

A few quotable mentions:
"The management consultant gave him a look that only a lungfish could have copied."

"The taps and shower attachment would have made a gargoyle jump."

"You guys are so unhip it's a wonder your bums don't fall off."

Zaphod: "I'm dangerous when cornered."
Ford: "Yes. You go to pieces so fast people get hit by the shrapnel."

"In the stillness, a fly would not have dared clear its throat."

I could go on, gentle Goodreaders, but the house is a mess and we're having a dinner party tonight.

Read on,
M

Hi there gentle Goodreaders and fabulous Seeds Project Interviews winners. The winners' books post tomorrow! Yeaaahhh! Happy reading, and remember...I enjoy your comments should you choose to share them.

As you might imagine, I finished The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy some time ago. These days I'm well into The Restaurant at the End of the Universe and loving it.

I had seriously forgotten how funny the Hitchhiker's books are! I'll find a great quote and post it soon. Right now I need to find my roaming teenager.... Summer nights!

Read on,
M

Hello gentle Goodreaders and winners of 'The Seeds Project Interviews' giveaway.

I'd like to let you know that 'The Seeds Project Interviews' goes live tomorrow! You'll find it on Amazon.

Winners' copies will be in the mail on August 12 (which is the day I receive my copies). Thank you for your fabulous patience!

Read on,
M

Hello all.
I trust your summer is fabulous. With 'The Seeds Project Interviews' nearing completion (and yes, gentle winners, ordering status!) I thought I'd re-read 'The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.' [Douglas Adams] It's been a while, after all.

If you haven't read this book, and you thoroughly enjoy the sort of humor found in books such as 'The Princess Bride,' then 'The Hitchhiker's Guide' is a MUST.

A) it's funnier than all get-out
B) it's oddly insightful in a very strange, galactic sort of way
C) it's funnier than all get-out.

My daughter has moved on to 'The Restaurant at the End of the Universe.' She's not going to make her 12 book goal, but she'll make six. A well-fought victory over the likes of Instagram, SnapChat and other social apps of which I've likely never heard.....

Read on, Goodreaders,
M

TRACKS, by Robyn Davidson, is, well, different. When I watched the movie (which is better IMHO than the book, though I get why the author commented that the movie is nothing like her adventure) I had no real idea why the book was called 'tracks.' But across the book all the roads and paths we here in America might refer to as 'trails' are called, in Australian lingo, 'tracks.' So there you go.

The only book I've read to compare TRACKS to is WILD, and Cheryl Strayed's endorsement is printed on the cover of my copy of TRACKS, so I think the comparison is fair.

Both authors undertook journeys that were as much for personal discovery and/or healing as they were for the adventure. Robyn Davidson's journey was by far the more incredible--1700 miles across Australian desert--but she also had a lot more help in that National Geographic funded her expedition and the photographer assigned to her helped her along the way. Robyn had animals for company (four camels and for most of the journey, her dog Diggity), and perhaps this explains why the book isn't as inner as WILD. Robyn also has a passionate, political opinion of the Aborigines' mistreatment (which seems worse than the Europeans' treatment of American Indians, but I'm basing that opinion solely on Robyn's comments and not on any experiences of my own).

Where WILD is filled with page after page of insight, TRACKS is not. But the insight is there, and when Robyn shares her learning, it's brilliant.

My favorite:
"To be free, one needs constant and unrelenting vigilance over one's weaknesses."

Read on, Goodreaders.
M

Congrats. As always, the give-away event was a blast. The winning copies will mail out the second week of August...which is just after The Seeds Project Interviews publishes. In the meantime, we shall resume our usual programming.

Tomorrow on the Friday Wrap: TRACKS

Read on,
M

Hello Goodreaders,
It's the last day of the Seeds giveaway! So if you're into sci-fi and even a wee bit curious about the caldera, do sign up.

Cheers!
M