Sunday update on a Monday! 6/7/10

Howdy, all. Hope you enjoyed last week's break from blogging in observation of Memorial Day. I meant to blog last night, but blogger said NO! NOBODY BLOGS TONITE! EVERYBODY GO TO BED!

I know this is true, because all my other Blogspot friends had the same problem.

Have finished two books since I last wrote, Adrian Dater's Blood Feud and Orson Scott Card's Ender's Game. That puts me at 30 and necessitates a new awards ceremony. (Not today)

I absolutely LOVED Blood Feud. It's Denver sportswriter Adrian Dater's recounting of the epic rivalry between the NHL's Detroit Red Wings and Colorado Avalanche from 1996-2002. Dater objectively hits all the high and low points and does a great job of profiling some of the major players in what is really one heck of an engaging sports story. I really think its appeal extends beyond Avs and Red Wings fans. I'd consider it a must-read for any modern hockey fan that isn't offended by coarse language. It was amazing how much I'd forgotten about specific events in the ten-plus years since the Avs/Wings rivalry began. Reading Dater's account got my blood boiling all over again, ten years after the fact. You really get a sense of the people on both side of the line, and that adds a great personal interest element that you wouldn't expect given the genre and subject matter.

And you don't have to take my word on this, either. Mild-at-best-hockey-fan Tarvis the Mighty read and loved this book, too. ;-)


I also just finished Ender's Game yesterday. It is a fantastic, engaging, intense, enjoyable, troubling book. If you haven't read it, you really ought to. (Unless you get turned off by somewhat disturbing and/or depressing situations, especially when they are set upon children who, admittedly, don't think or act like children)

This is one of my favorite books I've read in the last couple years. I would probably blog for too long about it, and I've got to be out the door in a few minutes, but if you have read it and want to chat about it, hit me up. I just finished the book, so everything is still fresh and I'm dying to bounce some thoughts and ideas off of some fellow readers.

See, this is when you need a book club.


Still working on Ken Dryden's The Game. It's a lot slower and heavier than Dater's hockey book. Could be because it's by a lawyer and not a sportswriter. Could be because it's got a bit of a melancholy flavor to it, as Dryden is looking back on his final season in the NHL and some of the disenchantment he felt playing his last time through the hockey player superstar life of Montreal. Either way, hopefully I'll get through it before it's due back. It's an ILL, so no renewals!

Blood Feud: 238 pages
Ender's Game: 324 pages
Total pages: 9,708
Books: 30
Pages/book: 323.6