So Much Cooler
Thank goodness that heat is over.
Today I went to meet a co-worker for lunch at the site where our school's summer school is. I saw a few of our student who were in the International Rescue Committee's summer program at the same site, both as helpers and as students. So that was nice. Also found out that I could maybe have a summer gig as a math teacher next summer, if I wanted to. It's such a great population to teach, I'll definitely keep it in mind.
Books: (I'm almost caught up!)
"The Camelot Caper" by Elizabeth Peters. Yes, she of Amelia Peabody in Egypt fame. This is a very early novel of hers. After a promising start (young American followed and harassed for mysterious reasons on her trip to Britain!) and a wonderful scene where she is fleeing on a bus and a group of villagers and old-age pensioners take it upon themselves to hide her under a seat and protect her (perhaps someone was menaced by an umbrella?), it fell a bit flat -- the plot twist kind of ate itself from inside. Still enjoyable, and with memorable scenes in touristed cathedrals and other historic sites. A perfect airplane kind of book. Good enough to be good, but not too taxing -- and the ride is diverting enough to make up for the ending, more or less.
"Dreamships" by Melissa Scott. Picked this up from the sidewalk -- someone had amassed quite the collection of late '80s-early '90s science fiction by women authors. This, some Cherryh, some Anne McCaffrey, maybe some Elizabeth Moon? This is actually a signed if somewhat beat-up copy. I had never heard of Melissa Scott, and I would read something else by her now. It's a hard sci-fi book set in a realistic universe and dealing with class struggle in a not-quite-dystopian colony that brings up reminders of Gibson and Bladerunner in its (detailed) descriptions. The plot more or less hinges around the question of whether Artificial Intelligence can become independent. (Also a theme in the works mentioned above, as it happens -- I daresay you couldn't write science fiction then (ever??) without being influenced by those works.) And it was competently written and all, though I found myself wanting more depth in the characters. Glad I can add her to my list of women sci-fi authors, and I'll keep an eye out for her.
Tomorrow I'm going to a workshop about my pension. Woo-hoo.
Today I went to meet a co-worker for lunch at the site where our school's summer school is. I saw a few of our student who were in the International Rescue Committee's summer program at the same site, both as helpers and as students. So that was nice. Also found out that I could maybe have a summer gig as a math teacher next summer, if I wanted to. It's such a great population to teach, I'll definitely keep it in mind.
Books: (I'm almost caught up!)
"The Camelot Caper" by Elizabeth Peters. Yes, she of Amelia Peabody in Egypt fame. This is a very early novel of hers. After a promising start (young American followed and harassed for mysterious reasons on her trip to Britain!) and a wonderful scene where she is fleeing on a bus and a group of villagers and old-age pensioners take it upon themselves to hide her under a seat and protect her (perhaps someone was menaced by an umbrella?), it fell a bit flat -- the plot twist kind of ate itself from inside. Still enjoyable, and with memorable scenes in touristed cathedrals and other historic sites. A perfect airplane kind of book. Good enough to be good, but not too taxing -- and the ride is diverting enough to make up for the ending, more or less.
"Dreamships" by Melissa Scott. Picked this up from the sidewalk -- someone had amassed quite the collection of late '80s-early '90s science fiction by women authors. This, some Cherryh, some Anne McCaffrey, maybe some Elizabeth Moon? This is actually a signed if somewhat beat-up copy. I had never heard of Melissa Scott, and I would read something else by her now. It's a hard sci-fi book set in a realistic universe and dealing with class struggle in a not-quite-dystopian colony that brings up reminders of Gibson and Bladerunner in its (detailed) descriptions. The plot more or less hinges around the question of whether Artificial Intelligence can become independent. (Also a theme in the works mentioned above, as it happens -- I daresay you couldn't write science fiction then (ever??) without being influenced by those works.) And it was competently written and all, though I found myself wanting more depth in the characters. Glad I can add her to my list of women sci-fi authors, and I'll keep an eye out for her.
Tomorrow I'm going to a workshop about my pension. Woo-hoo.