(no subject)
Last year i had to get my Kobo replaced and they replaced it with a Touch version. I liked it but i did find that it was overly sensitive and often flipped two "pages" at a time which could be annoying. The other day, i was reading about an Operating System upgrade with changes they made to it and saw comments on a blog post that a lot of people were having trouble after the upgrade. Hmm.... I worried. But after i bought a book and went on WiFi to get it, sure enough the OS upgrade started to download automatically. I did have the choice whether to install straight away or not but if i turned it off and restarted it, it would have installed it anyway so i went ahead and let it go, biting my nails at the same time. I had a web page saved with instructions how to reset it back in case it didn't work.
But luckily, it did seem to install smoothly and it works just fine. They've changed a few things and added features like the ability to create your own custom "shelves". I decided to do that and add to it the books i was currently reading. If you download a new book, it gets put on the front "menu" and if you load on a few then what you were reading is gone off that front menu until you open it again. Having a "currently reading" shelf lets me get to it quickly for things like that.
The other thing i do find is that it's noticeably less sensitive when turning a page now. It rarely skips 2 pages at once, but on the other hand, it's noticeably slower but once i get used to that, i think i'll find it less irritating than the double-skip.
And with that in mind...
56. The Weird Sisters - Eleanor Brown
A book about three sisters with secrets, all looking to create new futures for themselves. This is written in the first person plural point of view, as a collective between three sisters who have come home to help their mother who is undergoing cancer treatments. It's a different way of writing but I liked it quite a bit.
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/359273342
57. Steampunk - edited by Kelly Link
This is a collection of short stories, very varied in style. Some really aren't "steampunk" in the usual sense and one or two don't seem to be at all. A few are really quite good and one or two didn't really hold my interest a lot but the rest weren't too bad at all. I think i liked Steam Girl as one of the best, and it's about two teenagers that are both loners and outcasts making friends. The Clockwork Fagin was also good. I couldn't get into the one based in ancient Rome. It took me ages to read this because it was on my iPod and i only picked it up once in awhile.
58. The Black Isle - Sandi Tan
A story about a woman, Cassandra, who discovers she can see ghosts. She lives on an island in the Pacific, which is occupied by the Japanese during WWII. She is a survivor and becomes strong and independent. The book is a bit grim and stark in places and isn't for everyone but it's well written and it's an interesting story.
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/360954740
59. Dead in the Family - Charlaine Harris
More Sookie, not a lot changes. This time Eric's maker and "brother" show up. The brother is an insane loose cannon and bound to cause trouble. There's also a rogue fairy on the loose and Sookie's cousin Claude moves in with her for awhile. The Weres are also involved in there and the goverment wants all the two-natured to register. There is objection to that and there is a growing group of people that are very unhappy with the supernaturals.
60. Crimson China - Betsy Tobin
Angie is about to chuck herself into Morecomb Bay, a year after her mother's suicide. There's a raging storm and the strong tides will do the trick but as she wades into the water, she finds she's not alone and there's a young Chinese man struggling. He is Wen, an illegal immigrant who was with a team of cockle-harvesters, all of whom were drowned by the tides in the storm. Angie rescues him and takes him home. He can barely speak a few words of English and she's broken inside, soothing her anger and grief with booze. Meanwhile, his sister, Lili, thinking he is dead, is going to make her way to England from China to be close to his spirit.
The story goes back and forth from February when the accident happens to the fall when Lili arrives in London and we are brought forward through Wen's and Lili's stories until they converge.
I liked this book, too. It gave me a bit of insight into the Chinese culture in the 21st century and the plight of the immigrants trying to make money to pay off "snakeheads" (loan sharks) where they've got their money to move away and find a new life.
But luckily, it did seem to install smoothly and it works just fine. They've changed a few things and added features like the ability to create your own custom "shelves". I decided to do that and add to it the books i was currently reading. If you download a new book, it gets put on the front "menu" and if you load on a few then what you were reading is gone off that front menu until you open it again. Having a "currently reading" shelf lets me get to it quickly for things like that.
The other thing i do find is that it's noticeably less sensitive when turning a page now. It rarely skips 2 pages at once, but on the other hand, it's noticeably slower but once i get used to that, i think i'll find it less irritating than the double-skip.
And with that in mind...
56. The Weird Sisters - Eleanor Brown
A book about three sisters with secrets, all looking to create new futures for themselves. This is written in the first person plural point of view, as a collective between three sisters who have come home to help their mother who is undergoing cancer treatments. It's a different way of writing but I liked it quite a bit.
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/359273342
57. Steampunk - edited by Kelly Link
This is a collection of short stories, very varied in style. Some really aren't "steampunk" in the usual sense and one or two don't seem to be at all. A few are really quite good and one or two didn't really hold my interest a lot but the rest weren't too bad at all. I think i liked Steam Girl as one of the best, and it's about two teenagers that are both loners and outcasts making friends. The Clockwork Fagin was also good. I couldn't get into the one based in ancient Rome. It took me ages to read this because it was on my iPod and i only picked it up once in awhile.
58. The Black Isle - Sandi Tan
A story about a woman, Cassandra, who discovers she can see ghosts. She lives on an island in the Pacific, which is occupied by the Japanese during WWII. She is a survivor and becomes strong and independent. The book is a bit grim and stark in places and isn't for everyone but it's well written and it's an interesting story.
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/360954740
59. Dead in the Family - Charlaine Harris
More Sookie, not a lot changes. This time Eric's maker and "brother" show up. The brother is an insane loose cannon and bound to cause trouble. There's also a rogue fairy on the loose and Sookie's cousin Claude moves in with her for awhile. The Weres are also involved in there and the goverment wants all the two-natured to register. There is objection to that and there is a growing group of people that are very unhappy with the supernaturals.
60. Crimson China - Betsy Tobin
Angie is about to chuck herself into Morecomb Bay, a year after her mother's suicide. There's a raging storm and the strong tides will do the trick but as she wades into the water, she finds she's not alone and there's a young Chinese man struggling. He is Wen, an illegal immigrant who was with a team of cockle-harvesters, all of whom were drowned by the tides in the storm. Angie rescues him and takes him home. He can barely speak a few words of English and she's broken inside, soothing her anger and grief with booze. Meanwhile, his sister, Lili, thinking he is dead, is going to make her way to England from China to be close to his spirit.
The story goes back and forth from February when the accident happens to the fall when Lili arrives in London and we are brought forward through Wen's and Lili's stories until they converge.
I liked this book, too. It gave me a bit of insight into the Chinese culture in the 21st century and the plight of the immigrants trying to make money to pay off "snakeheads" (loan sharks) where they've got their money to move away and find a new life.