Author: Finious

Weight Loss

Screen shot from MyFitnessPal.com website showing a weight lost of 19 lbs from 2/13/15 to 4/21/15.
Screen shot from MyFitnessPal.com website showing a weight lost of 19 lbs from 2/13/15 to 4/21/15.

I’ve ben feeling a little down about not being able to run recently due to bursitis in my right knee. I reviewed my progress towards my goals and realized I really shouldn’t be down. Yes, I REALLY need, no want, to run again, and hope I can get back to that soon. I’d like to see if I can’t complete some organized runs sometimes in the future.

But thanks to MyFitnessPal.com , despite not always doing my best at eating as well as I should, I have managed to stay pretty close to what I had dialed in. I currently have it set to lose 2 pounds per week. According to my calculations I have actually lost an average of 1.98 lbs per week. Pretty darn close. I have been able to maintain that without ever really feeling like I am starving. Now I just need to get back to strength building again, and find something I can do and enjoy cardio-wise till my knee decides to cooperate.

Review: Odd Apocalypse

Odd Apocalypse CoverOdd Apocalypse by Dean Koontz
Odd Thomas series #5
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My Rating: 3 out of 5 stars 3 out of 5 stars
First Published: July 31, 2012
Read from: February 19 to February 28, 2015

Could this be the End of the World as We Know It… Again?

“We love a series hero, but a series villain quickly becomes silly as he strives so obviously to shock us. Virtue is imaginative, evil repetitive.” – Odd Apocalypse, Page 23

This quote from Dean Koont’s “Odd Apocalypse” seems very apropos: the story of our virtuous hero Odd Thomas saving the world by stopping evil villains from destroying the world (as we know it) is getting a little repetitive. I think I liked this book of the series the least of all that came before. Which is odd, because the serial “novella” that was released before this book as kind of an appetizer, “Odd Interlude”, was one of my favorites because of both it’s short action-packed pace and a couple of fun, interesting new characters. But this book…
Read My Full Review →

Review: Small Gods

Small Gods - Terry PratchettSmall Gods by Terry Pratchett
Discworld series #13
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My Rating: 4 out of 5 stars 4 out of 5 stars
First Published: 1992
Read from: March 1 to March 19, 2015
 
 
Yet another excellent book that deserves a full review, but I was either too lazy, busy or uninspired at the time.

As always with Pratchett’s work, this book while being funny and amusing, hit me in surprisingly “deep” places. I have literally PAGES of highlighted quotes from this book. Many because they were funny. But far more because they were so honest and True. True with a capital ‘T’.
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Poked, Prodded & Verbally Accosted

To an Introvert, people are just weird… Ourselves included…

Had my annual physical this morning, so after being poked and prodded I was really looking forward to relaxing over a late breakfast at the Egg & I. It was delicious. As soon as I sat down however, I was continuously talked up by a grey-bearded stranger maybe a decade older than I in the booth adjacent to mine.

Any who know my introverted ways should know this kind of encounter makes me VERY uncomfortable.
Continue reading Poked, Prodded & Verbally Accosted

Review: Abaddon’s Gate

Abaddon's Gate coverAbaddon’s Gate by James S.A. Corey
The Expanse series #3
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My Rating: 3.5 out of 5 Stars 3.5 out of 5 stars
First Published: June 4, 2013
Read from: February 2 to February 12, 2015

Abaddon’s Gate – The End of a ‘Trilogy’, the Doorway to a Series

“Corners and doorways… It’s always corners and doorways.” – Miller, Abaddon’s Gate

This is the third book of an excellent space opera science fiction series. While I did not enjoy it quite as much as those that came before, it was still a very well written and entertaining read, and sets up a future for the series, and the “franchise” that it has become, with a lot of promise.

I am a little unsure how to proceed with a review of this book without spoiling any of the cool premise of the previous books. Even what is printed on the book backs and the published book blurbs seem a little “spoilerly” to me. While I will strive not to deliver anything that will spoil the reading of this specific book, if you have NOT read the previous two novels in the series I strongly recommend you check out my review of Leviathan Wakes and Caliban’s War and then read those books first, before proceeding with this review.
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Review: Caliban’s War

Caliban's War coverCaliban’s War by James S.A. Corey
The Expanse series #2
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My Rating: 4 out of 5 stars 4 out of 5 stars
First Published: June 26, 2012
Read from: January 26 to February 2, 2015

This Week on “As the Protomolecule Turns… “

The Space Opera that is “The Expanse” just keeps getting better.

Book Blurb

For someone who didn’t intend to wreck the solar system’s fragile balance of power, Jim Holden did a pretty good job of it. When a single super-soldier begins slaughtering soldiers of Earth and Mars, the race is on to discover whether this is the vanguard of an alien army, or if the danger lies closer to home.

Caliban’s War is the second book of the Expanse series that started with Leviathan Wakes. The series, written by James S.A. Corey – a pen name for the collaboration of Albuquerque, New Mexico authors Ty Franck & Daniel Abraham, has garnered a lot of attention. There is a SyFy television series coming out soon based on the books. Having enjoyed the first novel so much, it was long over due for me to read the sequels. Read My Full Review →

Review: Downbelow Station

Downbelow StationDownbelow Station by C. J. Cherryh
Company Wars series #1 – Alliance-Union universe
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My Rating: 3.5 out of 5 Stars 3.5 out of 5 stars 
First Published: February 1981
Read from: October 1, 2014 to January 26, 2015
Awards: 1982 Hugo Award for Best Novel

Downbelow Station: Classic Sci-Fi & an Inspiration to BSG reboot?

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New Kindle Voyage & DeDRM

Old "Kindle Keyboard"
Old “Kindle Keyboard”

The old Kindle Keyboard I bought four years ago and use the heck out of had been acting “hinky” for the last year or so. First it had gotten to the point that it wasn’t holding a charge as long as it once did. Worse with the massive number of books I kept stored in it, it would occasionally freak out. I suspect the database of metadata was getting corrupted and on waking the kindle up, the home screen would only display a few books, and then go about updating its database (which took forever) until it would eventually display all my books again. Even after I significantly removed the amount of books I was storing on the device, this still happened every once in a while, and waiting for the device to get its bearings so that I could continue reading my latest book was getting to be a pain.

New Kindle Voyage
New Kindle Voyage

On Christmas I had received a bunch of Amazon gift cards, and it finally placed purchasing one of the new Kindle Voyage e-ink readers that I have been coveting for so long in reach. I finally bit the bullet and got one, and so far am really loving it. I won’t go into all the new and awesome features here, as there are a ton of sites that do that. What I want to talk about is DRM.

As many know I like to keep a DRM free copy of books that I own on my computer so that I can read them on whatever platform or device I may choose. I don’t distribute or sell these of course, nor do I condone that. But for those who like me want control over their own purchases, they may find this useful. Continue reading New Kindle Voyage & DeDRM