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james_davis_nicoll ([personal profile] james_davis_nicoll) wrote2025-09-13 09:06 am
Entry tags:

Books Received, September 6 — September 12



Six works new to me: two fantasy (one a roleplaying game), four science fiction. The roleplaying game is part of a series but otherwise, they all seem to be stand-alone.

Books Received, September 6 — September 12


Poll #33608 Books Received, September 6 — September 12
Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 16


Which of these look interesting?

View Answers

Daughter of No Worlds by Carissa Broadbent (October 2025)
4 (25.0%)

Outlaw Planet by M.R. Carey (November 2025)
9 (56.2%)

Champions of Chaos by Calum Colins, et al
0 (0.0%)

Slow Gods by Claire North (November 2025)
7 (43.8%)

The Divine Gardener’s Handbook: Or What to Do if Your Girlfriend Accidentally Turns Off the Sun by Eli Snow (August 2026)
8 (50.0%)

Death Engine Protocol: Better Dying Through Science by Margret A. Treiber (April 2025)
5 (31.2%)

Some other option (see comments)
0 (0.0%)

Cats!
14 (87.5%)

james_davis_nicoll: (Default)
james_davis_nicoll ([personal profile] james_davis_nicoll) wrote2025-09-12 09:12 am

Happy 11th Birthday, James Nicoll Reviews!



I'd been posting reviews to LiveJournal since April of 2014 but on September 12, 2014, James Nicoll Reviews went live, with a review of Robert A. Heinlein's Between Planets.
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james_davis_nicoll ([personal profile] james_davis_nicoll) wrote2025-09-12 08:57 am

Awake in the Floating City by Susanna Kwan



It's time for Bo to leave doomed San Francisco behind... just as soon as she completes one final task.

Awake in the Floating City by Susanna Kwan
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james_davis_nicoll ([personal profile] james_davis_nicoll) wrote2025-09-11 03:35 pm
Entry tags:

Bundle of Holding: Rifts Worlds 1 (from 2018) & Rifts Land and Sea (from 2022)



11 sourcebooks that range across the shattered Earth of the Rifts tabletop roleplaying game from Palladium Books.

Bundle of Holding: Rifts Worlds 1




More World Books for the cross-dimensional tabletop roleplaying game

Bundle of Holding: Rifts Land and Sea (from 2022)
redbird: closeup of me drinking tea, in a friend's kitchen (Default)
Redbird ([personal profile] redbird) wrote2025-09-11 02:50 pm
Entry tags:

covid vaccine and "underlying conditions"

[personal profile] siderea points out that you probably have >a href="https://siderea.dreamwidth.org/1882720.html">"at least one underlying condition" for which the covid vaccine is (still) recommended by the US government, because most people do: the list includes being overweight, high blood pressure, depression, former smokers, and "physical inactivity." She speculates that the list may have been drafted to be as inclusive as possible, by someone who didn't have the authority to say "just give it to everyone."

The current official announcements, widely echoed, sounds as though most people can't get the vaccine, because the FDA is now being run by anti-vaxxers. That is almost certainly not an accident: if you think you can't have the vaccine, you won't ask for it.

Siderea also points out that even if you aren't on that list, a doctor can prescribe this, or almost any approved medication, to anyone they think it's appropriate for. In other contexts, this is what they mean by "off-label" use of a drug.

Note, however, that this may affect whether you have to pay for the vaccine yourself, rather than it being covered by insurance.

It has been pointed out elsewhere that you can always lie to them: nobody has a complete list of former smokers, for example.
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james_davis_nicoll ([personal profile] james_davis_nicoll) wrote2025-09-11 08:56 am
Entry tags:

SideQuested by K B Spangler & Ale Presser



A woodcarver's foster daughter sets out to free a maiden from a magical tower prison, just the sort of thing that always works out exactly according to plan, without unforeseen geopolitical complications.

SideQuested by K B Spangler & Ale Presser
gentlyepigrams: (books - stacks of)
Ginger ([personal profile] gentlyepigrams) wrote2025-09-10 02:55 pm

Weekly media report - for the two weeks ending 2025 09 10

I've been sick and my sleep schedule is off, so I'm catching up.

Books
A Witch's Guide to Magical Innkeeping, by Sangu Mandanna. Another found family plus romance set around an inn by an author whose previous work in this style I really enjoyed. For fans of the school wizard whose author is a bigot but who want works about a hidden world where the good guys have a heart.
The Cold Light of Day, by Anna Lee Huber. Seventh Verity Kent mystery. This time she and her war hero husband go to Ireland to find out what happened to her intelligence service ex when he went undercover to find Michael Collins. I started a little grumpy at where they were on the subject of British rule and the Black and Tans, but things quickly got more grey if not outright anti-British/anti-Imperial pretty quickly. The B mystery was about a woman who was attacked and her hair cut and the twist in the tail on that one was really well done. The next one came out in August and it's already on my library list.
The Anatomist's Wife, by Anna Lee Huber. First in her older series about a Scottish artist who was married to an anatomist and was implicated in his work (though he was not a resurrectionist). In this one the victim was a pregnant noblewoman killed at a house party, so they're locked in until the authorities can get up to investigate. Our heroine is interesting, her partner/possible romantic interest is also not bad, and the suspects were an interesting lot. I'm in for the next one.
The Pairing, by Casey McQuiston. Queer second-chance romance when a couple that broke up just before a foodie tour end up taking it at the same time several years later. Very sensual (about art and food and wine, not just sex), and very interestingly written, with a perspective switch that manages to avoid breaking the pining vibe. Also I liked the characters and their journeys more than I expected to.

Music
Darragh Morgan, For Violin and Electronics. A little too high pitched for me, but the clincher was that Miss Berry kitty was disconsolate the entire time I was listening to it and stopped crying and complaining at once when it ended.
The Florestan Trio, Saint-Saëns: Piano Trios Nos. 1 & 2. I do love me some Saint-Saëns.
Steeleye Span, Conflict. Their newest. A mix of trad and new songs. The genocide song hit pretty hard. We were laughing at the honey song, which I think must have been trad, if not outright vaudeville, because the entendre was pretty heavy
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james_davis_nicoll ([personal profile] james_davis_nicoll) wrote2025-09-10 10:04 am
Entry tags:
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james_davis_nicoll ([personal profile] james_davis_nicoll) wrote2025-09-10 08:58 am

Otaku Vampire's Love Bite, volume 1 By Julietta Suzuki (Translated by Tomo Kimura)



Otaku Hina is delighted that her Japanese neighbour Kyuta looks just like Hina's favourite anime character. Alas, Kyuta dislikes anime almost as much as vampires like Hina.

Otaku Vampire's Love Bite, volume 1 By Julietta Suzuki (Translated by Tomo Kimura)
redbird: closeup of me drinking tea, in a friend's kitchen (Default)
Redbird ([personal profile] redbird) wrote2025-09-09 02:53 pm

GI doctor follow-up

I just had a follow-up appointment with the GI doctor, a few weeks after finishing the course of budosenide. Based on what I told her -- that I'm feeling basically better, even if my gut isn't quite back to how it felt a couple of years ago -- she said to keep doing what I have been, just add a second fiber capsule, and see her again six months. Or send a MyChart message if I need to see or talk to her before then.
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james_davis_nicoll ([personal profile] james_davis_nicoll) wrote2025-09-09 08:51 am
Entry tags:

The Unkillable Frank Lightning by Josh Rountree



Doctor Catherine Coldbridge travels to darkest Texas in quest of her long-lost husband, Frank Humble... so she can kill the unkillable man.

The Unkillable Frank Lightning by Josh Rountree
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james_davis_nicoll ([personal profile] james_davis_nicoll) wrote2025-09-08 01:12 pm
Entry tags:
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james_davis_nicoll ([personal profile] james_davis_nicoll) wrote2025-09-08 10:28 am
Entry tags:

Clarke Award Finalists 2013

2013: The Tories masterfully tank the UK credit rating, a grateful nation celebrates Margaret Thatcher’s death, and Scotland inexplicably chooses to remain in the UK.


Poll #33586 Clarke Award Finalists 2013
Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 15


Which 2013 Clarke Award Finalists Have You Read?

View Answers

Dark Eden by Chris Beckett
3 (20.0%)

2312 by Kim Stanley Robinson
9 (60.0%)

Angelmaker by Nick Harkaway
4 (26.7%)

Intrusion by Ken MacLeod
1 (6.7%)

Nod by Adrian Barnes
1 (6.7%)

The Dog Stars by Peter Heller
1 (6.7%)



✓ for read, * for intend to read, ! for never heard of it. Or whatever amuses you.

Which 2013 Clarke Award Finalists Have You Read?
Dark Eden by Chris Beckett
2312 by Kim Stanley Robinson ✓
Angelmaker by Nick Harkaway ✓
Intrusion by Ken MacLeod
Nod by Adrian Barnes
The Dog Stars by Peter Heller
gentlyepigrams: (music - tickets)
Ginger ([personal profile] gentlyepigrams) wrote2025-09-07 11:40 pm
Entry tags:

Gig list - September 2025

We did jack diddly musicwise in August. There are a bunch of shows coming up in the fall that we already have tickets for and we are also trying to plan for my cataract surgery in either December or January, so that will affect our calendar until we nail it down.

But this month is the start of chamber music season, and I'm excited to be going out for that, even if it means messing up the family dinner schedule with my father-in-law (we have dinner every other Monday and chamber music is almost always on Monday evening).

Under the cut to protect your flist )

I don't think we bought any tickets last month either, for the reasons mentioned above. There are a bunch of shows at smaller venues I haven't listed here but I need to sit down and go through them with Michael and possibly talk to other friends to see if we can get some interest. Also, I've found the Celtic pub in Richardson that has an in to the local scene, so we may start seeing local Celtic shows there. It won't be the Duck, but nothing is.
redbird: apple-shaped ice on a tree branch (ghost apple)
Redbird ([personal profile] redbird) wrote2025-09-06 11:01 pm
Entry tags:

apple: Swiss gourmet

We bought a few Swiss gourmet apples at the farmers market on Thursday, because [personal profile] adrian_turtle likes them, and I like trying new (or new-to-me) apples.

I tried one this afternoon. It was OK, but nothing special: crisp, moderately juicy, and tarter than I generally like. I thought [personal profile] cattitude might like it, because he likes tart apples, but his verdict is that there wasn't enough flavor there, though what there was, was good.

I'm going to leave the other two for Adrian, and eat Zestars; we bought some of those yesterday.
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james_davis_nicoll ([personal profile] james_davis_nicoll) wrote2025-09-06 02:04 pm
Entry tags:

I was bored

So I rolled up a bunch of Icons characters. Mostly boring, but this one is at least mildly amusing.

Doctor* Shawinigan**

Read more... )
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james_davis_nicoll ([personal profile] james_davis_nicoll) wrote2025-09-06 08:44 am
Entry tags:

Books Received, August 30 — September 5



Five books new to me, at least four of which are fantasy (not sure about the El-Mohtar) and three instalments in series.

Books Received, August 30 — September 5


Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 43


Books Received, August 30 — September 5

View Answers

Lies Weeping by Glen Cook (November 2025)
21 (48.8%)

Seasons of Glass and Iron: Stories by Amal El-Mohtar (March 2026)
27 (62.8%)

The River and the Star By Gabriela Romero Lacruz (October 2025)
7 (16.3%)

The Bookshop Below by Georgia Summers (November 2025)
16 (37.2%)

The Burning Queen by Aparna Verma (November 2025)
9 (20.9%)

Some other option (see comments)
0 (0.0%)

Cats!
29 (67.4%)