Unabridged Opinions

My family (much to my mother’s annoyance) somehow avoided creating any real/lasting family traditions associated with the holidays. The one thing we stood firm on, as a family, was the Thanksgiving Dinner menu, and the one thing I’ve done each year since I was eight was read (or, now, re-read) the Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings. Luckily, with all of the traveling I’ve done over various holidays, it’s a fairly light-weight tradition and comes in handy on long plane flights or waits for trains.
I realize that this may not be a traditional holiday-type tradition, mainly because it is both solitary and anti-social (at least until you start talking about the books with others), but something about re-reading books (and these books in particular) has always helped me de-stress and renew my outlook on life.
I am not going to argue that they are great literature–although they are wonderful and important stories. But the Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings are prime examples of novels that take you somewhere else. I enjoy reading all sorts of books, but when I want and need a rest, fiction that takes me somewhere recognizably not my home helps me the most. Chick-lit agitates me (I usually get all grumbly and aggravated with the characters/or spend all of my time guessing which Jane Austen they are imitating now) and non-fiction (however interesting I find it when I am in the mood to read it) often, by its very subject, depresses me: Tolkien, and others like him, create worlds real enough to fall into but dissimilar from the world that currently contains all of the stresses of life.
When I leave the world of middle-earth, I feel better able to deal with the real world surrounding me. I haven’t (necessarily) learned any great lessons or thought deep philosophical thoughts, but I have relaxed and thought of something else: sometimes exactly the break my mind and body needs.

While perusing one of the random book oriented websites I sometimes read, I came across this article on the availability of some free books on an iPhone e-reader. Immediately, (after my heart-rate had gone down at the thought of free books), I checked out the Stanza application on the iPhone and downloaded this book. I have two things to say.
One: the Stanza application (from Lexcycle) is one of the better ebook readers I’ve sampled. I actually like it better than the Kindle, partially because the “tapping” element now feels innate to me after iPhone use; partially because the pages load quite quickly once you are into the book, and I didn’t feel that there was as much dead time as with other ebook readers. The screen was clear and the typeface easy to read (although the ability to flip to a place within a book wasn’t as easy as with a physical book to deal with). The available books (I only checked out the free ones) are decent–although obviously a lot are missing (even of those books out of copyright). Every time I come across one of these readers, I start hoping that all of my favourite out of print books will be available. I found one or two here. So thumbs up from this picky (format-wise although not subject-wise) reader.
Two: I was right. Anything with the title “Free Range Chickens” had to at least be a little funny, and this was a lot funny. My favourite part so far? Some of the missing commandments. Including:

If it takes a man a long time to lead his people out of the desert and into the Promised Land, everyone should just be patient with him and learn to chill out a little.

Snort. For those who keep an eye on such things, a quote from the book appeared on reddit earlier this year (the one about the dissections from a frog point of view). Funny stuff.
Also, of course:

Everyone has to give Moses five dollars.

Well, if you haven’t just received Fable II and Oblivion as birthday gifts, and you are me, you read. If you have received the above mentioned Xbox 360 games, you read and play the games. Sometimes simultaneously.
But for now, the books. I’ve been on a British mystery kick. Possibly inspired by my current location–and at least partially inspired by the fact that I now have access to my books again after six months of separation, and we are getting to know each other again. I thought I might put some of my reviews up here, as I realize that not everyone automatically gravitates towards these books, and they really do have something to offer.

The first book I read was Vintage Murder. An early, and fun, book in the Roderick Alleyn series. This one takes place as he is travelling through New Zealand and recovering from some unspecified operation. It is early in the canon as he is not yet married or dreaming of his future wife. There is a rugby-hooligan type incident on a train that ends with a bruised backside on one of the characters and a theft before the main murder even occurs. This book has a number of characters, and following every movement of each person can get baffling at times; however, Marsh never makes the reader feel as if Alleyn knows something special or has super-powers, merely that his powers of deduction are sharp and that all of the information is there that is necessary to solve the mystery along with him.
It is interesting to note that the translations of the book all mention the murder weapon, but lose the pun inherent in the original title.
I’ll get to the rest of the books (and the Xbox games) in later posts, but I highly recommend Marsh. Even if you find Agatha Christie too “stuffy”, Marsh is a lively and entertaining writer. Of course, this is coming from someone who loves most of Christie’s work, so your mileage may vary.