Geschreven

Eindelijk wat tijd vrij gemaakt om me eens te verdiepen in Instapaper, waar ik steeds over las, maar nog niet aan toe was gekomen. Via een bookmarklet of mailtje naar specifiek adres kun je artikelen toevoegen aan een leeslijst, welke je vervolgens met je mobiele apparaat kunt ophalen voor offline lezen. Op bijvoorbeeld Give Me Something To Read vind je een blog met links naar allerlei interessante artikelen. Jammer dat de app met EUR 3.99 relatief duur is, maar zeker de moeite waard.

Finished George RR Martin's A Feast for Crows on the weekend, now I guess I'll just have to wait for the release of the next part A Dance with Dragons, which is due out later this year.

I'm now reading something completely different, Knielen Op Een Bed Violen by Jan Siebelink. My mother lend it to me and has been urging me to read for quite some time now. Strange to read Dutch again after the many pages of the A Song of Ice and Fire series, which I've read in English.

I also bought Voice of the Gods, which is Book 3 of the Age of the Five Trilogy, by Trudi Canavan. Read the first two parts last year, hope I can get back into it. That's generally the reason I prefer not to read series, but for some reason I've been doing just that for ages now. Hm.

Went to my bookstore of choice to see if Blade of Fortriu: Book Two of The Bridei Chronicles by Juliet Marillier was available for purchase. It wasn't. To avoid complete disappointment, I instead bought Priestess of the White, which is part one of the Age of the Five Series by Trudi Canavan. I'd picked it up a few times before on previous visits. It does show the importance of a good cover, as this one drew me in. This one on the Amazon paperback however most certainly did not.

Just got back from the library. Spend more time that I'd planned picking out something interesting to read next. I'm a bit disappointed with the current offerings, especially in the SciFi section. I'd seen all kinds of interesting books at the store, which I would like to read but was unable to find at the library. I finally decided upon White As Snow by Tanith Lee and House Atreides, because I'd never gotten round to reading the Dune prequels. That should keep me going during the upcoming Easter weekend.

It was April Fools yesterday, and though I missed most of it, it's quite fun to read about some of the tricks played. Especially the 'OMG Ponies'-stunt over at Slashdot.

I'm taking a break from Jared Diamond's "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" at the moment. Felt like rereading a classic, The Peace War by Vernor Vinge. They didn't have it at the library, but I was able to borrow my brother's copy. It's a realy sci-fi classic, and despite a few mentions of the Russians (as it was written in Cold War 1984) it really hasn't been affected by time very much. Now, let's see if I can get my hands on the sequel, Marooned in Realtime.

Lees verder

I'm about halfway through a reread of James Clavell's classic novel, Shogun. The book takes place around 1600 and is rougly based on the life of William Adams. It depicts the end of the exclusive trade between the Japanese and Portuguese/Spanish due to the arrival of other nations, like the Dutch and English. As the wikipedia states:

The Dutch also engaged in piracy and naval combat to weaken Portuguese and Spanish shipping in the Pacific, and ultimately became the only westerners to be allowed access to Japan from the small enclave of Dejima after 1638 and for the next two centuries.

The book was made into a mini-series in 1980. Once I finish, I might see if I can get my hands on the DVD, just to compare.