Review

A Spoileriffic Review/Discussion of Mira Grant’s “Feed”

I finished reading Feed [Amazon | B&N | Mysterious Galaxy] by Mira Grant (aka Seanan McGuire) this week.

The zombie uprising began in 2014, due to a combination of two viruses meant to eliminate the common cold and cure cancer. Everyone is infected: when you die, the virus reanimates you as a zombie. But if you’re bitten/infected by a zombie, that also triggers the transformation, and you’re a walking corpse within minutes.

The book is set twenty-five years after the uprising, and society has adapted (somewhat) to the presence of zombies. Certain territories are more hazardous, and declared off-limits. Blood tests are everywhere. And a trio of bloggers has just been selected to follow and report on presidential candidate Peter Ryman.

One of the key lines for me came early in the book, when Georgia Mason (our protagonist) remarks that the zombies aren’t the story. I can’t remember the exact wording, but that line captures why the book works for me. We’ve all seen story after story about zombie uprisings; Feed is the story of what comes next.

I can see why this book has broken out the way it has. You’ve got classic SF extrapolation of future trends, like Grant’s presentation of the blogging world. You’ve got zombies that make sense (at least moreso than 98% of the zombie stories out there). You’ve got plenty of zombie-fighting action, political intrigue, and nonstop tension. You’ve got relevance in the strong parallel between fear of zombies and our present-day attitudes toward terrorism. And Georgia and her brother Shaun make a great pair of characters, complementing one another beautifully.

I’m about to get into major spoiler territory, so if you haven’t read it, look away now. (To anyone reading on an RSS feed, I’m sorry – I’m not aware of any way to put a cut tag into the feed.)

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The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, Reviewed by My Son (Age 6)

My son Jackson and I just finished reading The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, so I asked if he’d do a review I could share with my readers here. I asked some questions to help him along, but everything that follows (except my italicized comments) is his own words.

There are spoilers, but given that the book is more than a century old, I’m not going to worry about putting anything behind a cut.

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The Wonderful Wizard of Oz is about a girl named Dorothy who is carried by a tornado to the land of Oz and then meets a Scarecrow, a Cowardly Lion, and a Tin Woodman, and kills both the wicked witches. And then she has to get back to Kansas but it turns out that the Wizard of Oz, he isn’t even a  wizard! He’s just a humbug who was carried by a balloon when he was a balloonist.

What I don’t like is that the winged monkeys didn’t give a second chance to Dorothy (the second time she summoned them)  since they couldn’t go out of the Land of Oz. (Jackson is big on fairness.) And I don’t like the Hammer-head Slinky-neck guys, when they had to use their last time to call the monkeys. And I don’t like when the silver shoes come off in the desert, because then Dorothy can’t see Oz again!

Here’s what I did like. Okay, I like that they made the Lion the king of the beasts and I also like that the Wicked Witch that they were going to kill had all those guys, because then I found out that there were black bees! I liked the black bees because I used to not know that there were such things as black bees and now I found out.

I liked at the ending that Dorothy’s companions came to rule over them. The lion ruled over the beasts after he killed the spider thing, and the Scarecrow ruled over the land of Oz, and the Tin Woodman ruled over the Winkies.

There’s only one thing that surprised me — that the Hammer-Heads could shoot their heads out with their necks; they had Slinky-necks!

Oz helped me go to sleep because then I had other things to think about and see in my mind instead of scary things so I didn’t wake up and have to open my eyes … ! . (Punctuation dictated by Jackson.)

I like the book and the movie both, because in the book there were surprise chapters, and in the movie they gave her ruby slippers, and I liked the ruby slippers better than silver shoes.

I think everybody should read this book because it’s really fun.

Tron: Legacy

This year the Easter Bunny brought us a copy of Tron: Legacy (supporing my hypothesis that he’s been bought out by Mickey Mouse). It’s been ages since I saw the original Tron, and my memory was a bit fuzzy, but the sequel is perfectly watchable on its own.

Set almost 30 years after the events of the first film, Tron: Legacy introduces us to Sam Flynn, whose father Kevin disappeared in 1989. Sam investigates his father’s old arcade, and is zapped into the virtual world of the Grid in a maneuver known as the Reverse Matrix.

Kevin has been trapped here for 20 years, first fighting against and then hiding from a virtual clone of himself called Clu, which Kevin created to help him create “a perfect world.”

This is what we professional writers call a Dumbass Move. All those books on Kevin’s virtual shelves, and apparently he never bothered to pick up a SF title? Anyone who knows anything about science fiction knows you don’t instruct the artificial intelligence to create perfection!!! Naturally, Clu turned against the “imperfect” Kevin and set himself up as ruler of the Grid.

We also learn about ISOs, a new species of sentient “isomorphic organisms” which spontaneously emerged in the Grid. I guess Clu thought they were imperfect, so he wiped them out. Sam, Kevin, and Thirteen Quorra (the last surviving ISO) set out to stop Clu, reach the portal, save both worlds, get a brain from the wizard, and return home.  More

Book Reviews: Buckell, Mallett, Mantchev, Strout

Despite multiple Internet-related SNAFUs, the Rape Crisis Center Fundraiser has raised $430 in the first 24 hours. Thank you all for the donations and the links. Another $70 and we’ll reach the first bonus prize!

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When I was at ConFusion this year, I received a copy of The Executioness [Amazon | B&N | Mysterious Galaxy] by Tobias Buckell. This is a novella-length work, and shares a world with another novella by Paolo Bacigalupi, a world in which magic is outlawed, as its use leads to the spread of deadly bramble. It’s a great setup, as is the premise of the story: Tana’s home is attacked by a neighboring power. Her husband and her father (an executioner) are killed, and her children taken. So she takes up her father’s axe and hood and sets out to save them, beginning a quest “that will change lives, cities, and even an entire land, forever. A quest that will create the legend of The Executioness.”

There were a few times the story felt a bit rushed, and I could easily see this being a novel-length work. But I liked it a lot (though the cover art, while beautifully done, is a bit eye-rolling with the exposed midriff and leg). I like the way Tana’s legend spreads, the way she uses that and learns to take advantage of the fact that women are so often ignored in these conflicts. And without spoiling things, I felt that the ending worked well.

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I’ve never read Frazz, but I met Jef Mallett at A Rally of Writers over the weekend, and picked up a copy of Frazz 3.1416 [Amazon | B&N | Mysterious Galaxy].

Talking to Mallett, he came across as the kind of writer I want to be: he genuinely listened to everyone who came up to talk to him, was generous with his time and advice, and just came across as a really nice, down-to-earth guy. I’m happy to say his comics are much the same: smart and funny, and reading his book just made me feel good. I’ll definitely be picking up more.

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I’ve been wanting to read Lisa Mantchev‘s YA fantasy Eyes Like Stars [Amazon | B&N | Mysterious Galaxy] ever since it came out. This is another book with a great premise, taking place within the Theatre Illuminata, a magical theatre where “the characters of every play ever written” live and perform. Beatrice Shakespeare Smith (Bertie) was born in the outside world, but was raised in the Theatre. Throughout the course of the book, she must prove her worth to the Theatre, uncover the mystery of her past, and choose between the pirate Nate and the seductive but dangerous sprite Ariel.

The characters are great. Bertie’s fairy sidekicks are highly amusing. Ophelia was another favorite, complex and tragic (per her script, she’s constantly running off to drown herself).

My only complaint is that the Theatre, which is supposed to include all plays ever written, seems limited to European and American works, and is heavily weighted toward Shakespeare. But overall, Mantchev takes a great idea and turns it into a very satisfying story.

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Finally, there’s Anton Strout‘s fourth book, Dead Waters [Amazon | B&N | Mysterious Galaxy]. This time, Simon Canderous is investigating the death of a university professor and former FOG (Fraternal Order of Goodness) agent, while dealing with budget cuts and relationship troubles.

I really liked seeing more of the Inspectre’s character in this one, and learning about his past. The central mystery was fun, and similar in tone and action to what you’d expect from Strout’s previous book. I wasn’t as happy with Simon’s relationship tension with Jane, which felt a little forced. But the ending … I don’t want to spoil it, but I’m very interested to see how Simon adjusts in the next book. Like previous books, it’s a fun, light read.

The Karate Kid

INT. SHOT, TYPICAL HOLLYWOOD OFFICE.

WILL and JADA SMITH are talking with director HARALD ZWART about remaking The Karate Kid. 

WILL
We’ll get Jackie Chan to play the Miyagi character, and our son Jaden will play the kid.

HARALD
Jaden’s a bit young, don’t you think?

JADA
His character will be twelve years old. We want to set the movie in China, but the plot will follow the 1984 movie, with eastern healing techniques, a fancy kung fu move at the end–

HARALD
So we’ll start out with Jaden’s character having trouble with some local kung fu bullies. The problems escalate, and he ends up surrounded by these kids, who start pounding him. Enter Jackie Chan.

JADA
Who proceeds to beat the crap out of a bunch of 12-year-olds!

HARALD
Um…

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The Karate Kid surprised me with that scene. Jackie Chan made it work. In typical Chan style, he deflects the kids’ attacks against each other, allowing them to be the ones to beat themselves up. I was impressed with how they handled that.

Overall, I thought the remake was pretty good. I liked the original story, and this one stayed pretty close to the 1984 version. I liked the restaging of the movie to China. And Jaden Smith is a very charismatic actor.

But in some ways I think the film suffered for being a remake. I kept comparing it to the original, and there were areas where the new film came up short. A few examples (spoilers follow):

  • Mr. Miyagi was a decorated soldier who lost his family in the war, and spent one night each year getting drunk and mourning that loss. Mr. Han’s family was killed in a car accident, and he spends every day rebuilding that car so he can destroy it. Much as I like Jackie Chan, I thought Mr. Miyagi’s backstory was much better.
  • We see Daniel LaRusso practicing the crane technique which he eventually uses in the tournament. The reflection technique we see in the remake is described as something that took a lifetime of practice and mastery to achieve, and we only see Dre Parker trying it once on his mother. Yet he successfully uses it in the tournament.
  • In the tournament, Daniel is taken down by an illegal attack to the knee. Master Li tells his student to break Dre’s leg, which doesn’t make sense to me. Leg bones are strong. We see the kid repeatedly elbowing Dre’s leg (which was disturbing to watch), but failing to break it. If you want to take someone out of competition, try going for the foot or hit a joint.

The kids’ ages changed another aspect of the film for me as well. In both movies, our bullies are taught by a very bad man. But in the 1984 version, these were high school students: older and better able to make their own choices.

I’m not saying 12-year-olds aren’t responsible for what they do, but at that age, the abusiveness of their teacher (Master Li) becomes much more troubling: both the way he treats his students and the fact that he’s teaching little kids to be so vicious. As a result, I really wanted to see the parking lot scene (i.e., Jackie Chan unleashing some whoop-ass on Li), and while I understand why that scene might not fit, it left me dissatisfied with the ending.

You know most of Li’s students will be back in his class the next day — they’re kids, and in most cases, I imagine their parents will make them go back. What’s he going to do to them after their “rebellion” at the tournament?

Summary: A pretty good movie, but I like the original better. Jaden Smith was great. Chan … the script didn’t really play to his strengths. Liked most of the changes from the original, but the younger ages made the movie much more disturbing in some respects. 3.8 fire spiders out of five.

Torchwood

So after loving four seasons of the new Doctor Who, I went ahead and got the first season of Torchwood for Christmas. (Thank you, Santa.) We’ve watched the first three episodes. I’m not sure how best to say this, but … well, if the show doesn’t improve, I guess I can always use the DVDs as backup air hockey pucks.

I knew going in that Torchwood was darker than Doctor Who. And I know it often takes a while for a new series to figure itself out (see Star Trek: TNG). So I’m going to keep watching. But it’s like someone took Doctor Who and sucked out everything that makes me love it, and I’m watching what was left over.

The very first episode introduces Torchwood, the super-secret agency dedicated to protecting London from aliens and alien technology. The Torchwood team is frankly unlikeable and annoying. Our standout asshole would be Owen, happily swiping and using alien date rape drugs. (This is one of the “good guys.”) But everyone on the team is blissfully ignoring the rules and swiping alien tech for their own purposes, and none of them strike me as particularly pleasant.[1. Random character note: I did like the twist in ep. 3 where Owen, who’s been set up as the vengeful one, immediately begins performing CPR and trying to save the life of the bad guy.]

And then there’s Captain Jack. Oh, Jack … I like you so much more when you’re not the leader babysitter. When you can be fun and sexy and impulsive.

Gwen is the most likeable, as the cop who first investigates and then joins Torchwood. But she’s not working for me either. I think it’s partly because she keeps screwing up, whether it’s breaking the alien rock with a chisel (who throws rock-piercing tools around at an alien landing site?), pressing random buttons on alien technology, or just sneaking that tech home with her — despite having seen what happened in the very first episode.

I have no idea why Jack keeps them around. Are these people really the best he could do? The Doctor picks up better partners just running down a street.

All of this I could forgive as the stumbling of a new show, but this is supposed to be a spinoff of Doctor Who, and it has none of the wonder of that show. Doctor Who can get pretty dark too, but it never loses that sense of wonder. And Torchwood, at least in the first three episodes, doesn’t have it.

I’m hoping it gets better, and I’ll continue watching. But so far, I am less than impressed.

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The Demon Trapper’s Daughter, by Jana Oliver

Jana Oliver‘s first YA novel, The Demon Trapper’s Daughter [Amazon | B&N | Mysterious Galaxy], came out at the beginning of last month. I was fortunate enough to get my hands on an advance review copy of this one, and finished it earlier this week.

The book is set in Atlanta in 2018, and worldwide Hell has begun to break loose. There’s a pre-postapocalyptic feel to the story … we’re not fully postapocalyptic yet, but civilization is certainly going downhill. School is taught wherever they can find space, such as the back of an old grocery store. Commerce has moved away from big stores and back toward the street vendor model. And demons lurk in the shadows and the pitted ruins of the streets.

Enter Riley Blackthorne, 17-year-old daughter of Demon Trapper Paul Blackthorne, and well on her way to being a trapper herself. When her father is ambushed and murdered by demons, Riley must figure out how to survive on her own, paying bills and protecting her father’s body from the necromancers, not to mention dealing with her father’s former partner Beck, her abusive new master Harper, and a potential new boyfriend.

In many ways, this is a setup novel, laying the groundwork for the series and the conflicts to come. The ending isn’t a cliffhanger, but an awful lot is left unresolved, and I found myself wishing for a few more answers.

The worldbuilding was fascinating: the economy of the trappers, who sell their demons to middlemen who then transport them to the church for disposal. The high volume of holy water sales, and the way increased demon activity drives up the prices. The slow and uneven technological backslide (we still have working cellphone networks, but we’re using computer disks again). One of my favorite touches was a homeless man who carryied around a Grade One demon (small, weak, and at times almost cute) to help him survive.

Riley was a believable 17-year-old. Stubborn, still seeing things a bit too black-or-white sometimes (especially with Beck), but smart, skilled, and determined to succeed … even when that determination crosses the line into foolishness. (At one point, she sets out to trap a Grade Three demon on her own. An understandable choice given her circumstances, but not a wise one.)

Overall, I wanted a little more story and a little less groundwork, but it was a fun read, set in a vividly decaying Atlanta with a flawed but sympathetic heroine.

Has anyone else read this one yet? If so, what did you think?

Book Reviews: Strout & McGuire

I wrote both of these reviews a while back, when I was thinking I might try to start up a separate book reviewing blog called “Magic ex Libris” — a tie-in to my new series.  And then I realized there was no way in Hades that I could add another blog to my online obligations.  I found my notes tonight, and figured I’d clean them up and get ’em posted.  Better late than never, right?

Dead Matter [Amazon | B&N | Mysterious Galaxy] is the third book in Anton Strout’s light urban fantasy series, in which Department of Extraordinary Affairs agent Simon Canderous uses psychometry and a big bat to fight the nasties of New York.

Our story begins with Simon’s partner Connor taking a sabbatical to look for his missing brother, leaving poor Simon to cover twice the workload.  Simon eventually manages to slip away for some personal time with his girlfriend (ex-cultist and technomancer Jane).  Naturally, given Simon’s luck, Taco Night is interrupted by an angry, lumbering monster with lots of pointy bits.

Pointy monster is just the beginning.  Simon, Jane, and Connor slowly uncover a bigger problem — one which puts Simon in the crosshairs of just about everyone, monster and human alike.

I like this series.  I like the sense of fun, and there’s much less angst than in your average urban fantasy.  (Though sometimes it feels like Strout is trying a little too hard for the funny.)  Like the previous two books, this one is a quick read.  My only complaint is that the beginning meandered a bit.  Taco Night monster seemed like a random encounter, and it took a few chapters to start to get a sense of a larger story.

Dead Matter stands alone pretty well, but you’ll get more out of it if you’ve read the first two books in the series.

Seanan McGuire scares me.  She’s writing two series simultaneously, under two different names.  She’s also a singer with multiple albums, as well as a gifted artist.  I think she’s also Batman.

A Local Habitation [Amazon | B&N | Mysterious Galaxy] is the second book in McGuire’s urban fantasy series about October “Toby” Daye, a half-human, half-fairy changeling and knight of the Shadowed Hills.  (In the San Francisco area, for those not familiar with fae territories.)  This time around, Toby must visit the realm of Countess January O’Leary in the County of Tamed Lightning to investigate a series of bizarre murders.

McGuire gives good fae.  Reading this series, you just know she has a dozen notebooks filled with the details of the various fairy bloodlines, territories, allegiances, and powers.[1. She recently started posting some of her worldbuilding info on her blog.]  She makes them real.  Often more real and complex than humans, who are mostly just background noise this time around.

A Local Habitation uses the locked room mystery format.  Someone in Countess O’Leary’s computer company is murdering her people.  Is it Alex, the irresistibly sexy love interest with a secret?  April, the dryad whose “tree” is the computer server?  Gordan, the cranky but skilled healer?

There were times when I wish Toby had been quicker to pick up on various clues.  It sometimes felt like McGuire was trying a little too hard to hold back information.  In a mystery, you obviously don’t want the reader to figure things out too quickly.  At the same time, the fae of Tamed Lightning were a little too secretive, holding back one important revelation after another, even as they’re dying.

There’s a lot to like about this book.  It was great to see more of fairy society.  I particularly enjoyed the revelations about the night-haunts.  The murder mystery, once we discover the truth, was fascinating on a number of levels, and I hope McGuire follows up on some of the things we learn about Faerie.  And April is just great.  (I tend to have a weakness for dryads.)

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The Four-Day Weekend, by Serdar Yegulalp

A while back, I received a review copy of The Four-Day Weekend, by Serdar Yegulalp (sixteenbynine on LJ).  I’ll be honest, I was a little nervous about this one, as the quality of self-published novels can vary so widely, but this turned out to be an enjoyable read.

I’ve been trying to figure out how best to describe this book.  It feels like a literary novel, one which attempts to capture and recreate the very best of the convention scene (an anime convention, in this case).  Henry, our protagonist, has just broken up with his girlfriend of four years.  With his friend Winthrop, who’s discovered that owning a comic book store isn’t as thrilling as he once thought, they decide to get away to the big convention.  That’s where they meet Diane…

It’s very much a character study.  Henry and Winthrop and Diane are all dissatisfied with their lives, feeling lost and burnt out.  We get a very gradual, low-key romance growing between Henry and Diane, but mostly it’s the story about how each character rediscovers him or herself … while surrounded by tens of thousands of fans all crammed together.  It’s a story about rediscovery and rebirth and renewal.

If you’re looking for a plot-oriented book, this isn’t the one for you.  But I enjoyed it.  It’s more a conversational sort of book, with musings about everything from relationships to priorities to electronic piracy.  The convention felt a bit idealized to me, but I think it also gets a lot of the love and energy of the con scene, and captures what people want to get from a con — even if it doesn’t always happen in real life.

The very end felt a little off from the rest.  I get the feeling Yegulalp wanted to provide some closure to certain things, but it reminded me of the epilogue Rowling does at the end of Harry Potter — slightly forced, and out of synch with the rest of the story.

Overall though, it was a nice read, one you can preview here if you’re so inclined.

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Other recent book arrivals include:

Wild Things [Amazon | B&N | Mysterious Galaxy], by Charlie Finlay.  Short fiction from Finlay — woo hoo!  Except for the part where I get to walk away feeling like an utter hack by comparison, of course 🙂

The Demon Trapper’s Daughter [Amazon | B&N | Mysterious Galaxy], a forthcoming YA novel from Jana Oliver.  This one came complete with swag, including a Demon Trapper patch, which was something I hadn’t seen before.

Dead Waters [Amazon | B&N | Mysterious Galaxy], the newest title from Anton Strout.  This review copy showed up addressed to “Jim Hines: AUTHOR OFFERING PIMPAGE,” which amused me greatly.  It’s very Anton, and I’m looking forward to the book.

An Artificial Night [Amazon | B&N | Mysterious Galaxy], by Seanan McGuire.  The third Toby Daye book, and my current read.  (So far, so good.  Fun writing, high stakes, very much in line with the previous two books.  Only nitpick is that I wish Toby had caught the “Moon” clue sooner.)

Well of Sorrows [Amazon | B&N | Mysterious Galaxy], by Benjamin Tate.  (Tate is an open pseudonym for my friend Joshua Palmatier.)  The cover art for the trade paperback release wasn’t the greatest, but I like the redone cover they have for the forthcoming mass market.  You can see the new cover here.

Who Fears Death [Amazon | B&N | Mysterious Galaxy], by Nnedi Okorafor.  Everything I’ve heard about this book ranges from excellent to awesome, and I’ve been wanting to read it ever since it came out.

That’s just a sampling from the TBR shelf.  Basically, I want to take a month off of everything and just hide out in my bedroom reading books!

Reviewpalooza

Review the First: Libyrinth [Amazon | B&N | Mysterious Galaxy], by Pearl North.  This is a postapocalyptic YA novel which opens in the Libyrinth, a library so massive it’s almost a city.  Opposing the Libyrarians are the Eradicants, who seek to destroy the written word.  What starts out with a Fahrenheit 451 feel gets more complex when Haly, who has the ability to hear books, is captured by Eradicants.

There’s a lot I liked about this one.  The written word vs. oral tradition conflict taken to such extremes was both fascinating and highly disturbing.  The random excerpts Haly hears from various books throughout the story added a layer of surreality.  And of course I enjoyed her little goblinlike companion Nod.

My one problem with the book comes from Clauda’s story, which felt too neat.  Without spoiling the ending, the wing felt too much like a deus ex machina on two levels.  Overall though, a good, thoughtful read.

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Next up is Spellcrash [Amazon | B&N | Mysterious Galaxy], by Kelly McCullough.  If you liked the other books, you’ll like this last one.  If not, don’t read it.  You definitely need to read the first four to understand this one, which takes all of the open plot threads and brings them together in one raven-shaped snarl.

These are fun, fast reads, and I’ve enjoyed them all.  I liked how McCullough wrapped things up, though occasionally it almost felt too neat.  Overall, a very satisfying ending.

One aspect bugs me.  I appreciated McCullough’s take on the Persephone myth in book two, which is treated as rape with no excuses or minimizing.  Persephone is back in this book … and her treatment made me uncomfortable.  Our hero Raven is a trickster.  It’s his nature, and McCullough stresses how these mythological figures are incapable of denying that divine nature.  Yet Raven is ever serious with Persephone.  She is his maiden in a tower, very much on the pedestal.  While I appreciate McCullough’s awareness of the trauma and pain the character has been through, it felt like she’s defined by her victimhood.

It’s still a better treatment of rape than in many books I’ve read, and I did enjoy this book a lot, but I’m continuing to try to sort out my reaction to that particular aspect.

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I received The Guild [Amazon | B&N], Seasons 1 + 2 for Christmas.  The Guild is a web-based show about a group of online gamers, and it’s very much geek humor.  I wanted to like it, but I’m afraid it didn’t really work for me.  My biggest problem is that I just don’t like the characters.  They have their moments, and Felicia Day’s character comes closest to being sympathetic, but I wasn’t invested in them.

The second season was better than the first, so I may check it out online to see if it continues to improve.

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Finally, there’s Chicks Dig Time Lords [Amazon | B&N | Mysterious Galaxy].  (My copy is extra awesome, since it’s autographed by editor Lynne Thomas.)  From the back cover:

“A host of award-winning female novelists, academics and actresses come together to celebrate the phenomenon that is Doctor Who.”

As a new fan, this was an interesting read.  I think the more of a fan you are, the more you’ll appreciate the book.  For me, there were some essays that I had to smile and nod, as they referred to doctors I hadn’t met yet, or storylines I didn’t know.  But there’s something neat about making that sense-of-wonder connection, which is what you get in a lot of these essays.  A fun read for fans, but don’t hand it to someone unfamiliar with Doctor Who.

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Your turn.  If you’ve read/watched any of these, what did you think?  Or if you want to talk about another recent read, feel free.  I can always use more books for my wish list!

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