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These are going to be short and sweet from now on if they weren’t already.

The Colorado Kid by Stephen King. I only read this book because the new Syfy series Haven is based on it. From the Haven previews, I think it’s only going to be loosely based on the book. Almost the entire book consists of these two old journalists telling their intern a story about an unsolved mystery that happened years earlier. Reading it made me remember why I don’t read Stephen King anymore. Something about his writing style gets on my nerves. I advise passing on this one and just watching the TV show. I read this book using the Kindle apps on my iPhone and my work PC. It’s the first time I’ve read a book that way.

Bitter Seeds by Ian Tregillis. This was another Sword and Laser pick. It was interesting. Think alternate history WWII with super-powered people that use batteries to power their abilities. I love alt history and I love superpowers and they go pretty well together in this book. I wasn’t really into the beginning and the end, but I really enjoyed the middle. When I started getting close to the end I could tell that this was the first in a series. I later found out that it is the first in a trilogy. If I had known that before I started, I may have waited to read it. At this point, I’m not sure if I’m going to finish the trilogy.  Maybe if I had the other two to read right away I would’ve been more likely to continue.

• Joe Abercrombie, The Blade Itself
• Joe Abercrombie, Before They Are Hanged
• Joe Abercrombie, Last Argument of Kings
• Go, Mutants: A Novel, Larry Doyle
• Serenity Found, Jane Espenson
• Incarceron, Catherine Fisher
• American Gods, Neil Gaiman
• The Law of Nines, Terry Goodkind
• The Associate, John Grisham
• The Fourth Hand, John Irving
• The Colorado Kid, Stephen King
• The Stormcaller, Tom Lloyd
• The Day Watch, Sergei Lukyanenko
• The Twilight Watch, Sergei Lukyanenko
• The Final Watch, Sergei Lukyanenko
• Busted Flush, George R.R. Martin
• Suicide Kings, George R.R. Martin
• Kraken, China Mieville
• The Final Crusade, Chaite Naasiri
• Scott Pilgrim, Vol. 1: Scott Pilgrim’s Precious Little Life, Bryan Lee O’Malley
• Scott Pilgrim, Vol. 2: Scott Pilgrim Versus The World, Bryan Lee O’Malley
• Scott Pilgrim, Vol. 3: Scott Pilgrim & the Infinite Sadness, Bryan Lee O’Malley
• Scott Pilgrim, Vol. 4: Scott Pilgrim Gets It Together, Bryan Lee O’Malley
• Scott Pilgrim, Vol. 5: Scott Pilgrim vs the Universe, Bryan Lee O’Malley
• Scott Pilgrim, Vol. 6: Scott Pilgrim’s Finest Hour, Bryan Lee O’Malley
• The Darker Mask, George Phillips
• The Final Empire, Brandon Sanderson
• The Well of Ascension, Brandon Sanderson
• The Hero of Ages, Brandon Sanderson
• Towers of Midnight, Brandon Sanderson
• Titus Andronicus, William Shakespeare
• Bitter Seeds, Ian Tregillis
• The Dragonbone Chair, Tad Williams
• Stone of Farewell, Tad Williams
• To Green Angel Tower, Tad Williams

As of yesterday, it’s officially summer. Summer used to be my favorite time of the year. I’m sure most of that had to do with being on vacation from school. Summer isn’t as big of a deal now, probably because I haven’t had a summer off from everything since 1997. The thing I associate with summer the most now is the heat. Damn, it’s been hot. But still, summers working for a university in a college town are a little more laid back than the rest of the year.

I don’t have anything excited going on this summer. I didn’t renew my lease on my current place, so I’ll be moving in about a month.

In 2006, I made a Summer Mix CD. I’ve included the track list. I usually bring it out at the beginning of summer and listen to it throughout the season. It’s on my iPod now, so I’ll probably be listening to it even more than normal.

1. “School’s Out” by Alice Cooper
2. “Here Comes the Sun” by The Beatles
3. “Summertime” by DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince
4. “Whoops Now” by Janet Jackson
5. “I Can See Clearly Now” by Johnny Nash
6. “Walking on Sunshine” by Katrina and the Waves
7. “Soak Up the Sun” by Sheryl Crow
8. “Summer of ‘69” by Bryan Adams
9. “Summer” by War
10. “Summer Nights” by John Travolta & Olivia Newton-John
11. “Summertime (featuring P Diddy)” by Beyonce
12. “Girls of Summer” by Aerosmith
13. “Sex in the Summer” by Prince
14. “Hot Fun in the Summertime” by Sly & the Family Stone
15. “If You Steal My Sunshine” by Len
16. “Cruel Summer” by Ace of Base
17. “The Boys of Summer” by The Ataris
18. “And On And On” by Janet Jackson

Update, 2/23
Oops! I had messed up the name of Sheryl Crow’s song. It’s corrected now.