Words of wisdom from Stephen Colbert:

" I think one of my strengths was my ability to serve other people's ideas. I'm proud of my ability to understand what somebody else is trying to do and help them achieve it, because part of the aesthetic of improvisation is service. We don't lead, we only follow. You never say no. Serve the servant, follow the follower. And that's very valuable in your life, as well as very valuable in your work. I'm damn proud of my ability to help other people achieve their ideas. "
From an interview in the latest Onion AV Club

Catching up

Have finished several books since the last post, I've just neglected to list them here in a timely way.

3. Arthur Conan Doyle's "The Sign of the Four," the second Sherlock Holmes novel. Like the first novel "A Study in Scarlet" it trades heavily in exotica: the villain with a wooden stump, the stolen loot from far-off Asia. But the chase scene down the river with stokers pouring on the fuel is thrilling, and there's a touch more humor in this book. [Insert the bit about Toby the dog.] All my readings of Sherlock Holmes are re-readings; I've read the canon several times. (I have it all on my Palm.)

4. James White -- the litter book

5. Star Wars novel

6. David McCullough's "1776," thanks to Milwaukee County for the jury duty assembly time in which to read this.

Rache...

Book No. 2 of the year: I finished re-reading Arthur Conan Doyle's "A Study in Scarlet," the novel in which John Watson makes the acquaintance of Sherlock Holmes. It's really two joined stories: How Watson meets Holmes and how Holmes solves two murders in London, and the back story of the murderer, who is exacting his long-desired revenge for wrongs he suffered in Mormon Utah country. I tend to agree what Mark Haddon on what I enjoy most about Holmes stories: "What I like best about the stories is their sickly air of fin-de-siecle decadence (opium dens, women roped to pillars, men injecting themselves with monkey glands)." I also still think the best Holmes stories are better than the novels.

Colonization: Second Contact (1st book of the year)

This year I am making effort to write at least a few words about every book I read. First up is Harry Turtledove's "Colonization: Second Contact." It's the continuation of his Worldwar series, which begins with an alien invasion of Earth -- duing World War II. The Nazis, Russians, Americans and the rest have to stop fighting each other to cope with the invasion from the reptilian conquest force. "Colonization" is the first book in a second series, which takes place in an alternate 1960s; the Race (as the aliens are called) conquest force and the human powers have reached an uneasy balance of power on Earth when the Race's colonization ships arrive to a reality they did not expect. I hope to have a little more to say on this book later.

The Dynamic Duo