12 weeks out. Been running hard. Want to get back into that. Provided I don't start getting headaches again. And played tennis wednesday with Chi. No two hand backhand though. Would like to switch to dominant hand on top for groundstrokes like Gene Mayer. Hoping to play in two hours but looks like a big storm is coming.

Read a bunch of stories by Fredric Brown. I had remembered from 20 years ago the talking donkey. Very, very dated stories. Read them while jogging. LIke them but ultimately didn't read all 33. Not much worth saying except that whole sci-fi age is just behind us now I guess. Innovation has slowed down such (not even a space program really at the moment) that people lost interest. And I guess there's only so many stories about first time alien encounters, which is mostly what he wrote about. I will say they have more meat to them than most stories these days as far as plot/things actually happening that you can't see coming. That's largely a function of short stories though.

Read Justin Cronin, The Passage. It was for an online book discussion club. There's not much to discuss except how it's not really very good. Best seller of course. 900 pages with a cliff hanger ending. Zero interest in the next book. Most of the characters felt the same. Not distinct. Also randomly influenced by the 12 prime vampires... just makes it pointlessly random. Don't really care when people die. Blah. I will say I can't put my finger as easily upon why it's not very good. That could be me getting old though.

City of Blades by Robert Jackson Bennett. The follow up to City of Stairs. Loved the beginning of Stairs, where there is the mystery of the departed gods. Was hoping they'd return. They sort of do. But just to be killed off for good. Blades seems to be the same idea. Characters aren't terribly interesting. Well Sigrud is good. A bad ass who's been put through hell. But otherwise not so interesting. Reads like it was written by a women, kind of. Almost like detective/mystery novels also, which wasn't, and apparently still isn't my thing.

Was hoping for a rainless miracle.... now the wind is blowing really hard... but the dark clouds are kind of past... Please....? Sprinkling but the heat could dry it fast...

The Iron Dragon's Daughter by Michael Swanwick. 33% in. Meh. YA. A bit. Started in a factory where children worked like slaves. Combined with magic. She escapes on a "dragon". Now she's going to a high school but they're looking for her. Bit to YA.

Ash by Mary Gentle. You'd think with rapping 8 year olds and so on it'd be very grim and adult like but no. Not really. Read a review. Bit of a stereotypical light romance like women always write.

Bad habit lately of finishing bad books. Related to buying them. These days that first 10% (the free sample) are really good.