Onefinemess

The blog formerly known as Onefinemess.

delayed mini-reviews

onefinemess | August 24, 2010

I just haven’t felt like blogging lately.  Luckily for you, my obsessive drive to document all things minuscule  and pointless compels me to review everything I read these days.  Maybe someday I’ll start reviewing tweets and FB comments.  Or not.  I suppose I could have posted these all as individual blogs but hey, I’m a [...]

book review: Anathem

onefinemess | August 2, 2010

Anathem by: Neal Stephenson I read about 1/4 of this, then took a “break” in the middle to read Battle Cry of Freedom.   The reverse of what I usually do – break a history book up with a fiction or two… but this one started off a bit slow and BCoF was very engaging (for [...]

book review: Battle Cry of Freedom

onefinemess | July 25, 2010

Battle Cry of Freedom by: James McPherson So I finished this like a week ago but I’ve been putting of writing a review because a) I’m not sure what to say b) there’s too much to say and c) I don’t have the energy to try and say it all.  So this will be about [...]

US history is not boring?

onefinemess | June 22, 2010

So, I’m reading Battle Cry of Freedom, and it’s totally not boring. “Of course it’s not!”  you say, “This is gripping shit!” Sure, fine, but that’s you.  If you asked my what I read on an average day last year I would have said “genre fiction, random non-fiction, and histories of places other than the [...]

book review: The Hammer of the Sun

onefinemess | June 11, 2010

The Hammer of the Sun (The Winter of the World book 3 of 3) by: Michael Scott Rohan There are many different ways to judge the quality of a book, I think.  Some stand out on a technical level, others shine in their mastery of wordcraft, or worldbuilding, or believable characters.  There’s also “emotional impact”, [...]

more on photorealistic covers, midriffs and backs

onefinemess | June 6, 2010

Once again, I’m amused/nonplussed/annoyed/confused/gassy about the current state of “fantasy” covers.  Nothing personal against any of the authors – as I have a pretty good idea how much say authors can be limited to when it comes to covers, and the books may well be wondrous troves of deep, enriching fantasy goodstuff.  So, let’s just [...]

book review: the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

onefinemess | June 4, 2010

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by: Steig Larsson So.  I don’t usually read “crime fiction”, or whatever this is.  Mystery?  Maybe?  I mean there was definitely a mystery or four involved.  Anyway, whatever it was I decided to bite the bullet for once and see what all the fuss is about.   And was pleasantly [...]

book review: American Slavery, American Freedom

onefinemess | May 31, 2010

American Slavery, American Freedom by. Edmund S. Morgan The first thing I notice about a history book is how fast it reads, and this one ready pretty fast – I’m guessing some of that is because an average of 1/4 of each page was filled by citations/annotations – most of which I could skip – [...]

book review: Mainspring

onefinemess | May 18, 2010

Mainspring by: Jay Lake I have to say, the opening chapter put me off.  Especially the last page or so, I was like really?  Really? Not only do the apprentice’s master’s sons hate him, but one happens to beat him up and steal the last of his father’s money on the way out of town?  [...]

book review: Empire of Ivory

onefinemess | May 14, 2010

Empire of Ivory by: Naomi Novik Another good read that I just tore through, but I’m starting to see a pattern… Maybe it’s just the (now somewhat) practiced writer in me – but her plot shapes are showing.  I suspect this is probably how all books read, more or less – but – I’m really [...]