Hmm, I’ve been having a little debate with myself.  Return to blogging or stay away…?  I occasionally visit my admin page and see that somehow I’m still getting hits everyday.  In fact I’m getting as many hits as I did when I was actively writing.  I’m not sure how that works out.

One of the things that’s got me rethinking my silence is the Weekly Geeks project which I believe is being headed by Dewey.  I like the idea of linking to other reviews in my reviews.  If I do come back I would like to implement this and I think that my reviews would be much simpler.  I find it entirely too much like work to write a moderately lengthy review which may be why I burned out.

Anyway, I suppose this post could be seen as a test.

The good old research randomizer form has given me the winner of The Lost Men book giveaway. Thanks to all those who entered, I had great participation. I promise we’ll do this again relatively soon as I already have another book picked out for the next contest. Without further ado, the winner is…

Michele D.

I have already emailed Michele so I’ll get that book out soon. Thanks again!

I have now written the first draft of my review for The Lost Men and discovered that my rating really should have been a 4.5.  So now those participating in the giveaway can look forward to (possibly) winning an even better book than originally indicated!  I’ve had a good turn out on the giveaway so far, which is unfortunate for those participating because for each person that enters the chances of winning become worse.  Sorry about that…

That’s right, time for the first A Variety of Words book giveaway. I am giving away a copy of The Lost Men in hardcover. If you haven’t read my previous post about this book it is the true story of a group of men who traveled to Antarctica in 1914 to lay depots of supplies for Ernest Shackleton’s trek across the entire continent. Lets just say that things didn’t go all that well with the expedition. I will be reviewing this book for Curled Up and have given it a 8.0 or 4 stars.

Here’s what you do, email me at the address you see to the right there. Use the title of the book, The Lost Men, as the subject and include your name. I will randomly draw a name and then email that person for their address. The deadline is Friday, January 25 at 9:00 p.m. PST. I will be mailing the book media rate to save a bit on costs. But hey, you’re getting the book for free so that’s okay right? Good luck!

I have just posted notes from the last chapter of Under the Black Flag on A Variety of Notes.  Next I will be posting my notes from The Fabric of the Cosmos.  Hopefully they will make sense, they did to me at the time, but I am afraid that they may be difficult to decipher outside of the context of the book.  Might take a bit more work on my part.

I have also finished reading both Half of a Yellow Sun and The Lost Men.  I’m still unsure of how I feel about Half of a Yellow Sun.  I don’t understand why the author chose to relate events in the order she did.  You’ll know what I’m talking about if you’ve read it.  I felt it was ultimately unnecessary to it the way she chose.  In fact, ultimately it ended up bothering me.

Next up will be The Ministry of Special Cases (from Curled Up, no idea what to expect) and The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat.