archet

What If? by Randall Munroe



Blurb:

Fans of the xkcd comic ask Munroe a lot of strange questions: What if you tried to hit a baseball pitched at 90 percent the speed of light? How fast can you hit a speed bump while driving and live? If there was a robot apocalypse, how long would humanity last? What if everyone only had one soulmate? What would happen if the moon went away?

In pursuit of answers, Munroe runs computer simulations, pores over stacks of declassified military research memos, solves differential equations, and consults with nuclear reactor operators. His responses are masterpieces of clarity and hilarity, complemented by his signature xkcd comics. (They often predict the complete annihilation of humankind, or at least a really big explosion.)

In celebration of 10 years of unusual insight, Randall Munroe has revised his classic blockbuster to ask what if? x 10. The result is 10x the adventure of scientific inquiry. Featuring brand-new 2-color annotations and illustrations, this special anniversary edition is far more than a book for geeks, What If? explains the laws of science in operation in a way that every intelligent reader will enjoy and feel much smarter for having read.

While I love, xkcd comics, I found the book a little hard to get through. Some of the questions were genuinely interesting and the explanation intriguing, but many of them seem to end up in the same place every time. An amusing read overall though.

Note: with this square completed, I have one left!

1. Have you ever been to summer camp?
Every summer from the time I was seven until sixteen. The best two weeks of the whole summer. The camp was on land owned by the company my father worked for, and since it was one of the biggest employers in town, lots of kids I knew from school were there too and kids from some of the other schools in the area. It was in the middle of nowhere, had to take a bus most of the way there, and then walk the rest. One time, one of the girls in my cabin decided she was going to wear her swim suit the whole two weeks and not take it off. Not for horse back riding, not for archery, not for overnight camping in the woods. She did shower though. She was one of the cool girls, so she got away with it without much shame or harassment. Site of my first kiss. Where my counselor read us The Little Prince and I had to go find that book when I got home. Where we did crafts with substances that I think are illegal in this country now - I googled them a few years ago - wire dipping. And clacker balls. And so so many lanyards. But, yeah, I loved that place. You had to earn the right to come back as a counselor, which I did for one summer, but then I got involved in other stuff in high school that took up my summers, so I stopped. It closed down, and the company sold all the land. It's been clear cut and the cabins bulldozed. But there's a Facebook group keeping the memories alive.

2. Have you ever made a s'more?
Yes, many times.

3. Have you ever slept under the stars (no tent/tarp)? Yes, several times. Both at camp above and later in college.

4. Have you ever had a member of the opposite sex sleep over at your house?
What are we, twelve? Yes, yes I have.

5. What type of bed do you have (queen, twin, bunk, etc.)?
A queen bed. My cozy place.

A Sorceress Comes to Call by T. Kingfisher



Blurb:

Cordelia knows her mother is unusual. Their house doesn’t have any doors between rooms, and her mother doesn't allow Cordelia to have a single friend—unless you count Falada, her mother's beautiful white horse. The only time Cordelia feels truly free is on her daily rides with him. But more than simple eccentricity sets her mother apart. Other mothers don’t force their daughters to be silent and motionless for hours, sometimes days, on end. Other mothers aren’t sorcerers.

After a suspicious death in their small town, Cordelia’s mother insists they leave in the middle of the night, riding away on Falada’s sturdy back, leaving behind all Cordelia has ever known. They arrive at the remote country manor of a wealthy older man, the Squire, and his unwed sister, Hester. Cordelia’s mother intends to lure the Squire into marriage, and Cordelia knows this can only be bad news for the bumbling gentleman and his kind, intelligent sister.

Hester sees the way Cordelia shrinks away from her mother, how the young girl sits eerily still at dinner every night. Hester knows that to save her brother from bewitchment and to rescue the terrified Cordelia, she will have to face down a wicked witch of the worst kind.

I've had this on my 'Want to read' list for a while. I've previously read T. Kingfisher's The Halcyon Fairy Book, which is her annotations of various fairy tales, plus some bonus original fairy tales/retellings, so I was intrigued to read a full novel based on a fairy tale, in this case The Goose Girl.

A really great read - interesting to see all the elements of the original fairy tale woven into a full length book, including the geese. The horror elements in most Grimm fairy tales are fully fleshed out here, so be ready for that. It's hard to know when/where this is set. In the author's notes, she references the Regency Period, but it isn't really set in Britain. Some fantasy version of it, perhaps.