Month: May 2007

had a meme suggestion: Ten books that influenced you as a young reader. Not only does it let folks in on your likes and dislikes, but also can be very revealing about us – if you accept the notion that what we read forms who we are.

Here are my ten:

1. D’Aulaire’s Book of Greek Myths by Ingri and Edgar Parin D’Aulaire.

2. A Tolkien Bestiary by David Day

3. Star Wars: From the Adventures of Luke Skywalker by Alan Dean Foster (writing as George Lucas).

4. Dune by Frank Herbert

5. Casino Royale by Ian Fleming

6. Monster Manual by Gary Gygax, Et. Al.

7. Buckaroo Banzai by Earl Mac Rauch

8. Conan of Cimmeria by Robert E. Howard

9. Childhood’s End by Arthur C. Clarke

10. A Wrinkle In Time by Madeline L’Engle

I’ve stretched the definition of “young reader” to as late as 15 in my case, but that’s OK, I think.

Non spoiler thoughts on both:

Doctor Who: Watched the second part of the two-parter. It didn’t get any better. The first true dud of the season. There wasn’t enough plot to merit a two-part story, and almost no utilization of the setting, apart from the Empire State Building as a plot device. Predictable story at every step of the way, and, as I said before, they’re overusing the Daleks.

Heroes: Last night’s episode was their homage to the classic X-Men “Days of Future Past” storyline, giving us a view of the dystopian future, which nicely serves to give personal stakes for failing to save the world. Brilliant acting from pretty much everybody, too — I had managed to suss out the big reveal simply because of the strength of Adrian Pasdar’s performance. I’m impressed as hell with this show….so much so that my Bittorrent-junkie self will actually be buying the first season DVD set when it comes out.