Book reviews for December 2014
The Peripheral by William Gibson
5/5
William Gibson does time travel with a twist. Gripping and weird and wonderful.
5/5
William Gibson does time travel with a twist. Gripping and weird and wonderful.

Winter starts now in the northern hemisphere, Summer south of the equator. Rendered in Catfood Earth (Windows, Android). Now read why mornings will continue to get darker for the next couple of weeks.
The Washington Post fantasizes about a four party system:
"If we assign members of Congress to political parties based on the spending votes, we end up with four parties. The Liberals bucked the Democratic president to oppose the spending package. The Democrats voted for it. The Republicans followed Boehner and McConnell's lead. The Conservatives didn't."
The War Nerd: More proof the US defense industry has nothing to do with defending America
Why we don't need fighter jets. Blistering.
Prototype Companion Cube, 1980
And I ordered my 80s outfit right before reading this... (posting mainly to test my spanking new Feedly integration)



Coastal redwoods at Armstrong Redwoods State Natural Reserve. Parson Jones is over 310 feet high, Colonel Armstrong over 1,400 years old.
Hike starts at 38.532406, -123.002853 (Google Earth, Google Maps).
(Hike Map)
(Published to the Fediverse as: Armstrong Redwoods #hike #armstrong #redwoods Hike through coastal redwoods at the Armstrong Redwoods State Natural Reserve. )




Salt Point State Park on the Sonoma coast. Stunning views, plentiful seals and some cool tide pools (although the rocks on the way down are like greased butter). Apparently the sandstone from Salt Point was used to pave San Francisco which goes a long way to explain the state of the streets...
Hike starts at 38.566568, -123.331860 (Google Earth, Google Maps).
(Hike Map)
(Published to the Fediverse as: Salt Point State Park #hike #saltpoint #seal #hermitcrab A short hike and some photos at Salt Point State Park in Sonoma County, California. )
2/5
Maybe I missed something but a character I didn't particularly care for got a blog which got fairly popular and then ran out of steam. If it wasn't short I don't think I'd have finished it.
4/5
A World War Two yarn of intersecting French and German lives - bit players dragged into the war. Affecting and very well written.

15 second exposure from a NatureBridge night hike last night. Then s'mores!
(Published to the Fediverse as: Night sky from Marin Headlands #photo #stars #naturebridge Photo of the night sky from the Marin Headlands in California. )