Jon Scalzi: Thoughts on Dan Brown | Whatever

Jon Scalzi: Thoughts on Dan Brown | Whatever:

"Being cranky about a Dan Brown book not being high literature is like yelling at a cupcake for not being a salad; it’s really missing the point." I think is a very well-put refutation of people who sneer at popular things because they aren’t deep or high-brow enough. I haven’t read either Scalzi or Brown yet (though there is a lot more Scalzi on my ToBeRead list), but I did enjoy the Da Vinci Code in the theater.

via Tumblr http://tumblr.soelo.com/post/54280017291

Royal descendants of Queen Victoria and King Christian IX - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Royal descendants of Queen Victoria and King Christian IX - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:

There are six monarchs in Europe that are directly descended from either Queen Victoria or King Christian IX (of Denmark) or both. “In summation, the monarchs of Norway, Denmark and the United Kingdom as well as the consorts of the United Kingdom and Spain are descended from both Queen Victoria and King Christian IX. The kings of Spain and Sweden are descended from Queen Victoria and not King Christian IX. The King of Belgium is descended from King Christian IX and not Queen Victoria”

However there is one couple that bests both of them: “The descendants of Johan William Friso of Nassau-Dietz, Prince of Orange and his wife Landgravine Marie Louise of Hesse-Kassel currently occupy all the hereditary thrones of Europe, as well as some former ones.” They were born in the 1680s and only had two children. The first of their descendants to rule didn’t take the throne until 1815.

via Tumblr http://tumblr.soelo.com/post/53899646486

Pinterest: The Mortal Instrumen

http://media-cache-ec4.pinimg.com/192x/fc/a2/48/fca2484d29e3f4d1c13cf55837be5d36.jpg

The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones Jonathan Rhys Meyers Poster

http://pinterest.com/pin/232709505718530281/

I think the Kim/Kanye baby's middle name should be By North.

via Facebook

Whoa, I had no idea this was in development. I mean, isn’t...

Whoa, I had no idea this was in development. I mean, isn’t every YA series in development, really? But there is a cast and an article for this one. I read book one of the series but it was hard to stick with it due to the violence and bleakness. Book two was almost as bleak and more confusing. But I did like them enough to keep reading the series, just not immediately. There is one more book in the timeline and then a prequel.

via Tumblr http://tumblr.soelo.com/post/53481453986

US rivers in the contiguous 48 by Nelson Minar on Flickr.

US rivers in the contiguous 48 by Nelson Minar on Flickr.

via Tumblr http://tumblr.soelo.com/post/52995980486

Yesterday I heard "Everything About You" by Ugly Kid Joe and "Baby, Baby" by Amy Grant. Both of those songs are more than twenty years old.

via Facebook

It is June 1st, so that means a new Seasonal Reading Challenge is starting. I have been participating in this challenge since December 2011, so I am starting my 7th quarter. Every three months, a new set of tasks is set and you keep track of the ones you complete and earn points. Examples of tasks are "Read a book with a day of the week in the title/subtitle." or "read a book with water on the cover." but they can and do get more complicated than that. Often there are six options and you pick two or you roll two dice to decide which two you complete. There is always a 50 point challenge set at the halfway point that requires 3 books.

Many people complete the challenge, which means they read 80-90 books in three months! I do not read that fast, but I still enjoy the challenge. I usually get between 300 and 400 points and read around 20 books. The best I did was 540 points last summer out of a possible 1080. This summer there are 71 tasks and 1350 points possible.