T’was the night before Christmas

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Overtime by Charles Stross
Publisher: Tor Books
Number of pages: 25

Introduced to readers in the novels The Atrocity Archive and The Jennifer Morgue, the Laundry is a secret British government agency charged with preventing dark interdimensional entities from destroying the human race.  Now, in “Overtime,” the Laundry is on a skeleton staff for Christmas — leaving one bureaucrat to be all that stands between the world and annihilation by the Thing That Comes Down Chimneys. Written especially for Tor.com’s holiday season, Charles Stross’s novelette is a finalist for the 2010 Hugo Award.   Charles Stross is the Hugo-winning author of some of the most acclaimed novels and stories of the last ten years, including Singularity Sky, Accelerando, Halting State, the “Merchant Princes” series beginning with The Family Trade, and the story collections Toast and Wireless.

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I think Overtime is the only Christmas-themed book I have in my Kindle, and I really scheduled to read it in December. I have never heard of Charles Stross before, but who am I to deny myself of a free ebook, right?

In Overtime, Bob Howard ends up being the night shift guard on duty on Christmas — he didn’t want to, but he wasn’t able to file his holiday leave so he was left with no choice. Bob was prepared for an uneventful night alone in his temporary office, but memories of the Laundry Christmas party and some strange noises and temperature drops tell him that something else is coming — through the chimney.

I have never read any books from the Laundry Series, so the characters and the settings in Overtime were all new to me. I was kind of wary about that and I thought I would get lost in the story, but I was surprised that I wasn’t. While I would want a better explanation of who the other characters were and what Laundry was really all about, I felt that this novella was still complete enough to stand on its own. It’s very reminiscent to Jasper Fforde’s work, with the same British humor (although I think Stross is Scottish) with urban fantasy tones. And I liked the Christmas twist on the story, too.

I’m not sure if I want to splurge on the other Laundry series books, but I am definitely curious. I think I would need a little more convincing…but not so much. Any words to convince me to do so?

Rating: [rating=4]

My copy: free ebook from Amazon Kindle store
→ You may also read the ebook from Tor.com

Cover and blurb: Goodreads

Other reviews:
The Scattering

Posted in: Reviews \ Tagged: , , , , , , , , ,

Christmas 2010 Wish List

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Image by Suryakami from DeviantArt

I’ve always made wish lists every year and I share it with my family and friends (especially my brother) so he knows what gift to get me. I find wish lists very helpful so I rely on them in gift giving especially for guys. :P

But you know what’s strange, though? Every birthday and Christmas, I hardly get book presents. I know, right? I make lists, but people often get other items from my list. Maybe because I know that I will eventually get the book I want? Or maybe they hardly go to bookstores, or at least, don’t go as much as I do? Or, like I told Jason in the Filipino Friday he hosted last week, maybe it’s their subtle way of telling me to pull my nose out of a book every once in a while?

But anyway I can’t let the first Christmas of my book blog without posting a Christmas wish list. Okay, maybe I can…but it’s fun to make wish lists in hopes of a random generous stranger (or friend!) getting me something from the list. Eventually I will probably get most of these on my own, but I would be forever thankful if I get any of these from friends. :P

BOOK RELATED THINGS:

  • Dry seal for label for my books – I’ve been wishing for this for two years I think? A simple “Tina” or “Tinamats” on the seal would do, and some stars on the design would be nice. :P If you need details, more on Blooey’s blog. (And if I still don’t get this as a gift up until my birthday next year, I will get this on my own already…there is still hope!)
  • m-Edge e-luminator Kindle book light – because I need a book light that is easier to slip inside my Kindle case.

BOOKS:

Ebooks or actual print books – I’m not picky. :P Remember, Kindle Ebook Gifting is possible now. :P

  1. Five Flavors of Dumb by Antony John
  2. The Last Dragonslayer by Jasper Fforde
  3. Dash and Lily’s Book of Dares by David Levithan and Rachel Cohn
  4. Mistwood by Leah Cypess
  5. Trese Books # 2-3 by Budjette Tan and Kajo Baldisimo
  6. The Extraordinary Secrets of April, May and June by Robin Benway
  7. The Kid Table by Andrea Seigel
  8. UK Edition of Trash by Andy Mulligan
  9. Plain Kate by Erin Bow
  10. Please Ignore Vera Dietz by A.S. King
  11. The Mockingbirds by Daisy Whitney
  12. Immanuel’s Veins by Ted Dekker

Obviously, there’s more, but the books above are the ones that I would love to get this Christmas. More help? Here — my Amazon (ebook) wish list and my Book Depository wish list! :)

NON-BOOK RELATED/MISCELLANEOUS:

  • Anything with sunflowers and/or stars
  • A new laptop bag (must fit a Lenovo Thinkpad T400)
  • Azta Salon gift certificates*
  • Shopping money – by shopping, I mean non-books: clothes, shoes, make-up, etc.
  • Pens from Muji
  • Those NatGeo shirts from Regatta (I’m a Medium!)
  • Little Miss Writer Shirt — pretty.
  • New sunglasses

If you have a wish list too, share them in the comment section! Who knows, maybe some generous person will bless you with something. :)

* I know I mentioned GCs can be impersonal but I think it’s not when the person actually requested it. :P Hence the presence of gift certificate on the wish list. :)

Posted in: Wishlist \ Tagged: , , , , , ,

Kindle Ebook Gifting Program

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Earlier today I was contemplating on splurging on some ebooks on Amazon and I was just about to get one when I saw a very curious button, one I have never seen before:

Kindle give ebook as gift

Hmm...what does this button do?

Give as a gift? I wondered. So I tested it and got to this screen:

Give as gift place order page

Sending a Kindle ebook as a gift

Imagine my excitement when I understood what this meant! Yes! It is possible to give an ebook as a gift from the Amazon Kindle Store!

From the press release (source):

Beginning today, just in time for the holiday season, customers can give Kindle Books as gifts to anyone with an e-mail address—no Kindle required. Kindle Books can be read on Kindle devices and free Kindle reading apps for iPad, iPod touch, iPhone, Mac, PC, BlackBerry and Android-based devices. For more information or to give a Kindle Book as a gift, go to www.amazon.com/givekindlebooks.

“We are thrilled to make it easier than ever for our customers to give their favorite Kindle book to a friend or family member as a gift,” said Russ Grandinetti, Vice President, Amazon Kindle. “We’re making this functionality available in time for the holidays to offer an easy, stress free holiday shopping option for anyone – not just Kindle owners.”

To give a Kindle Book as a gift, customers simply choose a book in the Kindle Store, select “Give as a Gift” and send their gift to anyone with an email address. Notifications of Kindle Books gifts are delivered instantly via e-mail and the recipient redeems the gift in the Kindle Store to read on any Kindle or free Kindle app.

But what if you don’t have a Kindle, or the person you’re giving to doesn’t have a Kindle? According to the website, Kindle ebooks can be given as gifts as long as the recipient has an email address. The ebook can still be read through any of the free Kindle apps on PCs, Macs, iPhone, iPad, BlackBerry or Android Phones.

All ebooks available in the Kindle Store can be given as gifts, and in case the recipient doesn’t like or want the gift, it can be exchanged for Amazon.com gift cards.

This ebook gifting is a great way to save on shipping, IMO. It doesn’t beat receiving real books in post, of course, but it would be a great gift idea for friends who have Kindles or likes ebooks.

You know what this means, right? Time to start building my Amazon Kindle ebook wish list! :)

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Holiday Swap

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As of this writing, there are only 46 days till Christmas. Again: where did time go? Why is it going too fast? Before we know it, November (and NaNoWriMo) is over, and it’s December! And it’s Christmas!

Okay, so I think everyone can see that I love Christmas, and Christmas always makes things better for me, no matter how bad my mood is. Plus, Christmas automatically makes me more generous for some reason (must be the spirit of giving!). When I saw posts from Holly and Chachic about the Book Blogger Holiday Swap, I decided to join in for the fun!

I love exchanging gifts during Christmas (I am almost always the mastermind for other exchange gifts/Secret Santa/Kris Kringle plans among my friends) so a book swap is definitely something I’d love to do. I know international shipping is going to make a dent in my wallet, but still I chose that option, because it’s fun! And it’s just once a year anyway, so why not go all out? I’m already starting to think of ideas to put in the package like bookmarks and trinkets and rings, and maybe add a couple of local books that I like in it, to share local literature. :)

Hm. That reminds me, I think I shall suggest something like this to my friends now. :D And maybe think of a Christmas giveaway too? Hmmm.

Ah, Christmas. I love it. It’s the most wonderful time of the year… :)

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