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Random Articles - RAW 160902

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Hi and thanks for dropping by.  This week I'm serving up the usual random articles of interest from book stuff to movie and tech stuff, and I hope you find the time to enjoy reading it with your favourite beverage.  If you missed my post last Sunday, I've started a new YouTube series called Treasures from the Bookshelf and looked at the Freedom Series by Anne McCaffrey. See it here.  Stay tuned this Sunday, the 4th September 2016 as I'll release another episode of Treasures from the Bookshelf, this time looking at Julian May's The Rampart Word series.

Enjoy!




Books to give you hope: Station Eleven by Emily St John Mandel

There ain’t a lot of hope at the end of the world. And I really, really hate apocalyptic fiction. So my choice for the books to give you hope series? Emily St John Mandel’s Station Eleven: a book about the end of the world.
When Station Eleven was first published almost two years ago, I read the press release, flipped through it and put it on my pile of books I’ll probably never get round to. I didn’t need another dose of post-apocalyptic bleakness in my life.

The President's Summer Reading List

President Obama shared his official summer reading list -- a mix of fiction and non-fiction, including a Pulitzer Prize-winning surf memoir, a psychological thriller, and a science fiction novel. Check out the list.

London Bookstores are Boycotting WIFI

There is a growing trend of indie bookstores in the United Kingdom that are ditching wireless internet access. This is being done to combat showrooming, where people browse and find a better deal online.
The absence of WIFI was first noticed in London and the bookstores participating are; Libreria Books, Tenderbooks, Word on the Water, Buchhandlung Walther König and Lutyens & Rubinstein.

Kobo’s Giant E-Reader May Put the Kindle in Its Place

In the annals of great underdogs, a Canadian subsidiary of a Japanese mega-retailer makes for an unlikely entrant. And yet here’s Kobo, again, with a new e-reader that could give Kindle owners some serious second thoughts.

The Seven Sacraments of Harry Potter

What is it about Harry? Is it his lowly upbringing in the cupboard under the stairs, and his unknown superstar status? Is it the magical world of Quidditch and Thestrals and Wandmakers that we get to discover alongside him? Lord knows we’d all want a wand to choose us!

Luc Besson's Scifi Epic Valerian Looks Like The Fifth Element to the Fifth Power

The prospect of a new, big scale scifi movie from The Fifth Element director Luc Besson is exciting enough. After seeing footage and images from Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets in Hall H at San Diego Comic-Con this Thursday, it seems that excitement is fully warranted.
Valerian doesn’t open until July 21, 2017, but Besson was on hand with stars Dane DeHaan and Cara Delevingne to show a few quick scenes from the film, and explain the world the director has dreamed of making a reality for decades.

This Intriguing Aircraft Concept Aims to Eliminate Airport Lines and Terminals

While the Germans are busy developing the world’s first vertical takeoff and landing electric jet, the Swiss are looking to revolutionize the air travel industry with a new modular approach.



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