I had a fun 3 month journey trying my hand at vlogging and video production again. I enjoyed doing this and am hoping to do more in the future. I think the hardest video for me was The Wheel of Time one trying to answer a question on a series I'd never read as well as trying to do something different instead of standing in front of a book shelf. It's difficult to say which one was my favourite, it would be a draw between the Star Trek Kelvin Timeline as well as the Shakespeare one. As a way of saying thanks for joining me in this journey here is a  fun video. Thanks again for your support, your views and your comments, not just over the last three months but to all my regular readers.  I really appreciate it. If you have any ideas as to content you'd like to me explore I'd be interested in hearing from you. Thanks heaps .

I love reading Sherlock Holmes stories, every few years I'll revisit some of this stories. Just this week I've just finished reading The Hound of the Baskervilles and after the 4th or 5th time still love it. I'll also watch the film and TV adaptoions as well but I would encourage you to put aside sometime to actually read the source material. Following are a few random articles that I've been saving up about Sherlock Holmes.  Enjoy them with a pot of Earl Grey Tea.  If you want to show your Fandom and support me as well, why not head on over to my TeePublic page and grab a Hound Of The Baskervilles  T-shirt .  You don't have to stick with the colour I've chosen you can choose your own colour, shirt style or even get the design on a mug if you wish. Head on over and take a look. [ link ]

It's that time of year when Amazon releases their list of The Best Books of the Year 2016 . Among the top list was one Science Fiction and Fantasy Novel called The Wolf Road  by Beth Lewis, which was nice to see.  A dystopian adventure, of course, The Wolf Road is an intimate cat-and-mouse tale of revenge and redemption, played out against a vast, unforgiving landscape—told by an indomitable young heroine fighting to escape her past and rejoin humanity.  That story does look interesting, but what about the Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of 2016? True to form Amazon had list of the best of, for most genre so I headed over to see what was there and was surprised.  I only knew about 2 or 3 of the twenty books in the list.  I took a look through and saw four which interested me.     Ninefox Gambit (Machineries of Empire Book 1) by Yoon Ha Lee was on that list so I haven't listed it below. You can find an entire post dedicated to it here ( Up...

Here's an urban fantasy which looks interesting, firstly because it's set in the City of Brisbane and secondly because one of the plot devices include and illegal wine made from the tears of human children.  A book to enjoy with maybe an Australian Riesling? Vigil is the first book in award-winning author Angela Slatter's Verity Fassbinder series.

[Christian devotion] The Hawkeye character which we see in the Marvel Movies has a very different backstory from the original Clint Barton character first introduced in the comics in 1964. Hawkeye is one of those complex characters who wants to do the right thing but ends up in big trouble.

I read Ken MacLeod's Engines of Light series when it first came out and remember enjoying it, so I was pleased to see this new series being released. This story has an interesting premise and one which hasn't been too over used so I look forward to seeing how he handles the subject. Ken has also recently published an article titled  Is Science Fiction Past Its Sell-By Date?  which is a good read too. 

Welcome to the weekend. This weeks hand picked articles include a story about JRR Tolkien's Middle Earth love story, Beren and Lúthien. Did you know that Tolkien related his courtship and marriage of Edith (his wife) to a story he wrote of an immortal elven maiden, Luthien, sacrificing her immortality in order to marry a mortal man, Beren. This story was eventually published as part of The Silmarillion. Tolkien self-consciously equated Luthien with Edith and himself with Beren based on a walk they took in a wood some time later when Tolkien was recuperating during World War I. He even had “Luthien” inscribed on Edith’s tombstone and “Beren” carved into his own. Mark Horne, J.R.R. Tolkien (Christian Encounters Series), pg. 45 Grab your favourite beverage, perhaps a beer brewed at the Green Dragon and enjoy your weekend reading.

In the introduction Manu Saadia, the author, says that the primary objective of his book is to describe the economics of Star Trek and looking at if it is possible to move towards an economy implied in the Star Trek shows. As he did the question of possibility gradually dissolved, it turns out that Star Trek's main economic thesis 'that machines can eventually free us from the drudgery of work' is almost as old as the Industrial Revolution itself.  Trekonomics it is not at all crazy, on the contrary but seems rather reasonable in light of the trajectory of the past two centuries.

It's the weekend again and are some handpicked articles from across the internet which I found interesting and hope that you will too.  Feel free to head on over to my Facebook page The BistroMath to make comments and ask questions. I'm looking forward to starting a conversation.  Don't forget to hit that like button while your there. Sit back now with your favourite beverage and enjoy some weekend reading.