Dracula by Bram Stoker

I’ve never been into horror books or movies, never watched Buffy the Vampire Slayer, nor did I know much about vampires in general. In fact, my thoughts and images regarding vampires were pretty much shaped by Count Chocula commercials and the Sesame Street Count!

I’m not really sure why I chose to download Dracula by Bram Stoker as one of my first Kindle books, but I’m glad I did! I found it extremely easy to read, even though it was written in the late 1800′s. A lot of it was set in London, and it was cool to read references to train stations and other landmarks that I have been to or heard about.

I, Robot – a Short Story by Cory Doctorow

A really quick read is Cory Doctorow’s version of I, Robot which was written as an homage to Isaac Asimov’s original series of short stories of the same name.  Doctorow’s version is part of a series of short stories called Overclocked.

So far, I’ve only read the one story, I, Robot. I haven’t seen the movie of the same name, nor have I read Asimov’s versions. Because of this, I felt like I wasn’t quite getting the whole picture of what Doctorow was getting at. The story seemed to be much too short for what he wanted to say. I’m guessing that the other stories contained in Over Clocked may tie things together for me.

Wired Love: A Romance of Dots and Dashes

A 19-year-old young woman becomes obsessed with chatting electronically with a young man 70+ miles away. Not unlike a zillion young women and men in the 21st century.

 Yet this “online” romance took place in the 1800s!

Nettie is a telegraph operator who dreams of being an author. One day in the course of normal business she receives a message from “C” a telegraph operator in another city. They strike up a “conversation” in Morse Code, and soon become fast electronic friends.

Manifold: Time by Stephen Baxter

The first book  in the “Manifold” trilogy by Stephen Baxter, Manifold: Time is a fast-paced story that traverses multiple universes and travels back and forth through time.

The story revolves around Reid Malenfant and his ex-wife/employee, Emma Stoney.  When the mysterious Cornelius Taine shows up in Emma’s office one day, life is never the same. The brilliant but seemingly crazy Taine convinces failed-NASA-astronaut/entrepreneur head of “Bootstrap Inc.” Malenfant  that the “Carter catastrophe” (a probabilistic doomsday prediction) is real. Which causes him to change the entire focus of his business.