 It is the end of August 2016. It is time for my wrap-up for the month. I'll talk about what I've read, what I am reading, and what's coming up. First of all, these two issues of Galaxy magazine from July and August 1974. I already reviewed these just a week ago for the Orbitsville story that's in here. And some books that I got at a Christian resale shop that's next door to the laundromat I go to. I was just killing some time over there, and I found these science fiction books by well-known science fiction authors. Stephen R. Donaldson, The Mirror of Her Dreams. I'm familiar with Stephen R. Donaldson. I'm not familiar with this book. These are all big books, by the way. Glory Season by David Brinn. Of course I've read David Brinn before. I reviewed Sundiver very early on in my list of reviews. I'm not familiar with this book. Consider Flebis by Ian M. Banks. This is a book that I've read about, that I've heard about. I've heard a lot of good things about it. Ian M. Banks, though, is an author that I don't like. I strongly dislike his writing. I've not talked about it before. But it says here on the cover, the author of The Wasp Factory and The Player of Games. Those are both books that I've tried to read, and I was unable to. I just couldn't stand them. And it's because of his writing. But this was 50 cents, I think. So maybe I'll try it someday. Now, here's some books that I got at the thrift shop at the library. Engine City by Ken MacLeod. I don't know anything about it. I read the description at the shop, and I guess I found it interesting enough. I'm just now noticing that it says the stunning conclusion to The Engine's of Light. So this is the final book in a series, so I guess I can't read it. Footfall by Larry Niven and Jerry Purnell. An unfortunate cover design. It's hard to read. Of course, I'm familiar with Niven and Purnell. I reviewed the mode in God's Eye that was written by that team. This I've not heard of. The Roar by Emma Clayton. Something about London during a plague. Don't know, we'll find out. And something called The Taker by Amakatsu. Seductive daring, soaring, and gut-wrenching. A lush historical rendering of transcendental love, paranormal beings, and the depths of pain that can be felt by immortal hearts. Why did I buy this? I don't know. There's something about it at the time that I saw. Here's pictures of a couple of other books I saw at the library thrift store that I did not buy. I took pictures of them because they were so ridiculous. Speaking of ridiculous, but ridiculous in a good way, I found this, a DVD of Bumpin' the Night. I found it at Walmart of all places. The video quality on this DVD is terrible. It's not much better than copies of this series that you'll find uploaded on YouTube. Just awful. But it says it's the complete series and it is, and that's why I bought it. It even includes the Christmas special, which is the one thing that I remembered most vividly about this show. In case you're not familiar with this, this was a Saturday morning cartoon in the 1990s. A stop-motion animated cartoon. I mean, who the hell ever made stop-motion animated cartoons for Saturday morning television? But this is an almost entirely forgotten show. Speaking of animated shows, I ordered this. It came in just the beginning of the day, Lattro and the Mist by Gene Wolf. Why I ordered this? In a recent episode of Steven Universe, there was a flashback in which a historical explorer a couple hundred years ago reported encountering the character Rose Quartz, who is Steven's dead mother in case you don't know, encountered her in the desert in the company of Seven Lions. He was very specific about repeating that she was in the company of Seven Lions and observant people on the internet have pointed out that there is a character named Seven Lions in these books. And I don't think that can be a coincidence. The people who make that show are so thorough and very careful about their obscure references. So I want to see what that's about. And I've been determined for some years now to read more Gene Wolf. So I'll use this as an excuse. What I'm reading, I am almost finished reading JR Hamantessian's latest book from last year. I'm sorry to say that I'm not terribly impressed. And I just started reading, I mean just yesterday, the Hex by Thomas Oldie who I'veelt. I had not intended to start this book. I opened it up a couple days ago just to read the first couple of pages, see what it's like, and I didn't want to stop reading it. So that should give you an indication that I'm liking it. But it's always a mistake for me to recommend a book when I've only just started reading it. It always turns out to be a mistake. So I won't talk about it again until I'm finished reading it. I'm preparing a whole list of audiobooks to listen to while I'm driving over the next two weeks. And I'm also preparing a list of books that I'm going to review for October for horror month again. I'm not going to tell you what they are. And you may have noticed that I have officially launched the sci-fi book bag project. And I'm getting ready to mail out my first book to my $120 patron. I still have only three patrons, $26 a month. They've been stuck there for the last year and a half or so. And I only have the $120 patron and I do not have his mailing address. So you need to get in touch with me and let me know what your mailing address is. I'm going to make an introductory video in which I talk specifically about the sci-fi book bag. But really, there's not that much more detail to it. If you're a patron of 30-second sci-fi at the $20 per month level, you will get a science fiction book in the mail every month. And that's it. Okay, I am officially starting my 50th Street driving tour through Florida, Georgia, and the Carolinas tomorrow. That will go on for two weeks. I'll be doing interviews and making videos every day. And I will be posting the video updates on the new 50th Street channel, which I will link to below. And I hope you will go subscribe to that. And I will see you next review. Please remember to press that like button. It helps my videos get seen. And then subscribe so you can come back next time. I do science fiction book, TV, and movie reviews all the time. And please consider becoming a patron. There's a link in the description below. When you pledge at the $20 level, I will send you a random science fiction book in the mail every month.