I didn't get much reading done in either of these months. And much of what I did read was Disney related, but I managed three fiction titles.

1. MANIFOLD:TIME, Stephen Baxter. An interesting SF novel, where one man, a failed astronaut (because of health concerns) now runs a multinational corporation called Bootstrap, and Bootstrap has a secret mission: To get America back into space. Meanwhile, there's something called the Carter Catastrophe looming, a statistical argument that suggests that it's highly likely that we humans are living near the end of the world. (Google it if you're interested.) And then there's the message from the future that is received on a quantum mechanical radio. Finally, there seems to be a rash of births of "Blues", children who are off the charts intellectually, and who frighten the rest of us humans, because they might represent a superior evolutionary step. Suffice it to say, all this ties together into an interesting conclusion, where mankind is...well, I won't spoil the thing further. It was at times a tedious read, sort of like reading James Hogan (but easier than that), lots of concepts and words, not the greatest characterizations, but very interesting plotting. I give it between a 7.5 and an 8, though the ideas might push it toward the higher rating.

2. MANIFOLD: Space, Stephen Baxter. A sequel of sorts, though not set in the same reality as TIME. In this book, humanity encounters an alien race, and the same character, the failed astronaut from the first, is no longer a failed astronaut, but is now still an entrepreneur, after a career as an astronaut for NASA. Japan is on the moon, and they need to make contact with the aliens, called Gaijin. And the Gaijin are part of something larger...and the existence of the galaxy and all the life in it are at stake. I'll give this one a 7.5, just because it lacks the originality of the first (being a sequel and all). Same basic writing style, characterizations, and excellent plotting.

3. THE LUST LIZARD OF MELANCHOLY COVE, Christopher Moore. (See, Dave, I didn't forget the last name this time!) A very fun book, where an ancient sea beast (whose name becomes "Steve") is called to a small coastal town, and everyone's libidos go into high gear. Meanwhile there's a suicide that the local law enforcement guy is investigating - because it doesn't really look like a suicide. A really fun book in the tradition of Moore's other work (Like YOU SUCK and LAMB), very fast read and a good provider of laughs along the way. I'll give it an 8.5.

4. HOW TO BE LIKE WALT, Pat Williams. A biography of Walt Disney which also tries to enumerate lessons the reader can take from Walt's life and successful career in basically inventing the animated feature and the theme park. Pat Williams is one of the guys responsible for starting the Orlando Magic basketball team, and even though Walt was dead and gone by the time he got to Orlando, he says that the Disney corporation and the Disney spirit sort of hangs over the town. He got to know a lot about the company, and the men responsible for it, and thought there was a book there. He's got some other "HOW TO BE LIKE ..." books as well. A good, interesting read. NR

5. BUILDING A COMPANY: ROY O. DISNEY AND THE CREATION OF AN ENTERTAINMENT EMPIRE, Bob Thomas. The company authorized biographer takes on Walt's brother's life as half of the team that was responsible for Disney being as successful as it is. Roy was the businessman to Walt's artist, and apart they would have accomplished very little, but together they did some special things. Not a real lot of depth here, Thomas did not add a lot of information about Roy, who was a pretty private person, that wasn't already available in Walt's biographies. Still, it was interesting to me, as someone who's become sort of a Disney nut, to see what it was that made this successful business relationship go. (In the end, I think it was just the love and trust they had for and in one another.) NR

6. DISNEY WAR, James B. Stewart. A reread of a long book about the Eisner years and the SaveDisney.com campaign mounted by Roy's son Roy E. Disney and his business partner Stanley Gold to get rid of Eisner after he began to cause the company all kinds of problems. Really long, but very interesting. Lots of real life characters in this one. NR.

And that my friends was my June and July reading list.