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I've received my preliminary schedule from Anticipation, next month's Montreal worldcon. Here's what it looks like at the moment: THURSDAY AUG 6 12:30 pm panel: Werewolves of Brigadoon FRIDAY AUG 7 3:30 pm panel: Writing a Series SUNDAY AUG 9 12:30 pm panel: Writing for a Living 4:00 pm autographing MONDAY AUG 10 3:00 pm reading Aside from these "official" appearances, of course, I will also be doing the usual worldcon stuff -- hanging around the hotel bar, hitting the parties at night, attending the Hugo Awards ceremony and the Hugo Losers Party, trying some of this fabled Montreal cuisine. I expect the Brotherhood Without Banners will be throwing one or two of their fabled bashes, and I'll be at those as well. See you all in Montreal!
 A Disobedient Girl by Ru FreemanAtria 2009 371 pages Fiction  Latha is a servant girl to a rich high-caste family, the Vithanage's, living in Sri Lanka's largest city of Colombo. Brought to live and work for the family when she was about five years old, Latha resists the servile and humble expectations placed on her, enjoying instead her friendship with the Vithangage's daughter Thara and small luxuries like the Pear's soap she steals from them for her own use. When she's eleven years old, Thara sets her sights on young Ajith, a high-caste boy from a wealthy family that lives nearby. Latha forms a friendship with Ajith's ordinary-looking and slightly lower-caste friend, Gehan, and the two of them have an understanding about the future which Latha destroys when, in a fit of spite, she seduces Ajith and after a long-running secret affair, becomes pregnant. Interwoven with Latha's story, which follows her through her adolescence and into adulthood, is the agonising story of an older woman and mother of three, Biso. In finally summoning up the courage to leave her abusive husband, she takes her three very young children on a long cross-country trek by train to her aunt's house, without any clear certainty that her aunt will be happy to see them. As the dual stories unfold, with Latha's moving swiftly into the future, sometimes jumping ahead by months or years while Biso's takes place over a mere three days, the connection between them is slowly, carefully revealed. ( My thoughts ) How to be Single by Liz TuccilloPocket Books 2009 (2008) 404 pages Chick-lit Julie Jenson and her four friends all have one thing in common: they're in their late thirties and single. Georgia is recently divorced and determined to have fun; Ruby's cat just died and she's staying in bed, crying; Serena's decided to give up on dating and become a celibate swarmi; Alice recently ended a long-term de facto relationship with a man who suddenly discovered he can't commit; and Julie herself dated "bad boys" and doesn't even believe in love. She works as a publicist, promoting sickening self-help books all about loving yourself, meeting the man of your dreams and so on. After a night out that ends with embarrassing herself with bar-top dancing and Serena in hospital having her stomach pumped, they're told by two French women that they have no pride. This starts Julie on a bout of introspection into the situation and fate of single women around the world. She pitches a book idea to her boss on the topic of How to be Single and begins a round-the-world research trip, landing in France, Italy, Brazil, Australia, Bali, China, India and Iceland, talking to women and men about what it's like being single in their country and their attitudes towards dating and marriage. Meanwhile, back home, her friends are struggling to deal. Alice meets a man who loves her and provides her with everything she needs, except she doesn't love him; Serena finds that celibacy makes her horny and has an affair with a Kiwi swarmi; Ruby volunteers at an animal shelter and gives dogs their last hug before being euthanised, leading her to develop peculiar ideas about people; and Georgia struggles to balance dating and her two young kids, with disastrous results. It seems like Julie is in for more than she bargained for too, especially after meeting handsome and charming - and married - French businessman Thomas, who has an "arrangement" with his equally stunning wife. All her fears and insecurities surface, and her cynicism regarding love takes a real battering. ( My thoughts )
I've only read nine since my previous post, but discovered that one author I had already read fits this community. Kindred, by Octavia E. Butler - essential reading Search for a New Somali Identity, by Hussein Ali Dualeh - memoir of a senior political figure From One To Zero: A Universal History of Numbers, by Georges Ifrah - fascinating The Woman Warrior: Memoirs of a Girlhood among Ghosts, by Maxine Hong Kingston - interesting memoir of life as a Chinese girl growing up in California So Long Been Dreaming: Postcolonial Science Fiction & Fantasy, edited by Nalo Hopkinson and Uppinder Mehan - a great sf anthology Jewel, by Beverly Jenkins - nineteenth-century romance Reading Lolita in Tehran: A Memoir in Books, by Azar Nafisi - a brilliant book about literature in a society which is closing itself up Persepolis 2: the Story of a Return, by Marjane Satrapi - graphic novel about life in Austria and Iran Shortcomings, by Adrian Tomine - a character study of a young Japanese-American (graphic novel) 32 Stories, by Adrian Tomine - Tomine's early work, a collection of short stories (graphic format)
Murder on Gramercy Park by Victoria Thompson - Oh wow, was this book bad. So horrible! I hated the characters, plot, mystery, the interaction between the characters, everything. Awful. Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman - This was okay, but I think it could have been about 50 pages shorter and been just as good. Interesting concept. Dumbfounded by Matt Rothschild - Short story type chapters, nice for reading before bed. Since it was autobiographical, I really wished the author included up until the present - what is he doing now? How did it all work out? Instead, I had to google him. Le Divorce by Diane Johnson - I have had this book for years, and never got around to reading it because from the cover, it looks like a flaky chick-lit book. But I really enjoyed it, the characters were much deeper than I expected. Dave Barry's Money Secrets - Very funny, especially in light of The Economic Crisis. The Colony by John Tayman - Fascinating. I read through this non-fiction history much faster than many novels, it was written so well. So much I didn't know. Great book. This Lullaby by Sarah Dessen - Nice to read during the summer. Belshazzar's Daughter by Barbara Nadel - Wow, what a great mystery series! Fantastic characters and plot.
Citrus: A History, by Pierre LaszloThis is a very academic but not a very academically-structured little book... I mean, you can tell the author is a chemist (even if he didn't point it out from time to time) but the book rambles all over the place. It doesn't make any pretensions that it ISN'T doing this, and I quite enjoyed reading it, but don't go in looking for SRS BZNS or compelling narrative. Delightful, nonetheless. (133/275) Lord John and the Brotherhood of the Blade, by Diana GabaldonLord John and the Hand of Devils, by Diana GabaldonI think I slightly prefer the Lord John books to the main series, as much as I like Claire Fraser & her adventures ... these books make incredibly good brain candy for me - like a cross between Georgette Heyer and Bernard Cornwell's Sharpe series, maybe (she says, not having actually read either of those yet) - and they're short and zippy in a way doorstops just can't be. I liked Brotherhood of the Blade best of these two, I think because the short stories in Hand of Devils were a smidge too short for my taste. Not that stopped me from staying up late to finish the last of them. (134,135/275) A Brutal Telling, by Louise Penny (ARC)Most of the things I want to say about this particular volume are spoileriffic and the book doesn't come out until October. It's another not-really-cosy-at-all village mystery set in the small bilingual-but-more-Anglo-than-not Three Pines, Eastern Townships, Quebec, much like the other 4 in the series only the emotional stakes (well, and honestly, the need to trust the author) get higher with each book. I'm mulling over whether I liked this one less than the last one, or whether it's just still sinking in ... but I can say that the writing in every volume in the series is brilliant, so if you like character-heavy mysteries with a walloping dose of wonder in them, you should go read the first of these, Still Life, right now. (136/275)
Title: H.M.S. Surprise Author: Patrick O’Brian Genre: Historical fiction This is the third book in Patrick O’Brian’s “Aubreyad”, a 21-story* series about the adventures of Jack Aubrey, of His Majesty’s Royal Navy, and his ‘particular friend’ Stephen Maturin, a naval surgeon and natural philosopher. In this story, the two men set sail for the East Indies on the frigate H.M.S. Surprise. Their mission is to take a gentleman who is to be the King’s Representative in Indonesia to his destination ( spoilers ). They stop briefly in Bombay on the way to Indonesia, and there Stephen runs into Diana Villiers, a beautiful woman whom he loves ( spoilers for the previous book in the series ). Captain Aubrey is “...on the defensive, pitting wits and seamanship against an enemy (the French) enjoying overwhelming local (East Asian) superiority.” But Jack is also keenly aware that “...somewhere in the Indian Ocean lies the prize that could make him rich beyond his wildest dreams: the ships sent by Napoleon to attack the (English) China Fleet”**. I enjoyed this book. As an Indian I found the descriptions of India, coming from a British colonial-era standpoint, to be amusing, and I really liked a new character that is briefly introduced. I also like O'Brian's writing style, particularly his descriptions, word choice, and sentence structure. He also has a keen sense of humor, and the sense the reader gets of the relationship between Jack and Stephen*** is wonderful. Here are some general samples of the writing that aren't particularly spoilery: ( Two quotes showing Jack and Stephen's friendship ) ( An example of humour )( An example of the power of description, done well )That said, there is a lot of nautical and technical jargon in this book and others in the Aubreyad, particularly concerning the sailing of ships (names of manoeuvres, sails, ropes, etc, for example) and the working of ship’s guns (especially during battle scenes). However, I agree heartily with what critic/reviewer Valerie Webster wrote in a review of this book for Scotsman: “[Patrick O’Brian] is perhaps unique...in that his books can absorb and enthral landlubbers who do not even know the difference between a jib-boom and a taffrail.” The technical jargon does not take away from the enjoyment that can be derived from the rest of the text. This series, and this book, is well worth a read. * = 20 complete stories and an unfinished one published after O'Brian's death in 2000 ** = quote excerpted from Norton Publishers' blurb of the book *** = there is a strong Jack/Stephen ship over at ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/community.gif) mandc_read, where I'm participating in a read-a-thon of the entire series, and I believe in the fandom in general.
Title: Dead as a Doornail Author: Charlaine Harris Rating: 5/5 Book: 36/50 (72% completed) Pages: 295 pgs Total Pages 12,519/15,000 (83.46% completed) Next up: Definately Dead by Charlaine Harris This series is insanely addicting!!!! I cannot put these books down even if I try. I love that there is something happening all the time. It's just one event after the next. Between watching Season One of True Blood, catching up on Season Two and reading, I have no time for anything else. I highly recommend these books. xposted to 50bookchallenge, 15000pages, seasons_readngs and ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) bookworm84( Book Description from book jacket or back of the book: )
67. A Game of Thrones by George R. R. Martin (835 pgs) I read this along with the Sword and Laser Sci-Fi/Fantasy Book Club. I had picked up this book before but couldn't get into it, but I think after reading Robert Jordan, this was more accessible for me. And I liked it more. I was intrigued by the Dani storyline, am curious to see where the story goes, but the ending just surprised me... guess I wasn't expecting it, but I don't want to spoil it for anyone. This is great, great, high fantasy. 68. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson (590 pgs) I feel like everyone I know has read this book. I didn't realize it was a crime novel but I stuck with it anyway. I didn't care about the plot at all but loved the setting (I don't read many books set in northern Sweden!) and the characters. I've heard the second book of the trilogy explores the character of Salander even more, and I'm sure I'll read it just because of that. 69. The Sandman, v. 9 - The Kindly Ones by Neil Gaiman (352 pgs) This is the account of what happens when the Kindly Ones enter the Dreaming. There is some great stuff in here, and some surprises. I loved learning more about the characters living in the dreaming, particularly Matthew the Raven. I always love Delirium, but she really made me laugh in this particular volume. The randomness is a welcome respite sometimes from what is going on otherwise. 70. Neuromancer by William Gibson (384 pgs) I appreciate this book for what it is, the book that defined cyberpunk and possibly even the World Wide Web, if you believe the essay at the end. I can't figure out why I didn't really like it. I did read it on the Kindle and haven't had that experience before, so I'm hoping my disconnection with it isn't entirely a format issue. I was more often confused as to whether the places and feelings and people Case was interacting with were real or not, since he was having physical sensation in all the situations. He seemed most vibrant when talking about drugs or describing the techno-setting of the futuristic universe, and I did enjoy those parts, but I didn't care much about what was going on in the story itself. I'm not sure it matters though. More might be revealed in the rest of the trilogy. What sticks with me are the descriptions, and the discomfort he felt when he was in actual nature on an actual beach. I sometimes feel I live halfway in cyberspace myself, is this where I'm headed? 71. Julie & Julia: My Year of Cooking Dangerously by Julie Powell (307 pgs) - reread The first time I read this book, the author annoyed me with her whining and crassness. This time through it made me laugh a lot more, probably because in that time I've taken on many a seemingly impossible challenge in the kitchen, often ending in disaster late at night. 72. The Sandman: Endless Nights by Neil Gaiman (160 pgs) This is a telling of the backstories of many of the Endless. I think I thought I was reading v. 10, but that's okay. My favorite were the 15 portraits of Despair, amazing.
Ages of Editors
Magazine 1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2009
Astounding/Analog 30 40 50 60 36 46 56 65
Fantasy & Science Fiction -- 40 30 33 43 53 33 43
Galaxy -- 36 41* 27 35** -- -- --
Asimov's -- -- -- -- 51 43 53 ??
Well, that wasn't very informative. Analog's numbers are due to its habit of long tenures for editors (in particular Campbell and Schmidt's long tentures). F&SF by way of contrast has gone through a lot more editors in less time. Nothing double-checked. Could all be wrong. * If Fred Pohl was doing most of the editorial work by that time. If Gold still was, that should be 46. ** Galaxy shut down in late 1979 but lets pretend it lasted another few months.
12 and 13. Knife Edge and Checkmate by Malorie Blackman I can't talk about these sequels to Noughts and Crosses without hugely spoilering that book, so don't read on if you want to be surprised. ( Read more... ) 14. The First Century After Beatrice by Amin Maalouf Scientists develop a way to make sure couples have a boy, but it's irreversible, and there's no girl drug available to counteract its cumulative effect on the world's population. ( Read more... ) 15. The Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler Butler's been so extensively reviewed I feel like there's not much point to adding my two cents, but for what its worth, this is an extremely believable and compelling post-apocalyptic tale about a young woman Lauren, her family and then her chosen family, trying to make a good life in the ruin. ( Read more... )( Read more... )</div>
I carried a large container of cat litter home a couple of days ago. It seems logical that the easiest way to carry something with a handle on it is to let one's arm hang straight while hanging onto the handle of the object. In fact it's much easier to carry it with the arm bent between 45 and 90 degrees. Why?
In celebration of the US landing on the Moon, author Michael Mandel questions whether the US space program was worth the money sunk into it.Things he overlooks: weather satellites, GPS, spy satellites (which arguably greatly reduced the odds of an accidental WWIII or at least changed the nature of the sort of accidental WWIII we might have. I've run the figures and a civilization-ending global thermonuclear war has significant economic consequences) and modern aps like Google Maps, all of which involve a region of space not much farther out than geosynch, and all of which involve the one thing that can be transported fairly quickly and relatively inexpensively across space: information. I am not sure how to put a price on the abstract knowledge we've gathered from space but since deep space probes can run over a billion dollars a pop, someone must have a way to measure the value of the returns. The ensuing discussion is rather energetic. I note in one of the comments farther down an interesting habit Americans have when they talk about the wars they are involved in: Iraq is said to have cost "has cost 4,000 lives, injured 10,000 or more [...]". In fact, estimates of the violent deaths in Iraq due to the current adventure start at about 90,000 and range up to one million. There is a good possibility that the moon and the gas giants contain quantities of helium-3, which is rare on Earth but has a good chance of solving our energy problems.[Primal Scream] Intercontinental ballistic missiles. Those were nice to have....Arrow of causality pointed in wrong direction. In any case, enjoy! Also, blame Carlos
65. A Riband on My Rein- Nancy Byrd Turner, 120 pages, 2/5 This was a pretty random collection of poems and a lot of them made me cringe. 66. A Book of Modern Verse (1939)- Various, 64 pages, 4/5 Good anthology with lots of my favourite poets included and with some of their best poems. 67. Blow For Balloons: Being the First Hemisphere of the History of Henry Airbubble- W.J. Turner, 298 pages, 2/5 Turner wrote like he was very clever but actually this is the biggest load of old nonsense. Fabulous title though! 68. Maurice- EM Forster, 224 pages, 5/5 An Edwardian gay love story with a happy ending. This was great! Scudder is my favourite- he's so sweet. Books: 68 Pages: 18500 Currently reading: The Leopard by Giuseppe Tomasi Di Lampedusa
Book 33
Rescue Missions - Frederick BuschThis is a must-read, only in the sense that I am often incapable of putting down a book once I've begun, no matter how bad it is. And this is pretty bad. You wouldn't expect a collection of short stories about death and disappointment and depression to be uplifting, of course. But Busch feels like a show-off and manipulator in his bleak stories, allowing for no variation of dark emotion and thought. Read in succession, the stories become more tedious and plodding and so predictable, it was hardly worth the effort. Book 34
I Feel Bad About My Neck - Nora EphronHumor is a skill best shown with emotion. Ephron knows this with precision, having written everything from screenplays to essays to a book about the collapse of her marriage, complete with recipes. So it is no surprise to see the melancholy that accompanies this collection of essays on getting older. Laughter is often a way to mask or boost other feelings. A tinge of regret, in Ephron's capable hands, can be truly a hoot. It is always a treasure to find a funny book - that made me laugh out loud several times, despite our 30-some year age gap - that is rich with emotion and clarity. Being able to laugh about loss is truly a treasure, as is Ephron.
Title: Julie and Julia: 365 Days, 524 recipes, 1 Tiny Apartment
Author: Julie Powell
Theme: Cooking, Self-Fulfillment,
My interest was piqued in this book since I heard of the movie coming out. A friend of mine owned it and kindly parted with it so I could read it. I really liked this book. The novel is a bit disjointed: the author goes back and forth between her voice and "letters" from Julia Child's husband to his brother. When she writes about her own life, Julie does so in a non-linear, stream of consciousness way that gets a little confusing. Other than that, I find her to be hilarious and inspiring. It's amazing to know that in a tiny kitchen in New York, someone chose to cook all those recipes in a year. I'll be interested to see the movie interpretation...
Previously unread. A classic "gah, out of readable material" pick. Nonetheless, it's an interesting book, even if I find the cursory explanation of most experiemnst to be, well, cursory. There's a reason for that, though. The book is intended for the layman reader and does a good job of both highlighting some of the more bizarre science experiments that have been made and, to an extent, provide a rationale for doing them. A note for people with assorted mental triggers, there's probably at least one in there that will set you off, so it MAY be worth skipping.
Previously unread. Almost didn't pick this one up. Happy I did. as a brief look inside showed that it wasn't a fantasy novel by an unknown author but in fact one by Karen Miller. Having liked everything else I'ev read by Ms. Miller, I was happy I grabbed it off the shelf (it was the last filler book for a 3-for-2 offer). We follow Gerald Dunwoody, 3rd Grade Wizard. At the beginning of the book, he is an inspector for teh Department of Thaumaturgy in Ottosland. Then there's a bit o a cock-up and he finds himself on the loose. A new job offer arrives, as court magician to the king of New Ottosland and, well... This is the first book in the Rogue Agent sequence. I don't know if there are any more, at this point in time, but I suspect that is checkable. I quite liked the book. It's well-written, there isn't (as far as I can tell) any violation of the narrative world and things hang together. I'd go as far as recommending this to anyone who likes themselves some humorous fantasy. A blend of comedy and drama that works oddly well.
 Blind man sees after having a tooth implanted into his eye. During the procedure, a minute section of a patient's tooth is removed, reshaped and chiselled through to grip the man-made lens which is then placed in its core. It is implanted under an eyelid where it becomes covered in tissue. The process requires a living tooth as an implant because doctors suggest there are chances the eye would reject a plastic equivalent. So a canine - which is the best option due to its shape and size - was taken out of Mr Jones' mouth. A patch of skin is then taken from the inside of the cheek and placed in the eye for two months, where it gradually acquires its own blood supply. The tooth segment is finally transplanted into the eye socket. The flap of grafted skin is then partially lifted from the eye and placed over its new sturdy base. Finally, surgeons cut a hole in the grafted cornea to let light through.
Midnight Never Come by Marie Brennan 379 pages 10 out of 10 stars Lady Lune of the Onyx Court has fallen out of favor with her lady, Queen Invidiana; while Gentleman Michael Deven is beginning to rise in the court of Queen Elizabeth I. Both Queens claim an English throne and have their courts and politics inextricably entwined. The question is why? And Lady Lune along with Michael Deven need to find that out exactly if they both want to keep their lives. Beautifully written and a very believable weave of history and legend. Brennan went so far as to make sure than only English fae and legend were part of the English faerie court. The story was quite believable and unpredictable. Especially good if you enjoy the Faerie Genre.
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