io9, the SF blog that never seems to run out of posts or topics, this week comes up with The Twenty Science Fiction Novels That Will Change Your Life. It’s a rather broad title, since the post is really talking about how the books might impact your view of things, whether because “they’ve altered [...]
February 5, 2008 – 12:57 pm
The “illiterati” string continues. The National Book Critics Circle today announced its “Good Reads — Winter List” (formerly known as the “Best Recommended List”). As with the inaugural list, I don’t fare well — and I even voted this time.
I’ve read none of the top five in fiction. Moreover, the book for [...]
January 14, 2008 – 12:55 pm
I cast my votes 10 days ago for nominees for the National Book Critics Circle Awards. (The phrase “cast my votes” must be liberally construed. Here’s how the nominees are actually selected.) Anyway, the finalists were announced Saturday and while I did better than last year, I either don’t read the same [...]
January 13, 2008 – 10:06 am
Science fiction as literature of substance? What a concept!
Needless to say, I was happily surprised when the South Dakota Humanities Council chose Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 as the state’s book for The Big Read in 2008. Yet I about fell on the floor Friday when my mail contained a notice and registration form [...]
January 10, 2008 – 7:48 am
If the label on the copy of Newsweek that arrived Wednesday is correct, it will be the last. Generally, I wouldn’t mention magazine subscriptions expiring but this one is kind of a milestone. You see, my subscription to Newsweek is was in or near its 30th year. But no more.
Newsweek didn’t do anything in [...]
January 5, 2008 – 10:51 am
In kicking off my Russian Reading Challenge, I thought it appropriate to begin with a famous Russian author. Thus, I started with The Story of a Nobody, an 1891 work by Anton Chekhov. The tale produced several diverse thoughts.
First, many people, myself included, might be tempted to think that there is little in [...]
January 2, 2008 – 5:33 pm
Perhaps The Twin Cities should be declared the Literacy Capital of the U.S. The latest survey of the country’s Most Literate Cities ranks Minneapolis first. St. Paul, described as “the rising star of literate cities,” came in at No. 3. The two cities were ranked 2 and 5, respectively, the prior year.
Minneapolis [...]
January 1, 2008 – 9:58 am
Back in late 1975, I started keeping a list of books I’d read each year. I added to the journal whenever I finished a book but didn’t keep a running total, simply adding up the year’s total each December 31. Over the last decade or so, I’ve been running about 10 either side [...]
December 30, 2007 – 9:35 pm
This year I again wonder if limiting my list of books of the year to those actually published during the year is the right standard. There were a couple — Michael Arlen’s Passage to Ararat comes to mind — that would have made the list but for the fact they were published before 2007. [...]
December 26, 2007 – 12:46 pm
Following through on something I mentioned a while ago, I’ve decided to sign up for the Russian Reading Challenge 2008. The post title comes from the fact I view reading as always a gift to myself and the challenge requires me to resolve to get certain books read. Besides, it fits in with [...]
December 17, 2007 – 7:43 am
It started this year and I’ve commented on it a few times. For whatever reason, I’ve become more and more intrigued with fictional works by non-U.S. authors. I realized the extent to which I’ve indulged in and enjoyed that fixation preparing the ballot I submitted during the weekend for this year’s NBCC Book [...]
December 16, 2007 – 9:03 am
Today is Arthur C. Clarke’s 90th birthday. I make note of this because Clarke is significantly responsible for my longstanding interest in quality science fiction.
I’d had a casual interest in SF before going to college. One semester, though, I took a SF class in the English department. By the time the year [...]
December 10, 2007 – 6:59 pm
The results of a National Book Critics Circle survey in which I participated are in. And evidently I am largely in step with contemporaries when it comes to issues in the “ethics” of book reviewing.
You can look at the full survey results but here’s a few highlights:
More than three-quarters of those surveyed (76.5%) said [...]
November 29, 2007 – 1:39 pm
The National Book Critics Circle has begun a monthly “Best Recommended List.” As a member, I was invited — nay, encouraged and reminded — to send in my vote for my “most recommended” 2007 book. Because inertia is a fundamental principle and it’s so damn hard for me to pick a “best” this or that, [...]
November 27, 2007 – 7:50 am
Calling it a magazine is unfair because it is so much more than that. Early last week I saw an internet reference to a new publication called Lapham’s Quarterly . It was referred to as a history related journal and treated as if it might be good for insomnia.
Out of curiosity, though, I happened [...]
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