Prompting a bit of attention in the book blogosphere this week is a NY Times blog post on the Seven Deadly Words of Book Reviewing. At first glance, I thought it unlikely I had sinned by using the words (poignant, compelling, intriguing, eschew, craft, muse, lyrical). When I checked, though, I have committed [...]
Catching up from my travels, I see a variety of SF-related book award news.
First, the Hugo Award finalists were announced. I’ve actually read four of the five finalists for best novel: Brasyl by Ian McDonald, Rollback by Robert J. Sawyer, The Last Colony by John Scalzi and Halting State by Charles Stross. [...]
The travel mentioned in my last post kept me away from the news. Thus, I was extremely saddened and surprised to see this afternoon that Arthur C. Clarke died. It was only three months ago that he celebrated his 90th birthday. As I said then, Clarke was instrumental in helping create my [...]
A while ago I discovered Lists of Bests, a site that is just what the name implies. It is a list of “bests,” whether by award or personal preference. Looking at it this weekend, I wondered if the fact I hadn’t read any of the National Book Critics Circle award winners this year [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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. [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
The Angel of Grozny: Orphans of a Forgotten War by Asne Seierstad
