I am always excited to read a book that has a movie out, especially a new movie. I dunno. I find it interesting to see what has been done in the adaptation. Sometimes the experience is great. Sometimes terrible. I still enjoy the process of reading and then viewing. Mickey 7 by Edward Ashton (2022)…
My main take-away after reading the enormous (600-page) sci-fi Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky: this is a tale of two styles. The story jumps back and forth between a group of humans on one of the last spaceships in the universe (concentrating on one character, Holsten), and the intellectual and social development of newly…
After an adulthood avoiding Kurt Vonnegut, I finally read Cat’s Cradle. I immediately wondered what had been wrong with me to avoid Vonnegut. Cat’s Cradle is written in clear, straightforward prose with short, snappy sentences and paragraphs. It’s a little strange and the science fiction part of it is just a little science-y and a…
I enjoyed reading Universal Love by Alexander Weinstein. I would recommend it. (I did already, to my husband.) There are some things to mention, like how I know the author. There are other things, like how my husband has become a huge fan. (He doesn’t know the author.) If there is any part of you…
Ursula K. Le Guin’s novel, The Lathe of Heaven, captivates readers with its intertwining of sci-fi and fantasy. The story follows George Orr, whose dreams shape reality, and his battle against a manipulative psychiatrist. The novel delves into Taoist themes, addressing societal issues and the human condition. Le Guin’s insightful and timeless writing continues to resonate in today’s world.
“Love doesn’t just sit there, like a stone, it has to be made, like bread; remade all the time, made new” (p159). The Lathe of Heaven, Ursula K. LeGuin.
The Astronomer by Brian Biswas is several things. It is a magical realism-verging-on-speculative novel, though it is comprised of short stories that have been strung together and bracketed with other short stories that give a Victorian-style faux-outsider perspective. The story (which contains everything from Greek mythology to existential considerations) is told in short bursts that…
“Everyone my age remembers where they were and what they were doing when they first heard about the contest.” –Ready Player One, Ernest Cline
I have been to three “readings” lately, at local bookstores. If you haven’t been to a reading, I suggest that you go to one and make sure to buy a book while you are there. Readings are interesting and cool and they are in danger of becoming extinct if people don’t show up, just as…
So, this is one of those best of lists that is strangely particular. However, it is possible that you are also looking for a list like this one. Perhaps you, too, are suddenly curious about steampunk. A sort of mashup of fantasy and science fiction (though really science fiction), it’s not the world’s largest subgenre,…
This is another book that I read because I was considering it for a ninth grade, homeschool co-op, literature class I am teaching this year. It is the third book I have now approved and I have slated this one for the first novel of the year. While it might not be my favorite book…
What do we always say first? I have been meaning to read this book for years and years. (I am middle aged. I am coming more to terms with the fact that I will not get to read ALL the books.) When the title popped up on some of the lists that I was looking…
My goal this year (among many other goals) is to read a writing book once every two months. So, six total. Not doing terribly when I finished the third, Ray Bradbury’s Zen in the Art of Writing in June. (Actually, that’s completely on track. I am completely not on track with most of my other…
Every once in a while, I pull an old favorite off the shelf and give it a read so that I can review it, fresh, for you. Till We Have Faces is one of my favorite books. Never heard of it? I’m sure you’ve heard of C. S. Lewis, the Christian apologist who also wrote…
It is interesting, beginning any book. You don’t quite feel like you belong, you’re not sure if you’re speaking the right language. And where are you, anyways? What’s going on? Some books invite you in pretty quickly. Other books take a long time to acclimate to, sometimes so long that you give up on them…
When I was fresh from college and could read whatever the heck I wanted all the time, somehow I picked up a copy of Ayn Rand’s Atlas Shrugged. The heft of it was a bit daunting, but I just about ate it up (around the same time I also devoured The Stand.) It was so…
the starving artist 