Can you name...?

While I'm avoiding commenting on RaceFail09 for the time being (those in the know probably won't blame me for not touching that with a 10 foot pole), here was something that occurred to me while I was reading over my 2009 reading list and noting the paucity of authors in certain categories: homogeneity is not always one's friend. So with that in mind, here are a few questions for you to answer here and perhaps post on your blog as well for others to read/answer/copy:

1. Name the last book by a female author that you've read.

2. Name the last book by an African or African-American author that you've read.

3. Name one from a Latino/a author.

4. How about one from an Asian country or Asian-American?

5. What about a GLBT writer?

6. Why not name an Israeli/Arab/Turk/Persian writer, if you're feeling lucky?

7. Any other "marginalized" authors you've read lately?


My answers:

1. Sarah Monette, Corambis. Or rather, by the time some read this in the next 24 hours or so, she'll have become the last female author I've read this year.

2. Octavia Butler, Parable of the Sower. Almost the only African-American novel I've read these past few months, but more is on the way.

3. Roberto Bolaño, Entre paréntesis. Excellent collection of his literary criticism pieces, I might add.

4. Michio Kaku, Physics of the Impossible. So it's non-fiction and is closer to Bill Nye than to Hemingway. Still, it's a very good book.

5. Hal Duncan, Escape from Hell! Read it back in late December and I want to re-read it sometime in the near future before writing a review.

6. The Turkish writer Ahmet Hamdi Tanpinar's A Mind at Peace, set in post-Ottoman Istanbul, is a powerful novel that was recently translated into English. Highly recommend it.

7. Although perhaps not truly "marginalized" (I'd have to stop and think for a long while to name a book from another ethnic/gender group), the Ukranian writer/poet Yuri Andrukhovych's recently-translated The Moscoviad deserves a wider readership.


So...what about you and your reads?

Locus 2008 Recommended Reading List: A Meme?

Since this is a long group of books/stories, bold for books read, italics for owned but not yet read in full:

SF novels

• Matter, Iain M. Banks (Orbit UK)
• Flood, Stephen Baxter (Gollancz, Roc '09)
• Weaver, Stephen Baxter (Gollancz, Ace)
• City at the End of Time, Greg Bear (Gollancz, Del Rey)
• Incandescence, Greg Egan (Gollancz, Night Shade)
• January Dancer, Michael Flynn (Tor)
• Marsbound, Joe Haldeman (Ace)
• Spirit, Gwyneth Jones (Gollancz)
• Escapement, Jay Lake (Tor)
• Song of Time, Ian R. MacLeod (PS Publishing)
• The Night Sessions, Ken MacLeod (Orbit)
• The Quiet War, Paul McAuley (Gollancz)
• The Company,K. J. Parker (Orbit)
• House of Suns, Alastair Reynolds (Gollancz, Ace '09)
• Pirate Sun, Karl Schroeder (Tor)
• Anathem, Neal Stephenson (Atlantic UK, Morrow)
• Saturn's Children, Charles Stross (Orbit, Ace)
• Rolling Thunder, John Varley (Ace)
• Half a Crown, Jo Walton (Tor)
• Implied Spaces, Walter Jon Williams (Night Shade Books)

Fantasy novels

• An Autumn War, Daniel Abraham (Tor)
• The Love We Share Without Knowing, Christopher Barzak (Bantam)
• The Knights of the Cornerstone, James P. Blaylock (Ace)
• The Ghost in Love, Jonathan Carroll (Farrar, Straus & Giroux)
• The Island of Eternal Love, Daina Chaviano (Riverhead)
• The Shadow Year, Jeffrey Ford (Morrow)
• Shadowbridge/ Lord Tophet, Gregory Frost (Ballantine Del Rey)
• The Memoirs of a Master Forger, William Heaney (Gollancz) ; as How to Make Friends with Demons, Graham Joyce (Night Shade Books '09)
• Varanger, Cecelia Holland (Tor/Forge)
• Lavinia, Ursula K. Le Guin (Harcourt)
• The Bell at Sealey Head, Patricia A. McKillip (Ace)
• The Hidden World, Paul Park (Tor)
• The Engine's Child, Holly Phillips (Ballantine Del Rey)
• The Enchantress of Florence, Salman Rushdie (Jonathan Cape)
• The Alchemy of Stone, Ekaterina Sedia (Prime Books)
• The Dragons of Babel, Michael Swanwick (Tor)
• An Evil Guest, Gene Wolfe (Tor)

First novels

• The Ninth Circle, Alex Bell (Gollancz)
• The Painted Man, Peter V. Brett (HarperVoyager); as The Warded Man (Ballantine Del Rey)
• A Curse as Dark as Gold, Elizabeth C. Bunce (Scholastic)
• Graceling, Kristin Cashore (Harcourt)
• Alive in Necropolis, Doug Dorst (Riverhead)
• Thunderer, Felix Gilman (Bantam Spectra)
• Black Ships, Jo Graham (Orbit US)
• Pandemonium, Daryl Gregory (Ballantine Del Rey)
• The Gone-Away World, Nick Harkaway (William Heinemann, Knopf)
• Last Dragon, J.T. McDermott (Wizards of the Coast/Discoveries)
• Singularity's Ring, Paul Melko (Tor)
• The Long Look, Richard Parks (Five Star)
• The Red Wolf Conspiracy, Robert V. S. Redick (Gollancz, Del Rey '09)
• The Cabinet of Wonders, Marie Rutkoski (Farrar, Straus, Giroux)

Young Adult Books

• City of Ashes, Cassandra Clare (Simon & Schuster/McElderry)
• The Hunger Games, Suzanne Collins (Scholastic Press)
• Monster Blood Tattoo, Book Two: Lamplighter, D. M. Cornish (Putnam; Omnibus Books Australia)
• Little Brother, Cory Doctorow (Tor)
• The Graveyard Book, Neil Gaiman (HarperCollins, Bloomsbury)
• Eon: Dragoneye Reborn, Alison Goodman (Viking); as The Two Pearls of Wisdom (HarperCollins Australia)
• Tender Morsels, Margo Lanagan (Knopf)
• How to Ditch Your Fairy, Justine Larbalestier (Bloomsbury USA)
• Ink Exchange, Melissa Marr (HarperTeen)
• Chalice, Robin McKinley (Putnam)
• The Knife of Never Letting Go, Patrick Ness (Candlewick Press)
• The Adoration of Jenna Fox, Mary E. Pearson (Henry Holt)
• Nation, Terry Pratchett (Doubleday UK, HarperCollins)
• Zoe's Tale, John Scalzi (Tor)
• Flora's Dare, Ysabeau S. Wilce (Harcourt)

Collections

• The Serial Garden: The Complete Armitage Family Stories, Joan Aiken (Small Beer Press/Big Mouth House)
• Pump Six and Other Stories, Paolo Bacigalupi (Night Shade Books)
• The Adventures of Langdon St. Ives, James P. Blaylock (Subterranean Press)
• Works of Art, James Blish (NESFA Press)
• The Wall of America, Thomas M. Disch (Tachyon Publications)
• Dark Integers and Other Stories, Greg Egan (Subterranean Press)
• The Drowned Life, Jeffrey Ford (HarperPerennial)
• The Wreck of the Godspeed and Other Stories, James Patrick Kelly (Golden Gryphon Press)
• The Baum Plan for Financial Independence and Other Stories, John Kessel (Small Beer Press)
• Nano Comes to Clifford Falls and Other Stories, Nancy Kress (Golden Gryphon Press)
• Mr. Gaunt and Other Uneasy Encounters, John Langan (Prime Books)
• Pretty Monsters, Kelly Link (Viking)
• H.P. Lovecraft: The Fiction, H. P. Lovecraft (Barnes & Noble)
• Binding Energy, Daniel Marcus (Elastic Press)
• Ten Sigmas and Other Unlikelihoods, Paul Melko (Fairwood Press)
• The Collected Short Fiction: Where Angels Fear / The Gods Perspire, Ken Rand (Fairwood Press)
• The Ant King and Other Stories, Benjamin Rosenbaum (Small Beer Press)
• Long Walks, Last Flights, and Other Strange Journeys, Ken Scholes (Fairwood Press)
• Filter House, Nisi Shawl (Aqueduct Press)
• The Autopsy and Other Tales, Michael Shea (Centipede Press)
• The Best of Lucius Shepard, Lucius Shepard (Subterranean Press)
• The Best of Michael Swanwick, Michael Swanwick (Subterranean Press)
• Other Worlds, Better Lives, Howard Waldrop (Old Earth Books)
• Crazy Love, Leslie What (Wordcraft of Oregon)
• Gateway to Paradise: The Collected Stories of Jack Williamson, Volume Six, Jack Williamson (Haffner Press)

Anthologies - Original

• Clockwork Phoenix, Mike Allen, ed. (Norilana Books)
• Fast Forward 2, Lou Anders, ed. (Pyr)
• Sideways in Crime, Lou Anders, ed. (Solaris)
• Dreaming Again, Jack Dann, ed. (HarperCollins Australia; Eos)
• The Del Rey Book of Science Fiction and Fantasy, Ellen Datlow, ed. (Ballantine Del Rey)
• Galactic Empires, Gardner Dozois, ed. (SFBC)
• Extraordinary Engines: The Definitive Steampunk Anthology, Nick Gevers, ed. (Solaris)
• A Book of Wizards, Marvin Kaye, ed. (SFBC)
• The Solaris Book Of New Science Fiction Volume Two, George Mann, ed. (Solaris)
• Subterranean: Tales of Dark Fantasy, William Schafer, ed. (Subterranean Press)
• Eclipse Two, Jonathan Strahan, ed. (Night Shade Books)
• The Starry Rift, Jonathan Strahan, ed. (Viking)
• Fast Ships, Black Sails, Ann VanderMeer & Jeff VanderMeer, eds. (Night Shade Books)
• Celebration: 50 Years of the British Science Fiction Association, Ian Whates, ed. (NewCon Press)

Anthologies - Reprint

• Wastelands, John Joseph Adams, ed. (Night Shade Books)
• A Science Fiction Omnibus, Brian W. Aldiss, ed. (Penguin Modern Classics)
• The Black Mirror and Other Stories: An Anthology of Science Fiction from Germany and Austria, Franz Rottensteiner, ed. (Wesleyan University Press)
• Poe's Children: The New Horror, Peter Straub, ed. (Doubleday)
• The New Weird, Ann VanderMeer & Jeff VanderMeer, eds. (Tachyon Publications)
• Steampunk, Ann Vandermeer & Jeff VanderMeer, eds. (Tachyon Publications)

Anthologies - Best of the Year

• The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror 2008: Twenty-first Annual Collection, Ellen Datlow, Kelly Link & Gavin Grant, eds. (St. Martin's Griffin)
• The Year's Best Science Fiction: Twenty-fifth Annual Collection, Gardner Dozois, ed. (St. Martin's)
• Year's Best Fantasy 8, David G. Hartwell & Kathryn Cramer, eds. (Tachyon Publications)
• Year's Best SF 13, David G. Hartwell & Kathryn Cramer, eds. (Eos)
• Fantasy: The Best of the Year: 2008 Edition, Rich Horton, ed. (Prime Books)
• Science Fiction: The Best of the Year: 2008 Edition, Rich Horton, ed. (Prime Books)
• The Mammoth Book of Best New Horror: Volume Nineteen, Stephen Jones, ed. (Robinson; Running Press)
• The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year Volume Two, Jonathan Strahan, ed. (Night Shade Books)

Non-Fiction

• Lexicon Urthus: A Dictionary for the Urth Cycle, Second Edition, Michael Andre-Driussi (Sirius Fiction)
• Miracles of Life, J. G. Ballard (HarperCollins/Fourth Estate UK)
• An Unofficial Companion to the Novels of Terry Pratchett, Andrew M. Butler (Greenwood)
• The Vorkosigan Companion: The Universe of Lois McMaster Bujold, Lillian Stewart Carl & Martin H. Greenberg (Baen)
• H. Beam Piper: A Biography, John F. Carr (McFarland)
• The Worlds of Jack Williamson: A Centennial Tribute 1908-2008, Stephen Haffner, ed. (Haffner Press)
• Basil Copper: A Life in Books, Stephen Jones (PS Publishing)
• What It Is We Do When We Read Science Fiction, Paul Kincaid (Beccon)
• Anthony Boucher: A Biobibliography, Jeffrey Marks (McFarland)
• Rhetorics of Fantasy, Farah Mendlesohn (Wesleyan University Press)
• The Magician's Book: A Skeptic's Adventures in Narnia, Laura Miller (Little, Brown)
• Prince of Stories: The Many Worlds of Neil Gaiman, Hank Wagner, Christopher Golden & Stephen R. Bissette (St. Martin's Press)

Art Books

• Spectrum 15: The Best in Contemporary Fantastic Art, Cathy Fenner & Arnie Fenner, eds. (Underwood Books)
• Paint or Pixel: The Digital Divide in Illustration Art, Jane Frank, ed. (NonStop Press)
• P. Craig Russell, Coraline, Neil Gaiman, adapted and illustrated by P. Craig Russell (HarperCollins)
• J. Allen St. John, The Paintings of J. Allen St. John: Grand Master of Fantasy, Stephen D. Korshak & J. David Spurlock (Vanguard)
• Shaun Tan, Tales from Outer Suburbia (Allen & Unwin; Scholastic '09)
• A Lovecraft Retrospective: Artists Inspired by H.P.L., Jerad Walters, ed. (Centipede Press)

Novellas

• Or Else My Lady Keeps the Key, Kage Baker (Subterranean Press)
• "The Overseer", Albert E. Cowdrey (F&SF 3/08)
• The Word of God: Or, Holy Writ Rewritten, Thomas M. Disch (Tachyon Publications)
• “The Political Prisoner", Charles Coleman Finlay (F&SF 8/08)
• "Arkfall", Carolyn Ives Gilman (F&SF 9/08)
• The Luminous Depths, David Herter (PS Publishing)
• "Mystery Hill", Alex Irvine (F&SF 1/08)
• "The Erdmann Nexus", Nancy Kress (Asimov’s 10-11/08)
• "Pretty Monsters", Kelly Link (Pretty Monsters)
• "The Surfer", Kelly Link (The Starry Rift)
• "The Hob Carpet", Ian R. MacLeod (Asimov’s 6/08)
• "The Tear", Ian McDonald (Galactic Empires)
• "Tenbrook of Mars", Dean McLaughlin (Analog 7-8/08)
• Once Upon a Time in the North, Philip Pullman (Knopf)
• "The Man with the Golden Balloon", Robert Reed (Galactic Empires)
• "Truth", Robert Reed (Asimov’s 10-11/08)
• "True Names", Benjamin Rosenbaum & Cory Doctorow (Fast Forward 2)
• "Wonjjang and the Madman of Pyongyang", Gord Sellar (Tesseracts Twelve)
• "The Philosopher’s Stone", Brian Stableford (Asimov’s 7/08)

Novelettes

• "The Gambler", Paolo Bacigalupi (Fast Forward 2)
• "Pump Six", Paolo Bacigalupi (Pump Six and Other Stories)
• "Tangible Light", J. Timothy Bagwell (Analog 1-2/08)
• "Radio Station St. Jack", Neal Barrett, Jr. (Asimov’s 8/08)
• "The Ice War", Stephen Baxter (Asimov’s 9/08)
• "Turing’s Apples", Stephen Baxter (Eclipse Two)
• "The Rabbi’s Hobby", Peter S. Beagle (Eclipse Two)
• "The Tale of Junko and Sayuri", Peter Beagle (InterGalactic Medicine Show 7/08)
• "Uncle Chaim and Aunt Rifke and the Angel", Peter S. Beagle (Strange Roads)
• "Shoggoths in Bloom", Elizabeth Bear (Asimov’s 3/08)
• "The Golden Octopus", Beth Bernobich (Postscripts Summer ’08)
• "If Angels Fight", Richard Bowes (F&SF 2/08)
• "From the Clay of His Heart", John Brown (InterGalactic Medicine Show 4/08)
• "Jimmy", Pat Cadigan (The Del Rey Book of Science Fiction and Fantasy)
• "Catherine Drewe", Paul Cornell (Fast Forward 2)
• Conversation Hearts, John Crowley (Subterranean Press)
• "The Things that Make Me Weak and Strange Get Engineered Away", Cory Doctorow (Tor.com 8/08)
• "Crystal Nights", Greg Egan (Interzone 4/08)
• "Lost Continent", Greg Egan (The Starry Rift)
• "The Ray-Gun: A Love Story", James Alan Gardner (Asimov’s 2/08)
• "Memory Dog", Kathleen Ann Goonan (Asimov’s 4-5/08)
• "Shining Armor", Dominic Green (The Solaris Book of New Science Fiction, Volume Two)
• "The Illustrated Biography of Lord Grimm", Daryl Gregory (Eclipse Two)
• "Pride and Prometheus", John Kessel (F&SF 1/08)
• "The Art of Alchemy", Ted Kosmatka (F&SF 6/08)
• "Divining Light", Ted Kosmatka (Asimov’s 8/08)
• "Childrun", Marc Laidlaw (F&SF 8/08)
• "Machine Maid", Margo Lanagan (Extraordinary Engines)
• "The Woman", Tanith Lee (Clockwork Phoenix)
• "The Magician’s House", Meghan McCarron (Strange Horizons 7/08)
• "An Eligible Boy", Ian McDonald (Fast Forward 2)
• "The Dust Assassin", Ian McDonald (The Starry Rift)
• "Special Economics", Maureen F. McHugh (The Del Rey Book of Science Fiction and Fantasy)
• "Beyond the Sea Gate of the Scholar-Pirates of Sarsköe", Garth Nix (Fast Ships, Black Sails)
• "Infestation", Garth Nix (The Starry Rift)
• "Immortal Snake", Rachel Pollack (F&SF 5/08)
• "The Hour of Babel", Tim Powers (Subterranean: Tales of Dark Fantasy)
• "Five Thrillers", Robert Reed (F&SF 4/08)
• "Fury", Alastair Reynolds (Eclipse Two)
• "The Star Surgeon’s Apprentice", Alastair Reynolds (The Starry Rift)
• "The Egg Man", Mary Rosenblum (Asimov’s 2/08)
• "Sacrifice", Mary Rosenblum (Sideways in Crime)
• "Days of Wonder", Geoff Ryman (F&SF 10-11/08)
• "Lester Young and the Jupiter’s Moons’ Blues", Gord Sellar (Asimov’s 7/08)
• "Gift from a Spring", Delia Sherman (Realms of Fantasy 4/08)
• "An Alien Heresy", S.P. Somtow (Asimov’s 4-5/08)
• "Following the Pharmers", Brian Stableford (Asimov’s 3/08)
• "The First Editions", James Stoddard (F&SF 4/08)

Short Stories

• "Don’t Go Fishing on Witches Day", Joan Aiken (The Serial Garden)
• "Goblin Music", Joan Aiken (The Serial Garden)
• "The Occultation", Laird Barron (Clockwork Phoenix)
• "King Pelles the Sure", Peter S. Beagle (Strange Roads)
• "Boojum", Elizabeth Bear & Sarah Monette (Fast Ships, Black Sails)
• "Private Eye", Terry Bisson (F&SF 10-11/08)
• "Offworld Friends Are Best", Neal Blaikie (Greatest Uncommon Denominator Spring ’08)
• "The Man Who Built Heaven", Keith Brooke (Postscripts Summer ’08)
• "Balancing Accounts", James L. Cambias (F&SF 2/08)
• "Exhalation", Ted Chiang (Eclipse Two)
• "The Fooly", Terry Dowling (Dreaming Again)
• "Truth Window: A Tale of the Bedlam Rose", Terry Dowling (Eclipse Two)
• "Awskonomuk", Gregory Feeley (Otherworldly Maine)
• "Daltharee", Jeffrey Ford (The Del Rey Book of Science Fiction and Fantasy)
• "The Dismantled Invention of Fate", Jeffrey Ford (The Starry Rift)
• "The Dream of Reason", Jeffrey Ford (Extraordinary Engines)
• "The Seventh Expression of the Robot General", Jeffrey Ford (Eclipse Two)
• "Reader’s Guide", Lisa Goldstein (F&SF 7/08)
• “Glass”, Daryl Gregory (Technology Review 11-12/08)
• "26 Monkeys, Also the Abyss", Kij Johnson (Asimov’s 7/08)
• "The Voyage Out", Gwyneth Jones (Periphery)
• "Evil Robot Monkey", Mary Robinette Kowal (The Solaris Book of New Science Fiction, Volume Two)
• "The Kindness of Strangers", Nancy Kress (Fast Forward 2)
• "The Sky that Wraps the World Round, Past the Blue into the Black", Jay Lake (Clarkesworld 3/08)
• "The Fifth Star in the Southern Cross", Margo Lanagan (Dreaming Again)
• "The Goosle", Margo Lanagan (The Del Rey Book of Science Fiction and Fantasy)
• "The Thought War", Paul McAuley (Postscripts Summer ’08)
• "[a ghost samba]", Ian McDonald (Postscripts Summer ’08)
• "Midnight Blue", Will McIntosh (Asimov’s 9/08)
• "Fallen Angel", Eugene Mirabelli (F&SF 12/08)
• "Mars: A Traveler’s Guide", Ruth Nestvold (F&SF 1/08)
• "The Blood of Peter Francisco", Paul Park (Sideways in Crime)
• "The Small Door", Holly Phillips (Fantasy 5/08)
• "His Master’s Voice", Hannu Rajaniemi (Interzone 10/08)
• "The House Left Empty", Robert Reed (Asimov’s 4-5/08)
• "Fifty Dinosaurs", Robert Reed (The Solaris Book of New Science Fiction, Volume Two)
• "Traitor", M. Rickert (F&SF 5/08)
• "Snatch Me Another", Mercurio D. Rivera (Abyss & Apex 1Q/08)
• "The Film-makers of Mars", Geoff Ryman (Tor.com 12/08)
• "Talk is Cheap", Geoff Ryman (Interzone 6/08)
• "After the Coup", John Scalzi (Tor.com 7/08)
• "Invisible Empire of Ascending Light", Ken Scholes (Eclipse Two)
• "Ardent Clouds", Lucy Sussex (The Del Rey Book of Science Fiction and Fantasy)
• "From Babel’s Fall’n Glory We Fled", Michael Swanwick (Asimov’s 2/08)
• "The Scarecrow’s Boy", Michael Swanwick (F&SF 10-11/08)
• "Marrying the Sun", Rachel Swirsky (Fantasy 6/08)
• "A Buyer’s Guide to Maps of Antarctica", Catherynne M. Valente (Clarkesworld 5/08)
• "Fixing Hanover", Jeff VanderMeer (Extraordinary Engines)
• "The Eyes of God", Peter Watts (The Solaris Book of New Science Fiction, Volume Two)
• "Ass-Hat Magic Spider", Scott Westerfeld (The Starry Rift)

A bit better than previous years. How did you match up on these, especially in the various novel categories?

A challenging meme for people

Name five (or as many as you can up to five) authors (SF or other is fine with me) that write (or wrote) in the following languages:

1. Spanish

2. French

3. German

4. Portuguese

5. Polish

6. Russian

7. Serbian

8. Italian

9. Chinese

10. Japanese

11. Quechua

12. Hindi or various Sanskrit-derived languages

13. Persian

14. Arabic

15. Any other language that I might have forgotten


I wasn't kidding about it being challenging, no? Consider this a response to various people I've read over the past few months who've complained about a lack of things to read.

A meme where I'll do poorly

Mark Charan Newton is the guilty party this time:

Top 48 SF Movies Based on a Novel

Copy the list below.
Mark in bold the movie titles for which you read the book.
Italicize the that you’ve watched.
Tag 5 people to perpetuate the meme. (You may of course play along anyway.)

1. Jurassic Park
2. War of the Worlds
3. The Lost World: Jurassic Park
4. I, Robot
5. Contact
6. Congo
7. Cocoon
8. The Stepford Wives
9. The Time Machine (1960 version)
10. Starship Troopers
11. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy
12. K-PAX13. 2010
14. The Running Man
15. Sphere
16. The Mothman Prophecies
17. Dreamcatcher
18. Blade Runner(Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?)
19. Dune
20. The Island of Dr. Moreau
21. Invasion of the Body Snatchers
22. The Iron Giant(The Iron Man)
23. Battlefield Earth
24. The Incredible Shrinking Woman
25. Fire in the Sky
26. Altered States
27. Timeline
28. The Postman
29. Freejack(Immortality, Inc.)
30. Solaris
31. Memoirs of an Invisible Man
32. The Thing(Who Goes There?)
33. The Thirteenth Floor
34. Lifeforce(Space Vampires)
35. Deadly Friend
36. The Puppet Masters
37. 1984
38. A Scanner Darkly
39. Creator
40. Monkey Shines
41. Solo(Weapon)
42. The Handmaid’s Tale
43. Communion
44. Carnosaur
45. From Beyond
46. Nightflyers
47. Watchers
48. Body Snatchers

As for who's tagged, let's go with Enrico Palazzo, Mil Mascaras, El Santo, O.J. Simpson, and the "real killer." (OK, maybe that was only 4, but still!)

A reading meme

So Gabriele tagged me for this one:

Nightstand/Table:

Don't have a table and my nightstand is too packed with an alarm clock, CD system speakers, and my C-PAP for there to be any room for books. However, I do keep a stack of books on my computer tower. These will be listed shortly.

Reading at the Moment:

Barely a damn thing since late June (only read 11 books in July, or less than 1/3 of my monthly averages for this year). But let's see what I have received lately that I began reading a bit:

Jorge Luis Borges, El idioma de los argentinos (commentaries)

Sid Jacobson and Ernie Colón, After 9/11: America's War on Terror (2001 - ) (Graphic novel; review copy)

Heinrich Kramer and Jacob Sprenger, The Malleus Maleficarium (historical artifact, the witch hunter's guide)

Angélica Gorodischer, Bajo las Jubeas en flor (short story collection)

Tennessee State Standards for teaching U.S. History - Exciting read, no?


Can't Put Down:

It's those state standards, baby! Yeah, right. Right now, I've barely had time to read anything (and I ought to add, I don't read books in bed, so I'm apparently bending the rules of this meme a bit to be able to answer it at all).


Gathering Dust:

The 30 or so books I bought or received in July/August so far. C'est la vie.


Secret Indulgence:

Those state standards again? Don't have any "secrets" about my indulgences!


Looking Forward To:

School on Monday? Umm...mostly to having time to read books again, period.


As for tagging, I tag Aidan, Neth/Ken, Harlan Ellison, Jack Vance, and Terry Goodkind. Or three other people who want to do this thing. Same difference.

Global Blogosphere Amnesty Week (for Apologies and such)

Jeff VanderMeer just made an interesting post (after reading Matt Staggs' post) about the need to be sincere, transparent, and willing to own up to past mistakes and misunderstandings. Since this is to be a meme of sorts, I agreed to post a few things, serious and not-so-serious alike, in the interests of full-disclosure (and as practice for the semiannual Confessionals I do):

1. I am an inveterate slacker who covers his sloth-filled tracks with posts that manage to avoid reviewing more than a handful of books a month. Somewhere out there, Felix Gilman is threatening a poor kitty because I never did write the positive review of Thunderer that I have intended to write since February (and no, Felix didn't know of me until after I had read and enjoyed the book, so it wasn't blackmail until later).

2. I fear that sometimes I come across as sounding too negative towards this guy when I occasionally get irritated at reading certain comments that I feel could have been explored more at length.

3. I purposely avoid reviewing certain types of books that would tempt me to write more negative reviews. I have nothing against writing negative reviews, but rather it's hard to motivate myself to mention a book at all that was bland, overly derivative, didn't appeal to me at all, and which I'd rather see used as squirrel drey lining.

4. Speaking of squirrels, I must confess that they are some of the most amusing, clever, and cute I have ever seen. Plus, Sugar Bush scares me on occasion, not to mention the rabid, vampiric ones Dunja always threatens me with on MSN.

5. I need to spend less time reading during the summer months. It is almost 90ºF here and sunny, and I'm typing. Something's not right. I need to be brown, not glow-in-the-dark.

6. I ought to be searching for a job right now, but I'm subject to recall in the next few weeks and nobody's in right now.

7. William Shatner's SF books deserve to be read and reviewed by Nick Mamatas. Why? Just because...

8. It took me minutes to get OU812 when I was 11 or 12.

9. I recently told a Challenger joke. Yes, I still remember many of those.


And no, I'm not going to 10 or beyond. These are enough confessions for now, right? Which ones do you think were the serious ones?

Edit: I forgot one. I always wanted to kill a man in Reno, just to watch him die. Does that make me a bad person?

So I got tagged

After reading yesterday's post where I mock-complained about rarely getting "tagged," Anne of Cat Politics tagged me to participate in this meme:

Grab the nearest book and turn to page 123. Write down the fifth sentence, post it, and then tag 5 others to do this.

Since this book just arrived, I'll choose this one:


Tove Jansson's The Summer Book. Now for the fifth sentence on p. 123:

"From a poor smuggler."

No clue as to how the rest of the book will be like, but now I'm finding myself in the mood for some smuggled rum and a wench. Oh, and perhaps a parrot, but certainly not a Parrothead on my shoulder. Eye patches are out of the question, though and I refuse to go "Argh!" at passing strangers. Sorry.

And now for the five people who need to be tagged:

Neth Space

Mostly Harmless Books

Fantasy Book Critic

Realms of Speculative Fiction

A Dribble of Ink


Almost chose Elvis, but these five will have to do.