So, I haven't posted anything in months, but I'm just going to jump in and do my annual pop culture meme, because trying to talk about anything else is too much. I wish all of you reading this health and happiness in 2020.

Which TV shows did you let go of in 2018? Most of the shows I let go of I let go because they ended - Elementary (which ended ( Read more... )

Which TV shows did you let go of in 2017?Arrow. I had become increasingly bored with how it seemed to become grimmer and darker every year, and when the new season started, and Oliver’s son was living with him full-time, I decided that I was out. Also Riverdale, which I watched the first season of but found myself drifting away from after the first ( Read more... )

This is kind of a weird story for those of us who have been hanging around in fandom for the past decade (plus) and remember when the Cassie Claire brouhaha blew up: Cassandra Clare is being sued for copyright infringement. Even weirder? After reading a couple of different articles about the case, I think I'm Clare's side. There are dozens of books ( Read more... )

Barbara Mertz, aka Elizabeth Peters aka Barbara Michaels has died at the age of 85.

I'll always be a fan of her many inimitable characters: Amelia Peabody and Vicky Bliss and Jacqueline Kirby, John Smythe, Radcliff Emerson, Ramses, Schmidt...RIP.

The Google doodle for today is a tribute to Douglas Adams. Today would have been his 61st birthday. Click on the Hitchhiker's Guide to see illustrated entries on Babel fish, flying, Earth, the importance of carrying a towel, and more.

So sad to remember that he was only 49 when he died.

Hey everyone, wenchsenior is looking for some book recommendations:

I read a ton of stuff...very diverse, but lately I've made a resolution to read more 'good trash' and less serious stuff. The last three years I've read a metric ton of economics, politics, sociology, and literary fiction. Almost no escapist stuff, not even fantasy, which is my old standby ( Read more... )

Here, have a couple of links about bookish topics!

This is a week old by now and maybe everyone has seen it already, but I think many of the writers on my flist would be interested in Kristin Cashore's post Pictures of a Book Being Made, in which she details the process she went through to write Bitterblue. It is horrifying, but also inspiring.

( Read more... )

Holy crap on a cracker, y'all. Fifty Shades of Grey, the erotic Twilight fanfic that became a self-published bestselling hit, has just been picked up by a major publisher for a seven figure sum.

This week, Vintage Books, part of the Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, known for its highbrow literary credentials, won a bidding war for the rights to ( Read more... )

NPR has a lovely piece on the 50th anniversary of A Wrinkle in Time. I recommend listening to it rather than just reading the article, as the radio version is longer and includes some excerpts from the book.

Anyone planning a wedding? Give it a Hunger Games theme!. Or, you know, don't. This feels like a weird attempt to pigeonhole THG as the next ( Read more... )

This review of the book Zone One, by Colson Whitehead ia absolutely breathtaking in it's obnoxiousness. The review is a week old at this point, and has already been very handily ripped to shreds at I09, but I didn't read it until yesterday, so it's still fresh to me.

Zone One is a zombie novel, but Colson Whitehead is a "literary" writer, and ( Read more... )