June 2012 Readings
I'm catching up on my listings of reading using information I've been putting into Goodreads. My use of Goodreads is probably why I've fallen down on the job here, but it does help in catching up.
Coming Apart by Charles Murray- Nonfiction/political. I need to re-read this before making any judgment. I found it thought provoking enough to recommend it to my futurist book group. Basically it says that there is a division between the lives of the poor and the lives of the middle class, steming in part from the poor getting less education but also being less willing to work and more willing to have children out of wedlock.
The Future of Power by Joseph S. Nye Jr. Nonfiction/international/political
Midnight’s Children by Salman Rushdie - Fantasy. Technically, this is published as mainstream or even literature. However, the main character has telepathy and super-smelling powers and other minor characters have other superpowers as well, including a witch. The origin of these powers is that they were born in the same hour as India with those closest to midnight receiving the most power. So it is fantasy. I liked the first half most, but it then drifted.
Fevre Dream by George RR Martin - Horror. This novel predates the vampire craze. It is slightly amusing that much of it takes place near New Orleans, which is Anne Rice's vampire territory. I found it good and well deserving of its revival, even though it had more to do with the author's success with Game of Thrones than the merits of this book.
Podcast stories (count as magazine)
Boomsday by Christopher Buckley - Mainstream Fiction. Very very funny except for the part that the government isn't able to do anything to cope with the retirement of the boomers and the huge expense this will cause. This book may turn out to be more prophetic, than funny.
Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter by Seth Grahame-Smith
Keeper’s Price edited by Marion Zimmer Bradley. SF Anthology. Early anthology of stories set on Marion Zimmer Bradley's Darkover. Only a couple had the Free Amazons who later dominated the anthologies so it was a mix of stories of different eras of the planet's history. This is interesting for big fans only, not where new writers should start.
The Swerve: How the World Became Modern by Stephen Greenblatt. Nonfiction. This is an interesting account of the rediscovery, of an ancient classical text On the Nature of Things. The author claims that the book led to the Renaissance by claiming the world functioned without gods. I’m not sure if I buy that one book created the modern world, but he makes a good case that it was important, even if not that important.
The Windup Girl by Paolo Bacigalup. SF. This is probably the premier example of biopunk (cyberpunk sensibility but based in biology). Very depressing future. There sometimes were too many characters/plotlines running around. Still a very well-thoughtout bit of worldbuilding.
June had 9 ½ books including three nonfiction, three fantasy (two with vampires), two SF (one a re-read of an anthology), one other fiction, and one magazine equivalent for 70.5
Coming Apart by Charles Murray- Nonfiction/political. I need to re-read this before making any judgment. I found it thought provoking enough to recommend it to my futurist book group. Basically it says that there is a division between the lives of the poor and the lives of the middle class, steming in part from the poor getting less education but also being less willing to work and more willing to have children out of wedlock.
The Future of Power by Joseph S. Nye Jr. Nonfiction/international/political
Midnight’s Children by Salman Rushdie - Fantasy. Technically, this is published as mainstream or even literature. However, the main character has telepathy and super-smelling powers and other minor characters have other superpowers as well, including a witch. The origin of these powers is that they were born in the same hour as India with those closest to midnight receiving the most power. So it is fantasy. I liked the first half most, but it then drifted.
Fevre Dream by George RR Martin - Horror. This novel predates the vampire craze. It is slightly amusing that much of it takes place near New Orleans, which is Anne Rice's vampire territory. I found it good and well deserving of its revival, even though it had more to do with the author's success with Game of Thrones than the merits of this book.
Podcast stories (count as magazine)
Boomsday by Christopher Buckley - Mainstream Fiction. Very very funny except for the part that the government isn't able to do anything to cope with the retirement of the boomers and the huge expense this will cause. This book may turn out to be more prophetic, than funny.
Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter by Seth Grahame-Smith
Keeper’s Price edited by Marion Zimmer Bradley. SF Anthology. Early anthology of stories set on Marion Zimmer Bradley's Darkover. Only a couple had the Free Amazons who later dominated the anthologies so it was a mix of stories of different eras of the planet's history. This is interesting for big fans only, not where new writers should start.
The Swerve: How the World Became Modern by Stephen Greenblatt. Nonfiction. This is an interesting account of the rediscovery, of an ancient classical text On the Nature of Things. The author claims that the book led to the Renaissance by claiming the world functioned without gods. I’m not sure if I buy that one book created the modern world, but he makes a good case that it was important, even if not that important.
The Windup Girl by Paolo Bacigalup. SF. This is probably the premier example of biopunk (cyberpunk sensibility but based in biology). Very depressing future. There sometimes were too many characters/plotlines running around. Still a very well-thoughtout bit of worldbuilding.
June had 9 ½ books including three nonfiction, three fantasy (two with vampires), two SF (one a re-read of an anthology), one other fiction, and one magazine equivalent for 70.5