So, people have been talking a lot in the past few days about the ethics of illegally downloading e-books (including international/cross-cultural aspects of the issue). And it brought up a question for me that is very much tangential to the original point. Several people pointed out reasons why illegal sharing of music is not necessarily a good ( Read more... )

I'm sure everyone reading this already knows that Catherynne Valente's new book, The Habitation of the Blessed, based on the Prester John myths, is now available for purchase. But you may not know that she filmed a trailer for it with action figures. All I can say is... SPIDERMAN + NESTORIAN HERESY = WIN!

This entry was originally posted at http ( Read more... )

Short version: Yay! (Yes, the author is a friend, but this is a genuine "Yay!")

Long version ( talks about what I like in romance novels )

Andy has finished Kraken. I think he has a new Favorite Book Ever. If China Mieville had gotten Andy's name in a holiday fic exchange and written a book specifically for him, it would have been this book. So if you happen to read it, you can also consider it a chance to get to know all about my spouse and the stuff he likes ( Read more... )

So I'm trying to recall a work of SF, but it's driving me nuts, because I remember almost nothing about it other than that it involved ancestor reverence. I can't remember if the context was more science fictional or fantastic, or if it was a short story or a novel, or how long ago I read it, or if it treated the subject respectfully or was full ( Read more... )

If it happens that you were inspired by rachelmanija's review of John Bellairs' The Face In The Frost, but don't want to pay the minimum of $11.00 that the book seems to be going for online, my local used book store has two somewhat battered paperback copies priced at $1.25 a piece. If you want one, let me know, and I would be happy to go grab it for you ( Read more... )

Is It Yuletide Yet? is cracking me up, you guys.

We have our own personal Christmas miracle here -- the miracle of tripe! Many thanks to
( Read more... )

My dad got Chuckles the Dorling Kindersley Encyclopedia of Animals for her birthday last month. I was leafing through it and discovered that right between "Horses" and "Hummingbirds" there's an entry for "Humans", with the exact same format and neutral, scientific tone as all the other entries. From the FACT BOX:Habitat: Most land habitats, ( Read more... )

What a delightful book! I still can't wrap my brain around the fact that it was written in 1974 -- if I hadn't looked, I'd have guessed 1990. I see now why it gets such props as a foundational text in the fantasy of manners subgenre ( Read more... )

For the curious, the full list is here (under the June 4 tag). I had no intention of buying so many books; it's not a very good store, and I only go there a couple times a year and usually walk out with just five or six books. But this time the selection was ridiculously good. I wonder if they recently bought somebody's whole collection ( Read more... )