At the very end of Bujold's new Chalion novella "Penric's Demon" is a short explainer on the order in which to read the books in Bujold's story universes. At the end of the chronological list of Vorkosigan stories is the not-yet-released novel Gentleman Jole and the Red Queen, which Amazon has just now allowed me to pre-order in hardcover with a ( Read more... )

When I first peeked at my email this morning - after mass, on my phone, in my parked car - I found a notice from Amazon that Lois McMaster Bujold released the ebook-only Chalion novella "Penric's Demon" last Monday, July 6. I purchased it for my Kindle immediately, right there from my webmail, not even bothering to switch apps, never mind get back ( Read more... )

A new Korval novel is coming on June 1 in hardback (and is available already on Kindle). It apparently stars the characters from the core continuity and picks up where that series left off with I Dare! Dragon in Exile ("Liaden Universe Book 18") by Sharon Lee and Steve MillerThe assorted coming-of-age standalone novels set hither and yon in the ( Read more... )

NYT columnist Nicholas Kristoff's column today points us to a petition on WhiteHouse.gov for the US to "work with the UN and the Nigerian government to bring home the girls kidnapped by Boko HaramThe passengers from that Malaysian plane crash are past saving; the 276 kidnapped girls are mostly alive and those who are alive are in danger; if the ( Read more... )

The outstanding sci-fi/police procedural/adventure television series Person of Interest is now (finally!) available for digital download on all the major platforms, as well as on DVD and live on CBS TV.

Very unfortunately, the series is still not available for streaming. That may sound like a difference without dimension, but we'll see what it ( Read more... )

Happy US Independence Day!  Here's the podcast of NPR's traditional reading aloud of the Declaration of Independence.  Here's the Constitution on archives.gov, in its "Charters of Freedom" section.  And here are links to five renditions of "The Star-Spangled Banner," the earliest from 1915.

My favorite nutrition author, Gary Taubes, has an essay in yesterday's New York Times: "What Really Makes Us Fat."

The historical and scientific background is familiar to those of use who have read Taubes's Good Calories, Bad Calories: Challenging the Conventional Wisdom on Diet and Disease and Why We Get Fat (And What to Do About It).  The new ( Read more... )

My favorite nutrition journalist and historian, Gary Taubes, has an essay in the New York Times today: "Salt, We Misjudged You."  Taubes lays out how current public policy and conventional wisdom on salt consumption are not only not supported by the latest and greatest science, they were not even supported by the science at the time the policies ( Read more... )

much_madness just let me know that science journalist and historian Gary Taubes has an engaging new essay in Newsweek magazine this week, which we can read online at The Daily Beast: "Why the Campaign to Stop America's Obesity Crisis Keeps FailingIt's inspired by a new HBO documentary pushing the same old advice.  For those of us who are already fans of ( Read more... )

Here's another nutrition/health book worth your time: Wheat Belly: Lose the Wheat, Lose the Weight, and Find Your Path Back to Health by William Davis, MD.  This is not just for celiac sufferers, but genuinely for all of us living through today's food supply system.  The writing is engaging, energetic and studded with personal anecdotes from the ( Read more... )