Exhalation by Ted Chiang. The short stories in this book are fascinated with how technology affects the human condition--but technology is very broadly defined, from sci-fi innovations (such as a device that records your memories as video) to the ancient technology of writing. I was delighted with the opening story, which--like my favorites in the… Continue reading Reading Roundup: September 2019
Category: Fiction
Reading Roundup: August 2019
Except for the first weekend in August, when I needed a gently used paperback to take to the beach, I pulled all of this month's reading from the stacks in my university's library. I've started a couple of books on my phone--The Poppy War, and Tor's free ebook of the month, The Necessary Beggar--but I've… Continue reading Reading Roundup: August 2019
Reading Roundup: July 2019
It was an absolutely blazing July, with temperatures approaching 100 in Philly, so how about some HOT TAKES? Hot in terms of opinionatedness, not in terms of timing--July's Literary Hot Takes twitter thread has cooled down by now. I never like to participate in those, though, because as strong as my opinions are, there's always… Continue reading Reading Roundup: July 2019
Reading Roundup: June 2019
Friends, did you know that you do not have to scavenge bookstore clearance tables to read affordably as well as ravenously? You do not have to wait for coveted books to go on sale, or pounce on ARCs before they are published? Did you know you could check out all the new fiction you please… Continue reading Reading Roundup: June 2019
Reading Roundup: May 2019
The Dreamers by Karen Thompson Walker. A friend recommended this book in my International Women's Day thread on books by women I read and loved. I remembered enjoying The Age of Miracles, so I put it right on my list. I warmed up to it slowly. It opens in the most insular of insular communities:… Continue reading Reading Roundup: May 2019
Reading Roundup: April 2019
The Collapsing Empire by John Scalzi. Do you know, I've been sporadically reading John Scalzi's blog Whatever for upwards of ten years, and I've never read any one of his books. I have to admit that I assumed they'd be a little more rocketships-and-spacewars than I typically look for in science fiction. But the first… Continue reading Reading Roundup: April 2019
