This was an interesting reading year for me. I read less than I have in the past couple of years, probably in part due to the easing of pandemic limitations and the return of busyness that came with it. But I also seemed to hit the distracted malaise this year that many described having earlier … Continue reading 2022 Reading List
Science Fiction
2021 Reading List – The Final
Organizing my favorite books of the year is always a challenging task. How to sort through so many remarkable books, particularly when preferences are so subjective? How to make some sort of sense or cohesion out of such a disparate array of texts? Ultimately, the books that made the final cut are the ones that … Continue reading 2021 Reading List – The Final
But They’re Not Really People—Clones and Artificial Friends, Oh My!
It seems to be a perennial question but one focused on a future we anticipate and aren't sure yet what to do with: what is humanity's ethical obligation to the consciousnesses we make? We see this question in the replicants of Blade Runner to the clones of Kazuo Ishiguro's Never Let Me Go to the … Continue reading But They’re Not Really People—Clones and Artificial Friends, Oh My!
‘The Midnight Library’ is Low-Key Cli-Fi
Matt Haig's The Midnight Library scratches a lot of itches—speculative fiction, reckoning with life choices, learning how to human. But amongst those threads, I propose that The Midnight Library functions as low-key cli-fi, a.k.a. "climate fiction," a narrative exploring the impacts of global warming. *barely spoilery spoilers for The Midnight Library and mild content warning … Continue reading ‘The Midnight Library’ is Low-Key Cli-Fi
Quick Lit: ‘Leave the World Behind’ and ‘Sh*t, Actually’
A few years ago I started using the library to check out books again in earnest, realizing that my budget couldn't really keep up with my appetite plus recognizing that my shelves were filling up with books I had no intention of reading again. And I discovered that checking out books from the library is … Continue reading Quick Lit: ‘Leave the World Behind’ and ‘Sh*t, Actually’
Notions, January 2021 Edition
This is the time of year I realize just how much dark time we still have to go. Work is busy. The outside is dark and dreary. And I mostly want to just curl up with a book. Alas. While we wait for spring, here are some of the fun, interesting, and/or gorgeous things I've … Continue reading Notions, January 2021 Edition
Here There Be Monsters: ‘Lady From the Black Lagoon’ and ‘Margaret the First’
What does it mean to be a creative or creatively-engaged person in a culture that values you primarily for your body alone—your beauty, your procreative potential? Two books I read recently explore this question through the experiences of two very different women and they explore it in very different ways. Yet I find illuminating connections … Continue reading Here There Be Monsters: ‘Lady From the Black Lagoon’ and ‘Margaret the First’
Hanging on By the Fingernails, or the Comfort of Known Books
Friends, how are you doing? For me, this has been a rough and weary couple of weeks with the looming election and the ongoing state of the nation and the world. Which has made it hard to read. I keep picking up books, peeking at them or starting a bit, and then setting them aside. … Continue reading Hanging on By the Fingernails, or the Comfort of Known Books
On Being a Credulous Reader
As a young person, I read virtually everything by Kurt Vonnegut and I took it completely at face value that in Slaughterhouse-Five Billy Pilgrim had come unstuck in time. I accepted that he toggled between periods in his life, including his time as the male half of a human pair in a zoo on the … Continue reading On Being a Credulous Reader
Introducing “Here Today” + New Books
A couple of quick items. First, meet "Here Today," a Medium site devoted to reflecting on daily life during the novel coronavirus pandemic and related social distancing. It features several writers, including myself. Second, if you have the means, throw some love to your favorite local indie bookstore (as opposed to that decidedly not indie … Continue reading Introducing “Here Today” + New Books
Dogs, Coffee, & Books 