Space Station Mir

How many books read in 2013? 34, as of December 29th. How many fiction and non-fiction? Officially, 3 non-fiction and the rest fiction. However, that's not counting the vast amounts of literary criticism I read this year. Male/Female author ratio? 21 female and 9 male authors (some were repeats). It's funny, I've gone from slightly slanting toward male authors to strongly slanting towards female authors! Favorite book of 2013? The Best of All Possible Worlds , Wanderlust , and Woman on the Edge of Time . Least favorite? I mostly DNF'ed books I didn't like this year...so of those I did finish, Patternmaster by Octavia Butler. Any that you simply couldn’t finish and why? Having other priorities this year really freed me up to just say "no" to books for pleasure that I wasn't getting into. That would include London Falling and The Wet and the Dry . The former was just not my style, the latter was interesting in terms of content, bu...

I have still been reading short stories as per my goal this year (especially on Tor.com), but I've neglected to record a few of them. So, here goes: Short Story #8 Brimstone and Marmalade by Aaron Corwin Publisher: Tor.com Summary: A little girl wants a pony for her birthday. Instead, she gets a demon. Favorite Quotes: "Mathilde knew what 'we'll see' meant. It was one of those special lies only grownups were allowed to tell. When a grownup said, 'we'll see,' it really meant 'never'." Short Story #9 In the Greenwood by Mari Ness Publisher: Tor.com Summary: "Robin Hood" from Maid Marian's point of view is not so cheery, at least in Ness' rendition. Apparently, I don't like to have my fairy, folk,and mythical tales messed with, as will be evident coming up... Short Story #10 Psyche's Dark Night by Francesca Lia Block Anthology: My Mother She Killed Me, My Father He Ate Me Ed. Kate Bernheimer ...

My friend was in town for the weekend, and we traveled to Second Story Books . I'd been there before, but not in many years. Second Story Books almost feels more like a warehouse than a bookstore. This feeling was exacerbated as, while we were there, a loading dock at the front of the store was open, letting in air. This was more than an aesthetic choice, as we found ourselves (and other customers) continually sneezing in the midst of the rather musty collection. Mustiness aside, however, the selection was quite impressive and reasonably well organized. I did come across a few grab-bag boxes in the sci-fi section, but they rather added to the sense of adventure and exploration that often accompanies used bookstores (for me, at least). In addition to generous fiction selections, Second Story Books really shined in the non-fiction, references, and antiques sections. Unfortunately, the latter means many of their wares are more expensive than in your average used bookstore, but extra...

34. MaddAddam by Margaret Atwood Stories are what makes us human. But which stories? The stories that we tell to ourselves, the stories that we tell to our confidants, or the stories that we tell to our children? The final book in Margaret Atwood's MaddAddam trilogy suggests that it is the last that is most important, and which will have the most lasting and unpredictable effects. It reminds me of Atwood's comment at the National Book Festival about new technologies having "a good use, a bad use, and a use that no one expects." In a trilogy that has opened against an immense background of advanced science and technology, which has both theoretically ruined and potentially saved the world, here is a return to the true building blocks of civilization-and surprise! the most dangerous, powerful, and potent tool of all is the Word, written and spoken. Toby, the primary point-of-view character, teaches a Craker child how to write, and then thinks, "How soon bef...

Happy Top Ten Tuesday! Top Ten New-to-Me Authors I Read in 2013 1. Karen Lord I've been raving about The Best of All Possible Worlds all year, and I know it's only a matter of time before I read Redemption in Indigo . Lord has a voice that's both fresh and familiar, and while her writing is simple, she asks questions about the nature of humanity that force the reader to think. 2. Marge Piercy Although she's not new on the literary scene by any means, Piercy was new to me this year, and while Woman on the Edge of Time was hard-hitting, I definitely intend to pursue more of her work in the future. 3. Joanna Russ Russ, like Piercy, a feminist extraordinaire, was also new to me this year. I really admire the thoughts behind her writing, even though it is written in a style that I generally find difficult. 4. Elisabeth Eaves Wanderlust is a book that I just related to so much and will return to again and again. I don't know if I will read her other m...

33. A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness Vampire porn, exquisitely written, starring witch.

Happy Top Ten Tuesday! I love Top Ten Tuesdays and all the beautiful aspirations, but I'm not one to set myself up for failure, so let's just see if I can finish the books I set out to read in 2013... Top Ten Books on My Winter TBR List From My Fall TBR List: 1. MadAddam by Margaret Atwood 2. Short Stories in Spanish: New Penguin Parallel Text 3. Box Office Poison by Philippa Bornikova From My Summer TBR List: 4. The Wet and the Dry by Lawrence Osborne 5. Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankel 6. North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell 7. Night Film by Marisha Pessl From My 2013 TBR List: 8. Bring Up the Bodies by Hilary Mantel 9. The Seeress of Kell by David Eddings 10. The Sorceress of Darshiva by David Eddings

WARNING: Use of the n-word below, in a socio-literary context. Please do not read if this will offend you. 32. The Good Lord Bird by James McBride Everyone seems to be comparing The Good Lord Bird to The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn , and I will confess, when I first heard the voice of Onion Shackleford, I heard the echo of the earlier charmingly uneducated picaresque. But Onion is not just an uneducated young boy, nor just a young boy pretending to be a girl (who remembers that scene from Huck Finn ?!?), he is a young boy performing both as a girl and as a Negro. And this brings something new to the performance of the novel. McBride brings home an observation that seems like an aside in Twain. In Twain's day, he probably couldn't do more than allude to it obliquely, but McBride can spell it out to those to whom it may not occur. There is a scene in Huck Finn where Huck makes up a story about a boat accident and a concerned lady asks if anyone has been killed. ...

31. The Year of the Flood by Margaret Atwood I didn't realize Oryx & Crake was meant to be a trilogy (and had resigned myself to never knowing what happened after Jimmy went to find the fire), until Year of the Flood came out and I was so excited! I started reading it right away...and then for some reason stopped, and well, I kind of forgot about it. But then MadAddam came out, and so I have finally finished reading Year of the Flood . Flood is a more expansive and immersive novel than Oryx & Crake , even if it is nominally about two women trapped in separate hiding places after an apocalypse. Toby, trapped in the AnooYoo Spa, has a storyline that demonstrates the evolution of the CorpSeCorps, the corporations that run the world. Ren, younger than Toby and trapped in an upscale sex club,has a storyline that emerges more slowly, but demonstrates the nearer past of the CorpSeCorps and resistance movements. Her storyline also crosses with that of Snowman the Jimmy, fro...

I know this Broke and Bookish topic is a few weeks away, but by then it will no longer be relevant-so Top Ten Books I Wouldn't Mind for the 1 in 75,000 Years Convergence of Hanukkah and Thanksgiving 1. Hild by Nicola Griffith 2. The Lowlands by Jhumpa Lahiri 3. The Signature of All Things by Elizabeth Gilbert 4. The Girl Who Soared Over Fairyland and Cut the Moon in Two by Catherynne M. Valente 5. Dhalgren by Samuel R. Delaney 6. Herland by Charlotte Perkins Gilman 7. How to Suppress Women's Writing by Joanna Russ 8. The Collected Works of Katherine Phillips vols. one and two (out of print) 9. The Annotated Persuasion by Jane Austen, David M. Shepard(or the annotated version of any of Jane Austen's books) 10. Or any other awesome historical, literary, science fiction, and/or fantasy work that I might enjoy

30. Mary Boleyn: Mistress of Kings by Alison Weir I've been fascinated with Mary Boleyn since I learned of her existence. Everybody knows the story of her sister, Anne Boleyn, whose charms caused the king of England, Henry VIII, to divorce his first wife and break with the Roman Catholic Church in order to marry her. Everyone also knows the sad end of that story, which culminated in Anne becoming the first of Henry's six wives to be beheaded. But what is known about Mary? Nothing much, until more recently, with the release of Philippa Gregory's bestselling novel The Other Boleyn Girl . Alison Weir points out that it is this novel, and the movies of the same name, along with the "Tudors" television series, that have propelled Mary out of obscurity, and into what Weir claims is undeserved notoriety. While I am a huge fan of Gregory's novel, it was not my first encounter with Mary Boleyn. My first knowledge of her stems from a book that is significant in ...

29. The Red Queen by Philippa Gregory. Narrated by Bianca Amato and Graeme Malcolm. When I first started listening, I was afraid I had gotten the wrong tape. The description was of a young woman begging for a cross, and receiving one from a hated Englishman. She was about to be burned at the stake, and a king whom she had saved would not save her--how did I accidentally get an audio about Joan of Arc? But it turns out that instead, Gregory uses Joan of Arc as a guiding narrative force in the life of Margaret Beaufort as she uses the water goddess Melusina as a narrative guide to Elizabeth Woodville's life in The White Queen . I found this devise less annoying, as it was evoked less often, and presented more as Margaret's imagination than a "true legend." I personally enjoyed The Red Queen far more than I did The White Queen . Gregory's true triumph here is the character of Margaret Beaufort. There are few deviations from her narration, and these are read ...

Happy Top Ten Tuesday ! Top Five Character Names I Love 1. Christopher Carrion, Lord of Midnight from the Abarat books by Clive Barker Doesn't it just roll off the tongue? 2. Rodion Romanovitch Raskolnikov from Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky Besides the alliteration, "Raskolnikov" literally means schismatic, very appropriate for the character. 3. Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore from the Harry Potter books by J.K. Rowling J.K. Rowling is a genius for names, but this is one of my favorites! (I think I'm noticing a trend...) 4. Dimple Lala from Born Confused by Tanuja Desai Hidier An unforgettable name! 5. Galadriel from the Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien The name is musical, light, and powerful all at once. Just saying it gives me a thrill.

28. Sexy Feminism by Jennifer Keishin Armstrong and Heather Wood Rudulph A couple years ago, I wrote a post entitled Thoughts on Reformist vs. Revolutionary Feminism , based on bell hooks' Feminism Is for Everybody . Since then, it's been one of the most popular hits on the blog. It seems that a lot of people are wondering, what is the difference between reformist and revolutionary feminism? I don't have all the answers or know all the history. But, in my understanding, "reformist feminism" aims to give women equal rights to men, as applied in Western democratic, capitalist societies. Reformist feminists are the advocates of equal pay and of more women in CEO positions and STEM fields. Sheryl Sandberg of Lean In and even Betty Friedan of The Feminine Mystique would be considered reformist feminists. these women are aiming to increase women's presence and power in the workforce, aiming to treat women exactly (or almost exactly, save the contentious mothe...

27. The White Queen by Philippa Gregory So with my two rather new jobs comes an awful lot of commuting. And what better way to pass the time than an audio book? Since I had such success with The Queen's Lover , I decided to pick up some more historical fiction, this time from an author I'm quite familiar with. Philippa Gregory creates tension in the details. Most of her books deal with well-known events in British history, but she focuses in on minor characters and minor events that pack more unexpected dramatic punches. In The White Queen , the first person protagonist is Elizabeth Woodeville, a minor noblewoman who famously beguiled (some say bewitched) Edward IV into marrying her. What I didn't know was that Elizabeth was already widowed with two young sons when she married the king, making her conquest even more extraordinary. I know the broad outlines of the story, that Edward became king through conquest, and after some years of rule died, leaving behind two son...

Happy Top Ten Tuesday ! Top Ten Books I Was "Forced" to Read 1. The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien I must confess, it wasn't my idea to read these books; it was my dad's. He went on so much about how they were his favorite books as a kid and made such a point of telling me that he had his own copies available for me that I finally went ahead and read them. And now, his copies sit coolly on my shelves. For safekeeping. 2. The Source by James Michener My grandfather took me to a bookstore once and told me I could have any book I wanted. Then he proceeded to steer me toward this one. He told me all about how much he had enjoyed it, and was so full of enthusiasm that I couldn't resist "choosing" it. I'm very glad I did, it remains one of the most interesting books I've ever read and I'm so glad I had the chance to talk with my grandfather about it. 3. The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand My good friend got quite enthusia...

Short Story # 7 Thief of War by Beth Bernobich Publisher: Tor.com Summary: Arbija, a daughter of the northern province Vesterlant, has traveled south in disguise, to steal the jewels of the king of the Erythandran Empire. Her family fears that the Empire seeks to conquer their lands, as they did to nearby provinces in earlier years. Our protagonist is part of a complicated scheme that involves enrolling in an ancient University and using magic to disguise her features, while pretending she is a novice in magical studies. The scope and lore of this novella seem to extend far beyond its contents. The grand lineages, premise, and cast of characters, however, lead to an abrupt and disappointing end. I fervently hope this is only an excerpt from a novel, which I would line up to read! In the meantime, I hope Bernobich does not continue to disguise material of novel proportions in thin novellas! Favorite Quotes: "Beauty was one thing. Humor was far more seductive."

Short Story # 6 The Lady Astronaut of Mars by Mary Robinette Kowal Publisher: Tor.com Summary: What does an astronaut's retirement look like? In this realistically imagined novelette, Kowal brings to life a retired lady astronaut, living in the Martian colony she helped found. When her age and gender bring one last opportunity to go the stars though, her husband's debilitating disease presents an agonizing obstacle. The story pulls no surprises, but comments gently on double standards and the unique trials of aging. Favorite Quotes: "The physicists described it to me like a subway tunnel. The tesseract will bend space and allow a ship to go to the next subway station." "Posing in my flight suit, with my lips painted red, I had smiled at more cameras than my colleagues."

I made it to the rapidly filling tent where James McBride was about to speak as a light drizzle transformed into a ferocious downpour. When McBride took the podium, he complained that another author had had beautiful weather, but here he was, having to compete with the rain. I'd say McBride got the best of that rain though, as he talked about his new book The Good Lord Bird , his love of the abolitionist John Brown, his view that history is more complicated than we think, and his disregard for political divisions (he commented that he was thrilled to see Laura Bush in his audience the last time he spoke at the festival). Toward the end of his talk, he declared his belief that "What God wants to happen, will happen," and gestured. At the moment, the rain, which had been slowing, came to a stop! I don't know about any higher meaning, but McBride has impeccable timing. Having read and enjoyed his memoir, The Color of Water , in high school I was interested to hear Mc...

I've been saying I'm going to read London Falling by Paul Cornell. I'm not. Or rather, I'm not going to finish it. As soon as I started reading it became clear that despite the promise of dark fantasy and the lure of a former "Dr. Who" screenwriter, this is not a book for me. The beginning of the novel, at least, reads more like a police procedural, taking place on the dodgy side of London. It features hard-boiled and corrupt cops with Cockney accents. Some readers might eat this up with crumpets and lick their lips. It's just not my cup of tea, and I'm not going to finish it for the sake of finishing it. I gave it the old 50-page try, and if you think you'd like it better, please be my guest! Seriously. I will give away my copy, which I received from the publisher, to the first commenter who lives within the continental United States. Comment away! *Edit* A friend of mine has claimed my copy of the book, I hope she enjoys it!

Did you know Margaret Atwood had a Twitter ? I didn't. From one side of a standing room only tent at the National Book Festival, I learned a lot more about Margaret Atwood than I knew before. Her father was an entymologist, The Complete Works of Shakespeare would be her reading of choice on the proverbial deserted island, and she won't divulge her favorite authors or her favorite among her own books. Atwood did divulge, however, her opinions on genetic manipulation, genre, and the cover of the just-released end to her dystopian trilogy, MadAddam . As Atwood put it, genetic manipulation and other future technological/biotechnological tools have a "good use, a bad use, and a use that no one expected." She spoke in praise of the recent attempt at a lab-grown burger and in support of continuing such projects. Growing up with an entymologist father and her own inclinations seem to have made her quite scientific in thought and opinion. When asked if she had grown up wi...

Here we go again, Broke and Bookish ! I think the best I ever do on these is five out of ten, but here's to aspirations! Top Ten Seven Books on My Fall TBR List 1. The Year of the Flood by Margaret Atwood I've already read Oryx and Crake and MaddAddam just came out, so I have momentum to finish the series! Plus, I'm planning to see Margaret Atwood at the National Book Festival on Saturday! 2. MaddAddam by Margaret Atwood See above. 3. Wild by Cheryl Strayed I know I've said this before, but this time I'm planning to see her at the Fall for the Book festival . 4. London Falling by Paul Cornell I've really been meaning to get on this. 5. Box Office Poison by Philippa Bornikova The sequel to This Case Is Gonna Kill Me , received for review, and I'm kinda curious to see where this went. 6. The Good Lord Bird by James McBride It got a stellar review in the Washington Post and he's going to be at the National Book Festival too. ...

26. Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri Jhumpa Lahiri, whose second novel, The Lowland , will be released on September 24, received the Pulitzer Prize for this debut collection of short stories. Reading Jhumpa Lahiri's stories is like slipping into an old nightgown or scooping up a bowl of your favorite cultural dish. The majority of her stories follow the intimate lives of Bengali families and take place in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The feeling that her stories produce in me may be somewhat unique, since one of my best friends is Bengali and I spent my college years in Boston. But no matter how foreign the trappings, I find it hard to believe that the thoughts and feelings of her characters would not elicit a sense of familiarity from any human being. The character details are almost painfully thrilling in the accuracy with which she depicts the quiet confusion of her protagonists' lives. Yet, every time I read a Jhumpa Lahiri story, I settle into it with such fee...

Short Story #5. In Joy Knowing the Abyss Behind by Sarah Pinsker Publisher: Strange Horizons Published: July 1 2013 and July 8 2013 How I Found It: I followed a link from this post on SF Signal. There are two parts; the first part links to the second. Summary: If you've ever wanted a fantastical treehouse, this is the story for you. Timelines trade off between the present where an elderly Millie watches her husband George dying of a stroke and the past as Millie remembers before and after the mysterious event that quashed George's architectural ambitions. Like George's career, the story feels unfinished, but it does leave the reader longing for more. Favorite Quotes: "An ungraceful shimmy brought her into the crow's nest."

Short Story #4. This Villain You Must Create by Carlie St. George Publisher: Lightspeed Magazine Issue: July 2013 How I Found It: I followed a link from this post on SF Signal. Summary: Granite loses his archnemesis and finds that other villains lack panache. When a similarly bereaved supervillain visits his support group, he takes her up on her unnatural offer. St. George's diction is deceptively simple and this literary-infused SF short tale serves up quite a Jamesian twist. Favorite Quotes: "'Fire and Ice' is an uninspired poem, cited primarily in self-indulgent fanfiction." "'Nothing Gold Can Stay' is my favorite and yes, I've written Outsiders fanfiction. Ha!"

This week's Top Ten Tuesday is quite appropriate for the start of the school year! There are so many books that I wish were taught... 1. Forever by Judy Blume Freshman or sophomore English class. Or Health. Just reading this book would be so much more useful than the Health class at my high school was. It realistically depicts the emotional and sexual unfolding of a teenage relationship. 2. Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants series by Ann Brashares I'd recommend these for junior and senior classes, for similar reasons to above. These books very realistically depict teenage lives in high school and college. I also think that the writing would be an extremely good model for kids to write stories of their own. 3. The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz This book changed my life when I read it in a class (in college) and I think it's a particularly engaging and insightful book on issues from multiculturalism to poverty to nerd culture. Plenty of room for d...

25. Necessary Evil by Ian Tregellis Publisher: Tor Release Date: April 2013 Ian Tregellis is one of my favorite new authors. The Coldest War hooked me with the first line, "Wizards do not age gracefully." The final book in the triptych, Necessary Evil , is no slouch either for poignant turns of phrase. The protagonist, given his own voice for the first time, summarizes the book poetically; "Who was I but a scarred and sweaty madman railing against the woman who twirled history around her fingers like so much yarn?" That woman, the "raven-haired demon," the "witch" with "wires in her braids," is Gretel, and she is not only the most fascinating character in Tregellis' triptych, but one of the most compelling villains in fiction. From the first time I learned of her incredible ability to read the future (more accurately, the lines of possible futures) and to shift it one way or another, I wanted to know more. In Necessary Evil...

Happy Top Ten Tuesday! Top Ten Most Memorable Secondary Characters 1. Philippa Gordon from the Anne of Green Gables series, specifically Anne of the Island "Phil" seems like an awesome friend. She's charming, talkative, friendly, and always getting herself into mischief. I'll never forget the time she chose which hat to wear by spinning around with a pin or the time she told Anne, "Nine times out of ten I can outshine you, but on the tenth night..." 2. Art3mis from Ready Player One Art3mis is a kickass girl gamer who refuses to be sidelined. She fights her own battles and doesn't let romance distract her. 3. Ismene from Antigone I can never get Ismene's fate out of my head. The poor girl gets hanged because her sister breaks the law. I always wonder what would have happened if Antigone had just listened to her and bidden her time. 4. Hermione Granger from Harry Potter There's a fabulous cast to choose from in HP, and I'm n...

Happy Top Ten Tuesday! Top Five Things That Make My Life as a Reader Easier 1. Hold That Thought Bookmarkers For marking important lines without marring my books! 2. Bookmooch Getting rid of books I don't want/need, getting books I do want/need, and holding points in reserve for books I can get in the future when I theoretically have more space. Yay! 3. My bookcases and my organizational system Where would I be without my bookcases, where I know how to find each book? (Now if only I could get the rest of them out of the boxes...). 4. Other Readers I love getting recommendations for books from friends, family, acquaintances, people on the street...I'm not picky. 5. Artificial Light Thank you Thomas Edison. Top Five Things That Make My Life as a Book Blogger Easier 1. LibraryThing I enjoy using the "Currently Reading" feature on my blog. 2. Amazon Associates I don't ever make money with them, but I like using the images of books. And...

23. Fairest by Gail Carson Levine Ella Enchanted remains one of my favorite books from childhood. Unfortunately, Gail Carson Levine has never matched it in years since. Fairest comes the closest. Aza has dull black hair, pasty skin, and lips a revolting blood-red. She's spent years dodging insults while working in her adopted family's inn. She grows up in Ayortha, the neighboring country to Ella's Kyrria, but unlike Ella, she at least has a loving family and a singular talent. Like most Ayorthans, Aza has a beautiful voice, but unlike anybody else, she can throw her voice and make it come from anywhere, a phenomenon she calls "illusing." One thing leads to another, and Aza is introduced to the beautiful new queen of Ayortha, who hails from Kyrria and well, has need of Aza's particular talents. The well-intentionedly malevolent fairy Lucinda gets involved and some events get rather gritty for a fairy tale, though it follows the basic story in the end (...

24. The Queen's Lover by Francince du Plessix Gray, Narrated by Edoardo Ballerini and Tandy Cronyn I don't often listen to audio books, but this may be the book that changed my mind. The Queen's Lover had been on my TBR list since I read this review . Although after having read (listened to) the book, I disagree with the reviewer's conclusion. Don't read this book for its "wistful romance." Read it for its incredibly detailed, nuanced account of the French Revolution and Europe's response! Edoardo Ballerini and Tandy Cronyn voice the roles of Count Axel von Fersen and his sister Sophie, respectively. The division of the two voices in the book may have suited it particularly for audio. I also noticed that du Plessix Gray tended to repeat facts and recount moments. The effect was realistic, as that of an older man reminiscing, but may have proved too dull in a book, whereas the reminders proved less tedious when listened to. Sort of like the ...