Sarah and I recently made our way through the first Barnaby Grimes book: Curse Of The Night Wolf. We quite enjoyed it and will probably seek out others, by the way. However, I had to do some deep background explanations on the concept of the various quack medicinal tonics of the time period, as Sarah isn’t really up on her historical snake oil salesmen. I was able to do it, with some helpful reference to Pete’s Dragon, but it took some explaining. When I saw this vintage ad for Melachol, my immediate thought was to show it to her as an illustration of the concept. Fortunately my parenting brain did kick in before I did that, and suggested to me that I might be better off not having to explain “functional impotence”, “irregularities of menstruation”, or “perverted secretions” at this time. (Actually, I’m not sure I could explain that last one.)
Category: Books
An eclectic bit of bookery
It’s been a while since I closed the various “book stuff” tabs, so let’s take a run through those, shall we? I came to this by the Lord Dunsany connection, but I don’t think you need to be on that page at all to enjoy H. E. Gowers’ HASCHISCH HALLUCINATIONS, posted over at the blog of master-designer-and-artist-of-the-eldritch John Coulthart. I’ve… Read more →
Thought of the day
When we are surprised by a particular outcome or event, we should consciously acknowledge that there must be a gap between our perception and reality. A surprise should be a signal inviting us to realign our intuition and our thinking so that they conform to actuality. One of the life lessons that mathematical thinking offers us is that we should… Read more →
Remember That Financial Crisis?
Yes, we’re all supposed to be much more interested in the oil spill at the moment, but we still remember that whole huge financial crisis right? If so, then you will want to read Jeff Madrick’s review of Michael Lewis‘ new book The Big Short: Inside The Doomsday Machine. It’s the best kind of review–it not only gives you a… Read more →
Meme-ery and Kibbitzing
A few years back, I posted some comments about a “great books in genre” list. One of the comments had to do with the lack of female writers on the list, and I tossed out 20 examples of great genre books by women. Sandra MacDonald has taken that kind of effort to a whole new level, creating a periodic table… Read more →
Golden Books 2: Mindplayers
A while back I wrote something about Steven Brust’s The Sun, The Moon, and The Stars—an entry discussing how it was one of those books that I read at the exactly correct time, and literally had the way I see the world changed (and to some extent shaped) by the experience of reading it. That experience is probably something that… Read more →
Book wear
Yeah, there are a few shirts at Out Of Print that I would totally wear… but there’s only one Immediate Must Buy. I wish it were black, or at least something dark, but there is no denying the power of Bulgarkov and his book. And hey, good cause. Read more →
Yes, I Was Reading That Powers Bibliography Today
Sphinx And Medusa Clark Ashton Smith The old constraint of an essential bond Hath linkt them in my mind: opposed they stare, Twin silences, that through Time’s Otherwhere, The ruinous past, thus each to each respond, One with mysterious gaze that sees beyond The straining suns, calm as the voidness there; And one with eyes like deserts of despair, Flameless… Read more →
Hey, I Haven’t Done A Meme-y Thing In A While
And I did like this one when I found it at greybon. What’s a book you most want to read again for the first time?: Oh, that’s a tough one. I’d probably want to pick something that changed my head in some significant way, which biases the field in favour of things I read earlier in my life–the structures in… Read more →
A Singular Discussion
Having just mentioned that I prefer transcript to video, let me cite another case where I would make an exception. Here’s a quote from an IM chat I was having with a Boston pal last week: (9:15:32 AM) Chris: Friday 7pm The Singularity: An Appraisal Alastair Reynolds Karl Schroeder Charles Stross Vernor Vinge Arguably the idea of the Singularity —… Read more →
Vaguely book-related
You know the drill: links with pithy comments. Let’s start off this list with Jo Walton costing me a pile of money. I’ve mentioned before enjoying her Tor.com reviews, and finding significant alignment between her tastes and mine… so when she reviews a series of spy novels that I somehow have never even heard of, and makes them sound very… Read more →
“Man is a substance clad in shadows”
Many things these days contribute to my lack of sleep–social activity, parent scheduling, social evenings in different cities, my stubborn refusal to go to sleep when I should, time spent playing with the world through this Internet thing, and–of course–things I start to read when I should go to bed that I just-can’t-put-down. Sometimes you can see this coming, so… Read more →
Aside
What does it say about me that when I followed a link to the website for the upcoming Naked Girls Reading Science Fiction show, I was frustrated that the site had lots of information about (and pictures of) the “girls” who would be reading, but no information about what science fiction they would be reading?
Paperback Alley
I mentioned that I’ve started the process of unpacking my books in the new house. I began with the mass-market paperbacks, for a few reasons: they’re the smallest bit of the collection, so they present a relatively undaunting place to start The place where I wanted to put them was ready–unlike the room that will be the “main” library, which… Read more →
Bookish Links On A Friday Night
Well, the most interesting book world story right now is surely the whole hardball face-off between Amazon and Macmillan. I expect the most interesting discussion at Making Light. It’s been a pretty depressing week in the book world: too many stories of authors dying. I guess there will only be more and more stories about the passing of authors who… Read more →
