I think I’ve had an unbroken subscription to Scientific American for the last 15 years or so. This week, I gave up my paper subscription. I usually purchased my subscription for 3 years at a time, but the latest round was due to expire in June or July, I think. I’d started getting the reminder notices,…
In honor of Dr. Seuss’s birthday, I present my favorite Dr. Seuss book of all time: My parents read Dr. Seuss stories to me all the time when I was a little kid. There were many books that I liked a lot (and most I still have memorized1). But of all the wonderful Dr. Seuss…
It looks like a fair amount of my short fiction reading this month will be taken up by Nebula award reading. Voting must take place by the end of the month and I am determined, this year, to have read all of the short fiction on the ballot. When I first glanced at the ballot,…
Here is the short fiction I read in February 2012. Despite the fact that there was an extra day in February, I still managed to make my average of at least 1 story/day. I read a total of 29 pieces of short fiction in February. As always bold titles are stories that I’d recommend: The Man Who…
One of the greatest things about reading is that you never know where it will take you. Fiction leads to nonfiction. Nonfiction leads to fiction. Light reading leads to heavy reading. The combinations are endless. Thus, I was playing catch-up, trying to read the articles of interest in the issues of Time magazine that I’d gotten…
Just a quick post on an otherwise busy day to mention that yesterday, I read Ken Liu‘s novella “The Man Who Ended History: A Documentary.” What a phenomenal read! I don’t know how I missed it when it first came out, but man oh man is this fantastic. I’d easily put it in the top…
Some recent online discussions about reviews had me thinking about my own feelings on reviews last night. I have two perspectives on them: as a fan and as a writer. And since I think of myself as a fan first and a writer second, I’ll start with my perspective as a fan. I don’t go…
Here is the short fiction I read in January. For a second time, I made my goal of averaging 1 story/day, although the spread isn’t particularly even. As always, bold titles are recommended. Sorcerer’s Apprentice by Malcolm Jameson (as by Colin Keith) (Astounding December 1941). [1/2/2012] Bullard Refeclts by Malcolm Jameson (Astounding December 1941). [1/3/2012] Joe…
A few days ago, I arrived home from work to find a package from Amazon. I didn’t recall ordering anything, and when I opened the package, I discovered it was book I’d never heard of by an author I’d never heard of. Included was a gift receipt and a note from the author. The note…
Back in September, I took a break from my reading of George R. R. Martin’s Song of Ice and Fire series. At the time, I was almost halfway through A Feast For Crows, but my mind was beginning to wander and needed other forms of entertainment. Also, my time for reading had been compressed down…
I have occasionally complained that Scientific American was not available on the iPad. At present, it is the only magazine I receive that I don’t get in electronic format. That includes all 6 of my science fiction magazine subscriptions and 2 science magazine subscriptions. I have received New Scientist on the iPad (via Zinio) since last May. And…