Category: 2012

What I Read in October 2012

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I‘m a little behind getting this post out, but part of the reason is that I have now partially automated the process of generating these posts–something which I will discuss in my Going Paperless tips post next week. Remember that items in bold are recommended. And a (^) indicates a re-read.

It is also worth noting that Jack McDevitt and Mike Resnick’s The Cassandra Project was the 500th book I’ve read since 1996.

With that out of the way, here is what I read in October

Short Fiction

  1. Overthrow by Cleve Cartmill (Astounding, November 1942) [10/2/2012]
  2. Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption^ by Stephen King (Different Seasons) [10/4/2012]
  3. Sojourn for Ephah by Marina Lostetter (InterGalactic Medicine Show, September 2012) [10/5/2012]
  4. My Mother’s Body by Christie Yant (Daily Science Fiction, 10/18/2012) [10/18/2012]
  5. A Handful of Glass, A Sky Without Stars by Damien Walters Grintalis (Daily Science Fiction, 10/26/2012) [10/26/2012]

In addition to those five stories, I also read 3 stories from fellow writers for critique and feedback.

Articles

  1. Editorial: Sneak Invasion by John W. Campbell (Astounding, November 1942) [10/2/2012]
  2. Art of Speculation: An Interview with Stanley Schmidt (Locus, October 2012) [10/3/2012]
  3. Inversions: An Interview with Kij Johnson (Locus, October 2012) [10/5/2012]
  4. America’s Science Problem by Shawn Lawrence Otto (Scientific American, November 2012) [10/18/2012]
  5. To Track My Thief by David Pogue (Scientific American, November 2012) [10/18/2012]
  6. Death by Graham Lawton (New Scientist, 10/20/2012) [10/19/2012]
  7. Plight of the Living Dead by Dick Teresi (New Scientist, 10/20/2012) [10/19/2012]
  8. The Quest for Immortality by Stephen Cave (New Scientist, 10/20/2012) [10/19/2012]
  9. Earthly Remains by Caroline Williams (New Scientist, 10/20/2012) [10/19/2012]
  10. Don’t Fear the Reaper by Shelly Kagan (New Scientist, 10/20/2012) [10/19/2012]
  11. Taylor In Wonderland by Brian Hiatt (Rolling Stone, 10/25/2012) [10/20/2012]
  12. Rod’s Wild Years (Excerpt) by Rod Steward (Rolling Stone, 10/25/2012) [10/20/2012]
  13. A League of His Own by Josh Eells (Rolling Stone, 11/8/2012) [10/26/2012]
  14. The Value of Failing (From Someone Who Never Did) by Joanna Castle Miller (Writer’s Digest, Nov/Dec 2012) [10/29/2012]
  15. George R. R. Martin: At the Top of His Game by Rich Shivener (Writer’s Digest, Nov/Dec 2012) [10/29/2012]

Books

  1. The Cassandra Project by Jack McDevitt and Mike Resnick (Ace) [10/11/2012]
  2. Apollo’s Outcasts by Allen Steele1 (Pyr) [10/31/2012]

And as always, if you are looking for inexpensive entertainment, a subscription to one of the many terrific science fiction and fantasy magazines out there is cheaper than an evening out at the movies.

Get your short fiction fix:

My nonfiction subscriptions:

* Denotes magazines to which I have an active subscription.
  1. I’ve reviewed both of these books in my Science of Wonder book review column at InterGalactic Medicine Show later this month.  ↩

What I Read in July 2012

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July appeared to be a Stephen King month for me. Most of the short fiction I read was King and every novel I read was King as well. Short fiction still suffered this month, but that is in part because I read three fairly long books (two of the three books added up to nearly 2,000 pages!) and I went on an article reading binge mid-month as well. I have a backlog of short fiction to catch up on. If only I can find the time to do it!

Incidentally, Stephen King’s It (my second reading of it) marks my 494th book since January 1, 1996. I’ll likely finish book #495 today and since I have 2 books to read for my September book review column, that puts me at least 497 books by the end of August. Anyone want to venture a guess as to when I will hit book #500?

And a reminder: bold titles indicate stories, articles or books that I particularly recommend.

Short fiction

  1. 1922 by Stephen King (Full Dark, No Stars) [7/1/2012]
  2. Big Driver by Stephen King (Full Dark, No Stars) [7/2/2012]
  3. A Good Marriage by Stephen King (Full Dark, No Stars) [7/5/2012]
  4. Cain Rose Up by Stephen King (Skeleton Crew) [7/6/2012]
  5. The Man in the Black Suit by Stephen King (Everything’s Eventual) [7/7/2012]
  6. Cutting by Ken Liu (Electric Velocepede #24) [7/30/2012]

Articles

  1. Reflections: “Anthologies” by Robert Silverberg (Asimov’s, Septmber 2012) [7/19/2012]
  2. Mannish Boy by Josh Eells (Rolling Stone, August 2, 2012) [7/20/2012]
  3. The Only Human Superhero by Jonathan Lethem (Rolling Stone, August 2, 2012) [7/20/2012]
  4. The Resurfacing of Anthony Ervin by Constaintine Markides (Rolling Stone, August 2, 2012) [7/20/2012]
  5. The Consciousness Connection by Caroline Williams (New Scientist, July 21, 2012) [7/20/2012]
  6. On the Brink by Craig Ryan (New Scientist, July 21, 2012) [7/20/2012]
  7. Siri, Why Aren’t You Smarter by David Pogue (Scientific American, August 2012) [7/21/2012]
  8. The Benevolence of Black Holes by Caleb Scharf (Scientific American, August 2012) [7/21/2012]
  9. The Joyful Mind by Morten L. Kringelbach and Kent C. Berridge (Scientific American, August 2012) [7/22/2012]
  10. Bruce Springsteen at Sixty-Two by David Remnick (The New Yorker, July 27, 2012) [7/23/2012]
  11. Calculating Value in Apple’s Upgraded Software by David Pogue (New York Times, July 25, 2012) [7/25/2012]

Books

  1. Full Dark, No Stars by Stephen King [7/5/2012]
  2. Bag of Bones by Stephen King [7/10/2012]
  3. It by Stephen King [7/30/2012]

And as always, if you are looking for inexpensive entertainment, a subscription to one of the many terrific science fiction and fantasy magazines out there is cheaper than an evening out at the movies.

Get your short fiction fix:

My nonfiction subscriptions:

* Denotes magazines to which I have an active subscription.

What I read in June 2012

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I’ve decided to consolidate my monthly reading posts into a single posts covering short fiction, magazine articles, and books. It seems to me that one post is more efficient than three and can be just as easily organized. And it has the added benefit of allowing me to list everything for the month in a single place.

To my great surprise, I read very little short fiction in June, the first time that has happened since I started keeping track of my short fiction reading back in September 2011. This was due in part to the fact that I had some book review obligations to meet; it was due in part to the fact that I am taking a break from my Vacation in the Golden Age posts; and it is due in part to time constraints and other commitments. I also read few articles in June, but I expect both of these to change in July–indeed, I’ve already read both short fiction and articles this month.

Short fiction

  1. Alive and Well, and Far From Anywhere by Allen Steele (Asimov’s, July 2012) [6/1/2012]
  2. The Girl in the Park by Robert Reed (Asimov’s, July 2012) [6/1/2012]
  3. Bright Lights by Robert Reed (Strange Horizons, 5/7/2012) [6/1/2012]
  4. Donner Summit by Harry Turtledove (Analog, July/August 2012) [6/3/2012]

Articles

  1. “A Q&A with George R. R. Martin” by Adam Duerson (Sports Illustrated Website) [6/3/2012]
  2. “Still Crazy After  All These Years” by Erik Hedegaard (Rolling Stone, 6/21/2012) [6/8/2012]
  3. “John Mayer’s Regrets” by Josh Eells (Rolling Stone, 6/21/2012) [6/8/2012]
  4. “The Beach Boys’ Last Wave” by Jason Fine (Rolling Stone, 6/21/2012) [6/9/2012]

Books

  1. Night Raider (Lone Wolf #1) by Barry N. Malzberg (as by Mike Barry) [6/8/2012]
  2. Taft 2012: A Novel by Jason Heller [6/26/2012]
  3. Redshirts: A Novel with 3 Codas by John Scalzi [6/27/2012]

And as always, if you are looking for inexpensive entertainment, a subscription to one of the many terrific science fiction and fantasy magazines out there is cheaper than an evening out at the movies.

Get your short fiction fix:

My nonfiction subscriptions:

* Denotes magazines to which I have an active subscription.

Articles I read in May 2012

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Early in May I started keeping track of the significant non-fiction articles I read, just like I keep track of the short fiction I read (to say nothing of the books I read). I started partway through the month, but I figured I’d report out those as well, for anyone who might be interested. This was a fairly slow month of article-reading mostly because I was busy with other types of reading. And when I say “article” I mean an article of substance. I’m not talking about the editorials at the opening of the science magazines, but the in-depth articles they contain. I’m not talking about a micro-review in a media magazine, but an in-depth interview or profile. And as with the short fiction lists, I’ve bolded those articles I find particularly good. Here are the articles I read in May:

  1. The Devil and Gregg Allman (excerpt) by Gregg Allman (Rolling Stone, 5/10/2012) [5/11/2012]
  2. The World According to Money by Paul Solotaroff (Rolling Stone, 5/10/2012) [5/11/2012]
  3. Ready for the Fight by Jann S. Wenner (Rolling Stone, 5/10/2012) [5/11/2012]
  4. Levon Helm by Mikal Gilmore (Rolling Stone, 5/10/2012) [5/11/2012]
  5. Bombing is a Fine Art by Willy Ley (Astounding, August 1942) [5/12/2012]
  6. Master of the Game by Brian Hyatt (Rolling Stone, 5/24/2012) [5/12/2012]
  7. The Hand Behind the Throne by Gavin Edwards (Rolling Stone, 5/24/2012) [5/12/2012]
  8. The Many Lives of Adam Yauch by Brian Hyatt (Rolling Stone, 6/7/2012) [5/28/2012]
  9. This Year’s Girls by Vanessa Grigoriadis (Rolling Stone, 6/7/2012) [5/28/2012]
  10. Maurice Sendak: King of the Wild Things by Jonathan Cott (Rolling Stone, 1976) [5/28/2012]
  11. Take Me Home by Ray Bradbury (New Yorker, June 4 & 11, 2012) [5/29/2012]
  12. The Golden Age by Ursula K. Le Guin (New Yorker, June 4 & 11, 2012) [5/29/2012]

I think I might have gotten in some science magazine reading prior to May 10, but as you can see, I finally discovered Rolling Stone and was more or less obsessed with that magazine for the rest of the month.

Every one of the non-fiction magazines to which I subscribe come in electronic format. For those interested in the nonfiction magazines I try to read each month, here is the list:

My nonfiction subscriptions: