Note: I received a copy of Committed from the publisher for review consideration. I maintain a master list of Claims that Require Heightened Scrutiny, and the number one item on my list — indeed the reason I started to maintain the list — is this: Any claim that a complicated problem has a simple solution. Nothing infuriates me more1 than people insisting that a complicated thing is actually very simple if people would just look at it in a new way. No! Systems are complicated! Even when there is a simple solution (e.g., we have a vaccine that prevents polio),…
18 CommentsReading the End Posts
It’s super weird listening to this podcast (that’s why I’m posting it late) because Whiskey Jenny and I were so young and innocent when we recorded this. Now we are old and sad. You can listen to the podcast in the embedded player below or download the file directly to take with you on the go! Episode 70 Ask us for our gift book recommendations over at the Holiday Gift Guide! Fill out the form by November 30th, and we’ll be giving out recs on the podcast that airs on December 14th. What We’re Reading Do You Want to Start…
2 CommentsWell, the weather is still confusingly warm, but nevertheless my calendar informs me that we are now in the month of November, which can only mean one thing, book lovers: The triumphal return of Nonfiction November! This week is hosted by Rachel of Hibernator’s Library, and we’re talking about book selection techniques. To wit: What are you looking for when you pick up a nonfiction book? Do you have a particular topic you’re attracted to? Do you have a particular writing style that works best? When you look at a nonfiction book, does the title or cover influence you? If…
15 CommentsMy TBR spreadsheet entry for Kat Howard’s Roses and Rot just said TAM LIN WITH SISTERS, which, I mean, if y’all have been around for a little while, you’ll know that I am about Tam Lin retellings. In this one, sisters Imogen and Marin have won prestigious Melete residencies, which will allow them to work on their art (Imogen writes, Marin dances) with top-of-their-field mentors for a year. This is the first time the two of them have lived in the same place since Imogen fled their abusive mother’s house to attend boarding school as a teenager. At first, Melete…
17 CommentsHappy Friday, team! This time next week, I’d like to say the worst election season that ever electioned will all be over, but I can’t say it with any degree of confidence. This time next week WHO KNOWS but hopefully it’ll be okay and we can start the long and arduous process of getting our mental health back to normal. Have some links, in the meantime. A very cool look at how the designer for The Science behind Game of Thrones created the book’s cover (and her very own Iron Throne). Remember that whole VOYA mess? Of course you do.…
11 CommentsYou know how sometimes you feel that you’ve become inured to the world’s cruelty, and you realize that consuming the news every day and hearing about humankind’s fundamental inhumanity has turned you into a person who doesn’t flinch at each successive news story that comes on Morning Edition, and yes, sure, that’s good and necessary for your own mental health, but on the other hand, are you possibly becoming a robot person incapable of empathy because, like, what kind of human isn’t shattered anew every time they hear about what’s going on in Syria? You know that feeling? Boy Erased,…
9 CommentsThe best legal and investigatory minds of Moscow are on the trail of Woland and his crew, and look, again, I am all about the bureaucratic details of organizations tasked with addressing supernatural issues. That’s what I wanted Agents of SHIELD to be, if you’ll recall: A workplace drama where the characters perhaps are taken hostage by supervillains occasionally but mostly are bickering over whose turn it is to make coffee and which budget codes to use for reimbursements when Thor hammer-smashes most of the furnishes in a 5th Avenue McDonald’s by accident. So, very fun for me to have…
9 CommentsRenay joins us from Fangirl Happy Hour to advise me and Whiskey Jenny about what SF to start with. She has ten recommendations and they are all (we’re confident) gold. You can listen to the podcast in the embedded player below or download the file directly to take with you on the go! Episode 69 What We’re Reading The Weather of the Future, Heidi Cullen Rain: A Natural and Cultural History, Cynthia Barnett City on Fire, Garth Risk Hallberg The Shining, Stephen King Death: An Oral History, Casey Jarman Gotham Academy, Becky Cloonan, Brenden Fletcher, Karl Kerschl the logo on…
2 CommentsWell, Satan’s Ball did not disappoint me in the slightest and in fact kind of reminded me of the balls in Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell. Do you think this book was an influence on Susanna Clarke? (Y’all, I think Susanna Clarke is going to never write another book. That’s honestly what I’ve come to believe. She wrote one incredible book, we were so lucky to have it, and that’s all we get from her. Thanks, Susanna Clarke. Thank you for this gift.) Woland and his crew even kick around our old pal Berlioz’s head (remember that?) for old times’…
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