All posts by Daneekas Ghost

Books Books Books

March 10, 2016 Daneekas Ghost 43 Comments

Two really good story collections I read this month.

Get in Trouble by Kelly Link.

One of those books that just keeps getting recommended over and over until you think "there's no way it's actually that good, right?" Well, now I get to join the club and recommend this one. It was pretty great. For a sample of the stories in this book you can read "The New Boyfriend" or "I Can See Right Through You".

The Tsar of Love and Techno by Anthony Marra.

Yes, the title is kind of bad. But the linked stories in the book are all kind of sadly, cynically funny in a way that seemed very appropriate for the Russian setting (especially the first story "The Leopard" which is about a Soviet censor responsible for doctoring photographs who turns it into an art of his own).

Also, the Nebula nominations came out this month, so if you're looking for some sci-fi to read, there's at least a starting point. I have to get my Hugo ballot together by the end of the month, so if you have any recommendations in any of those categories let me know.

First Monday Book Day

Monday Book Day: Re-Reads

December 14, 2015 Daneekas Ghost 80 Comments

Apologies for missing the first Monday.

I finished the Great Vonnegut (Re)-Read of 2015 by finishing his last novel, Timequake, right at the end of November. When I decided to read all of Vonnegut's novels, Timequake was the one that I was most interested in re-reading. I read it in 1997 when it was first published and I was in 10th grade. And I don't think I got it. I had always been perplexed when people have good things to say about the book because I thought it was my least favorite book of his. So, I was very interested in what my reaction would be to it this time around, moreso than any of the other books. (One nice thing about that being that it served as a very nice motivator to keep the project going, I had to get to Timequake to see how it had changed for me).

This time around, I loved it. I'm not going to argue that it's a great novel. It's half of a novel at best. But if you spend time with Vonnegut, especially post-Breakfast of Champions Vonnegut, this book is a near perfect epilogue to his career. Through this whole year I got the perspective that I was missing back in 1997. The payoff to the project was pretty good.

This summer, I got in a friendly argument with my Dad about re-reading books. He refuses to do it, using the "there's too many books I haven't read out there and not nearly enough time to read them all" argument. He could not understand why I would choose to re-read all of Vonnegut's novels or start The Wheel of Time over from the beginning when the final three books started coming out. So I went back and looked through my reading spreadsheets and found that I really don't re-read very much. I feel like that's the majority opinion, most people feel like they don't read enough and so why spend time reading something again? But the effect of my Vonnegut re-read is making me question that a little bit. There are books that I've said I'd like to go back and spend some more time with (2666 is the one that leaps to mind), but I don't know that I ever would have. Now I'm reconsidering a little bit. Maybe that will be a project for a future year. Re-read one book per month that I've wanted to revisit? Could be interesting.

So, do you ever re-read? Never re-read? What books would you revisit if the feeling struck you?

WGOM Videos

MewithoutYou – Red Cow

Video December 14, 2015 Daneekas Ghost 4 Comments

Nibbish played these guys during his guest DJ week and I spent an awful lot of 2015 listening to their albums. This is off this year's Pale Horses.

(6 votes, average: 8.67 out of 10)
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First Monday Book Day

First Monday: Winter Reading List

November 2, 2015 Daneekas Ghost 85 Comments

There was mention of, and support for, a winter reading list recommendation last month.

So here's what we'll do. Recommend a book or two below. At some point, I'll go through and collect all the books, organize by genre (in a very general sense: non-fiction, story collection, graphic novel, etc.) and provide some links in next month's post. That way I've got something to write about for two months instead of just one. Everybody wins!

I'll recommend a couple books, some I've read, and some I'm hoping to get to this winter.

The Dead Mountaineer's Inn by Arkady and Boris Strugatsky.

This is one that I haven't got to yet, but sounds interesting. The Strugatskys are best known for science fiction, but here they tackle the mystery genre (an isolated ski resort, a dead body, a quirky list of suspects... you get it).

Today I am a Book by xTx.

I read this story collection back in August and really enjoyed it. It was the first thing I've really read by xTx and I am in love with her language. The stories were short, the sentences direct, but every time there was something moving just beneath the story. It's the kind of thing that really gets me, every time.

Haints Stay by Colin Winnette.

I can't be recommending books and pass up an opportunity to recommend Winnette, who may well be my favorite author right now. This is a bizarre book. It's an "acid western" that's got murderous transgender cowboys, cannibals, a sharpshooting foster mother out for revenge... everything, really. I read it in about 4 hours.

So, what's on your winter reading list? Or do you have a book that's perfect for someone else's list? Drop them in the LTE's.

How's Infinite Jest going? Everybody found a copy? Initial thoughts?

First Monday Book Day

Monday Book Day: Sci-Fi and Fantasy Awards

September 14, 2015 Daneekas Ghost 34 Comments

The Hugo awards were passed out this month (or, in most cases, not passed out). And tradition dictates that this is the time that I put together a little online reading list of short fiction based on the various sci-fi award nominees out there.

Hugo Award Nominees and Winners

Nebula Award Nominees

Locus Award Nominees

World Fantasy Award Nominees

Sturgeon Award Nominees

Those represent 12 short fiction awards (two have yet to be handed out, and two were not awarded this year), and 60 different nominated works. My favorites listed below with links where the stories are available online.

NOVELLA (17,500 to 40,000 words)

The Mothers of Voorhisville by Mary Rickert - A whole group of mothers are all pregnant at the same time, and something is very wrong with their children. Or maybe the children are fine and there's something very wrong with the mothers. (Nominated for Nebula and World Fantasy)

We Are All Completely Fine by Daryl Gregory - A support group for the survivors of supernatural violence comes together and tells their stories while realizing their stories aren't over. Not available for free online. (Nominated for Nebula, World Fantasy, Locus, and Sturgeon)

The Regular by Ken Liu - A cyborg detective is enlisted to solve a murder. The anthology this is from (Upgraded) can be got for free in some places (I got it from the publisher but it seems that offer has expired?), or you can purchase it for a few dollars. (Nominated for Nebula, Sturgeon and Locus)

The Lightning Tree by Patrick Rothfuss - I love a good trickster story, and this is that story. Set in the world of the Kingkiller Chronicles, but I wasn't familiar with that and still very much enjoyed it. Unfortunately, another that's not freely available online. (Nominated for Locus)

The Man Who Sold the Moon by Cory Doctorow (Sturgeon Award winner) and Yesterday's Kin by Nancy Kress (Locus and Nebula Award winner) weren't my favorites and they weren't available freely online, so I'll just mention them here.

NOVELLETTE (7,500 to 17,500 words)

The Magician and Laplace's Demon by Tom Crosshill - Can magic exist in a world with AI and total surveillance? (Nominated for Nebula)

A Guide to the Fruits of Hawaii by Alaya Dawn Johnson - Vampires have humans in concentration camps, and one of the human workers in those camps is caught up in the intrigues of the overlords. (Nebula Award Winner)

The Devil in America by Kai Ashante Wilson - Shapeshifters in the antebellum South. (Nominated for Nebula and World Fantasy)

Tough Times All Over by Joe Abercrombie - A package makes its way through the city in the hands of various underground characters. Excerpt here. (Locus Award Winner)

A Year and a Day in Old Theradane by Scott Lynch - A crime caper with witches and wizards. (Nominated for Locus)

SHORT STORY (under 7,500 words)

Jackalope Wives by Ursula Vernon - My favorite story of the year. Native American myth and magic woven into a great story (Nebula Award winner)

Herd Immunity by Tananarive Due - In a plague apocalypse, how can the narrator find a connection with anyone? (Nominated for Sturgeon)

When it Ends, He Catches Her by Eugie Foster - A zombie apocalypse story that's somehow wistful. (Nominated for Nebula and Sturgeon)

Ogres of East Africa by Sofia Samatar - Samatar is quickly becoming one of my favorite writers, this is in an anthology, so not available freely online, but it's very good. (Nominated for Locus)

The Vaporization Enthalpy of a Peculiar Pakistani Family by Usman Malik (nominated for Nebula)

I Can See Right Through You by Kelly Link (nominated for World Fantasy)

WGOM Videos

The Joy Formidable – Whirring

Video August 23, 2015 Daneekas Ghost 2 Comments

I think this video sums up The Joy Formidable quite nicely.

Wind them up and let them go and see if they just keep rocking forever.

A video I've watched an awful lot of times.

(5 votes, average: 9.00 out of 10)
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WGOM Videos

The Dead Weather – Treat Me Like Your Mother

Video August 22, 2015 Daneekas Ghost

My brother and I were discussing Jack White projects not too long ago and we discovered that we have nearly opposite preferences. So here is my current favorite Jack White-associated band.