All posts by Daneekas Ghost

First Monday Book Day

First Monday: Winter Reading List

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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

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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 Dead Weather – Treat Me Like Your Mother

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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.

They have a new album coming out sometime soon (September? - I'm too lazy to research this)

3 votes, average: 8.00 out of 103 votes, average: 8.00 out of 103 votes, average: 8.00 out of 103 votes, average: 8.00 out of 103 votes, average: 8.00 out of 103 votes, average: 8.00 out of 103 votes, average: 8.00 out of 103 votes, average: 8.00 out of 103 votes, average: 8.00 out of 103 votes, average: 8.00 out of 10 (3 votes, average: 8.00 out of 10)
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John Luther Adams – Inuksuit

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You have to admit this is cool.  Dozens of percussionists, a big warehouse, and John Luther Adams' "ultimate environmental piece".

This is a 15-minute edit of a 60-minute piece, which is absolutely worth a listen if you are so inclined.

4 votes, average: 8.75 out of 104 votes, average: 8.75 out of 104 votes, average: 8.75 out of 104 votes, average: 8.75 out of 104 votes, average: 8.75 out of 104 votes, average: 8.75 out of 104 votes, average: 8.75 out of 104 votes, average: 8.75 out of 104 votes, average: 8.75 out of 104 votes, average: 8.75 out of 10 (4 votes, average: 8.75 out of 10)
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First Monday Book Day

First Monday Book Day

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Reading related thoughts:

  • The Vonnegut re-read has now entered the post-Breakfast of Champions stage where I've read less of the books and they seem to be less well known.  I find that I'm more excited to read (or re-read) these.
    Read Slapstick in July and it was pretty good. The theme of the secondary family has been more obvious as I read all of these novels back to back and I think this is the biggest example of that theme in his work.  I wouldn't put this up there among the best Vonnegut, but I enjoyed it just fine.
    Jailbird and Deadeye Dick are up this month.  I honestly can't remember if I have ever read Jailbird before, so that will be interesting.
  • In previous editions of FMBD, I know I've talked about my enjoyment of Two Dollar Radio as an independent publishing house.  Well, I got Haints Stay by Colin Winnette from them this month and I tore through it in about 12 hours.  It's an "acid western" about two brothers (one who is transgender) that are bounty hunters who find that a boy has appeared in their campsite.It's a violent thing and Winnette is always writes in an unrelenting style (a style that I've loved in everything I've read of his) and I felt like this was my favorite book of his that I've read.  It was definitely my favorite July read.
  • I had heard good things about Wesley Chu's Tao series, so I read that this month as well.  From the first book (Lives of Tao - Chu's debut) to the third, you can see him improve as a writer and the whole series is an interesting setup (aliens have been inhabiting select humans since the dawn of history and controlling the development of human civilization).  I would say it was reasonably good sci-fi, and worth checking out, but nothing that was groundbreaking.
  • Next month is the now-somewhat-annual Science Fiction/Fantasy Short Fiction Award post - this year not quite so focused on the Hugo Award, but there's plenty of good stuff to link to and discuss.  So mark your calendars?