It’s been ages since I did a booklog post here. I’ve been reading lots of stuff, I just haven’t been blogging it. I really should do something about the books in the stack by my computer, though, so I’m going to try to write a short post about each, and then shelve them before they […]
Category: Booklog
Little Brother, by Cory Doctorow
Little Brother is Cory Doctorow’s bid for a place on this year’s list of banned books. It’s a book that not only encourages kids to hack computers, commit vandalism, and thwart law enforcement, it gives them detailed instructions on the best ways to do those things. It even comes with two afterwords and a bibliography […]
Charles Stross, Halting State [Library of Babel]
I really, really did not like Glasshouse, Charlie Stross’s Hugo-nominated novel from last year. I enjoy his “Laundry” books, though (The Atrocity Archives and The Jennifer Morgue), and at Worldcon I had a conversation with Robert Sneddon, who recommended the forthcoming Halting State as closer in tone to those, so I picked it up a […]
Nathalie Mallet, The Princes of the Golden Cage [Library of Babel]
Back in August, somebody from Night Shade Books contacted me and asked if I would like a review copy of the forthcoming book by Nathalie Mallet, The Princes of the Golden Cage. I almost never turn down free books, so I said yes (actually, both Kate and I were contacted, and she replied first, so […]
Non-Dorky Poll: Rooting for the Enemy
This was a topic yesterday on Mike & Mike, but I already had a full slate of blog posts. I like the question, though, so I thought I’d put it up here: If you’re a fan of a team in a sport with a championship playoff, who do you root for when your team is […]
Naomi Novik, Empire of Ivory [Library of Babel]
I appear not to have booklogged Naomi Novik’s earlier books, which is something of an oversight. I think they got lost in the transition between the old booklog, and posting booklog entries here. At any rate, Empire of Ivory is the fourth book in the Temeraire series, which starts with the Hugo-nominated His Majesty’s Dragon […]
Steven Gould, Jumper: Griffin’s Story [Library of Babel]
Steven Gould’s 1992 YA novel Jumper is one of my favorites in the category, a story about an abused teen who discovers that he has the ability to teleport, and how he uses that power to make a better life for himself. It’s very much in the tradition of the famous Heinlein juveniles, though with […]
Matt Ruff, Bad Monkeys [Library of Babel]
I first encountered Matt Ruff on Usenet, as a poster on rec.arts.sf.written. When I found out he had books published, I picked up Sewer, Gas, and Electric, which was good enough to put him on the buy-immediately list. Of course, that hasn’t cost me a great deal of money, as he’s only written two books […]
Some Book That Came Out Recently [Library of Babel]
Kate was out of the house around nine on Saturday morning, which usually only happens if we have a plane to catch, which should tell you the importance Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows had for her. She tore through it by dinnertime. I’m not that big a fan, but I hate missing out on […]
Peter Watts, Blindsight [Library of Babel]
This is the final Best Novel Hugo nominee of this year’s field, and given James Nicoll’s immortal description of Watts’s writing (“When I feel my will to live getting too strong, I pick up a Peter Watts book” or words to that effect), I wasn’t terribly enthusiastic about picking up Blindsight. I was on something […]