Three quick items relating to science in book form: 1) It’s that time of year again when every media outlet of any consequence puts out a “Year’s Best {Noun}” list, and John Dupuis is checking the lists for science books so you don’t have to. It looks like a pretty reasonable year for science in… Continue reading Superlative Science Books
Category: Books
The Infinity Puzzle by Frank Close
One of the things that is sometimes very frustrating (to me, at least) about popular physics books is that they rush very quickly through the physics that we already know, in order to spend time talking about wildly speculative ideas. This not only gives some of these books a very short shelf life, as their… Continue reading The Infinity Puzzle by Frank Close
The Physics Book by Clifford Pickover
It’s hard to go more than a couple of days without seeing another “imminent death of publishing” article somewhere, predicting the ultimate triumph of ebooks, There’s one category of books that I expect to remain safe for the foreseeable future, though, namely books that are specifically constructed to be aesthetically pleasing. In other words, coffee-table… Continue reading The Physics Book by Clifford Pickover
The Manga Guide to the Universe by Kenji Ishikawa, Kiyoshi Kawabata, and Verte Corp.
I’m still getting back up to speed with the blog, as well as the huge backlog of stuff I’ve read during the past few months when I was too busy to blog. Thus, I am semi-officially proclaiming this Book Review Week. I’ll post one review a day of books I was sent by publishers looking… Continue reading The Manga Guide to the Universe by Kenji Ishikawa, Kiyoshi Kawabata, and Verte Corp.
How to Teach Relativity to Your Dog: The Cover
I’m looking at an email from my editor when Emmy wanders by the computer, sniffing around just in case a crumb of food has fallen on the floor in the last five minutes. “Hey,” I say, “Come here and look at this.” “Look at what?” “This:” “It’s the cover for my new book.” “A-hem.” “OK,… Continue reading How to Teach Relativity to Your Dog: The Cover
1493: Uncovering the New World Columbus Created by Charles C. Mann
Back when I reviewed Mann’s pop-archaeology classic 1491, I mentioned that I’d held off reading it for a while for fear that it would be excessively polemical in a “Cortez the Killer” kind of way. Happily, it was not, so when I saw he had a sequel coming out, I didn’t hesitate to pick it… Continue reading 1493: Uncovering the New World Columbus Created by Charles C. Mann
2011 Hugo Awards: Predictably Meh
As noted a while back, the Hugo Award nominations for this year were pretty uninspiring. The actual awards were handed out last night and, well, yeah. I wasn’t all that wild about The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms, but it at least would’ve been an interesting choice. But giving it to Blackout/ All Clear, a pair of… Continue reading 2011 Hugo Awards: Predictably Meh
Dan Wells, John Cleaver Series [Library of Babel]
I’ve heard a bunch of good things about Dan Wells’s John Cleaver series (a trilogy at the moment, consisting of I Am Not a Serial Killer, Mr. Monster, and I Don’t Want to Kill You, but the ending of the last leaves an opening for more, should he want to write more), but I somehow… Continue reading Dan Wells, John Cleaver Series [Library of Babel]
Imminent Death of the Book, Continued
A little more tab clearance: these are stories about the transformation of publishing that I’ve been meaning to say something about but haven’t got around to. First, some actual news: rumors of the imminent death of publishing may be somewhat exaggerated, as more books were sold for more money in 2010 than in a while.… Continue reading Imminent Death of the Book, Continued
Lev Grossman, The Magician King [Library of Babel]
Lev Grossman’s The Magicians never got a full entry to itself, but as I said when I mentioned it in this round-up post, I enjoyed it quite a bit. It’s a magical school novel about recognizable American teenagers attending Brakebills, a sort of liberal arts college for the wizarding set, somewhere in the lower Hudson… Continue reading Lev Grossman, The Magician King [Library of Babel]