As a sort of companion to the previous post: What’s the last book you read because it connected to your job in some way? I’m being a little more restrictive in the phrasing of this one, because I don’t want to get a whole bunch of journal articles and arxiv links in the comments, so… Continue reading Less Dorky Poll: Business Reading
Category: Books
Less Dorky Poll: Pleasure Reading
I’m kind of fried this morning– it’s been a long week full of after-work events associated with the end of the year– so I’m not up to doing weighty posts about physics, so here’s a lighter discussion topic: What’s the last non-Internet thing you read for fun? Blogging and work have cut into my pleasure… Continue reading Less Dorky Poll: Pleasure Reading
In Defense of Fiction Reading
Eductaion reform is a contentious topic, and everybody has their own ideas about the best ways to improve the teaching of basic skills. Some people favor a “whole language” approach, others think we should go back to teaching phonics and memorizing grammar rules. I’ve heard people speak of “diagramming sentences” as absolutely the worst idea… Continue reading In Defense of Fiction Reading
Walter Mosley
Noted author Walter Mosley spoke on campus last night, and a spot opened up at the last minute for the dinner beforehand, so I got to spend an hour or so listening to him talk off-the-cuff in a small group. He’s a very charming guy, and had a lot of interesting things to say about… Continue reading Walter Mosley
Free Ragamuffins
Having disagreed (somewhat) with Tobias Buckell in the previous post, let me follow that up with something positive: He’s got a new book, Ragamuffin coming out soon, and he’s putting excerpts up on the official Ragamuffin page. You can get RTF files of the first two chapters, and he’s promised a chapter a week leading… Continue reading Free Ragamuffins
Agitprop for Kids?
Earlier this week, while I was buried in work, Tobias Buckell pointed to a post at the Guardian blog in which China Mieville calls for more kid-lit agitprop. It’s a nice example of why I have a hard time with Mieville. Or, quoting Toby because he puts it more concisely: I’m left of two minds.… Continue reading Agitprop for Kids?
Hugo and Nebula Thoughts
There’s been a fair bit of discussion of this year’s Hugo nominees around the Internets, most of it centering around the gender of the nominees (that link goes to a fairly civilized discussion, which includes links to a rather more heated argument). For those who haven’t been following the controversy, only one of the twenty… Continue reading Hugo and Nebula Thoughts
Harry Potter and the Labrador Retriever Problem
The BBC has done a poll about unread books, and found some results that at first might appear surprising: Some 35% of those who bought or borrowed Vernon God Little, DBC Pierre’s story of a US high school massacre, admitted not finishing it. The figure was 32% for the fourth instalment in the Harry Potter… Continue reading Harry Potter and the Labrador Retriever Problem
A Bracket for Everything, and Everything In Its Bracket
Posting has been basketball-heavy of late because, well, there isn’t much else going on that I find all that interesting at the moment. More importantly, though, it’s the Season of the Bracket… I’m not the only one affected, of course, though many people who don’t care about hoops have to find other outlets for the… Continue reading A Bracket for Everything, and Everything In Its Bracket
Significant SF
Everybody and their brother is doing the “which Significant SF books have you read?” thing today, so I might as well play along. The list is below, and just because I’m lazy, I’ve opted to strike out the ones I haven’t read, rather than bolding the ones I have. It’s less typing that way. There… Continue reading Significant SF