As you know, Bob, the Hugo Awards are one of the top literary honors in the field of science fiction and fantasy. They’re voted on by the attendees of each year’s Woldcon, held in August or September, and include awards for Best Novel, Novella, Novelette, and Short Story. I posted about the Best Novel nominees… Continue reading Giant Hugo Nominees Round-Up
Category: Books
Giant Booklog Backlog
Well before I was a footnote in a list of popular science blogs, I started out into the world of weblogging by starting a book log, which I still maintain, sort of. I haven’t posted anything to it in a few months because, well, this site takes up most of my blogging energy, and I… Continue reading Giant Booklog Backlog
100 Science Words
One of the perks of my job is that sometimes people send me books for free. Granted, these are mostly introductory physics textbooks, which tend not to be page-turners, but I’m a big fan of books, and I’m a big fan of free stuff, so free books are great. Thus, when I was contacted by… Continue reading 100 Science Words
Quote of the Day
Teresa Nielsen Hayden, writing about the phenomenon of fan fiction: Personally, I’m convinced that the legends of the Holy Grail are fanfic about the Eucharist. One of the most peevesome things about the hectic period I’m in at my day job is that I no longer have time to follow Making Light comment threads– I… Continue reading Quote of the Day
Inside the Sausage Factory
As someone who reads a lot, I have a certain amount of interest in the way publishing works. It’s sort of fascinating to get to hear about the day to day operations, and how a manuscript becomes a book. In that vein, alg on LiveJournal (I’m hazy about whose names are public and whose aren’t,… Continue reading Inside the Sausage Factory
I Do Not Think That Means What You Think It Means
Over at Bookslut, the Specfic Floozy takes another look at the subgenre (or possibly sub-subgenre) of “steampunk,” which she defines thusly: For the uninitiated, steampunk, a term that is prominently tossed around in the late ’80s. is one of the many subgenres of cyberpunk (others — some more tongue in cheek than others — are… Continue reading I Do Not Think That Means What You Think It Means
Spinal Tap Fortells the Future
The New York Times Book Review section this week features a big two-page ad for the Penguin Classics/ NBA cross-promotion. This involves a handful (well, four– a shop-teacher handful) of NBA/ WNBA stars promoting books in the Penguin line, the best of the lot being Dwyane Wade talking about Pride and Prejudice. You can get… Continue reading Spinal Tap Fortells the Future
Greatest Science Book?
Over at the new Seed blog, here on ScienceBlogs, Katherine Sharpe asks about the best science books ever (a topic that was also discussed at Cosmic Variance some time back. I’ve been sort of swamped this week, but that’s only part of the reason why I haven’t responded. The main reason is a shameful secret:… Continue reading Greatest Science Book?
Hugo Award Nominations
Last Friday, before descending into fluff topics like a serious scholarly treatment of Chris Mooney’s The Republican War on Science, Henry Farrell of Crooked Timber posted about something really important: The Hugo Awards. Weirdly, I find myself in the position of having read all of the Best Novel nominees, and this months before the awards… Continue reading Hugo Award Nominations
Top 25 Books
Via a mailing list, the Top 1000 Books in the US, ranked in order of library holdings. The Top 25 (after the cut):