The Winds of Marble Arch and Other Stories: A Connie Willis Compendium, Willis. Yes. Publishers Weekly calls it brilliant. While a couple of the stories may reach brilliance, most are merely good, with a few very good and some pretty good. I wish the collection included the dates of the stories, so I could tell whether I think she’s getting better or if I just enjoy some of her themes more than others.
D.A. Review
D.A., Willis. Yes. This breezy novella (possibly even a novelette) is a loving hommage to the Heinlein juveniles. Since Willis captures all the charm of those works without the eye-poking, it was quite pleasant.
Always Review
Always, Griffith. Yes. I found myself wanting to recommend this book to almost everyone I know, mostly because different aspects of the book reminded me of many people I know. The only aspect of the writing that I found a bit distracting was Griffith’s ruthless verbal touring. It seems as though she gives the reader every turn as her heroine navigates the city. I may have noticed this more, since I’m relatively familiar with the city, so I may find another of her books with the same heroine set somewhere else, to find whether I experience the same level of distraction.
Annals of the Western Shore Review
Gifts, Voices, and Powers; Le Guin. Yes. I read these out of order, starting with Powers because I didn’t notice it was part of a series (one of the hazards of avoiding knowing anything about a book before reading it). The reading didn’t suffer much from the different sequencing. These are sturdy young-adult works, exploring complex themes as Le Guin can.
I can find no indication whether there will be more Annals forthcoming.
The Heart of Gold just passed by…
Sub-headline: “Rare events likely to become commonplace, climate report says”
Like Cher
I was thinking about taking LAT Homicide off my favorites list (I haven’t visited in a while) but I stopped by today and saw this gem:
Another South LA resident, who goes by the name of Cheese, said simply, “This is LA…”
Actual news found in local news item!
In an article about something you don’t care about is hidden this gem:
In fact, bars and taverns statewide have seen a greater increase in business than before the smoking ban’s passage in 2005, according to a state Department of Revenue study released Tuesday. Watering holes saw 20 percent more revenue in 2007, compared with the 0.3 percent gain it saw in 2006, the first full year with the ban.
Why Rick is Braver than I
Rick took some of his teen advisory group members (STABbies) to Emerald City Comicon. He is a good man, he is a brave man, and willing to not only drive unrelated teens to Seattle but also to be a positive influence on some very thoughtful yet embarrassed young people.
As the photographer was organizing us for the shoot, he gave me some direction. In the midst of that direction he said something that didn’t quite register. He gave us more direction, and said something to me again that didn’t quite sink in. He said it to me a third time and then, with horrible realization, I realized what he had been saying. He was referring to me as “Dad” and he must have believed that I was the father of the STABies!
“Whoa! “ I said, “I’m not their dad! I’m their librarian.”
“Whatever.” He responded, “Move a little to the left.”
And tries desperately to glamorize Ohio
Hey, remember when Travelocity had dream maps, and you could see how little it would cost you to travel to various glamorous and not-so-glamorous destinations? Now they have a partner site called lastminute that has a list rather than map format that woos you to various destinations. I checked where I could go without any area or date restrictions and found quite a few appealing destinations (though they all seemed to be for only a couple days at a time, unless I was misreading the information– if I’m flying to London, I would like to stay for longer than a weekend.) .
But thank goodness no Marooned
From our friend FOIA, a list of the books, movies, and music at the International Space Station. The reading just reinforces that astronauts will always be astronautish, but I’m intrigued by the movies. Well, intrigued by season one of Sealab 2021. Seems a little too… on the nose.