Gwenda

Recommended Reading

Gorey

It’d been many years, pre-LitBlog Co-Op, since I had required reading. I’d forgotten how much the spirit can chafe against such things. In fact, last round, I sort of despaired at one point — I didn’t love any of the books and I just wasn’t sure I could stick it out with the LBC over the long haul if such misery was required along with the reading. I don’t mean that all the books were terrible or anything; I actually grew pretty fond of the Stern and especially the Gann. But I wasn’t exactly thrilled with the idea of five new prospects arriving at the PO Box either.

You see, there’s this stack of books a mile tall next to my bed that I also want to read. But these, these I had to rank and discuss. I had to read these. It instantly made every other book in the house more attractive.

Here’s the thing. This time around was completely different. This time around the nominators announced their nominees and I was really surprised. Most of them I had completely missed. And they looked FANTASTIC. They showed up and they were a good-looking set of books aesthetically. They had promise. They were the kind of books you look at and want to read. (And some of the author photos are downright hot.) And they delivered. I didn’t hate anything this time. I loved three of the books and liked the other two well enough. I didn’t regret the time spent reading anything and I felt really lucky to be reading these books the vast majority of the time.

So, I’m excited about this next round. It’s a strong crop of books, we’re doing some new stuff (Podcasts! Ed rocks!) and if you think something else is a good idea, drop a line. In the meantime, I’m now weighing the books I’ve read in the last year to come up with my own nomination for the next round, due shortly. (If you feel really strongly about a book, drop me an email or leave it in the comments.)

Mostly, I just hope you’ll all tune in on Monday and in the weeks ahead to read and discuss these five pretty wonderful books. Starting with the Most Wonderful of Them All on Monday morning.

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Where You Been

Copying Tito, places I spent at least a night in 2005:

Lexington, KY
Hickory, NC
Asheville, NC
Chicago
Madison, WI
Glasgow
Atlanta
Anneville, KY

A pretty ish-ish year on travel. Am thinking this year, in addition to Wiscon, I may do BEA, and at some point we’ll probably be in New York. Also, Roanoke Island. And possibly LA and/or Austin, depending as well. I am determined to get somewhere tropical. We’ll see. Y tu?

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Wednesday Hangovers

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Sunk

A few lines from the book I just started reading:

"Also, if you stay in it for any length of time, like anyplace else, a cafe becomes a world."

"However, it is definitely on the list of perfect things. You know what I mean, the list that includes the starry sky over the desert, grilled cheese sandwiches, The Great Gatsby, the Chrysler Building, Ella Fitgerald singing "It Don’t Mean a Thing (If You Ain’t Got That Swing)," white peonies, and those little sketches of hands by Leonardo DaVinci." (In reference to The Philadelphia Story.)

"If a girl could sling a poem over her swimwear as though it were an old T-shirt, what else might be possible?"

"I’ve always been more than a little proud of myself for having been fourteen and deeply benighted about almost everything, but having had the sense to recognize what is surely a universal truth: Jimmy Stewart is always and indisputably the best man in the world, unless Cary Grant should happen to show up."

"Spruce Street: cars and lights; the synagogue on the corner; the hustlers in front of it, male and heartbreakingly young. I felt the two tugs I always felt when I looked at those boys: the tug toward wanting the cars to stop, the tug toward wanting them not to stop."

"Then, I gave him a look so worthy of Veronica Lake, I could almost feel my nonexistent blond tresses falling over one eye."

All from the first chapter. And I so wanted a graceful, fun book to read now.

Okay, so, unless this book starts to suck in a profound way — which the blurb from Ms. Karen Joy Fowler pretty much guarantees won’t happen — I am very, very happy to be reading it. Should gratuitous Claudette Colbert namedropping be on the way, or perhaps a stray reference to Midnight, I’ll love it. The book?

Love Walked in by Marisa de los Santos, which just came out. You can read an excerpt at that link.

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Revenge of the GilmoreGossipCircle

Finally, something returns to TV that’s worth a)watching and b)talking about. My heart is light. Here’s the teaser:

The Perfect Dress. Feeling that he has missed too much and wants to get to know his newly discovered daughter April, Luke goes to have a talk with her mother, his former girlfriend Anna Nardini (guest star Fenn). Meanwhile, Lorelai (Lauren Graham) sets a date for the wedding after finding the perfect dress, but she is worried by the nagging feeling that something is about to go wrong. Back at Yale, Rory (Alexis Bledel) happily moves into a dingy off-campus apartment with Paris (Lisa Weil) and Doyle (Danny Strong), and tries to avoid running into Logan (Matt Czuchry). However, when Logan shows up at her apartment and declares his love for her, Rory breaks down. The episode was written by Amy Sherman-Palladino and directed by Jamie Babbit.

And ASP wrote it, so we can at least keep our fingers crossed that it won’t disappoint.

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Tuesday Hangovers

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Gender Bender

Instant_Fanzine has this year’s finalists for the Philip K. Dick award.

COWL by Neal Asher (Tor)
WAR SURF by M. M. Buckner (Ace)
CAGEBIRD by Karin Lowachee (Warner Aspect)
NATURAL HISTORY by Justina Robson (Bantam Spectra)
SILVER SCREEN by Justina Robson (Pyr)
TO CRUSH THE MOON by Wil McCarthy (Bantam Spectra)

This is not the gender balance* one sees in science fiction award nominees every day. I like it.

(Plus, go Justina go!)

*Three women vs. two men, for those who don’t know that M.M. Buckner’s a woman.

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Less Than Mysterious

So, JT Leroy is a construct, an actor, a half-sibling, so what? Readers of #1HS have known this since FOREVER. Though it can still be amusemoi to read the profiles and such. (I’m sorry, but I don’t really see the appealing personality here — I kind of just see st*rs getting starf*cked.) But then, I’m suspicious of anyone who gives such free reign for use of the words "lot lizard." And, what’s more, I resent Ms. Knoops’ non-comment: "I don’t need this in my life right now."  She’s had YEARS to rehearse a more graceful and entertaining reaction and that‘s what we get?

Wonder if Frey’s publisher will stick by him?

Can’t say as I really care about that either. Much. People actually believe the crap in memoirs? Seriously? Does it make it in any way less or more meaningful whether or not it really happened? Maybe it does to some, but a story’s a story in my book. Some of the greatest memoirs in history are full of lies and exaggerations. Do Americans have some sudden yearning for The Truth of which I’m not aware?

From the NYT this week, I much prefer this story about hiccups. You know, my mom had the hiccups once when she was a kid … FOR FIVE DAYS. And on the fifth day came Halloween, and my grandmother brought a bunch of trick-or-treaters in to see her without reminding her what day it was. And those brats in masks scared the hiccups right out of her.

Now, that’s a true story.

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Short Fiction Jackpot

The preliminary Nebula ballot just came out. There’s a bunch of worthy stuff on there, although due to its incomprehensible eligibility system much of it may seem old enough to have been honored in previous years. (Do not try to understand; it’s a flawed, overcomplicated system.) Anyway, The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction has just put up a whole bunch of stories from the ballot for free online. These include several of my favorite stories from the past few years. I’m going to list them below, and highly recommend checking them out. (And then subscribing!) That said, I’m sure every story F&SF has on the ballot is worth your time.

But I think these are worth more of your time:

"Start the Clock," Benjamin Rosenbaum
"Cold Fires," M. Rickert (Do NOT miss this story!)
"The End of the World as We Know It," Dale Baley (There are a couple of sections of this story that have stuck with me as much as any fiction that acknowledges 9/11.)
"Keyboard Practice, Consisting of an Aria with Diverse Variations for the Harpsichord with Two Manuals," John G. McDaid
"I Live With You," Carol Emshwiller (Seriously, one of the best stories I read last year.)
"Magic for Beginners," Kelly Link (Maybe my very favorite story I read last year and one of my favorites of Kelly’s, which is saying something.)

So, what are you waiting for?

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