Non-book reading
Posted on | February 24, 2010 | No Comments
In the last couple of years, the volume of book reading I do has declined somewhat. There are 2 primary reasons for this: (1) I have been spending more time on other things like the baby and family, as well as trying to focus more of my free time on writing; (2) I have been doing a lot more non-book reading. Since my non-book reading now makes up a measurable percentage of my overall reading, I thought I’d provide a list of by regularly recurring non-book reading.
Daily non-book reading
While I don’t read newspapers, I do read most of the editorials and op ed pieces of four major newspapers: (1) The Washington Post; (2) The New York Times; (3) The Los Angeles Times; (4) The (London) Times. Why these papers? Well, the Washington Post is my local newspaper. The New York Times is my home-town paper. I spent my formative years in Los Angeles and still have friends and family there, so that explains the Los Angeles Times. As far as the London Times goes, it’s an international newspaper in English that gives opinion from the perspective of Europe–that is, outside the United States. It might be deduced from this list that all I read op ed and opinions in liberal newspapers. Well, that is certainly my leaning. For a while I read op eds from the Wall Street Journal, but they started charging for access and it simply wasn’t worth it to me. I read these as RSS feeds within Google Reader. I probably spend about 30 minutes a day reading these opinion pieces–which probably amount to 15 or so articles each day.
Weekly non-book reading
NEW SCIENTIST is my regular weekly read. It has warmed its way into my heart and has for some time now been my favorite non-fiction magazine, overtaking SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN. I look forward to the magazine each and every week and I read it cover to cover without ever skipping, and with immense delight. In addition to keeping me abreast of news and developments in science and technology, I clip out articles from each issue that form either the basis of ideas for science fiction stories, or provide something that I can use within a story idea that I already have.
Monthly non-book reading
SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN tops the list of the monthly reads. Just like NEW SCIENTIST, I read each issue cover-to-cover without skipping. SCIAM provides more of an in depth source of science education. Of all of the non-book reading on this list, I have been a subscriber to SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN the longest–over 15 years now.
ANALOG science fiction magazine is next on my monthly reading list. I typically don’t read this magazine cover-to-cover. I do read it on my Kindle, and on the day it arrives, I always read Stan Schmidt’s editorial. I’m more selective about the stories I read and it really depends on time. I’ll read any story by someone I know, and will occasionally read others, but usually only come back to it if a particular story has been recommended. I also read the book reviews.
ASIMOV’S science fiction is also on the list of monthly reading, also on my Kindle. Like ANALOG, I don’t read this one cover-to-cover. I always read Sheila William’s editorial, and Robert Silverberg’s "Reflections" column. I also always read stories from people I know, as well as the book reviews and James Patrick Kelly’s column. But like ANALOG, I only read further when a particular story is recommended. There just isn’t enough time in the day, even if I wanted to read everything in the magazine.
Apex Magazine is on the monthly list. I usually sample what’s there, but I typically don’t read the whole thing cover-to-cover.
Bi-monthly reading
The SFWA Bulletin tops the list for bimontly reading. This is the magazine produced by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (of which I am a member) and I read it to keep up with what’s going on in the organization, sure, but really, I read it primarily for Mike Resnick and Barry Malzberg’s wonderful "Dialogues" column. I crack it open on the day it shows up and the first thing I do is turn to the Dialogues to see what these two luminaries of science fiction have to say. I also skim the "New and Updated Markets" section to find out what has changed, and what opportunities are out there.
The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction (F&SF) is on the bimonthly list. I don’t often read this magazine but I skim its table of contents and if I see an interesting name (Harlan Ellison, Kate Wilhelm, etc.) I will read it.
Orson Scott Card’s InterGalactic Medicine Show is on the bimonthly list as well. I always read Edmund Schubert’s "Letter From the Editor" and I usually pick a story or two from each issue to read, particularly if it is someone I know (David B. Coe, Mary Robinette Kowal, etc.)
SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN MIND is new to the bi-monthly reading list and I am eagerly awaiting my first issue so that I can determine whether or not it will stay on the list.
That about covers it–and explains why my book reading is down slightly these last few years. It gets harder and harder to find the time to read, whether it is some interesting new book or interesting new magazine. But my core list here works pretty wellfor me.
New books!
Posted on | February 23, 2010 | No Comments
Came home to some new books in the mail today. First off, one of two rare Isaac Asimov books that were not already in my Asimov collection, Our Federal Union: The United States from 1816 to 1865.
Next on the list is Alastair Reynolds’ first novel Revelation Space. I saw this book on a must-read list and I’ve never read anything by Reynolds besides some of his short fiction. I figured I’d give it a try. It wasn’t available on the Kindle so it arrived in today’s mail.
Finally (and also not available on the Kindle) is physicist Steven Weinberg’s latest, Lake Views: this world and the universe, a collection of essays. (Pictured.) I’ve never read anything by Steven Weinberg before, but the review for the book in the February 2010 issue of SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN made it sound like a fascinating read.
At present I’m making my way through Connie Willis’ intriguing novel, Blackout, to say nothing of two issues of SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN and two issues of NEW SCIENTIST.
50, 100 & 150
Posted on | February 22, 2010 | No Comments
I’ve been reading SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN regularly since around 1995–about 15 years. This is long enough to remember when the "50, 100 & 150 years ago" department referred to, say 1945, 1895 and 1845 respectively. It is therefore a little unsettling to see the column appear today with "March 1960" (50 years ago), "March 1910" (100 years ago) and "March 1860" (150 years ago). It is,in fact, another sign how just how quickly time flies…
Recent writing
Posted on | February 22, 2010 | No Comments
For the last three days, I have been getting up early and writing, much like I did back in November for NaNoWriMo. It has been working well for me. I have averaged about 1,800 words each day, I spend a total of about 2 hours at the keyboard, and then I’m done for the day. For me, this seems to be the best possible way to find the time to write and leave the rest of the day for work and the evenings for family time. It is far better than how I was doing for most of February, where I wrote almost nothing.
The new story that I’m working on (no title yet) currently stands at about 8,600 words (nearly 6,000 of which have been written since Saturday) and I think I have around 3,000 words to go, putting the story at around 11,000 words. I’m hoping to finish the first draft around Wednesday. It’s a science fiction adventure story with what I hope is an increasingly rapid pace, a race against a critical deadline with life-altering consequences. How’s that for vague?
This morning, after writing one scene, I skipped ahead toward the end and wrote a pivotal scene: one that I’ve been wanting to write for a very long time (this story has been on my list for a few years), and it was a lot of fun to get to do that. It is a very moving scene in my opinion, and one that can be difficult to write, but those challenging scenes are often the most rewarding. It’s not perfect and needs work, but I’ve been very happy with what I have been producing the last 3 days.
All birds come home to roost
Posted on | February 22, 2010 | No Comments
A brief note: my experiment with Word Press over for the time being. It is a great document-management and blogging product, but:
- I spend way too much time trying to tweak it just the way I want
- It seems silly to me (now) to manage the blog myself when LiveJournal provides that service
- Most people reading this are already on LiveJournal and I don’t want to burden people with multiple logins and accounts.
- I paid for a permanent account way back when, I might as well use it.
So, for now anyway, LiveJournal will remain my official blog for the foreseeable future. Items posted here will be relayed to Facebook.
Sorry for the confusion.
Nebula Award nominee “I Remember the Future” by Michael A. Burstein
Posted on | February 19, 2010 | No Comments
The Nebula Awards nominees were announced today and my friend, Michael A. Burstein’s wonderful story, “I Remember the Future” made the ballot in the category of short story. Nebula Awards are voted on by active members of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America and the awards will be given out in May. Whether you are an active SFWA member, a fan of science fiction, or someone curious as to what this is all about, you could do no better than starting with Michael’s stories, and in particular, “I Remember the Future”. The story appears in his collection of the same name, I Remember the Future: The Award Nominated Stories of Michael A. Burstein. The collection is well worth the price of admission and I’d urge you to find a copy and take a look at the title story. It is no surprise it received the nomination.
Readercon 21
Posted on | February 18, 2010 | No Comments
I will be attending Readercon 21 this year! I booked my hotel and registered for the event. There is some good airfare between BWI and Boston right now and I’ll be getting that today or tomorrow. The best part is that I should be there for all of Readercon this time (2 years ago, I was only able to attend a day and a half). I’ll arrive in Boston early Thursday afternoon and stay through the end of the convention on Sunday.
I’m really looking forward to it, especially since I missed it last year.
ETA: Got my plane tickets. I’m all set!
Originally published at Jamie’s Blog. Please leave any comments there.
Mail bag
Posted on | February 16, 2010 | No Comments
I was hoping to find the latest issue of NEW SCIENTIST in the mail today, or perhaps the March issue of SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN. Not today. But it was nice to find the May issue of ANALOG in the mail box. Given everything I have to read, I just don’t know when I’ll get to it.
Originally published at Jamie’s Blog. Please leave any comments there.
An open letter to Verizon
Posted on | February 16, 2010 | No Comments
Dear Verizon,
I don’t want FiOS. I am very happy with Cox cable. I put a great deal of thought into decisions like these and spamming me with repeated blasts of junk mail trying to make me change my mind does you a lot more harm than good. But since you insist on sending me this junk, let me take you through your letter and explain in detail the problems that I have with it:
First, you say that FiOS:
delivers fiber optics straight to the home, for a pure HD signal and picture quality that “redefines” remarkable.
I won’t quibble about what is meant by “pure HD signal”, but I have lot of difficulty with a picture quality that redefines remarkable. The standard definition (no pun intended) of “remarkable” is something like “worthy of being noticed”. How does your picture quality redefine this. I find it remarkable that you make this statement without an evidence to back it up.
You go on to say
And just wait until you try FiOS Internet–the speeds are mind-bending.
My guess is this is a rather poor attempt at metaphor. At least, I hope that it is. I want fast Internet (which Cox provides without all of the hubbub). I don’t want brain damage in the process.
With regard to your Verizon Freedom Essentials phone service, you say you provide
unlimited, nationwide residential calling and popular calling features, all on a 99.9% reliable voice network.
Sounds good, but it’s like speech recognition software that is 99.9% accurate. For every 1,000 minutes of calling, I’m likely to run into a problem. That seems pretty high. (In all honesty, however, I can’t say AT&T is much better, but with them at least I get to use my iPhone.)
Finally, what’s with the envelop? It’s huge, far bigger than what is needed for such an advertisement and not very “green”. Add to the fact that I have received 6 of these over the last 6 weeks and it sounds to me like you have 2 serious problems:
- You are wasting a lot of paper, which is not good for the environment.
- The money you are spending on this campaign is probably being passed through to your fairly high cost of service, and you might be able to lower your prices if it wasn’t for such a repetitive advertising campaign.
Bottom line: trust me when I say that I am not interested in FiOS. Please don’t send me any more ads. Each add I receive makes me less likely to want FiOS. What I want is a company that listens to me and doesn’t pester me wasteful ads.
I’m hoping this will catch the attention of some of the trolls you have watching out for bad press and something can be done about this.
Sincerely,
Jamie Todd Rubin
Originally published at Jamie’s Blog. Please leave any comments there.
Review: Galileo’s Dream by Kim Stanley Robinson (3-1/2 stars)
Posted on | February 15, 2010 | No Comments
There are 3 things that I really enjoy reading: science fiction, science and history. Kim Stanley Robinson’s latest novel, Galileo’s Dream is a terrific fusion of all three. It took me a longer than usual time to read this book, which I started in late December. But despite the interruptions, I kept coming back to the book because it intrigued me. It is a fascinating, fictionalized look at Galileo’s life, and his struggle with the Catholic Church, a struggle which in some ways parallels the struggle taking place in the future with a newly discovered intelligence on the moons of Jupiter.
The novel has something for everyone: time travel, historical fiction, space ships, far future societies, first contact, high technology. But the main thrust of it centers around Galileo’s life in Italy, his friends and family, and his evolution as the “first scientist”. Interestingly, the copyright page on the Kindle edition calls the book a “work of historical fiction”. Indeed, but both past and future history must be included in that broad categorization.
This is not the fun type of time-travel novel as say, Jack McDevitt’s Time Travelers Never Die or Joe Haldeman’s The Accidental Time Machine. It is a thoughtful, philosophical novel that uses time travel in much the same manner as H.G. Wells in The Time Machine–to reflect on the past and explore the possible places we are going.
It’s an enjoyable read for anyone who likes science fiction, and the history of science. 3-1/2 stars. ( 
)
Originally published at Jamie’s Blog. Please leave any comments there.
Recent Publications
Recent Gossip
Jen AshlockRecent Posts
- Recap
- Writers’ distractions
- New website and blog location
- A new update to the Adventures of the Little Zipper
- Repulsive advertising: South Carolina
- A proliferation of bathrooms
- If you saw some duplicate posts…
- Two rejections before noon
- Writing update
- A new post in the Adventures of the Little Zipper
- Non-book reading
- New books!
- 50, 100 & 150
- Recent writing
- All birds come home to roost
