Pages bookstore is closing

I hadn’t heard about this: after 20 years, Pages on Queen Street is closing.

Terry Pratchett on books

I  stole this quotation from the BookCrossing site:

“The truth is that even big collections of ordinary books distort space, as can readily be proved by anyone who has been around a really old-fashioned secondhand bookshop, one that looks as though they were designed by M. Escher on a bad day and has more stairways than storeys and those rows of shelves which end in little doors that are surely too small for a full-sized human to enter. The relevant equation is: Knowledge = power = energy = matter = mass; a good bookshop is just a genteel Black Hole that knows how to read. “

Terry Pratchett

The books of MacDonald Harris

Norman Geras of Normblog regularly asks others to review a book or play that was important to them. In this article, Philip Pullman writes about the books of MacDonald Harris.

MacDonald Harris was the pseudonym of Donald Heiney (1921-1993), a naval veteran and distinguished professor of literature.

Philip Pullman says

I’m astonished, really, that such a clever and interesting writer should have vanished so completely: I’ve spoken of him to several well-read people, and none of them has heard of him. Perhaps he lacked some vital ingredient, that mysterious mana that brings commercial and critical success to many writers nowhere near as good. Perhaps it was just that he was too interested in too many kinds of life, and didn’t stick to one sort of book. Perhaps he never quite managed a single undeniable masterpiece, whose gravitational field would have pulled his other work into prominence. Besides, none of his novels has been filmed.Buy him while you can, is my advice. Here is a full list of his novels:

Private Demons (1961); Mortal Leap (1964); Trepleff (1968); Bull Fire (1973); The Balloonist (1976); Yukiko (1977); Pandora’s Galley (1979); The Treasure of Sainte Foy (1980); Herma (1981); Screenplay (1982); Tenth (1984); The Little People (1986); Glowstone (1987); Hemingway’s Suitcase (1990); Glad Rags (1991); A Portrait of My Desire (1993).

If you Google his name, you’ll find a short and interesting website about his life and work.

Book review: Wuthering Heights

Norman Geras of Normblog regularly asks others to review a book or play that was important to them. In this article, Elizabeth Baines reviews Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë. It’s a book that she read as a teen and then as an adult.

Norm writes:

Elizabeth Baines is a prize-winning radio playwright and the author of numerous short stories as well as two novels, The Birth Machine and Body Cuts. More recently she has become an occasional actor, and has written for the theatre, producing her own stage plays, ‘Drinks with Natalie’ and the award-winning ‘O’Leary’s Daughters’.

Elizabeth Baines on Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë

Which book has been most important to me? Well, how would I choose? Jane Eyre or David Copperfield, both of which, aged eleven, I bought from Woolworth’s with my saved-up pocket money and which most certainly coloured my emotional landscape and increased my (already formed) determination to write? Or George Orwell’s essays, which, when I was at university, hit me right in the eyes with a clean fresh blast of political air and ensured that in future I would be aware of the politics of whatever I wrote? But wait – wasn’t I once asked this question before, and didn’t I answer unhesitatingly, ‘Wuthering Heights‘, because this novel, with its striking structure – a narrative within a narrative, yet containing other narratives, a layering of voices and perspectives – has probably had the greatest impact on my own writing

Read on

Lynne Murray’s book blog

I stumbled upon this book blog while looking for something else: Lynne Murray’s “30 Years Ago Today: I had an orange notebook.” Here’s part of her article about “Motherhood: humor, sadness, artistry, magic & grace“:

Shirley Jackson is arguably a better writer than my favorite domestic goddess essayist, Betty MacDonald who wrote: The Egg and I, The Plague and I, Onions in the Stew, Anybody Can Do Anything, and um, a bunch of children’s books…

MacDonald was more of a comic genius. (She created the unforgettable Ma and Pa Kettle, based on farming neighbors in Washington state.)

Jackson and MacDonald both address what someone has called “the visceral shock of motherhood” and the disillusionment of the drudgery of family life from a woman’s point of view. I lent out my copy of The Egg and I, so I can’t quote you the passage where McDonald describes the shock of her swift descent from bride to wife. She made it funny, but you could see why her first marriage ended in divorce as she detailed her transition between being a sought-after bride to living with a husband who considered her a “bad sport” or inept because she didn’t share his knack for and joy in the drudgery of farm life. I remember reading it at 12 or so, and thinking, hmmm . . . men, marriage, maybe there’s something there that the romantic stories don’t mention.

Bookcrossing’s top 100 books for 2008

The 100 most popular books on Bookcrossing are listed on member stinalyn’s blog, “Strixaluco: The 2008 Bookcrossing Top 100.”

Actually, stinalyn points out, it’s really the top 120 books, thanks to a 25-way tie for 96th place.

This being Bookcrossing, it’s also a release challenge.

It’s also Robert Burns Day so Bookcrossers are releasing books of his poetry or his novels in appropriate places.

Currently reading

Started:

• The Collected Short Fiction of C. J. Cherryh by C. J. Cherryh
• The Del Rey Book of Science Fiction and Fantasy, stories selected by Ellen Datlow
• The Heart of Valor by Tanya  Huff – third in a series about a sergeant in warfare

Finished:

• Old Man’s War by John Scalzi. Finished. It really is like Heinlein without the lectures.

More books!

I let myself be lured into a bookstore (the Indigo at Yonge & Highway7) to meet a friend and pick up my share of materials to be judged for the STC Toronto’s Technical Publications and Online Documentation contests. Of course, once in the store I had to look around. This is what I ended up with.

Science:

• The Drunkard’s Walk: How Randomness Rules Our Lives by Leonard Mlodinow, about probability and improbability (for LotStreetWiz)
• Dry Store Room No. 1: The Secret Life of the Natural History Museum by Richard Fortey
• Born to Believe: God, Science, and the Origin of Ordinary and Extraordinary Beliefs by Andrew Newberg

I reluctantly passed up Stroke of Insight, a first-person account of recovery from a stroke even though it had good insights into the nature of brain function and body awareness—too expensive, little re-read value. It was interesting that damage to the left or verbal side of the brain immediately produced an oceanic feeling of exaltation and oneness with the universe.

Science fiction & fantasy:

• The Collected Short Fiction of C. J. Cherryh by C. J. Cherryh
• The Heart of Valor by Tanya  Huff – third in a series about interstellar warfare
• Blood Bank, by Tanya Huff – short stories & a screenplay about Victoria Nelson, police detective, and Henry Fitzroy, vampire: I like the novels
• Old Man’s War by John Scalzi: he’s amusing in the blogosphere, so I have to try his writing
• Heroes in Training, stories selected by Martin H. Greenberg: about young people and how they take that first step on the Glory Road; or, how do people rise to the challenge in an emergency?
• The Del Rey Book of Science Fiction and Fantasy, stories selected by Ellen Datlow. Looks good.

I am now truly set for the next two months, especially since I have a few half-read books around, such as Of Moths and Men and The God of Small Things (a novel set in India) and If Life is a Game, These are the Rules.

The competition is stiff, but I think Cherryh is my favourite science fiction author. Hard science fiction. With physics. With anthropology. With realistically partial views of what’s going on. And even with economics. And I noted the dismal persistence of pretty good male authors while female authors of better caliber vanish from the shelves.

Books to read

I went to Book City today looking for this week’s copy of Nature, which is a special edition on evolution. They didn’t carry it,  but I found a few books. I manfully resisted the Best American Science Writing 2008 and Best American Science & Nature Writing 2008. But I did pick up three books:

• a set of John McPhee’s essays on American geology, Annals of the Former World
• a history of evolution of the animal kingdom, Creatures of Accident by Wallace Arthur
• a raging controversy in evolution that could be legitimately taught, Dawkins vs. Gould by Kim Sterelny. That’s approximately “the selfish gene” vs. punctuated equilibrium.

I also have a few books from last year in my to-be-read pile.

• I’d like to re-read The John McPhee Reader, a set of mixed essays about people, places, and science.
• Isaac’s Storm by Erik Larson, about the Galveston Hurricane in 1900
• Coral: A Pessimist in Paradise, by Steve Jones
• In fiction, there’s Irving Wallace’s The Word and The New English Bible (with Apocrypha).
• And I still have Carl Zimmer’s Soul Made Flesh to read. His writing is always a treat.

On my trip to the bookstore and back I gave away two children’s books even though I hadn’t got around to registering them with Bookcrossing.

Books read in 2008

Books read in 2008:

1. ReVisions, edited by Julie E. Czerneda & Isaac Szpindel (science fiction)
2. Year’s Best SF 11, edited by David G. Hartman & Kathryn Cramer (science fiction)
3. Year’s Best SF 12, edited by David G. Hartman & Kathryn Cramer (science fiction)
4. The Best of Gregory Clark by Greg Clark (re-read) (humor)
5. Lost Children, by Edith Pargeter (mystery)
6. The Deep Blue Good-by (Travis McGee 1) by John D. MacDonald (mystery)
7. A Purple Place for Dying (Travis McGee 3) by John D. MacDonald (mystery)
8. Wild Horses by Dick Francis (mystery)
9. Nightmare in Pink (Travis McGee 2) by John D. MacDonald (mystery)
10. Decider, by Dick Francis (mystery)
11. The Quick Red Fox (Travis McGee 4) by John D. MacDonald (mystery)
12. The Best American Science Writing 2007, edited by Gina Kolata (science)
13. Man and Animal (paperback edition) by Heinz Freidrich (science)
14. Marsbound by Joe Haldeman (science fiction)
15. New Writings in SF-24 edited by Kenneth Bulmer (science fiction)
16. The Seventh Omni Book of SF edited by Ellen Datlow (science fiction)
17. Best SF Stories from New Worlds 8 edited by Michael Moorcock (science fiction)
18. The New Tomorrows edited by Norman Spinrad (science fiction)
19. Millennium 3001 edited by Martin H. Greenberg & Russell Davis (science fiction)
20. Asimov’s: Voice in the Dark, by Jack McDevitt, and other stories (science fiction)
21. Ice Lake by John Farrow (mystery)
22. A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Moon by Bob Ward (nonfiction)
23. One Fearful Yellow Eye (Travis McGee 8 ) by John D. MacDonald (re-read) (mystery)
24. Babel-17 by Samuel R. Delany (science fiction)
25. The Sky So Big and Black by John Barnes (science fiction)
26. Universe 15 edited by Terry Carr (science fiction)
27. Dress Her in Indigo (Travis McGee 11) by John D. MacDonald (mystery)
28. Finity by John Barnes (science fiction)
29. Evolution’s Captain: the Dark Fate of the Man Who Sailed Charles Darwin Around the World by Peter Nichols (history)
30. Come to Grief by Dick Francis (re-read) (mystery)
31. The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury (science fiction)
32. Pale Gray for Guilt (Travis McGee 9) by John D. MacDonald (mystery)
33. Cat Encounters edited by Sean Manley and Gogo Lewis (fiction)
34. The Little Sister by Raymond Chandler (mystery)
35. The Identity of Man by Jacob Bronowski (philosophy of science)
36. Finity by John Barnes (re-read) (science fiction)
37. The High Window by Raymond Chandler (mystery)
38. Bugs in the System: Insects and Their Impact on Human Affairs by May R. Berenbaum (popular science)
39. Comeback by Dick Francis (mystery)
40. Mistral’s Kiss by Laurell K. Hamilton (fantasy)
41. Berserker Blue Death by Fred Saberhagen (science fiction)
42. Daring Missions of World War II by William B. Breuer (history)
43. Letter to a Christian Nation by Sam Harris (religion)
44. The Art of Detection by Laurie R. King (mystery)
45. Why Darwin Matters by Michael Shermer (science)
46. The Devil Wears Prada by Lauren Weisberger (fiction)
47. Incredible Rogers Pass by Art Downs, Ed Cesar, & Frank W. Anderson (nonfiction, travel, history, outdoors & nature)
48. Spring Moon by Bette Bao Lord (fiction)
49. 1990 Annual World’s Best SF edited by Donald A. Wollheim (re-read) (science fiction)
50. Thyme of Death by Susan Wittig Albert (mystery)
51. Amleth, Prince of Denmark by Saxo Grammaticus (drama)
52. Analog: Tenbrook of Mars, by Dean McLaughlin, and other stories (science fiction)
53. The Whole Hog by Lyall Watson (animals, science, nonfiction)
54. The Best Short Stories of J. G. Ballard [on LibraryThing | on BookCrossing] (science fiction)
55. May Your First Love be Your Last by Gregory Clark
56. Dead Heat by Dick Francis & Felix Francis (mystery)
57. Hellburner by C. J. Cherryh (science fiction)
58. Idoru by William Gibson (science fiction)
59. Danse Macabre by Laurell K. Hamilton (fantasy)
60. It Came from the Far Side by Gary Larson (cartoons, humor)
61. Asimov’s: Voice in the Dark, by Jack McDevitt, and other stories (science fiction)
62. The House of Green Turf by Ellis Peters (mystery) [re-read]
63. Telzey Amberdon (Federation of the Hub 1) by James H. Schmitz (science fiction, story collection) [re-read]
64. The Far-seer, by Robert J. Sawyer (science fiction)
65. The Awful Secret by Bernard Knight (mystery) [re-read]
66. Agent of Vega by James H. Schmitz (science fiction) [re-read]
67. The Year’s Best Science Fiction: Nineteenth Annual Collection edited by Gardner Dozois (science fiction)
68. The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins (religion)
69. Asimov’s: Dancing it All Away at Nadoka, by Lucius Shepard; Robot Dreams, by Isaac Asimov; and other stories (science fiction)
70. Asimov’s: Flowers of Edo, by Bruce Sterling; Perpetuity Blues, by Neal Barrett, Jr.; Cannibals, by Nancy Kress; and other stories (science fiction)
71. The Noble Outlaw (Crowner John 11) by Bernard Knight (mystery)
72. Victory of Eagles (Temeraire 5) by Naomi Novik (science fiction)
73. Microcosm: E. coli and the New Science of Life by Carl Zimmer (science)
74. Darwin’s Century: Evolution and the Men Who Discovered It by Loren Eiseley (science)
75. The Diaries of Adam and Eve by Mark Twain (fantasy)
76. Asimov’s: Horse Racing, by Mary Rosenblum; In the Age of the Quiet Sun, by William Barton; The Ice War, by Stephen Baxter; and other stories (science fiction)
77. F&SF: Pump Six, by Paolo Bacigalupi; Arkfall, by Carolyn Ives Gilman; and other stories (science fiction)
78. Trial Run by Dick Francis (mystery) [re-read]
79. Science Fiction Hall of Fame, Volume IIB, edited by Ben Bova (science fiction)
80. Uther (A Dream of Eagles 7) by Jack Whyte (fiction)
81. Man-Kzin Wars VI by Donald Kingsbury, Gregory Benford; concept by Larry Niven (science fiction) [re-read]
82. Asimov’s: Gypsy Trade, by R. Garcia y Robertson; Outnumbering the Dead, by Frederik Pohl; All Vows, by Esther M. Friesner; and other stories (science fiction)
83. Dead Cert by Dick Francis (mystery) [re-read]
84. Blood Sport by Dick Francis (mystery) [re-read]
85. I think I’m Outta Here by Carroll O’Connor
86. For Kicks by Dick Francis (mystery) [re-read]
87. Risk by Dick Francis (mystery) [re-read]
88. The Flowers of Nicosia by David Ira Cleary, & other stories
89. Nerve by Dick Francis (mystery) [re-read]
90. High Stakes by Dick Francis (mystery) [re-read]
91. Flying Finish by Dick Francis (mystery) [re-read]
92. In the Frame by Dick Francis (mystery) [re-read]
93. Forfeit by Dick Francis (mystery) [re-read]
94. The Danger by Dick Francis (mystery) [re-read]
95. Reflex by Dick Francis (mystery) [re-read]
96. Break In (a Kit Fielding mystery) (mystery) [re-read]
97. Shattered (mystery) [re-read]
98. Your Inner Fish by Neil Shubin (science)
99. Destroyer (First Contact 7) by C. J. Cherryh (science fiction) [re-read] (next up, Pretender)
100. Evolution for Everyone by David Sloan Wilson (science)
101. Twice Shy by Dick Francis (mystery)
102. Cheaper by the Dozen by Gilbreths (biography) [re-read]
103. Enquiry by Dick Francis (mystery)
104. Driving Force by Dick Francis (mystery) [re-read]
105. Alex and Me by Irene M. Pepperberg (science)
106. Proof by Dick Francis (mystery) [re-read]
107. Under Orders (a Sid Halley mystery) by Dick Francis (mystery)
108. 10-lb Penalty by Dick Francis (mystery) [re-read]
109. Comeback by Dick Francis (mystery) [re-read]
110. An Ape Came Out of My Hatbox by Lyn Hancock (outdoors & nature)
111. The Sport of Queens by Dick Francis (autobiography)
112. F&SF: A Different Country/As the Day Runs Down (science fiction)
113. The Far-Out Worlds of A. E. Van Vogt by A. E. Van Vogt (science fiction)

Lists of books read in 2007 and books read in 2006 are also on my ‘blog.