February 25, 2020
In 2016 (the year reading challenges really took off on the Internet) a good friend asked if I’d like to do a reading challenge. Most of the challenges I’d seen so far that year were fluffy — nothing wrong with popular fiction, etc., but I’d been looking for something different, as was my friend. We are both interested in social…
January 28, 2020
The library as plot point is one of my favorite things to see or read about. I’m a librarian; I’m biased. I love when characters visit the library or the archives for the sole purpose of doing research: discovering who owned their haunted house, who sealed a supernatural deal, what mystical solar phenomenon is about to happen (again) — or…
November 26, 2019
Are you dreading going to Thanksgiving Dinner and having your cousins make fun of your Star Wars shirt? Or visiting a new-to-you comic shop on Black Friday and getting asked for your comic credentials? Over the holidays, there’s an excellent chance most of us will run into friction at dinners, parties, sales, and so forth. If you identify as a…
August 27, 2019
If you like ebooks and you’re a writer or publisher, or even just a reader, and your drug of choice is science fiction and fantasy, chances are you’ve heard of Macmillan’s TOR experiment. If you haven’t, let me catch you up on the news. Back in June 2018, Macmillan decided to embargo ebook lending uses of TOR titles. This meant…
July 23, 2019
How do librarians choose books for their libraries? If you’ve ever asked that question, pull up a beanbag. You’ve come to the right place. But first, a confession. (This is how all good stories start, right?) I didn’t set out to become a librarian. I was going to be an archaeologist or a writer. Or both, I guess. I ditched…
February 2, 2019
Welcome to the weekend! How was your week? If it was anything like mine, there’s no doubt that you missed something that we published for you, our awesome readers. Fear not, I am here to help. If you’ve accompanied me before on a journey like this one, I’m sure you know the drill. For the rest of you, it’s not…
January 30, 2019
In January of last year, I set myself a goal of reading six translated SFF works. This was my second book. (I know, it’s 2019!) [Editor’s note: to be fair, Ronya read and reviewed this in December, and it just so happened that we had space to fill in January.] I Remember You Written by: Yrsa Sigurdardottir (tr. Philip Roughton)…
December 22, 2018
Hello! Happy Saturday! Seasons Greetings, and what-not! For some of us, this is the last weekend before a big holiday. If you are among those running to and fro, attempting to navigate busy stores and coordinating travel plans, may the odds be ever in your favor! Take a few minutes to stop, rest, and look back over what we published…
December 21, 2018
In January this year, I set myself a goal of reading six translated SF/F works. The first book on my list was Stanislaw Lem’s Eden. Eden (1959; reissue, 1989) Written By: Stanislaw Lem Pages: 276 pages (hardback) Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Why I Chose It: I had read Lem’s most famous work, Solaris (published two years after Eden), and I’m a…
October 27, 2018
Happy Saturday, friends! And happy almost-Halloween! It truly is the most wonderful time of the year. Pumpkin everything, spooky stories, decorations, candy…I adore it! Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to observe the holiday season as thoroughly as I usually do. I’ve watched some movies, and I’ve had my fair share of seasonal treats, but I want more. I can’t believe…