Physics of the Impossible: A Scientific Exploration Into the World of Phasers, Force Fields, Teleportation, and Time Travel by Michio Kaku

In Physics of the Impossible, author Michio Kaku explores the fantastical world of science fiction and tells us exactly which of these “impossible” inventions are actually possible, at least according to our understanding of the current laws of physics. While most of these will not be seen in our lifetime, this intensely readable text makes it fun to imagine the possibilities that await future generations. Kaku does an outstanding job of making physics understandable and enjoyable, a remarkable feat for a science writer.

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Robert Asprin

I had been meaning to post about this a couple of weeks ago but have been so busy trying to read my ever expanding list of nominees/suggestions that I haven't had a spare moment to blog. I am still a Twittering fool in part because I can do that on my phone while standing in line at the grocery store and in part, because it is addictive. Right now I am reading a 811 page book about the Mitfords. Next up, the positively tiny 500 pager about Picasso.

Anyway, when I am not reading literary fiction and non-fiction for a book award, I am reading a mixture of mystery, romance, westerns and anything else you can think of, including Science Fiction. My favorite SF are space operas and humorous SF and fantasy. One of my favorite humorous authors was Robert Asprin, who passed away on May 22, 2008. This means that there will be no more Myth Adventures which makes me very sad indeed.

This is a light frothy fun series with a wanna be magician/thief named Skeeve, a demon from Perv named Aahz. Now, anything with a character named Perv is bound to be good but truthfully, the main attraction for me was the clever banter and lord knows, I am a sucker for clever banter. After the June award meeting I may have to take a little break and finish off the last few (or possibly re-read the entire series) to cleanse the palette for my next round of weighty tomes.

Missouri Authors

I recently went to a talk by Missouri authors and was highly entertained by Jim Butcher's talk. His series features Harry Dredsden, a private detective/wizard who solves paranormal crimes. This weekend when I was out running errands I picked up a copy of his first book, Storm Front. It is also a TV series now. When my notable reading is over (or I need a non-literary reading break) I am going to dig it out to read. I am half look forward to, half dreading finding another author I like with a large backlist.

I am already seriously behind on keeping up with many of my favorite authors although a few like Margaret Drabble, Margaret Atwood and Haruki Murakami have been on my reading lists so I managed to at least keep up with their newest. I joke on my personal blog that I only have to live until I am 921, reading a book a day, to finish my current backlist of must read novels. While that may be an exaggeration, it probably isn't that far off the mark.

Fragile Things: Short Fictions and Wonders by Neil Gaiman

Short story collections are tricky. At their best, each story flows into the next, telling a different story but with an interconnectedness that makes the whole more than the sum of its parts. I adore Neil Gaiman's fiction. I find it clever, full of subtext and extremely inventive. Having said that, this collection didn't work that well for me. Individually I enjoyed all of the stories and a couple pulled me into their world (at least for a short time). I found myself thinking about them afterwards but...(don't you hate that word?) the flow wasn't there for me. The transition from one story into the next wasn't seamless and I could put down the book without having that pull to get back to the next story.

This is still a great collection and does include another Spider tale (yeah!) so for fans is well worth reading. It probably won't make my notable final list although the other committee members may disagree with me. (Silly committee members.)

Library conference: Day 2

Today I did several conference related sessions such as dealing with mental health issues and outreach on a budget. I also went to a fun one with one of my favorite authors, Jim Butcher. He writes a paranormal detective series. The main character is a wizard and he solves magical crimes. He started life as a SF geek but turned into a highly entertaining presenter.

Tonight I went to the awards dinner and the speaker for the evening is a writer/editor for Mad magazine talking about censorship. Very provocative and entertaining. I also won a mp3 player and got to see some people that I don't get to see very often. Best of all, my conference work is all done except for the extremely early morning meeting tomorrow.

Life is good.