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I have been waiting all month to make a post with that title. I'm tempted to make a poll questioning my break from the norm vs. the subject's wish to appear rebellious without actually breaking from socially acceptable roles, but that's taking the joke too far.
I'm pushing to get this out tonight because I am upset about the failboat disrespect of people's request to remain pseudonymous, and Micole asked people, If you'd like to express sympathy or agreement, I would much prefer to re-focus attention back on the real issues . . . if you can't think of anything (I am looking forward to being in the audience myself) or you are just too fucking tired of dealing with the SRS BZNSS of RaceFail (I am totally with you), but you want to do me a favor, post on the most recent book you read written by a POC, or your favorite book written by a POC, or give me recommendations for sf/f, romance, or historical fiction written by POC. So I point people to my comments on Zami to fill that request.
Tomorrow, as part of my work (and procrastinate) plan for my class 2-page essay, I will write something about why people might use pseuds online, and historically, to discuss contentious issues. I don't want my leisure reading to disintegrate into unhappy politicized polemics, but the pseud issue touches close to my heart, and the "race and the science fiction community" issues are in my back yard, and all the places I love. "Love" was a typo for "live", but both words can be used in that sentence with some degree of truth.
So, books!
God Stalk (P. C. Hodgell): I first read this around 2000 or so, as part of the Dark of the Gods anthology with Dark of the Moon and a short story, "Bones". It made only the slightest impression on me then, and now that I reread it ( I can more clearly say why. )
One Bullet Away: the Making of a Marine Officer (Nathaniel Fick): ( Dartmouth college student challenges himself: to be a Marine office, to be a leader of men in peace and war, to be a Recon Marine. I liked it. )
So I give One Bullet Away thumbs up for keeping my attention and making me think on several different fronts.
Biohazard: The Chilling True Story of the Largest Covert Biological Weapons Program in the World (Ken Alibek): ( Interesting, needs parallax. )
Trivia: when I went to NYC a couple of weekends ago, I made a silly strung-out fool of myself talking to two older women while waiting for the bus home, then pulled this out to stick a sock in my mouth. It caught one woman's attention because she has actually met Alibek in the course of her work at the FDA. Speaking of small worlds! So now I doubly regret my nervous joking while in line for the bus.
Zami: A New Spelling of My Name (Audre Lorde): ( I love this woman's writing. )
The Sharing Knife: Horizon (Lois McMaster Bujold): I have had a very hard time with these novels for several reasons. Briefly, I find the core romance unconvincing, but Bujold is a talented writer even when I question what the heck she's doing. Also, now that I've read all four volumes, Bujold's claims that the series is a lot tighter than any of her previous series is spot on. In fact, I think splitting the novels does the story arc a great disservice. (For example, I unfortunately tend to think of Remo and Barr as backup Lakwalker #1 and backup Lakewalker #2, in the tradition of Merry and Pippin, the LotR backup hobbits.)
( Giant honking spoilers. )
I'm pushing to get this out tonight because I am upset about the failboat disrespect of people's request to remain pseudonymous, and Micole asked people, If you'd like to express sympathy or agreement, I would much prefer to re-focus attention back on the real issues . . . if you can't think of anything (I am looking forward to being in the audience myself) or you are just too fucking tired of dealing with the SRS BZNSS of RaceFail (I am totally with you), but you want to do me a favor, post on the most recent book you read written by a POC, or your favorite book written by a POC, or give me recommendations for sf/f, romance, or historical fiction written by POC. So I point people to my comments on Zami to fill that request.
Tomorrow, as part of my work (and procrastinate) plan for my class 2-page essay, I will write something about why people might use pseuds online, and historically, to discuss contentious issues. I don't want my leisure reading to disintegrate into unhappy politicized polemics, but the pseud issue touches close to my heart, and the "race and the science fiction community" issues are in my back yard, and all the places I love. "Love" was a typo for "live", but both words can be used in that sentence with some degree of truth.
So, books!
God Stalk (P. C. Hodgell): I first read this around 2000 or so, as part of the Dark of the Gods anthology with Dark of the Moon and a short story, "Bones". It made only the slightest impression on me then, and now that I reread it ( I can more clearly say why. )
One Bullet Away: the Making of a Marine Officer (Nathaniel Fick): ( Dartmouth college student challenges himself: to be a Marine office, to be a leader of men in peace and war, to be a Recon Marine. I liked it. )
So I give One Bullet Away thumbs up for keeping my attention and making me think on several different fronts.
Biohazard: The Chilling True Story of the Largest Covert Biological Weapons Program in the World (Ken Alibek): ( Interesting, needs parallax. )
Trivia: when I went to NYC a couple of weekends ago, I made a silly strung-out fool of myself talking to two older women while waiting for the bus home, then pulled this out to stick a sock in my mouth. It caught one woman's attention because she has actually met Alibek in the course of her work at the FDA. Speaking of small worlds! So now I doubly regret my nervous joking while in line for the bus.
Zami: A New Spelling of My Name (Audre Lorde): ( I love this woman's writing. )
The Sharing Knife: Horizon (Lois McMaster Bujold): I have had a very hard time with these novels for several reasons. Briefly, I find the core romance unconvincing, but Bujold is a talented writer even when I question what the heck she's doing. Also, now that I've read all four volumes, Bujold's claims that the series is a lot tighter than any of her previous series is spot on. In fact, I think splitting the novels does the story arc a great disservice. (For example, I unfortunately tend to think of Remo and Barr as backup Lakwalker #1 and backup Lakewalker #2, in the tradition of Merry and Pippin, the LotR backup hobbits.)
( Giant honking spoilers. )
