Winner of City of Women audiobook

 

Congratulations to Laura Kay from A Novel Review!  

You are the winner of the audiobook for City of Women by David Gillman.  

I'll be in touch.  

Only five people participated in this challenge, but that makes the odds better!

Shared Worlds Readings

Shared Worlds is an amazing camp for high school age students. From the Shared Worlds website:

The program, which will feature authors, artists, designers, and scientists, will center on the fictional "shared worlds" participating students create. To build these worlds, participants will have overview classes in many disciplines, including history, religion, and science - many taught by Wofford College professors and instructors, and professionals in the fields of writing and art.

All classes will emphasize problem solving, collaborative learning, and experiential learning. Each group of about a dozen students will apply their created shared world to works of fiction and art. The groups will be exposed to and be able to choose from several speculative fiction genres, including science fiction and fantasy.  

Because the camp happens at Wofford College, just an hour from me (and where my husband happens to work), I was lucky enough to get to attend two readings with authors who were involved in the camp in some way. 

The first one, on July 25, happened at Hub City Bookshop in Spartanburg, SC.  The last reading took place today (August 4) at Malaprop's Bookstore in Asheville, NC (also an hour from me).  I'm lucky to have great independent bookstores around an hour away.  Close enough that I can go when they have events I'm interested in (such as these), but far enough away that my bank account isn't bleeding too heavily.  Who can resist buying local?  (And who can resist buying books?)

I also want to say that so very often, authors I'm interested in don't include the south on their tours.  The same thing happens with bands.  I'm here to say that we southerners love to read, and we wish more of you included us on your rounds.  Both Hub City and Malaprops would be great candidates for visits; please keep the south in mind.  (/end repetitive plea)



I thought it might be interesting to detail what happens at a reading, for those of you who have been hesitant to go.  I also thought it might be interesting since so many authors presented at once, which is a bit of a rarity.  I took notes.

The reading at Hub City was full of high school students.  Fifty-five of them, from what I understand.  They spent a good half hour buying books, and these students are the best kind of people - excited readers.  Clearly any aspiring writer needs to do his/her research!  Once the students were settled, plus a few other brave souls like myself, the readings began.

Jeff Vandermeer read from an upcoming novel, Annihilation.  I enjoyed it quite a bit, and he told stories about the dream that inspired it, and how he wrote it in 6 weeks during a severe bout of bronchitis (I think that's right!).  It sounds like it may very well fall under the Weird category that he has become associated with thanks to the anthology editing, and I'll be excited to read it.  One line I wrote down: "Desolation tries to colonize you."   

I've been a fan of Jeff Vandermeer ever since I read The Third Bear, but he's published several novels that I hadn't yet read.  I picked up a copy of City of Saints and Madmen while I was at the reading, along with The New Weird, an anthology edited by both Jeff and Ann Vandermeer.

Will Hindmarch read next, with a collection of "flash fiction."  He explained to the campers that he often starts with a title or a prompt, and writes a 'bit' based on it.  One example title was "Techno Fromage." My favorite line: "He chose silence, and hoped it would be haunting."  The students seemed to enjoy the Heathrow story the most, and it got a lot of laughter.

Naomi Novik read last, the short story "Vici," which is published in The Dragon Book edited by Jack Dann and Gardner Dozois.  It is set in her widely popular Temeraire universe, and the campers really enjoyed it.   The first book in the Temeraire universe is His Majesty's Dragon, which was published in 2006.  I had an eBook of it downloaded on my Kindle app, from some promotion several years ago, and I read it prior to the reading.  It appeared as if every student purchased at least one Temeraire book, and I understand that she had worked with the campers earlier that day on world building.  

I think it was at this reading where they talked about going to Malaprops in addition to the second reading at Hub City, so I elected to just go to Asheville and skip the other camper thronged reading.  

At Malaprop's, they were calling it a science fiction author extravaganza, since there were six authors reading.  It hadn't been organized for long, but was well-attended.  This was my first experience at a reading at Malaprop's, but thought they had a great set up.  I'll be back!

Tobias Buckell read an excerpt from his most recent novel, Arctic Rising.   He said he had been co-authoring a short story that had to do with polar ice-cap melting, and decided to also write a novel about it.  It is set in the near future.  It sounds like he is planning to write more thrillers like this.  I'd say if you enjoyed books such as Flood by Stephen Baxter, this would be right up your alley.  Personally, I was more interested in the Caribbean-influenced steampunk novel that he also brought with him, so I bought that instead.  He also gave me a list of Caribbean science fiction authors - it isn't long.  It basically consists of him (born in Grenada), Karen Lord (who I read earlier this year), and Nalo Hopkinson.  I'll have to report this information back to my Around the World reading group!

Up next was Will Hindmarch, who chose to read from a story that merged airships with a spaghetti western.  Funny.  If you look at his picture in the slideshow above, you will see his storytelling hands. 

Next came Nathan Ballingrud, an author from Asheville, who has a book coming out next year now titled "North American Lake Monsters."  He read an excerpt from a novel he's been working on, and said that he often writes at Malaprop's.  See?  It can happen.

Karin Lowachee read next, choosing an excerpt from The Gaslight Dogs, which I had bought a copy of last week.  I'm going to save it for next year when I try reading a book from every state in the USA and every Canadian province, since it is set among the Inuit, largely in the northern Canadian territory.   

Jeff and Ann Vandermeer both read stories from The Weird: A Compendium of Strange and Dark Stories, which they co-edited under an impossible timeline.  It is a great feat of compilation, and after hearing more about it, I'm even more excited to read it.  It looks like it has a wide range, and Jeff mentioned that it has a lot of international contributions.  I always like a good dose of diversity in my speculative fiction.  Jeff spoiled the end of his own short story, and I was laughing at the part where the main character had blood trickling down his chin, just because that sounds a bit like the author lately.  Ann read the end of "It's a Good Life" by Jerome Bixby.  

I bought a copy because it is a beast, and I have this idea of collecting all the anthologies of speculative fiction that are out there.  You can see my start here: 

From Shared Worlds

Words Can Change Your Brain by Andrew Newberg, M.D.

Words Can Change Your Brain: 12 Conversation Strategies to Build Trust, Resolve Conflict, and Increase Intimacy by Andrew Newberg
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Good parts - application of very recent studies by neuroscientists and business scholars to interpersonal communication, using personal values and strengths to make job decisions and cut down on stress,

Not anything new parts - active listening repackaged as 'compassionate communication,' progressive relaxation repackaged as 'compassionate communication,' and meditation repackaged as 'compassionate communication.'  I also feel like presenting it as 12 steps makes me want to take it less seriously.  That's me.

That said, it wasn't a bad read, and it never hurts to be reminded of these core concepts.  A few parts from the book that I will follow up on, probably read the original articles the information comes from:

"Extreme brevity keeps the emotional centers of the brain from sabotaging a conversation."
He goes on to discuss how you could use this in business, with limiting people to 30 second summaries.  This might be a good idea to adopt for a departmental weekly meeting, actually.


"Research shows that the best way to deal with negativity is to observe it inwardly, without reaction and without judgment. The next step is to consciously reframe each negative feeling and thought by shaping it into a positive, compassionate, and solution-based direction."
The first sentence of this brings Eckhart Tolle immediately to mind, in The Power of Now. The author of Words Can Change Your Brain is insistent that negativity not be brought up between two people, at all if it can be helped.  I appreciated the underlying principles of this, and even the science, but without complete buy-in by all parties involved, this is difficult to put into practice.  I found the science behind what happens when negativity and anger are expressed to be incredibly fascinating.


"A positive view of yourself will bias you toward seeing the good in others, whereas a negative self-image will incline you toward suspicion and doubt."
This is the most explicit section proving how words change your brain.  So if I'm more stubborn about not allowing the negative to creep in, it should get easier because my brain won't be used to it.  I have to say, after reading in this book about the impact negativity can have on a relationship, I made a concerted effort not to vent to my husband.  And I couldn't not vent!  Our nightly decompressing has become a part of our routine.  I can't just keep it in.  This book showed me I may want to consider finding a better outlet.  Something more personal, not bringing him into my emotions.


"By simply pondering and affirming your deepest values you'll improve the health of your brain, you'll protect yourself from burnout at work, you'll reduce your propensity to ruminate about failure, and you'll be less reactive and defensive when someone confronts you with uncomfortable information."
I felt this to be the most compelling section of the entire book - focusing on values, and I directed some colleagues to the section on values reflection.

Around the World Audiobook Giveaway - City of Women by David Gillman

I am happy to announce Giveaway #2 for the Around the World in 52 Books Challenge.  This time I'm posting an audiobook, thanks to the generosity of the people at Penguin Audio. 

The book is City of Women by David R. Gillham, a historical novel about the women living in Berlin during World War II.  I got a chance to read the eBook through the Penguin First Flights program, and enjoyed it a great deal.  (You can read my review, posted in early July, if you want to know my thoughts on the book.)

Here is the publisher summary:

Who do you trust, who do you love, and who can be saved? 
It is 1943—the height of the Second World War—and Berlin has essentially become a city of women.
Sigrid Schröder is, for all intents and purposes, the model German soldier’s wife: She goes to work every day, does as much with her rations as she can, and dutifully cares for her meddling mother-in-law, all the while ignoring the horrific immoralities of the regime. But behind this façade is an entirely different Sigrid, a woman who dreams of her former lover, now lost in the chaos of the war. Her lover is a Jew.

But Sigrid is not the only one with secrets.

A high ranking SS officer and his family move down the hall and Sigrid finds herself pulled into their orbit.  A young woman doing her duty-year is out of excuses before Sigrid can even ask her any questions.  And then there’s the blind man selling pencils on the corner, whose eyes Sigrid can feel following her from behind the darkness of his goggles.

Soon Sigrid is embroiled in a world she knew nothing about, and as her eyes open to the reality around her, the carefully constructed fortress of solitude she has built over the years begins to collapse. She must choose to act on what is right and what is wrong, and what falls somewhere in the shadows between the two. 

In this page-turning novel, David Gillham explores what happens to ordinary people thrust into extraordinary times, and how the choices they make can be the difference between life and death.

The contest is open to anyone living in the USA.  You do not have to be a part of the Around the World reading challenge.  Just leave a comment up until midnight on Saturday, August 4, and I will draw one lucky name. 

A Pale View of Hills by Kazuo Ishiguro

A Pale View Of Hills by Kazuo Ishiguro
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

As part of our "Summertime in Japan" project in The World's Literature group, this book was on the list for Ishiguro. I had only read Never Let Me Go by this author, and while the stories don't have much in common, both are told in a non linear fashion and contain a lot to think about.

In fact, I'm still thinking about it. If you are a person who doesn't like to know the endings of books before you read them, you might want to stop here.  It is very difficult to discuss the book without talking about the end.

When you get to the end, there is a scene on a bridge where Etsuko's narrative seems to morph into Sachiko's point of view. All of the sudden, I thought, oh, are they the same person? For so much of the first half of the novel, I thought that either Sachiko or Mariko may be suffering from some form of severe mental illness. They definitely didn't interact like a typical mother-daughter relationship. Mariko doesn't go to school and frequently leaves, talking about some strange woman she has seen. Sachiko keeps making plans to leave that never work out.

Etsuko herself is telling the story from England, where she moved with her first child, and then had a second child from a second marriage. The younger daughter has come to visit her after her older sister's suicide.

So much of the book is about moving forward, about letting go of the past, an essential theme because they live in Nagasaki, not long after the end of World War II. Right before the bridge scene, Etsuko says, "Memory, I realize, can be an unreliable thing; often it is heavily coloured by the circumstances in which one remembers, and no doubt this applies to certain of the recollections I have gathered here."

In my mind, and who knows if this is what the author intended, Etsuko and Sachiko are the same. Etsuko has been retelling her history to herself to make it easier to stomach. Clearly her daughter's suicide is partly her fault, but it is clear that she doesn't think so from the way she tells the story.

I also wonder at the title. Throughout the book, the hills outside Nagasaki are described as pale, shrouded in clouds and fog. It seems as if the past could be described the same way. I don't think I'm reading too much into it! I think Ishiguro wants us to keep thinking about this story, and I have been.

The Fountains of Paradise by Arthur C. Clarke

The Fountains of Paradise by Arthur C. Clarke
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I didn't expect to like this. Space elevators, yawn. We discussed this on the SFF Audio Podcast, and I'm glad we did because I may not have read it otherwise. 

The setting, in Sri Lanka, with the historic temple/kingdom/gardens - first of all I can't believe that place exists. But it does.



And then somehow it is the only appropriate place to build a space elevator. The story goes backwards and forwards in time. It triggered my imagination like when I was young!

My Foray Into Urban Fantasy

Back in April, I asked you, my readers, to help me pick a subgenre of science fiction and fantasy to read more of.  Urban fantasy took 61% of the vote! 

I had read urban fantasy before - the first Dresden Files book, some of the early Holly Black books in grad school, an elf-punk selection for the Sword and Laser bookclub - but none of it had really stuck with me or made me want to read more.  I started to wonder if books I really liked - Alif the Unseen, The Killing Moon, even Palimpsest - could be considered urban fantasy.  I felt like they had elements of UF in them, although interestingly, all of them are set somewhere other than in a western country.

I decided to dig deeper by reading two anthologies.  Here are my reviews, and I will summarize my feelings at the end.


Down These Strange Streets by George R.R. Martin
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

George R. R. Martin promises in his introduction that urban fantasy is no longer an elf on a motorcycle wandering the streets of Toronto solving crimes.

Really, though, most of these stories connect to series the authors write. Without that background, they often lack enough context to figure out where you are without knowing the characters and world they inhabit. From reading other people's reviews, many people are buying this anthology because of one story they wanted to read. Most people seem to be buying it for "In Red, with Pearls" by Patricia Briggs, but see, I don't know who Kyle is.

Most of these stories have detectives in a noir-fantasy universe, with a lot of stereotypes. There isn't a lot of great writing here.

The one exception is Joe Lansdale's "The Bleeding Shadow," where a record possesses the power to unleash the evil in the air around us, but still make you want to play it. Wow, creepy stuff, and the reader on this one elevated the story.

I'm not sure I'd recommend this to anyone who isn't already a fan of these authors and their series. It isn't a good introduction to the urban fantasy subgenre, which is what I intended to use it for. It is a very narrow slice of that subgenre, and not all of it is great.

Naked City: Tales of Urban Fantasy by Ellen Datlow
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

There are some great stories here, and others that I merely skimmed. Perhaps if I articulate what I liked, I will understand my feelings about urban fantasy more.

"Picking Up the Pieces" by Pat Cadigan - about the Berlin Wall coming down. I'm still not sure I understand what happened but I still think about the story.

"The Bricks of Gelecek" by Matthew Kressel - a wind in the desert befriends a human. Loved the setting, the concept, the ending.

"The Projected Girl" by Lavie Tidhar - magic combined with the Holocaust. The writing was great too. "The bookshops of Haifa are clustered like a gaggle of elderly, generally good-natured but occasionally difficult uncles...."

"The Way Station" by Nathan Ballingrud - the ghost of the city of New Orleans lives inside Trane's body. Cool concept!

"Noble Rot" by Holly Black - there are no words. This one pushes the boundaries into horror for sure.


Summary

Elf/vampire/ghoul detectives?  Not so interesting to me.  But the concepts in urban fantasy that seem successful are those that combine elements of alternative history with fantastical elements.  The stories I end up loving have nothing to do with the creature, and everything to do with the created world.  Give me more urban, in interesting ways.  Stretch time and landscape.  Make the characters thoughtful and unpredictable instead of formulaic.  And I'll keep reading it!

Authors I want to read more of, after this experiment:

• Matthew Kressel
• Lavie Tidhar (although he was actually already on my to-read list, and I started following him in Twitter after reading his story.  I promise I'm not a stalker!)
• Joe Lansdale

While it took me forever to get through these anthologies - I'll be honest, I was reading them sporadically as I focused on other books - I did enjoy the experiment.  What should I do next?