Reading Envy 005: The Second Definition of Geek

For our 5th episode, we bring in our friend Tamahome, who has been on many podcasts with both Scott and Jenny over on SFF Audio.  Tamahome is very active over in GoodReads, but also manages to get mentioned on various science fiction podcasts.

This time, we will attempt to link to other topics and books mentioned, based on feedback from previous episodes.  We've heard you, and we're trying!  Keep the feedback coming. 


Tamahome brought a variety of books to talk about :

• Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art by Scott McCloud
• Passengers by Robert Silverberg (listen or read for free on EscapePod)
• Hammered (Jenny Casey #1) by Elizabeth Bear

Other mentions during Tam's picks:
Zot: The Complete Black and White Collection 1987-1991 by Scott McCloud

Supergods: What Masked Vigilantes, Miraculous Mutants, and a Sun God from Smallville Can Teach Us About Being Human by Grant Morrison

The Book of Skulls by Robert Silverberg

WE3 by Grant Morrison


Jenny had a hard time deciding what to talk about, so she picked the last three books she'd read, including the book she finished the night of the podcast.

• Geek Love by Katherine Dunn
• Every Day is for the Thief by Teju Cole 
• Crazy Love: Stories by Leslie What

Other mentions during Jenny's picks:
Wired Magazine's 25th Anniversary Feature on Geek Love
Carnivále (show on HBO)
Freakshow (AMC reality show)


Scott traveled a lot in April but still managed to fit reading into his life.  His three picks for Episode 005 are as follows:

• Suspect by Robert Crais
• The Lady Astronaut of Mars by Mary Robinette Kowal (read for free on Tor.com)
• Pope John XXIII by Thomas Cahill (Penguin Lives)

Other mentions during Scott's picks:

Dragon Tears by Dean Koontz
Dog On It by Spencer Quinn
Mary Robinette Kowal's blog post about her love for the Hugo Awards


Continued mentions, not so much linked to one specific thing:

The Hotel New Hampshire, 158-Pound Marriage by John Irving
The book Karen really meant? A Son of the Circus by John Irving
Nebula Awards
Hugo Awards

Download or listen via this link: Reading Envy 005
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Library Books Mid-May Edition

I'm moving up my monthly library book post to a bit before the 15th, since the podcast's posting date will now take over that spot.

April was Poetry Month, so a big chunk of this stack has poetry to blame - four by Giovanni and two by Marjory Heath Wentworth.  These two poets are also from the south, Wentworth being the current SC Poet Laureate. 

The middle of May is the SC Book Festival, which I am planning to attend.  Both poets will be there, as well as Therese Anne Fowler (author of Z, which I really need to start this weekend!)

A bunch of these were read for obligations or challenges, as usual! A friend knows the author of In the Course of Human Events, so I read it despite it not being my usual thing.  Children in Reindeer Woods was a pick for my "The World's Literature" group in GoodReads, The Long Way Back is for the Middle East/North African Lit group in GoodReads, and The Last Policeman is for an upcoming podcast for SFF Audio.  I have loved Ben H. Winters in the past, so I'm really looking forward to that one!

Upcoming in the fall, Teju Cole will be at The Open Book in Columbia, SC.  I wasn't planning to read Every Day is for the Thief so soon, but it was on the new books cart pre-first-shelving at work and I couldn't resist.  It was so thin!  I could read it in a night! So I did.

The most interesting story is Crazy Love: Stories by Leslie What.  I had never head of the author but the title jumped out at me when pulling some poetry off a shelf nearby.  When I pulled it down, the cover proclaimed her as a Nebula Award winner.  A Nebula Award winner I'd never heard of?  I discuss this in our upcoming episode of the Reading Envy podcast.  

April was National Poetry Month

Poetry Read in 2014

I read so much poetry for National Poetry Month in 2014 that I'm not even sure how to talk about it.  A recent addition to our eBooks at work gave me access to a bunch of eBooks of poetry published in the last three years, which was fantastic for tracking down copies of recently reviewed works.  I also rediscovered that I work where the SC Poetry Archives is housed, and was able to take advantage of that collection by sneaking 15 minutes here and there and reading some of those poems in the reading room.

Some of my highlights:

Fifteen Iraqi Poets edited by Dunya Mikhail
The Open Door: One Hundred Poems, One Hundred Years of "Poetry" Magazine edited by Don Share
Slow Lightning by Eduardo C. Corral

My favorite poem that isn't a new one but was new to me comes from The Open Door:
Rendezvous by Edna St. Vincent Millay

It is from 1939 but the last line in particular really made me smile:

And I wish I did not feel like your mother.

Now that it is May, I am back flagging books of poetry to read for next year's poetry month, so if you come across anything you'd recommend, send it my way any time!

Jenny's Books Added April 2014

This has been a lighter month on book acquisitions.

Physical books:



The Man Who Loved Books Too Much by Allison Hoover Bartlett
I keep hearing about this book and a copy came available on Paperbackswap.com.  It will be added to my Books on Books shelf in GoodReads.

Pantry: poems by Lilah Hegnauer
An offering from the local Hub City Bookshop, half price for poetry month, poems inspired by kitchen utensils (but not about them.)  My review is in GoodReads.

eBooks:



Women's Work by Kari Aguila
I challenged myself to read a self-published book after a discussion about self-publishing on Episode 3 of the Reading Envy podcast, and came across a review of this title in Publishers Weekly.  I started it but haven't gone back to it.

Zoli by Colum McCann
One of the Kindle daily deals.

Serena by Ron Rash
Ron Rash is a well-known southern author, but I've never read anything by him. He will be at the SC Book Festival in May, so that moves him up the list.  Then this book was $1.99 and I can't resist a book I want to read at that price.

The Best Science Fiction & Fantasy of the Year: Volume Eight, edited by Jonathan Strahan
This is a review copy I received from the editor.  I have really enjoyed previous volumes so I am looking forward to it.

Tomorrow and Tomorrow by Thomas Sweterlitsch
An eARC from NetGalley, but it sounded post-apocalyptic and trippy, with a comparison to J.G. Ballard.  I need to move this one up the list.

From Souk to Souk: Travels in the Middle East by Robin Ratchford
An eARC from NetGalley, this interested me because of my Iran-Iraq-Turkey reading goal this year.

Thanks for the Feedback: The Science and Art of Receiving Feedback Well by Douglas Stone and Sheila Heen
An eARC from NetGalley, but a topic I felt would benefit me.  I HATE criticism.

Audiobooks:

The End is Nigh (The Apocalypse Triptych #1) edited by John Joseph Adams and Hugh Howey
 I jumped at the chance to get a review copy of this audiobook.  I'm about 1/3 through, and all the stories are about what happens right before a big event.  John Joseph Adams describes it as "the match."  The future books in the triptych will continue some of the stories that start here.  Great concept, and I do love a good disaster!

Please come find me in GoodReads and friend me there.  That is where I keep track of all the books I want to read and review the books I've read.