Monthly Archives: June 2014

A couple of weeks ago, I had almost caught up with bookblogging. Then I slacked off from LJ for a week, read a lot of short books, and suddenly I am literally 14 behind. (Well, 12, in that two of … Continue reading →

I’m not a huge sports fan in general, but like a lot of people I will make an exception for the World Cup every four years. Pressure of work and Worldcon has meant that I have been less engaged this … Continue reading →

Having very much enjoyed the five volumes of the Aldébaran sequence of bandes dessinées by Brazilian writer/artist Leo, I have now started the next five-volume sequence, Bételgeuse. Once again we have lush illustrations of a completely alien world, with humans … Continue reading →

Latest so far in the series of Time Trips, short Doctor Who ebooks by famous writers not generally known as Whovians – Ahern is a best-selling chick-lit writer, known in Ireland also as the daughter of a former Taoiseach. Alas, … Continue reading →

I see several people doing blog posts about their native dialects today, so I thought I’d follow suit – but in the form of a poll. Running through these I was slightly surprised to realise how few of these words … Continue reading →

I was slightly, but only slightly, spoiled for this by reading Abigail Nussbaum’s review, part of her submission for the Hugo Packet where she is nominated as Best Fan Writer. This too is part of the Hugo Packet, as evidence … Continue reading →

Oh dear. I was actually on the verge of catching up with bookblogging here a week or so ago. but now it’s the third last day of June, and I have a dozen unread books to write up here (plus … Continue reading →

These are two photographs, taken in roughly 1914, of the building known to history as Schiller's bakery (which was really more of a delicatessen) on the corner of what are now Green Berets Street and Prince Kulin Quay in Sarajevo, … Continue reading →

For reasons which may eventually become clear, I am resorting to code for some books. Current Ireland Under The Tudors, by Richard Bagwell The Lacuna, by Barbara Kingsolver Beowulf, tr. J.R.R. Tolkien, ed. Christopher Tolkien β1 Last books finished Death … Continue reading →

Death of Little Germany: How a Ship Sank an Enclave The Germans of New York.(tags: history languages ) Why the Summer Solstice isn’t the start of summer In case it needed saying.(tags: calendar )

Espionage in the EU Capital @KristofClerix explains what is going on.(tags: espionage belgium eu )

This is another of those classic Belgian novels, a largely autobiographical account of a boy growing up in rural Flanders in the years just before, during and after the Second World War. I read it in the original Dutch, and … Continue reading →

Thanks, all, for filling in my poll last week – this was basically the word for "Brussels" in various different scripts, and I thought it would be interesting to see which are readable, and which less so, by various browsers. … Continue reading →

My Worldcon is going to be dominated by being Loncon 3's Director of Promotions, and yet somehow my friends in the Programme Division have scheduled me on more items than any other member of the Committee. (Having said which, at … Continue reading →

Climate of Denial, by @algore Long but very important piece.(tags: climatechange uspolitics )

‘Belgische vlag is ongrondwettelijk’ Belgians have been flying flag wrong way round!(tags: belgium )

On translating Bujold’s “The Hallowed Hunt” into Frisian Fascinating!(tags: languages frisian sf ) Labour plans to cut benefits for young jobless Continuing Tory war on the poor.(tags: ukpolitics ) Seanad row over marking of 750th anniversary of first known Irish … Continue reading →

CurrentThe Memoirs of Elizabeth Frankenstein, by Theodore RoszakDeath in Venice, by Thomas MannNexus, by Ramez Naam Last books finishedTwo Serpents Rise, by Max GladstoneHet Verdriet van België, by Hugo Claus[Doctor Who] Trading Futures, by Lance ParkinA Stranger in Olondria, by … Continue reading →

Why Audiences Hate Hard News—And Love Pretending Otherwise Not very encouraging.(tags: news ) Surviving Baghdad: How a Resident Navigates Life in the City Bush/Blair’s legacy.(tags: iraq ) Hugo voting: to express a preference, put it on the ballot How it … Continue reading →

Predicting When ‘Game of Thrones’ Author George R. R. Martin Will Come Out With His Next Book (tags: sf statistics livejournal ) Artur Mas: Catalonia’s unlikely revolutionary Useful background.(tags: catalonia ) How Sinn Fein “SDLPed” Fianna Fail in 2016 @jasonomahony … Continue reading →

The previous book in the series, Three Parts Dead, was included in last year’s Hugo voter package. I confess that I may have bounced off this one a bit more; I couldn’t remember much about the previous book, and though … Continue reading →

A nice wee book about how to conserve energy and resources on a personal and household level. I shall start using a shaving mug.

I think Russell T. Davies is the only Who showrunner to have written a novel set in the Whoniverse before he took over, and this is it: published in 1996, set in 1987, and a really important taproot text for … Continue reading →

I read the first volume of this last year, when it was nominated for a Hugo, and didn’t quite buy it. I thought this second volume, also Hugo-nominated, was much improved; a fairly straightforward story arc about families and conflict, … Continue reading →

I’m clear on my top vote in this category, but very uncertain about the next three. No vote: Writing Excuses Season 8. I completely defend and support the eligibility of podcasts, whether as a series or as individual episodes, for … Continue reading →

Having only dipped into this, I gave it my vote for the BSFA Award (which it won); now I’ve read it from beginning to end, and feel confirmed in my immediate reaction that this is an excellent and beautiful guide … Continue reading →

HBO’s Michael Lombardo: “Belfast is not the most cosmopolitan of cities to spend half of the year.” Good discussion in comments.(tags: sf northernireland ) Living with cancer; assisted dying @LiamClarkeCJ on his diagnosis, and how the law should change.(tags: death … Continue reading →

For all the primacy of Frankenstein, I reckon this must be one of the earliest known sf books by a woman, at least in English. The Duchess of Newcastle was a well-known eccentric of Restoration England – Samuel Pepys has … Continue reading →

It says the same thing in each case. (Couldn’t identify the Khmer spelling, unfortunately.)