Author Archives: Brian D. Butler

Bibliolyte, destroyer of books

Posted on August 24, 2024 by Brian D. Butler

In The Book Hunter (1863), John Hill Burton identifies five types of “persons who meddle with books”: “A bibliognoste, from the Greek, is one knowing in title-pages and colophons, and in editions; the place and year when printed; the presses whence issued; … Continue reading →

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It was a dark and stormy night

Posted on August 23, 2024 by Brian D. Butler

“She had a body that reached out and slapped my face like a five-pound ham-hock tossed from a speeding truck.” 2024 Grand Prize Winner Founded in 1982 at San Jose State University in California, the Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest challenges entrants … Continue reading →

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Tension for Tears

Posted on August 22, 2024 by Brian D. Butler

As I have previously mentioned, the novels and short stories of Ray Bradbury played an important role in my early love of reading. I recently ran across this marvelous brief video of Bradbury from fifty years ago discussing the importance … Continue reading →

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when you got to go, you got to go

Posted on August 21, 2024 by Brian D. Butler

During a recent visit to New York City, I became hyper aware of the disappearance of public restrooms. There’s no polite way to put this: going to the bathroom in New York is a big hassle. Public restrooms in the … Continue reading →

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Summer Reads

Posted on August 20, 2024 by Brian D. Butler

It has become an annual tradition each summer for former President Barack Obama to share his summer reading list on social media. As usual, the list showcases his mix of fiction and nonfiction, and it shows off an interest in … Continue reading →

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Through Thick and Thin

Posted on August 19, 2024 by Brian D. Butler

I don’t think that I’ve read Chaucer since high school, but I was still fascinated when I ran across an article on the many commonly used English phrases that he  coined (or popularized) a lot of phrases that we still … Continue reading →

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Respect the law of consequences

Posted on August 18, 2024 by Brian D. Butler

Those of you who stop by TBTP on a regular basis know that I am an evangelist for the work of Octavia E. Butler . The first widely read Black science fiction author and Afro-Futurist pioneer was also a perspicacious … Continue reading →

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The Mark on the Wall

Posted on August 17, 2024 by Brian D. Butler

  “The Mark On The Wall” is based on Virginia Woolf’s short story of the same name, which opens with the mysterious line—”Perhaps it was the middle of January in the present year that I first looked up and saw the mark … Continue reading →

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On The Beach

Posted on August 16, 2024 by Brian D. Butler

I was surprised to stumble on the complete version of the Stanley Kramer film On The Beach posted on YouTube. The 1959 American post-apocalyptic science fiction drama had an enormous impact on me when I first saw the movie on television when … Continue reading →

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Penguins

Posted on August 15, 2024 by Brian D. Butler

Any self-respecting book cover geek needs to take a gander at this website dedicated to the cover art of Penguin paperbacks, curated by Australian design instructor  Greg Neville . “Penguin Books has had numerous categories in its long history: fiction, … Continue reading →

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