Category Archives: Books

Build Your Sci-Fi Reading List

Posted on July 21, 2024 by Brian D. Butler

Adrienne Westenfeld at Esquire enumerates the 75 best sci-fi books of all time. While I might find fault with some of the choices, and could quibble about the omissions, all in all it’s quite an interesting list. To be fair, I’ve … Continue reading →

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Weeding out some stuff

Posted on July 17, 2024 by Brian D. Butler

“My relationship with cats has saved me from a deadly and pervasive ignorance. I prefer cats to people, for the most part. Most people aren’t cute at all, and if they are cute they very rapidly outgrow it.” William S. … Continue reading →

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Post-apocalyptic Book Fest

Posted on July 16, 2024 by Brian D. Butler

 

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Are you guilty of tsundoku

Posted on July 14, 2024 by Brian D. Butler

The Japanese word tsundoku means buying books and letting them pile up unread. The word dates back to the very beginning of modern Japan, the Meiji era (1868–1912) and has its origins in a pun. Tsundoku, which literally means reading pile, is … Continue reading →

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secret from the river

Posted on July 12, 2024 by Brian D. Butler

“Have you also learned that secret from the river; that there is no such thing as time? That the river is everywhere at the same time, at the source and at the mouth, at the waterfall, at the ferry, at … Continue reading →

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Alien Picnic

Posted on July 11, 2024 by Brian D. Butler

I recently ran across a reference to the fantastic Russian Sci-Fi classic Roadside Picnic by Arkady and Boris Strugatsky that included a link to a free online version of the novel. You can read or download the book here. The Strugatsky brothers … Continue reading →

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Yes, you can judge these books by their covers

Posted on July 8, 2024 by Brian D. Butler

Penguin Books has revealed the winners of its 2024  Cover Design Award, where participants were tasked with reimagining three Penguin titles:  City of Stolen Magic by Nazneen Ahmed Pathak, Daisy Jones and the Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid, and Atomic Habits by James Clear. Cadi … Continue reading →

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How we live now

Posted on July 7, 2024 by Brian D. Butler

 

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“Ricordare è rivivere” (“to remember is to relive”)

Posted on July 5, 2024 by Brian D. Butler

Sigmund Freud returned again and again to the problem of memory as he formulated his theories of psychoanalysis during the 1890s. “What is essentially new about my theory,” Freud wrote in this letter to fellow physician and confidante Wilhelm Fliess, … Continue reading →

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Anyone who keeps the ability to see beauty never grows old

Posted on July 3, 2024 by Brian D. Butler

Franz Kafka, born on this day in 1883. “You do not need to leave your room. Remain sitting at your table and listen. Do not even listen, simply wait, be quiet still and solitary. The world will freely offer itself … Continue reading →

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