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With the frenzy of another school year ended, I’ve had the time to reflect on the past year – one where I was fortunate enough to be able to send both my sons abroad. The 8th grader went to Barcelona with his Spanish class, the college senior went to Tanzania in a semester abroad program. [...]

The 2011 Locus award winners have been announced: Science Fiction Novel Blackout/All Clear, by Connie Willis Fantasy Novel Kraken, by China Miéville First Novel The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms, by N.K. Jemisin Young Adult Novel Ship Breaker, by Paolo Bacigalupi Novella The Lifecycle of Software Objects, by Ted Chiang Anthology Warriors, edited by George R.R. Martin [...]

Here’s a very cool do-it-yourself reading lamp from HOWTO (via BoingBoing, via Red Ferret).  

There’s really no way to talk about film version of The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo without assuming you’ve read the book. If you haven’t, you might want to close your eyes while you read the rest of this. The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo — the 2009 Swedish film, obviously, since David Fincher’s version [...]

This morning I attended the dedication ceremony for the new Poetry Foundation headquarters building (which Blair Kamin gave a great review in yesterday’s Chicago Tribune). My presence was due to a trickle-down invitation: several higher-ups at ALA had been invited first but, as they were already en route to New Orleans and I’m not leaving until tomorrow, [...]

It has been an ongoing quest to bring book-themed board games to the attention of our readers. First came It Was a Dark and Stormy Night. That was followed by Bookchase, deemed “soul crushing” by participant/editor Ian Chipman. Now, by e-mail, we were alerted by beloved Daniel “the Dungeon Master” Kraus, that a new offering had appeared in [...]

I hesitated before sharing this video, which illustrates the essay, “Get a Head of Steam for Your Self-Esteem,” by Sam Lipsyte (The Ask, 2010). But, I decided, if we can review a fake children’s book called Go the Fuck to Sleep, to draw the line at man-breasts, simulated barfing, and seemingly genuine flatulence would be mere quibbling. Also, [...]

Readers who followed along to “Desperately Seeking DeSario,” my article about tracking down the forgotten author of one of my all-time favorite novels, take note: Joseph P. DeSario’s Sanctuary is now available in a brand-new e-book edition. Random House has a collection of links where you can buy it from a variety of retailers, including [...]

According to this story at the Hollywood Reporter, Tom Cruise “has an offer in hand” to star as Jack Reacher in the movie adaptation of Lee Child’s One Shot. With all due respect to Mr Cruise, this certainly seems to be an unusual casting choice. Reacher is six-foot-five, about 250 pounds, and Tom Cruise is, um, not. [...]

You might have read that Carrie, Brian De Palma’s excellent 1976 movie based on Stephen King’s first novel, is being remade…or rebooted…resomethinged, anyway. (See this Hollywood Reporter story, for example.) Do we need it? Sure, De Palma’s movie isn’t exactly 100% faithful to the book, but it’s chilling and memorable. It also has the best [...]