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In this enjoyable and well-written first contact story, contact doesn't immediately up end life as we know it, and the scientist whose project uncovered the evidence of extraterrestrial life struggles to deal with that fact.
A short look at the question of why people travel, particularly in a time when we have more options for making connections remotely than ever. Written by a travel writer who has clearly thought quite a bit about what travel brings to his life, this book does not provide a definitive answer to the question but does provide some good insights, delivered in an engaging style.
A simple, heartbreaking, and beautifully written story about a woman whose life has not turned out the way she had hoped.
An interesting blend of sci-fi and fantasy set on a colonized planet, long after the colonization from Earth has receded into distant history and when magic has become as important as technology. The main character is from a coastal community descended from a settler group from Asia, but leaves her home in search of acceptance, which gives us a chance to visit several different communities and trace how they evolved from their own settler groups. This exploration of the cultures that have evolved on this new planet was intriguing, and elevated the story beyond what the plot alone provides.
This is a surprisingly funny book about a near-death experience, which will almost certainly make you appreciate the normal operations of your digestive tract a bit more. Borowitz developed a blockage in his colon which rather quickly became life-threatening. The book he has written about the experience is also about how little control we really have over life, and how delightful life is, nonetheless.
A sci-fi detective story that does credit to both genres.
An engrossing and informative story about the NYC police in the early 1900s, and a woman who made a name for herself in that world against the odds and became NYC's first female detective.
This is a very surreal story that is, as the title says, about a guy who has problems with a girl and a unicorn, who are both his roommates. I was convinced as I read it that any story with a unicorn roommate in it must have a deeper meaning, but it eluded me- and yet, I find myself thinking about the story months and months after reading it. (The edition I read did not have other stories in it, but that edition no longer seems to be available. I have not read the other two stories in the currently available edition.)
An interesting and informative look at the battle over ebook pricing that took place in 2010, and culminated in the price-fixing case against Apple and the big publishers. This is a fast-paced and very readable book that will also make you think about how the price you pay for books is determined, and what that means for the future of book publishing.
A well-executed and enjoyable colonization story, in which colonists are fleeing aliens and must face hardship on their new planet and uncertainty about events elsewhere.
Working on one thing at a time, for as long as you need to or feel like it, is a luxury.
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