It's a good thing I'm a bit of a nerd and enjoy keeping lists, because I finally finished updating the lists for the 330 authors I already knew about who had books published or reviewed from January 1 through March 31st of this year. Now I get to move on to creating lists for authors I'd never heard of before who had books published/reviewed in that same period and whom I found interesting enough to look up and add to my lists.
All of these new books, both those by authors I was already familiar with and those by authors new to me, bring up a good point, expressed in the title of this post--so many books, too little time. As I said, I added new books by 330 authors to my lists--at least 1 book for each of those authors. In the best year for which I have the records readily available, I was able to read 276 books that year. So even without counting the books by authors new to me, I added at least 50 more books to my lists than I've been able to read in my best year. And that was for this past quarter alone.
An appropriate response might be to say "I'm done. I'll never be able to read all the books by all the authors I already know about, so I'm not going to add any new books by anybody at all ever", or even to jettison from my lists authors I haven't read yet but already know about.
That's not my response, though. I admit I do concentrate on reading either books which are part of series from several hundred authors I've decided I'm most interested in, or singletons (single books, most often by new authors who haven't written anything else yet) but I really enjoy reading reviews of new books and if the reviews are interesting enough, checking to see if the author is listed on either of my two most usual sources and then adding them to my lists (again if I find the author sufficiently interesting).
Part of the reason is professional. Although I work for the section of the Main Library that handles the newest best sellers, among other things, I seem to be the only heavy reader and the only person interested in learning about the new books and their authors.
It's kind of like a game--I score a few imaginary points in an imaginary game when I already know something about a book a library patron asks about. I have two librarian friends who are more interested in romance, fantasy, horror, and science fiction than I am, and sometimes I am able to tell them about a new book or author they haven't heard of yet, and I score a few more imaginary points for that. (I don't deduct any when they already know about the book/author, though--hey, they're only imaginary points in an imaginary game.) And sometimes I can pass on a new book by a Florida author to my friend Tara in the Florida Center for the Book she hasn't heard of yet, or let her know when the review of a new book she'd be interested in finally shows up on Amazon or Barnes & Noble.
I also look at it like I'm storing up points in some sort of literary karmic treasury of merit.
When we teach the Reader's Advisory fiction genres class to other librarians, Arlene and I make a point of saying the hope is that the class will be the start of a process for the participants, where they can develop ongoing relationships with their patrons and start learning who likes to read what kinds of books and who might be interested in which new book they read a review of or hear about. Unfortunately for me, here at Main I've not been able to develop that kind of relationship with any patrons so it's usually my mother or my librarian friends Arlene and Mimi and Tara I have that relationship with.
My two usual sources for looking books up, other than Amazon and Barnes & Noble for the reviews?
Stop! You're killing me is one of the best sites for information about mysteries, suspense, and thrillers.
Fantastic Fiction also covers horror, romance, fantasy, and science fiction.
This is my totals page for what I read.
SMC
Saturday, April 25, 2009
Monday, April 20, 2009
Simon R Green's Nightside series
This past weekend I finished the first 3 of Simon R Green's Nightside detective series ("Something from the Nightside"; Agents of light & darkness"; and, "Nightingale's lament"--all 3 were in an anthology the Library has, so I just read one after another), which made it one of my favorite fantasy detective series.
I'd read "Something from the Nightside" before, but enjoyed reading it again as much as I did reading the other two for the first time.
What makes it a great series? Well, I really enjoy the blending of fantasy (or science fiction) and detective elements. The characters are great. The good guys are on the side of good, which is a good thing because they can be very deadly and dangerous. The villians are downright villianous and often Evil as well.
Other fantasy/detective series I like?
Simon R Green's Eddie Drood/Secret histories (the 2nd is due out sometime soon) kind of combine elements of James Bond with fantasy, which makes them pretty funny.
Jim Butcher's Harry Dresden chronicles, of course (I even liked the TV series).
Glen Cook's Garrett files (I love these because they're sort of a fantasy twist on Rex Stout's Nero Wolfe stories, except the reason that the brains of the outfit needs someone to do his leg work for him is that his body's been dead for centuries).
Jon Courtenay Grimwood's El Iskandryia series is set in an alternative Ottoman Empire where magic works.
I also like M R Sellars's Rowan Gant Wiccan mystery series.
I'm also extremely fond of Liz Williams' Inspector Chen series.
SMC
I'd read "Something from the Nightside" before, but enjoyed reading it again as much as I did reading the other two for the first time.
What makes it a great series? Well, I really enjoy the blending of fantasy (or science fiction) and detective elements. The characters are great. The good guys are on the side of good, which is a good thing because they can be very deadly and dangerous. The villians are downright villianous and often Evil as well.
Other fantasy/detective series I like?
Simon R Green's Eddie Drood/Secret histories (the 2nd is due out sometime soon) kind of combine elements of James Bond with fantasy, which makes them pretty funny.
Jim Butcher's Harry Dresden chronicles, of course (I even liked the TV series).
Glen Cook's Garrett files (I love these because they're sort of a fantasy twist on Rex Stout's Nero Wolfe stories, except the reason that the brains of the outfit needs someone to do his leg work for him is that his body's been dead for centuries).
Jon Courtenay Grimwood's El Iskandryia series is set in an alternative Ottoman Empire where magic works.
I also like M R Sellars's Rowan Gant Wiccan mystery series.
I'm also extremely fond of Liz Williams' Inspector Chen series.
SMC
Gifts, talents & skills
I've been thinking about gifts, talents, and skills lately--and which ones I have and don't have.
I've never been particularly athletically inclined, although I did OK in PE. I had to get my first pair of glasses in 5th grade, and my vision continued to get worse. (Now, although corrected my vision is about 20/30, I'm legally blind without glasses or contacts.) Then in 5th grade PE I did permanent damage to my knees, which made them a lot less flexible. And in my freshman year of college I was hit with a virus which did mild but permanent damage to my inner ear, which screwed up my sense of balance. (I tried learning to ski several times on spring breaks with my family. I tended to fall down a lot, and decided I'd probably get hurt before I learned to compensate for knees which didn't make very good shock absorbers and a not very good sense of balance.)
I've now watched almost all of the Cirque du Soleil DVDs my library system has. I was reminded of something I learned a long time ago. When I watch the C du S videos, I have the same reaction I did when I went to the occasional dance program--I can enjoy the choreography and the skill, talent and coordination in a good performance but I know there are whole levels of meaning and emotional content that I am missing.
I learned in middle school that I don't have the manual dexterity to be very good at drawing or painting or wood shop.
Although I was an OK musician through high school, when I got to college I learned that OK wouldn't cut it and I'd have to practice A LOT if I wanted to be good there.
Although I love reading, I've never wanted to be a writer. I've never been interested in writing fiction. I wrote what I still think are pretty good poems while in college, but they all had to do with personal relationships--and for a very long time I haven't had a lot of personal relationships which are that close. And although I was very good all the way through college at writing research papers, and discovered that I still was when I went back to Library School in my mid-40s, I never wanted to write non-fiction full time. The part I really enjoyed was looking up stuff that interested me.
So what are my skills/talents?
I love to read, and read a lot. In the years that I've been keeping track, the most I read in one year was 276, with an average of 23 books a month. I love finding out about new books by authors I already know about and authors whom are new to me.
I love to listen to a wide variety of music, especially classical and folk/ethnic/traditionally based music from around the world, and enjoy finding out about the musicians I hear.
I still love looking stuff up when I start wondering about something.
And as crutches for my memory, I love making lists I can refer to. Hence the various lists on my Web page mentioned earlier here in my blog.
SMC
I've never been particularly athletically inclined, although I did OK in PE. I had to get my first pair of glasses in 5th grade, and my vision continued to get worse. (Now, although corrected my vision is about 20/30, I'm legally blind without glasses or contacts.) Then in 5th grade PE I did permanent damage to my knees, which made them a lot less flexible. And in my freshman year of college I was hit with a virus which did mild but permanent damage to my inner ear, which screwed up my sense of balance. (I tried learning to ski several times on spring breaks with my family. I tended to fall down a lot, and decided I'd probably get hurt before I learned to compensate for knees which didn't make very good shock absorbers and a not very good sense of balance.)
I've now watched almost all of the Cirque du Soleil DVDs my library system has. I was reminded of something I learned a long time ago. When I watch the C du S videos, I have the same reaction I did when I went to the occasional dance program--I can enjoy the choreography and the skill, talent and coordination in a good performance but I know there are whole levels of meaning and emotional content that I am missing.
I learned in middle school that I don't have the manual dexterity to be very good at drawing or painting or wood shop.
Although I was an OK musician through high school, when I got to college I learned that OK wouldn't cut it and I'd have to practice A LOT if I wanted to be good there.
Although I love reading, I've never wanted to be a writer. I've never been interested in writing fiction. I wrote what I still think are pretty good poems while in college, but they all had to do with personal relationships--and for a very long time I haven't had a lot of personal relationships which are that close. And although I was very good all the way through college at writing research papers, and discovered that I still was when I went back to Library School in my mid-40s, I never wanted to write non-fiction full time. The part I really enjoyed was looking up stuff that interested me.
So what are my skills/talents?
I love to read, and read a lot. In the years that I've been keeping track, the most I read in one year was 276, with an average of 23 books a month. I love finding out about new books by authors I already know about and authors whom are new to me.
I love to listen to a wide variety of music, especially classical and folk/ethnic/traditionally based music from around the world, and enjoy finding out about the musicians I hear.
I still love looking stuff up when I start wondering about something.
And as crutches for my memory, I love making lists I can refer to. Hence the various lists on my Web page mentioned earlier here in my blog.
SMC
Saturday, April 18, 2009
Updates
There was the usual weekly new episode of Celt in a Twist today, and a new one of Foot Stompin', so I've updated my Celtic podcasts playlists pages.
SMC
SMC
Location, location, location
Here's what can happen when you have an inquiring mind, and a fondness for making lists, like I do.
My sister-in-law, Renee, is finishing up her PhD in Philosophy at the University of Washington in Seattle, where she and my brother Michael live. My Mom lives in Portland, OR, where I'm from although I now live in S Florida. My brother Tim, his wife and kids live in San Jose, CA.
Renee was offered what seems like a very good job teaching philosophy at a college in the Chicago area. (This bothers my Mom quite a bit, since they'll be moving so far away. It's like a good news/bad news joke. On the one hand, they're really lucky she got such a nice job, let alone any teaching job. On the other hand, it's in the Chicago area, so Mom will see them a lot less than she'd like.)
So one day I started wondering where exactly Chicago is in relation to Hollywood FL, Portland OR, Seattle WA, and San Jose CA. I found a couple of lists on Infoplease that gives that information, but it lists the cities in alphabetical order.
US & Canadian cities
So I listed those cities in order from North to South. Then I started wondering where those cities are, North to South, in terms of other cities, both in the US & Canada and elsewhere. Infoplease has another list, also in alphabetical order.
Outside the US & Canada
Then I wondered what were the most Northerly and Southerly cities in the world I could find information about.
The result?
My list of latitudes & longitudes
SMC
My sister-in-law, Renee, is finishing up her PhD in Philosophy at the University of Washington in Seattle, where she and my brother Michael live. My Mom lives in Portland, OR, where I'm from although I now live in S Florida. My brother Tim, his wife and kids live in San Jose, CA.
Renee was offered what seems like a very good job teaching philosophy at a college in the Chicago area. (This bothers my Mom quite a bit, since they'll be moving so far away. It's like a good news/bad news joke. On the one hand, they're really lucky she got such a nice job, let alone any teaching job. On the other hand, it's in the Chicago area, so Mom will see them a lot less than she'd like.)
So one day I started wondering where exactly Chicago is in relation to Hollywood FL, Portland OR, Seattle WA, and San Jose CA. I found a couple of lists on Infoplease that gives that information, but it lists the cities in alphabetical order.
US & Canadian cities
So I listed those cities in order from North to South. Then I started wondering where those cities are, North to South, in terms of other cities, both in the US & Canada and elsewhere. Infoplease has another list, also in alphabetical order.
Outside the US & Canada
Then I wondered what were the most Northerly and Southerly cities in the world I could find information about.
The result?
My list of latitudes & longitudes
SMC
Friday, April 17, 2009
Reading vs watching stuff and updating lists
I also keep track of what I read each month (see above). I noticed at the end of March that I hadn't read a lot of books that month. There were a couple of reasons.
One is that I update the calendar/list of events I mentioned earlier quarterly, and try to do so by the end of the week that has the first Sunday of the first month in that quarter in it. That took a lot of time out of my reading in the last part of March.
I also spent a lot of time in March watching things on video or online. I had to replace my old LCD monitor a couple of months ago, and the cheapest I could find is a widescreen high-definition flatscreen. I then discovered that Netflix has a huge amount of movies and TV shows you can watch online, as well as by the usual DVD subscription. I watched some of my favorite travel, historical, and nature TV series last month.
What I watched in March
I'm still not reading quite as much so far this month as I'd like to. That's because I've been spending a lot of time updating my lists of books by authors I'm interested in. I don't usually keep track of how many authors completely new to my lists I add each month--maybe I'll start--but I do know that from January 1st of this year to the end of April, I read or saw reviews of books by about 330 authors already on my lists, and I'm gradually working through adding those books to the appropriate lists.
It's a good thing I enjoy that kind of thing, but I think I'll take a break and go read for a while.
One is that I update the calendar/list of events I mentioned earlier quarterly, and try to do so by the end of the week that has the first Sunday of the first month in that quarter in it. That took a lot of time out of my reading in the last part of March.
I also spent a lot of time in March watching things on video or online. I had to replace my old LCD monitor a couple of months ago, and the cheapest I could find is a widescreen high-definition flatscreen. I then discovered that Netflix has a huge amount of movies and TV shows you can watch online, as well as by the usual DVD subscription. I watched some of my favorite travel, historical, and nature TV series last month.
What I watched in March
I'm still not reading quite as much so far this month as I'd like to. That's because I've been spending a lot of time updating my lists of books by authors I'm interested in. I don't usually keep track of how many authors completely new to my lists I add each month--maybe I'll start--but I do know that from January 1st of this year to the end of April, I read or saw reviews of books by about 330 authors already on my lists, and I'm gradually working through adding those books to the appropriate lists.
It's a good thing I enjoy that kind of thing, but I think I'll take a break and go read for a while.
Back again, part 2
I also keep track of several of my other hobbies online. It's not that I expect anyone else in the world to care what I'm up to, it's more that I often need to refer to my lists when I'm not at home, so it's easier if I convert my online lists to html and put them on my Web page. You'll see what I mean.
I love reading, which is probably what I spend more time on than any of my other hobbies. The activity I probably spend the 2nd greatest amount of time on is learning about authors and books which are new to me. And sometimes I need to find out where I left off in a series or need to look at another list to decide what books I want to get from the library next. The result?
Books
This includes a list of almost 2,180 authors I'm interested in. If I haven't actually read any of their books yet, I've read reviews of at least one of them. It also includes a lists of books reviewed in "Publishers Weekly", ALA's "Booklist", "Library Journal" and "Kirkus". I also keep track of what I've read--it may be years before I get back to a series I've enjoyed parts of.
Back in the 1980s there were a couple of years when I couldn't find a full-time job. One of my strategies for coping back then, which I still maintain, was to try and keep a long view of things. Back then I disovered "Chase's calendar of annual events", which I've used as the basis for keeping a calendar/list of birthdays and other historical/cultural events I find interesting (and celebrations I'd love to attend if I had the time and money for travel).
My calendar
I love reading, which is probably what I spend more time on than any of my other hobbies. The activity I probably spend the 2nd greatest amount of time on is learning about authors and books which are new to me. And sometimes I need to find out where I left off in a series or need to look at another list to decide what books I want to get from the library next. The result?
Books
This includes a list of almost 2,180 authors I'm interested in. If I haven't actually read any of their books yet, I've read reviews of at least one of them. It also includes a lists of books reviewed in "Publishers Weekly", ALA's "Booklist", "Library Journal" and "Kirkus". I also keep track of what I've read--it may be years before I get back to a series I've enjoyed parts of.
Back in the 1980s there were a couple of years when I couldn't find a full-time job. One of my strategies for coping back then, which I still maintain, was to try and keep a long view of things. Back then I disovered "Chase's calendar of annual events", which I've used as the basis for keeping a calendar/list of birthdays and other historical/cultural events I find interesting (and celebrations I'd love to attend if I had the time and money for travel).
My calendar
Back again
I haven't posted anything in a very long time. I just really couldn't see the point.
I started this blog as part of an exercise for an online class/seminar sort of thing about Web 2.0 stuff the library system I work for (Broward County Library, here in S Florida) was having. After the class, I just felt like continuing the blog was like writing a journal or diary--which I've never been interested in. I mean, I already know what I've been up to and how I feel about it, and am under no illusions that anyone else would be interested in that. After all, except for my Mom whom I talk with at least once a week, I'm lucky if I talk with my siblings once every few months--and usually I have to call them.
It's not that I'm antisocial--more like asocial. I personally don't have much use for social networking sites like MySpace, Facebook, and Twitter--even though I now have accounts on all three. I recently took part in a meeting of some BCL Reference/Computer Services librarians where a couple of the presenters very enthusiastically told us why we should at least know about, if not use, social networking sites, so I'm looking into them again.
I have been involved in an odd type of social networking on my own for quite a long time, though, in my own odd sort of way.
I got an iPod Nano for Christmas back in 2007, and immediately began looking for music podcasts to listen to, especially those with Irish/Celtic music. And because I can't afford to buy a whole lot of CDs but can sometimes find them through the library system where I work (not often enough), and am a bit of a nerd and keeper of lists, I started keeping a composite list of songs played on the podcasts I listen to, and since it was fairly easy with the software I have to convert the playlists to html or PDF, I posted it on my Web page. For a while there, if you did a search on Google for "celtic podcast playlists" my site came up first, which really freaked me out. I haven't looked lately.
Celtic podcasts playlists
I also listen to Marc Gunn's Renaissance Festival podcast, and wanted to keep track of what I hear for the same reason.
Playlists for Marc Gunn's Renaissance Festival podcast
And when the producers of one of my favorite Celtic podcasts, "Celt in a Twist" up in Vancouver BC, came out with an excellent world music podcast, I started a playlist for that as well.
Playlists for WorldBeat Canada
Here's the list of all the podcasts I listen to:
My podcasts
I started this blog as part of an exercise for an online class/seminar sort of thing about Web 2.0 stuff the library system I work for (Broward County Library, here in S Florida) was having. After the class, I just felt like continuing the blog was like writing a journal or diary--which I've never been interested in. I mean, I already know what I've been up to and how I feel about it, and am under no illusions that anyone else would be interested in that. After all, except for my Mom whom I talk with at least once a week, I'm lucky if I talk with my siblings once every few months--and usually I have to call them.
It's not that I'm antisocial--more like asocial. I personally don't have much use for social networking sites like MySpace, Facebook, and Twitter--even though I now have accounts on all three. I recently took part in a meeting of some BCL Reference/Computer Services librarians where a couple of the presenters very enthusiastically told us why we should at least know about, if not use, social networking sites, so I'm looking into them again.
I have been involved in an odd type of social networking on my own for quite a long time, though, in my own odd sort of way.
I got an iPod Nano for Christmas back in 2007, and immediately began looking for music podcasts to listen to, especially those with Irish/Celtic music. And because I can't afford to buy a whole lot of CDs but can sometimes find them through the library system where I work (not often enough), and am a bit of a nerd and keeper of lists, I started keeping a composite list of songs played on the podcasts I listen to, and since it was fairly easy with the software I have to convert the playlists to html or PDF, I posted it on my Web page. For a while there, if you did a search on Google for "celtic podcast playlists" my site came up first, which really freaked me out. I haven't looked lately.
Celtic podcasts playlists
I also listen to Marc Gunn's Renaissance Festival podcast, and wanted to keep track of what I hear for the same reason.
Playlists for Marc Gunn's Renaissance Festival podcast
And when the producers of one of my favorite Celtic podcasts, "Celt in a Twist" up in Vancouver BC, came out with an excellent world music podcast, I started a playlist for that as well.
Playlists for WorldBeat Canada
Here's the list of all the podcasts I listen to:
My podcasts
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