A relatively quiet week, maybe because I was busy with the real world and didn’t have an opportunity to invest time for the internet.
- Grim news in the literary world: Neil Gaiman’s cat, Zoe, passed away earlier this week. Also, J.D. Salinger died. The New York Times has a nice obituary. Like any other English-speaking reader born in the last fifty years, I was tremendously impacted during my Formative Years by The Catcher in the Rye’s Holden Caulfield. From what I’ve read over the last day, Salinger spent much of his life struggling to find peace and quiet, so hopefully J.D. has finally found what he was searching for. As for myself, I might locate a certain dog-eared paperback this weekend and, if only for an afternoon, recapture those distant years of teenage rebellion.
- The other big news this week is Apple’s long-awaited announcement of an internet device that doesn’t work on the same internet that websurfers actually use. I am a big fan of my iPhone, but the iTouch Maxi’s (oh yes, pun intended) announcement was disappointing, to say the least. So I’m going to plug two alternatives to the iPad, coming out later this year: MSI’s Android-based tablet and the Notion Ink Adam.
- One of my favorite novels from the last year is available as a free ePub! Check out io9’s Book Club for more information on getting a free (as in beer) copy of Paolo Bacigalupi’s The Windup Girl. Go read this book, seriously!
- Cherie Priest, author of last year’s Boneshaker, blogs about things an author controls. An informative read, and witty. I have a bit of a crush, I think; I’m looking forward to reading Boneshaker, hopefully in February.
- The last link of the day: previously, I mentioned Pumzi, a Kenyan sci-fi feature at Sundance. I managed to track down a trailer, so check it out.
