Gibson coined the term " cyberspace" for "widespread, interconnected digital technology" in his short story " Burning Chrome" (1982), and later popularized the concept in his acclaimed debut novel Neuromancer (1984). Beginning his writing career in the late 1970s, his early works were noir, near-future stories that explored the effects of technology, cybernetics, and computer networks on humans-a "combination of lowlife and high tech" -and helped to create an iconography for the information age before the ubiquity of the Internet in the 1990s. William Ford Gibson (born March 17, 1948) is an American-Canadian speculative fiction writer and essayist widely credited with pioneering the science fiction subgenre known as cyberpunk.
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Her poetry is suffused with wonder at the simplest things, her sense of the oneness of all things and her desire to be one with them. She writes of snakes and swans, of the pond near her home, of blueberries and violets, sunrises and sparrows. One of the most striking things one notices is that most of the poems are of sights on her daily walks near her home in Provincetown in New England. The book features over 200 of her poems arranged in reverse chronological order, most recent first. This collection is a good introduction to her work, a selection of her poetry written between 19 and published in 2017, a couple years before her passing. I am glad at last to have found her, a writer roughly of my generation. How did I miss knowing of her for so long? She was even teaching at nearby Case Western Reserve during some of the time I lived there and it was during this time that she won the Pulitzer prize in 1984 for her collection American Primitive. Isn’t that how it often has been with great writers? One of the ironies of this was that I lived in Oliver’s birthplace of Maple Heights, Ohio for nine years. I have only discovered the poetry of Mary Oliver since her death in 2019. Summary: A selection of the poetry of Mary Oliver written between 1963 to 2015. Devotions: The Selected Poems of Mary Olive r, Mary Oliver. It’s a series of three books that will keep you guessing until the very end. She has no idea that she’s part of an experiment designed by scientists from the future, and she doesn’t know that she was put into cryogenic sleep while they tried to save humanity from an apocalyptic event. The third book takes place five years after the second book, with another protagonist who has been living in the town since she was eight years old. The first book follows a secret service agent as he investigates the disappearance of two federal agents, but when he arrives in Wayward Pines, he discovers that his life is in danger, and the only way to stay alive is to go along with everything he sees. The books are mysteries set in a small town where nothing is what it seems. It’s a lovely little city where there’s no cell service, a nine o’clock curfew, and every resident is searching for something that they can never quite find. When the first novel came out in 2012, Blake Crouch wrote the following afterword: Each book follows a simple formula: Amelia Bedelia, a housemaid replete with apron and frilled cap, encounters various domestic imperatives: clean the house, host a party, babysit, substitute-teach. The books, with illustrations by Fritz Siebel, depict a young woman who sows domestic chaos in and around the home of her wealthy employers, a snooty older couple who have outsourced the labor of keeping their household, family, and community relations running smoothly. Yet the more I read Amelia Bedelia the more unsettled I felt I began to suspect that I wasn’t hearing all the notes. Had you asked me a couple of years ago, I would not have classified Peggy Parish’s Amelia Bedelia series with this loftier group-my children delighted in the wordplay, but I found the books a bit one-note. Many classic children’s books beg for philosophical readings: the likes of “ Charlotte’s Web” or “ Are You My Mother?” are well known as complex and subterranean ruminations on death and identity and community. Illustration Courtesy the Estate of Fritz Siebel ISBN-13: 9781101874271 Summary It was a beautiful, breezy, yellow-and-green afternoon. Announced first printing of 125,000 copies. A Spool of Blue Thread Anne Tyler, 2015 Knopf Doubleday 386 pp. Despite this, Tyler does tie these sections together, showing once again that she's a gifted and engrossing storyteller. The interlude proves jarring for the reader, who at this point has invested plenty of interest in the siblings. As matters come to a head in Abby's life and the lives of her children, the story suddenly switches to an in-depth exploration of Red's parents and Red and Abby's courtship, delving into Whitshank family lore. This causes resentment in Denny, the family's eldest biological son, who is capricious and has been known to drift in and out of their lives. A Spool of Blue Thread by Anne Tyler 90,735 ratings, 3.43 average rating, 10,371 reviews Open Preview A Spool of Blue Thread Quotes Showing 1-30 of 102 The trouble with dying, she’d told Jeannie once, is that you don’t get to see how everything turns out. The youngest son, Stem, adopted as a toddler, moves back into the family house to help care for Abby, who has spells of forgetfulness. The narrative initially tackles the mounting tensions among the grown Whitshank siblings as their aging parents, Red and Abby, need looking after. Thoroughly enjoyable but incohesive, Tyler's latest chronicles the Whitshank family through several generations in Baltimore, Md. There are echoes of Neuromancer and Arrival in here, but this astonishing debut is beholden to no one." -M. Fabulous!" -Ann Leckie, award winning-author of Ancillary Justice Innovative and genre-bending, Tade Thompson's ambitious Afrofuturist series is perfect for fans of Jeff Vandermeer, N. But Aminat is stymied by the machinations of the Mayor of Rosewater and the emergence of an old enemy of Wormwood. She must capture a woman who is the key to the survival of the human race. The government agent Aminat, the lover of the retired sensitive Kaaro, is at the forefront of the cold, silent conflict. Those who know the truth of the invasion keep the secret. The Rosewater Insurrection continues the award-winning science fiction trilogy by one of science fiction's most engaging voices.Īll is quiet in the city of Rosewater as it expands on the back of the gargantuan alien Wormwood. It is a study not of the loves of real people, but of love as it found expression in Straightforward examines how we got from there to here. The reason for this is also not hard to find: as it does now, 'love' in the ancient world meant the affection of equals, and given the inferior position of women in Greek and Roman society,īetween the sexes is not usually where love is to be found. With a classical example, and the reason for this is simple: when you say archetypal, it is assumed you mean love between a man and a woman, and instances of this in classical accounts are rare. When asked to name an archetypal love story, most people will reply 'Romeo & Juliet', although some say 'Tristan & Isolde' instead. Straightforward: the Narrative Construction of Heteronormativity She is cold, concerned with image and perfection, and forever critical. Despite having everything most teens would die for, Conner is at constant odds with his mother. Conner has the seemingly perfect life: he is handsome and rich, and he is a star athlete and excels in academics. Reading Group GuideĪ Reading Group Guide to Impulse by Ellen HopkinsĬonner, Vanessa, and Tony have all three landed in Aspen Springs, a psychiatric hospital. Now they have a second chance, and just maybe, with each other's help, they can find their way to a better life-but only if they're strong and can fight the demons that brought them here in the first place. They grabbed the blade, the bottle, the gun-and tried to end it all. In one instant each of these young people decided enough was enough. But dig a little deeper and find a boy who is in constant battle with his parents, his life, himself. Tony, after suffering a painful childhood, can only find peace through pills.Īnd Conner, outwardly, has the perfect life. Vanessa is beautiful and smart, but her secrets keep her answering the call of the blade. Three lives, three different paths to the same destination: Aspen Springs, a psychiatric hospital for those who have attempted the ultimate act-suicide. But if you happen to, you know things will never be the same. From the bestselling author of Crank, the story of three kids whose lives collide at a mental hospital after each attempts suicide. Inspired by the legend of Chang'e the Moon Goddess, this captivating debut weaves Chinese mythology into a sweeping adventure of love and family, immortals and magic. But when forbidden magic threatens the kingdom, Xingyin must challenge the ruthless Emperor, leaving her torn between losing all she loves or plunging the realm into chaos. Vowing to rescue her mother, Xingyin embarks on a quest, confronting legendary creatures and vicious enemies. In disguise, she trains alongside the Emperor's son, mastering archery and magic, despite the passion which flames between them. But when her magic flares and reveals her, Xingyin is forced to flee her home, leaving her mother behind.Īlone, powerless, and afraid, Xingyin makes her way to the Celestial Kingdom, a land of wonder and secrets. Raised far away on the moon, Xingyin was unaware she was being hidden from the Celestial Emperor - who exiled her mother for stealing the elixir of immortality. But all of that could come crashing down when Lucan saves a woman from falling off the cliffs to her death and brings her to the castle.Ĭara’s parents were murdered when she was little and she was raised at the nunnery. Which leaves Lucan being the one that holds his brothers together. Quinn is consumed with rage over the loss of his wife and son. Both Lucan and Quinn seemed to have gotten the upper hand with their god, but Fallon fears it and what he could do if he lets his god out, so he drowns in wine to numb everything, leaving him inebriated all of the time. Since then they have struggled to gain control over their god. The brothers have a god trapped inside them that was unbound by Deidre when she had them imprisoned in her mountain. Three brothers, Fallon, Lucan, and Quinn, have been living in their dilapidated castle, hidden from the world for over 300 years, ever since their entire clan was massacred by the evil Deidre. Dangerous Highlander Dark Sword, Book #1 By Donna Grant ISBN# 9780312381226 Author’s Website: |