February Books

I did a lot of reading this month so I could submit a well read Hugo Nomination. Twelve "books" in one month is a huge number for me (my average is 4). There is quite a bit of good writing out there.

1. Feb 08: The Inheritance & Other Stories by Robin Hobb/Megan Lindholm 2011, HarperVoyager (HarperCollins), Fantasy [L]
   Burlap sacks, chickens, cats, & silver
   • Cat's Meat, by Robin Hobb, Fantasy; What lengths to claim what's yours?
2. Feb 11: Snuff by Terry Prachett (Discworld #39) 2011, HarperCollins, Fantasy [L]
   A person is a person no matter how small
3. Feb 14: Midnight Riot by Ben Aaronovitch (Rivers of London #1) 2011, Ballantine Books/Del Rey (Random House), Urban Fantasy [L]
   Like October Daye with a British accent.
4. Feb 16: A Companion to Wolves by Sara Monette & Elizabeth Bear (Wolfheall #1) 2007, Tor, Fantasy [L]
   Brokeback Vikings
5. Feb 17: The Tempering of Men by Sara Monette & Elizabeth Bear (Wolfheall #2) 2011, Tor, Fantasy [L]
   A lot of characters and plots to keep track of
6. Feb 20: Clockwork Rocket by Greg Egan (Orthogonal #1) 2011, Night Shade Books, SF [L]
   Flatland 3D in space!
7. Nebula Nominated Short Stories 2011 [O]
   • Feb 20: Paper Menagerie by Ken Liu, The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, Fantasy, A cultural identity story
   • Feb 20: The Cartographer Wasps and the Anarchist Bees by E. Lily Yu , Clarkesworld Magazine, Fantasy, Change is the only permanent thing
   • Feb 21: The Axiom of Choice by David W. Goldman, New Haven Review, SF,
     There is no section 378
   • Feb 21: Shipbirth by Aliette de Bodard, Asimov’s Science Fiction, SF,
     It needed the previous story, The Shipmaker
   • Feb 21: Movement by Nancy Fulda, Asimov’s Science Fiction, SF,
     A brave story of different perceptions
   • Feb 21: Mama, We are Zhenya, Your Son by Tom Crosshill, Lightspeed Magazine, SF, The dangers of engineering different perceptions
   • Feb 21: Her Husband’s Hands by Adam-Troy Castro, Lightspeed Magazine, SF, Disturbing
8. Nebula Nominated Novellettes 2011 [O]
   • Feb 22: Fields of Gold by Rachel Swirsky, in Eclipse 4, Night Shade Books, Fantasy, Afterlife, was missing a bit of something
   • Feb 22: Sauerkraut Station by Ferrett Steinmetz, Giganotosaurus, Space Opera, Challenges of a rest stop in a war zone
   • Feb 22: Six Months, Three Days by Charlie Jane Anders, Tor.com, SF/F,
     Is it Destiny or Control Issues?
   • Feb 22: The Migratory Pattern of Dancers by Katherine Sparrow, Giganotosaurus, SF, Price of a condor's flight.
   • Feb 22: The Old Equations by Jake Kerr, Lightspeed Magazine, SF,
     A time dilation story.
9. Nebula Nominated Novellas 2011 [O]
   • Feb 08: Kiss Me Twice by Mary Robinette Kowal, Asimov’s Science Fiction, SF,
     How dependent are we on technology?
   • Feb 23: The Man Who Ended History: A Documentary by Ken Liu, Panverse Publishing, SF, The price of history
10. Feb 24: Diving into the Wreck by Kristine Kathryn Rusch (Diving Universe #1) 2009, Pyr (Prometheus Books), Space Opera [L]
    Space salvage, with an political plot
11. Rachel Swirsky Recommends [O]
    • Feb 24: Diving after the Moon by Rachel Swirsky, Clarkesworld Magazine, SF/F,
      Science Fable
    • Feb 24: The Taste of Promises by Rachel Swirsky, in Life on Mars, Viking, SF,
      My brother the computer
    • Feb 25: Simulacrum by Ken Liu, Lightspeed, SF,
      Who is holding onto the past more, father or daughter?
    • Feb 25: Staying Behind by Ken Liu, Clarkesworld, SF,
      Tradition or reservation?
    • Feb 25: Valley of the Girls by Kelly Link, Subterranean, SF,
      Lifestyles of the rich and anonymous
    • Feb 25: Defenders by Will McIntosh, Lightspeed, SF,
      Aliens, Robots, Humans, & Diplomacy
    • Feb 25: In the Gardens of the Night by Siobhan Carroll, Beneath Ceaseless Skies, Fantasy, A witch's curse
    • Feb 26: Houses by Mark Pantoja, Lightspeed, SF, A.I.,
      A quirky story
12. Feb 27: City of Ruins by Kristine Kathryn Rusch (Diving Universe #1) 2011, Pyr (Prometheus Books), Space Opera [L]
    Space Opera, Indiana Jones style

Books in Bold contain Hugo Award eligible content

Postcards vs. Tweets

As part of the Month of Letters I have mailed and written 37 postcards in the month of February. I have seen it said multiple places that if a letter is an old school e-mail, then a postcard is a tweet. I'll admit that there are similarities.

Tweets are short messages of 140 characters
My postcards messages ranged in length from 75 characters to 220 (with an average of 130 characters). So while most messages would fit a single tweet not all would. In addition writing gave me a flexibility of font and spacing that is rarely available online.

This doesn't include, the image on the back of the postcard, the stamps used, stickers attached, address sending, address receiving, date, or signature.

Admittedly tweets often include links & hashtags which can add images or information to the message.

I did find that there was space on the postcard to include website addresses, which is not as interactive as a link, but it still gets the job done.

The major benefit of tweets is that they are real-time communication where a single message reaches multiple people.

The major benefit of postcards is that it is a physical object sent to a single address.