Matthew StonecashMay 241 minNew Books! Trust by Hernan DiazYou should read Trust. You should NOT read the back flap or any summary of the plot of the book. I expect some will find the experimental...
Matthew StonecashApr 255 minWhat do you mean, "free" ?What's the most we can hope for from a book? What about alerting us readers to a slightly dopey assumption about the world we've been...
Matthew StonecashApr 222 minEarth Day Reading List: Ten Books About Our Favorite PlanetYou have time to read ten books today, right? Here are ten books to dive into for a big picture view of this big beautiful rock! 1. Under...
Matthew StonecashMar 292 minWill civilization collapse and how? Collapse by Jared Diamond Collapse is an incredible collection of histories tracing the rise, fall, and success of civilizations around...
Matthew StonecashMar 221 minPreview: Kaikeyi by Vaishnavi Patel, April ReleaseKaikeyi is a reimagining of a Hindu epic called the Ramayan. Patel's title character is the daughter of a Raja. Despite her exalted...
Matthew StonecashMar 132 minThe Thomas C. Foster Challenge for People Who Like Literature but Majored in Something Else - UpdateAh, the TCFCPWLLMSE season is finally here. As a bookseller who spent a lot of time in college learning about Arrhenius, Laplace, and...
Matthew StonecashMar 43 minRead it Before you Watch it! The Broken Earth Trilogy by N. K. JemisinMy introduction to N. K. Jemisin came with her essay, How Long 'till Black Future Month, which demanded more representation in scifi...
Matthew StonecashFeb 182 minCome for the noir, stay for the pathos2021 was a great year for page-turning noir. Colson Whitehead followed his 2nd Pulitzer with Harlem Shuffle, Silvia Moreno Garcia scored...
Matthew StonecashJan 182 minThis, They Name Empire- the Teixcalaan Series 1 & 2Arkady Martine made a big splash in 2019 with A Memory Called Empire, a story of palace intrigue that takes place in the capital of a...
Matthew StonecashDec 21, 20211 minLosing Time Wars, Winning HeartsShe (Red) is a lethal and merciless cyborg assassin created by the Agency. She (Blue) is a patient and cunning biological weapon grown by...
Joy NiuNov 30, 20211 minThat Time Humanity Grew Up a Little BitContemplating the impact humans have on the rest of the world can be a real downer. It's important to remember that we are capable of...
Matthew StonecashOct 19, 20211 minKaren Lord's The Best of all Possible WorldsEven the worst science fiction takes us somewhere extraordinary, a vacation from the everyday. Good science fiction asks us to ponder...
Matthew StonecashSep 30, 20212 minThe Climate Dystopia Novel we've been looking for was written in 1993- Parable of the SowerIt's a little embarrassing to admit that only a short time ago I had wondered why no one had written a gritty, realistic novel set in the...
Matthew StonecashSep 18, 20212 minThe First Days of a Better Nation?Digital immortality has become a popular form of utopia in science fiction. In Walkaway, Cory Doctorow's characters undergo a brain scan...
Matthew StonecashAug 31, 20212 minGreat Female Protagonists and the Men Who Write ThemThe diversity of heroines in SFF- through examples from Cory Doctorow, Jeff Vandermeer, and Kazou Ishiguro. The diversity of authors now...
Matthew StonecashJul 8, 20212 minWhy a Book Shop Now. Or: Why, a Book Shop! Now!The rise of Amazon and digital media are closing bookstores. Would it be madness to open a new book shop in 2021? I hope not! I believe...
Matthew StonecashJun 27, 20212 minJames Bradley's China Mirage Gets a Little BlurryI enjoyed reading this book, it represents some solid research and good ideas and it explored historical events I knew nothing about and...
Matthew StonecashJun 17, 20211 minBetween the World and Ta-Nehisi CoatesThanks to my sister for gifting me this for Christmas. It's already been lauded by many more eloquent and distinguished than me, but I...
Matthew StonecashMay 20, 20212 minStop Saving the Planet! Stop Saving the Planet: An Environmentalist Manifesto is a short (144 page), witty rant of a book by a dedicated environmentalist...