Well, so ends October! In Alabama cooler weather finally began drawing near, though it’s rare for it to come inside and take a seat so soon. The cold actually kicked the door down last night: it’s 38 (3 C) at present. I’ve been going to work in my cardigan but this morning I’ll have to bust out my coat for the first time since March! It was an odd month on the blog, with a mix of history, SF, and some weird alt-history/SF tales. Personally, the month was hit and miss, with one highlight being my suddenly making progress on a short story I’d been picking at for close to two years. (I say short: it’s ~14500 words now and I’m stalled on the critical final section.)

Science Survey

Merlin’s Tour of the Universe, Neil deGrasse Tyson
Starry Messenger, Neil deGrasse Tyson

It is my intention to finish the survey next month. I have a book on zombie bugs I’d intended to post for Halloween, but got distracted.

The Unreviewed

Starry Messenger is an unusual piece, more of a collection of thoughts of how to apply scientific thinking to everyday life and issues — like debating vegetarianism or gambling. I kind of miss Tyson: I used to listen to his StarTalk Radio podcast, but he has comedian co-hosts for pop culture appeal, and they’d just make the show obnoxious. It was an OK way to pass the time, but frankly rather forgettable.

New Acquisitions

Caesar, Adrian Goldsworthy
In Distant Lands: A Short History of the Crusades, Lars Brownworth (Gift card)
The Normans: From Raiders to Kings, Lars Brownworth (Gift card) Though, I did return this one after I realized the author had given his uncle-the-bookstore-owner a signed and dedicated copy and that it had gotten misplaced on the shelves with the regular stock.
The Last Jeffersonian: Grover Cleveland and the Path to Restoring the Republic, Ryan Walters (Gift card)

The latter three were all found at Fair Oaks Books, Selma’s indie bookstore. I had planned on getting the Wendell Berry release, but my lady-friend suggested that I not, so that’s something to look forward to in December, I think.

Coming up in November….Science Fiction!

Several blogs are hosting a “SciFi Month” month, which will include a series of prompts to respond to for the month, and the first prompt is to share our SF TBR for the month! These are some possibilities:

(1) Maybe Becky Chambers. I’ve checked out one of her titles several times this year but haven’t actually committed to it; it’s next in Wayfaring Strangers.

(2) More Ursula le Guin. I read her The Dispossessed but keep meaning to tackle The Left Hand of Darkness.

(3) Delta-V, Daniel Suarez.

(4) Rendezvous with Rama, Arthur C. Clarke

(5) Check on John Scalzi to see what the next Old Man’s War book is.

(6) I’ve been told Ramez Naam is Suarez-like, so I may try his Nexus book.

(7) Maybe some Heinlein? I’ve read a few of his works (Starship Troopers, The Moon is a Harsh Mistress, etc) but none of his Lazarus Long titles.

(8) The Duke of Calladan, Brian Herbert & Kevin J. Anderson. A Dune prequel novel about Duke Leto. I know I’m supposed to read Dune Messiah first, but honestly the whole space jihad-genocide thing isn’t that attractive.

(9) John Carter of Mars, Edgar Rice Burroughs. I read a third of this last year when I was doing Science Fiction Book Bingo, and may revisit it just for temporal variety.

(10) All Systems Red, first in the “Murderbot” stories. Both Amazon and ChatGPT tell me I would like this.

Now, readers who have been with me for a while know perfectly well that I won’t complete this list, that it’s perfectly plausible that I’ll read something and then go off on a completely unrelated tangent — but I’d like to at least match last year’s SF Month mark of six books. We’ll see! Are you joining in this year? There’s plenty of room on board.