Book Review: Nighttime Is My Time by Mary Higgins Clark

I got really into the TV show American Chopper some years back. I don’t have any interest in motorcycles and I couldn’t care less about the family drama between the stars of that show. But I loved watching it. I loved watching genuinely skilled people create their visions.

I love watching master craftspeople at work.

There’s joy in witnessing that level of skill. This is why I love shows about carpentry, home renovation, car mods, tattooing. It’s one of the many reasons why I love music, dance, theater, and athletics. It doesn’t matter if any of these interest me personally, I’m fascinated watching people who love doing them. Any human endeavor which requires skill to do well, is worth witnessing.

Reading Nighttime Is My Time by Mary Higgins Clark reminds me of watching American Chopper. She crafts her stories. Her control of plot and pacing and structure, how she manipulates the reader to place suspicion on different characters at different times, her myriad misdirections, how she builds the tension. She shows her work and gives us a ring-side seat to her creative process.

I enjoy witnessing her craft.

That being said, Nighttime Is My Time isn’t a very good book. I listened to the audiobook and the narration by Jan Maxwell is excellent. But the book itself drove me a bit nuts.

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Book Review: The Science of Science Fiction: The Influence of Film and Fiction on the Science and Culture of Our Times by Mark Brake

*The Science of Science Fiction: The Influence of Film and Fiction on the Science and Culture of Our Times*
by Mark Brake
Skyhorse, 2018

This review was first published by Booklist on November 2, 2018.

Brake (Different Engines, 2007, with Neil Hook) is a scholar and authority on how science fiction can influence the course of science and define our popular perceptions. The short essays—none longer than half a dozen pages—collected here are grouped into four main themes: “Space,” “Time,” “Machine,” and “Monster.” Some essays fit more than one theme, but they give the work a useful structure. Each essay is a quick read, but none go into much depth. Anyone looking for a robust scholarly treatment of the subject might be disappointed. Brake takes a valuable historical view, citing several stories from the earliest days of the genre, dating back to the 1600s and earlier, as well as classic and modern movies. However, the examples he chooses seem somewhat random and lack modern literary selections. He examines the history of science from Galileo and Newton to Einstein and the atomic bomb and on to the invention of computers and the internet. The book comes across as almost a random selection of short works; nonetheless, it is insightful, fascinating, and an easy read.

Checking My Privilege: A Reading List

It’s important to me to have my perspectives, assumptions, and biases challenged in healthy ways. I seek out opportunities to learn how other people experience and view the world. This is an ongoing process. I believe it makes me a better person, more kind and compassionate, makes me stronger.

It’s my passion for understanding human nature as fully as I can. It’s my passion for serving my community—all members and all needs. Building mutual understanding and respect is how you make the world a better place.

I’ve spent a lot of time recently reading books about race and privilege. I have several more books on my list to read. This is a list of titles which challenge my perspectives and open my eyes to aspects I hadn’t considered before. Here they are, via my current library account. *

Checking My Privilege: A Reading List

* John the Librarian is my personal blog. The opinions and ideas I express here are strictly my own and do not represent the views of my employer.

Book Review: The Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy 2018 edited by N. K. Jemisin and John Joseph Adams

Cover of the book The Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy 2018 edited by N. K. Jemisin and John Joseph Adams — *The Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy 2018*
edited by N. K. Jemisin and John Joseph Adams
HMH/Mariner, 2018

This review was first published by Booklist on October 26, 2018.

**STARRED REVIEW** If these annual best-of anthologies indicate where speculative fiction is heading, readers should be excited for the future of the genre. The 20 stories collected here aren’t necessarily the most popular of the year. Indeed, they are selected from a wider variety of publications than the typical mainstream sf magazines. These tales are the year’s most innovative and interesting, prime examples of artists seeking to push the boundaries of their art. This collection brings to mind Harlan Ellison’s Dangerous Visions anthologies, starting in 1967, in the way it showcases cutting-edge work, ranging from hard-science fiction to fantasy, to dystopia. There’s also a stronger emphasis on the eerie horror than most best-of collections. According to Jemisin (The Stone Sky, 2017), guest editor for this installment, these are stories of revolution—some literally, while some revolt against the style and tropes of the genre, while others offer revolutionary reimaginings of the world and society. These are stories to take your breath away, to make you laugh, to bring you to despair, to give you hope, to creep you out, and even to break your heart. Some work better than others, but all are interesting, vibrant, and worthy.

Movie Review: A Star Is Born by Bradley Cooper

A Star Is Born, directed by Bradley Cooper — *A Star Is Born*
Directed by Bradley Cooper
Screenplay by Eric Roth, Bradley Cooper & Will Fetters
Based on the screenplay by William A. Wellman, Robert Carson, Dorothy Parker & Alan Campbell
Produced & distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures, 2018

I didn’t think I was all that interested in seeing the new version of A Star Is Born. I’ve rarely been happier to be proven mistaken.

This film is phenomenal.

I’m a fan of Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper, both. So perhaps I shouldn’t be too surprised that I ended up spending 2.25 hours sitting in a theater, losing myself in them.

I’m not going to offer a plot synopsis or go through specific scenes. There are a couple of points I want to make, but mostly I want to offer a list of all the reactions I had watching this movie. In no particular order:

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Book Review: Probability Shadow by Mark Laporta

Cover of the book Probability Shadow by Mark Laporta — *Probability Shadow*
by Mark Laporta
Chickadee Prince, 2018

This review was first published by Booklist on October 4, 2018.

Laporta’s skill with intricate world building is on full display in this first novel of a new trilogy for adults (after Mirror at the Heart of Time, 2017, for teens). He’s created an engrossing far-future reality of galaxy-spanning civilizations, populated by multiple alien races (bodiless symbionts, sentient AI, and mysterious creatures who exist outside of linear time, among others). His imagination is impressive and establishes a delightful playground for the trilogy to explore. This is a political-intrigue story with aspects of military sf and some action sequences. The main character is a diplomat and the conflict is set off by a shortage of vital resources. It’s not the typical fast-paced plot one expects for this kind of setting; that alone makes Probability Shadow interesting. Laporta’s characters are compelling, if drawn rather broadly. The plot gets convoluted and the short chapters make for abrupt transitions, but the sheer scope of his imagination is worth the experience and redeems minor stylistic missteps. The setup for the next book promises an even grander vision.

Book Review: Astounding: John W. Campbell, Isaac Asimov, Robert A. Heinlein, L. Ron Hubbard, and the Golden Age of Science Fiction by Alec Nevala-Lee

Cover of the book Astounding: John W. Campbell, Isaac Asimov, Robert A. Heinlein, L. Ron Hubbard, and the Golden Age of Science Fiction by Alec Nevala-Lee — *Astounding: John W. Campbell, Isaac Asimov, Robert A. Heinlein, L. Ron Hubbard, and the Golden Age of Science Fiction*
by Alec Nevala-Lee
HarperCollins/Dey Street, 2018

This review was first published by Booklist on September 15, 2018.

Nevala-Lee (Eternal Empire, 2013) presents a necessary addition to the history of science fiction: a critical look at the life and work of John W. Campbell, legendary editor of Astounding magazine and the central architect of science fiction’s golden age. This period, and the men most central to it, defined the path that still dominates the genre today. Part biography, part history, Astounding covers Campbell’s relationships with his most important writers (Asimov, Heinlein, and Hubbard); their tumultuous personal lives; the role their wives played in their careers; and the effect WWII and the atomic bomb had on the genre. Campbell and others truly believed science fiction could save the world. Nevala-Lee delves into the development of dianetics and Campbell’s split with Hubbard over Scientology. He also addresses the many biases, prejudices, and personal failings of these eminent men. At times, it feels like Nevala-Lee attempts to accomplish too much, and the mix of history with biography isn’t always comfortable, but it’s all necessary to understand how science fiction became what it is today.

The Challenge of Fairness

I struggle with the idea of fairness. Fairness is important to me. It bothers me, deeply, when I see things that are unfair. As a kid, I hated it when people would say, “The world isn’t always fair!” It was always just a transparent excuse for people treat others unfairly. Just because the world isn’t fair doesn’t mean we shouldn’t be.

Most libraries have a Patron Code of Conduct: a document laying out behavioral and usage expectations for people who use the library. Fairness is essential when it comes to these codes of conduct and especially when it comes to disciplinary actions in response to infractions.

Fairness requires us to apply our codes of conduct equally to all patrons. That seems obvious, right?

Maybe not.

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Book Review: Lost Mars: Stories from the Golden Age of the Red Planet edited by Mike Ashley

Cover of the book Lost Mars: Stories from the Golden Age of the Red Planet edited by Mike Ashley — *Lost Mars: Stories from the Golden Age of the Red Planet*
edited by Mike Ashley
Univ. of Chicago/British Library, 2018

This review was first published by Booklist on August 20, 2018.

There has been a craze lately for retro and golden-age science fiction, and Lost Mars fits right into that trend, presenting a collection of 10 classic short stories about Mars written between 1887 and 1963. It features works by H. G. Wells, Ray Bradbury, and J. G. Ballard as well as authors less well known to modern audiences. These stories are of the highest quality and illustrate how our evolving understanding of the Red Planet changed the way we wrote about it and how Mars came to occupy a prominent position in our hopes, dreams, and fears as the modern age dawned and grew. Editor Ashley (The Mammoth Book of Time Travel SF, 2013) offers a brief and thoroughly researched introduction which provides background information about both the major Martian discoveries of the nineteenth, twentieth, and twenty-first centuries and the history of Martian science fiction from H. G. Wells through Andy Weir. It serves as a fascinating overview of the history of Mars in science fiction, from the birth of the genre through the beginning of the space age.

Book Review: Resistant by Rachael Sparks

Cover of the book Resistant by Rachael Sparks — *Resistant*
by Rachael Sparks
SparkPress, 2018

This review was first published by Booklist on August 20, 2018.

In the near future, antibiotic-resistant bacteria have decimated the population. One young woman may hold the cure, and, aided by the Resistance, she is on the run from nefarious government agents. Besieged by betrayals, she must figure out whom to trust and how to save mankind. Sparks’ debut is a thrill ride for readers of biological thrillers like those of Robin Cook. The strong pacing and characterization contribute to an easily believable world with just the right amount of technology to satisfy more traditional sf readers. There is even a dash of romance. Despite the occasional awkward transition and slightly heavy-handed exposition, Resistant is a potent combination of elements, making this a novel that’s sure to appeal to a wide audience.