Reading Room

I have always loved reading. When I was growing up, my mom was always fussing at me to put the book down and go outside and play instead (or come to the dinner table or go do chores). I was one of those kids who would "go to bed" only to read away half the night. When I was about 12 or so I read Madeleine L'Engle's "Wrinkle in Time" and then Anne McCaffrey's "Dragonsong" (the first book in her Harper Hall series) and those books ignited a love of fantasy and science fiction.

I do a lot of my reading these days on an e-reader. I have an old Kindle Keyboard which I just loved and I used to say that I would never give up my little Kindle. Well, the Kobo Libra 2 has called to me with its siren song of a backlight while still having physicial page buttons and the same small size (although different dimensions). I have not used my Keyboard in quite a while. I feel a little guilty, like I broke up with it. But having that backlight is so nice!

I own actual books, too. I used to be like a miser hoarding his gold when it came to books. I kept everything! I usually read fairly quickly so that meant I had a LOT of books. Now I've pruned through my collection and I try to only keep books that are really special. Maybe it's a series I enjoy rereading, or a set of books that would be hard to replace. Or it's special because someone gave it to me.

You can find all sorts of interesting reading on the web. There are lots of publications (Lightspeed, Clarkesworld, Uncanny Magazine to name just a few) that publish stories online, for free, with no need to sign up or in to anything. Here are some stories I enjoyed. I hope you do, too!

• Cat Pictures Please by Naomi Kritzer
• How the Maine Coon Cat Learned to Love the Sea by Seanan McGuire
• The Starship and the Temple Cat by Yoon Ha Lee
• Hello! Hello! Hello! by Fiona Jones
• Rude Litterbox Space by Mary Robinette Kowel
• The Cat’s Three Wishes by Michael M. Jones

If your appetite has been whetted for finding more short form science fiction/fantasy then take a look at this list of online magazines/publishing sites that some enterprising netizen has created.

There is also this listing of almost 80 science fiction/fantasy magazines with regular publishing schedules. A lot of them offer their material for free online but magazines like these are having a hard time surviving these days. If you find one that really appeals to you, maybe help them out and subscribe if you're able to.

Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Fandom in the Norman V. Lamb Gothic Fantasy Collection - Queen’s University Library has collaborated with the Internet Archive to digitize a small collection of self-published, small print-run fanzines or zines within the science fiction/fantasy/speculative fiction genres. If you have an Internet Archive account, you can borrow these!

Helpful Book Links

• Book Series in Order - Great resource listing series and all the books within in order. I use it all the time!
• Bookshelf Town - Bookshelf Town is a very simple, cozy site where you can log the books you've read (or want to read) and share with friends. Very indie/small web in look and feel. Also has a community "bulletin board."
• Library Thing - Another site to track your reading. This has many more features and users than Bookshelf Town. You can import books from Amazon or libraries, you can get charts and stats about your reading and there are groups to join where you can talk with other book lovers. There is an Early Reviewer program where you get a free book in exchange for an honest review. And that's just some of what this site offers.
• Standard Ebooks - "Standard Ebooks is a volunteer-driven project that produces new editions of public domain ebooks that are lovingly formatted, open source, free of U.S. copyright restrictions, and free of cost."
• Smashwords - E-book retailer and publisher specializing in independent authors and self-published books that are DRM-free.