Reading for Treasure: Books for the Holidays!

Reading for Treasure is my list of articles that are worth your attention. Click here for an introduction!

I love books! For people like me, the best holiday gift is a book – or a book recommendation! One of the things I love about holiday travels is having the time to sit down and read, read, read. Of course, this is also one of the best things about being retired! 

Although I read all sorts of literature, my go-to genre is science fiction. However, I read just about everything. So here is a long list of book lists. A few of these are focused generally and most are of science fiction, fantasy, and genre fiction. 

Don’t know what that book lover in your life might want to read? Look at these lists and descriptions and then head to your nearest indy bookstore or library. Feel free to make some recommendations in the comments! 

Literary Hub presents “Our 38 Favorite Books of 2022”

I know it is a little old, but I don’t know the difference between a holiday read and a summer read? “WIRED’s Picks for the 15 Books You Need to Read This Summer”

Lifehacker focuses on  “10 of the Most Banned Books (and What We Can Learn From Them)”

“The Greatest Sci-Fi Authors Of All Time, According To Ranker” - Screenrant

“50 Best Sci-Fi Books of All Time - What Is The Best Science Fiction Book Ever Written?” - Esquire

“The Most Influential Sci-Fi Books Of All Time” - Book Riot

“100 Speculative Fiction Titles to Add to Your Reading List”-  tor.com

NPR did a really cool survey: “We Asked, You Answered: Your 50 Favorite Sci-Fi And Fantasy Books Of The Past Decade” 

“2022 Locus Awards Top Ten Finalists”

“2021 Shirley Jackson Awards Winners” – Locus Online

“Here’s the shortlist for the first Ursula K. Le Guin Fiction Prize”  -  Literary Hub

“Nebula Award finalists and winners” Science Fiction Awards Database 

2022 Hugo finalists and winners

2022 World Fantasy Award nominees and winners- tor.com

I am reading Noor By Nnedi Okorafor  

Twenty Years Ago Today: An Introduction

Everyone told me when you have children, remember to video record everything – and I did. I have videos of birthday parties, soccer games, trips, class visits, Halloween, and so much more. I compiled these videos into DVDs and made a second set for my parents.

No one ever watches them.

So recently, I watched them. It is both a memory jog and a reminder of who we were, what was going on, and the struggles and celebrations of the late 90s and early 2000s.

Sometime around 2002, I realized that taking still photos would be better than videos. I still took some videos, but I really focused on pictures. That is the advice I would give a new parent. Sure, have a video camera for the game or concert, but take photos. People actually look at those. 

Similarly, I have been keeping a kind of journal or diary for many years in many forms. About the same time I moved to photos, I made a commitment to myself to write every single day. My purpose was to reflect on my day, record my thoughts while they were still in my head, and to think about how one day informed and shaped the days to come. I have written some kind of journal entry every day since. 

I go back to my journals for a variety of reasons. Sometimes it is mere nostalgia, but more often it is to remind myself about a specific person, event, or place. I review my journals about trips when we are returning to those places. I will use my journal as a tickler when I am seeing someone I have not seen in a long time to remind myself about our last meeting. Often, I consult my journal so I can build on my past experience and not simply fall into the same potholes all over again. My journals are a piece of my ever-expanding external memory. 

However, there are huge swaths of my journal that have sat on the computer ignored like those home videos. I decided it is time to look them over, too. So each month, I am going to read my journal from twenty years ago –and sometimes, I will write a ‘then and now piece here. 

Strangely, I can’t find any journals from 2002. I changed computers and I have a large number of files I can’t open. Perhaps some are from 2002. There was a good reason I didn’t write regularly: I was juggling teaching, parenting, and involvement in several community organizations. And I was very young and very busy

I did go back and look at my journals from 1998 to the beginning of 2001. It was embarrassing and powerful, familiar and far away. It was a bit sad and less nostalgic than I thought it would be.  

My first entries are in October of 1998. One of my former students and neighbor had suddenly passed away at college. It was a terrible tragedy and it affected me strongly. 

But the joys of parenting were just as present, my son “continues on his journey to personhood. He is such a personality. He loves strings, wires and anything resembling them. He is fascinated by the VCR. He is so playful and fun. He loves to be sung to. Parenthood is the best thing I have ever done.” 

I complained about the motivational speakers who came to my school, worried about students who were not succeeding, and reflected constantly on my teaching. My tone is so authoritative and confident. I laughed while I read. 

I reflected on a visit to the Museum of Science and Industry with my daughter, she “loved the new Pioneer Zepher train and the animatronic talking statues and mule! She was non-pulsed by the U505 Submarine and the Fairy Castle (which really surprised me). She loved the Omnimax theater presentation of ‘The Mysteries of Egypt’  -especially the fast flight over the Nile. Three times she looked at me and said ‘I really love this, Daddy.’” 

I was very focused on getting my grading completed. I planned when and how many essays and quizzes and projects and debates I could grade. Ungraded work weighed heavily on me. Although, I was a part-time teacher (and a full-time father), but I still had hours of homework! 

There were college recommendations, baby sitters, doctor visits, meals, in-services, clubs, performances, vet visits, and family trips to Florida and California. Traveling with young children is not a vacation. It is a trip – at best. 

So now, as January looms, I will open up journal entries from January 2003. I remember some things about that time. I am sure there will be more I have forgotten. I am not sure what I will find – and if what I find is not worth remembering, you won’t hear from me. 

Twenty years is a long time. We were different people then. Those people share a lot with us today– but we are no longer them. I am hoping that by looking at those old journals, I can learn about where I have been and better understand where I am so I can make choices about where I am going. We’ll see! Read on! 

COVID Peek-A-Boo: I Don’t See You!

Remember learning about a baby’s conception of object permanence? They are only aware of things when those things are in sight. Hide them, and to the baby, they no longer exist. It is a sign of developmental growth when an infant will search for an object that it can no longer see. 

I think many Americans lack COVID permanence. They believe that, if they can’t see COVID right now, it isn’t here. If they close their eyes and minds to the situation, the situation will magically conform to their version of reality. 

Tell it to the virus!

I am shocked by the number of people who are going about their lives as if there is no virus, as if the entire pandemic is over and they are free and clear. The numbers are going up. The flu is very much present and hospitals are full of people, mostly children, with RSV, another contagious virus. It would seem that additional precautions are more than warranted. 

Nope! Eyes closed! I don’t see it! It isn’t there. I’m just fine! 

I shouldn’t be surprised. This has been an issue since the beginning of the pandemic, 1000 days ago. Humans in general, but Americans in particular, are shockingly good at fooling themselves into believing what they want to believe, even when it is painfully clear that they are living in a fantasy. 

Who won the 2020 election? Depends on if you subscribe to the real world or not. What must be done to combat climate change? Nothing if your head is buried in the sand while your behind is blowing in a hurricane! Racism? Playing the victim should be a new board game! Shall I go on? 

Some areas in the United States are moving indoors now. It has been more than a month since anyone could even entertain the thought of dining outdoors where I live. Thanksgiving events served more than turkey and stuffing. Families do what all families do: whatever they get, they share – and then they share it with the folks in the bus, plane, mall, and elevator! Tis the season of giving everyone the virus! 

In the areas of the United States where outdoor dining is still possible, the denial is so strong that their hospitals are shipping sick folks to colder places! People don’t want their so-called freedoms restrained, but are more than willing to use those freedoms to sicken their neighbors. 

And your conspiracy folks? They have moved into peek-a-boo eyes closed land. They know, somewhere not so deep down, that these fictions are just that. This is why any attempt to question or examine them leads down a never-ending spiral of evidence-free hypothetical speculation. They have fallen in love with object impermanence and will fight for their freedom to live in fantasyland. 

While that might have been okay in the past, now too many people’s refusal to grow up, put on big people’s pants, and address the problems facing all of us has become another one of the problems facing all of us. COVID, climate change, racism, election integrity, and so many other problems threaten all of us – but only some of us are actively working to address them. 

That part isn’t new. There have always been a small number of selfish and immature children who masquerade as adults - and now they are recruiting. They have decided that their game of peek-a-boo is a virtue, a right, and a fact. They are incensed over anyone’s attempts to acknowledge reality and protect all of us, seek justice, or save ourselves and our planet. 

But we see you! COVID is still here. Climate change is humanity’s greatest threat, and the movement toward a more equitable and just society is unstoppable. You can pretend otherwise, but that is all it is –make-believe. 

Reality doesn’t bend to your belief or acceptance. Reality doesn’t care about your freedoms or rights. Reality doesn’t play peek-a-boo. 

And reality is coming for you!