Read This: Asimov to Austen

I’ve had a couple of recent appearances at other websites. This morning, I’m back in Shelf Awareness, talking about Paul Malmont’s The Astounding, The Amazing, and the Unknown, which starts from a historically true premise—Robert A. Heinlein recruited Isaac Asimov and L. Sprague de Camp to work with him in a research laboratory at the Philadelphia Navy Yard to help defeat the Axis—and works in L. Ron Hubbard’s (mis)adventures during the Second World War, legends surrounding the suppressed research of Nicola Tesla, and a few more surprise guest stars. As I point out in my review, the secret history Malmont lays out isn’t 100 percent accurate, but for the most part it is fun enough that you’re not going to want to sit around trying to poke holes in it anyway.

Before that, over at Heroes & Heartbreakers, I shared my thoughts on William Deresiewicz’s A Jane Austen Education, in which the English professor and literary critic reveals how his character was refined by the reading of Jane Austen’s six novels. Fortunately, it’s not Just about how Emma made him realize how self-absorbed he was; Deresiewicz really does love Austen’s stories for their own sake, and that love is probably the thing he’s most convncingly able to get across to readers. If you aren’t very familiar with Austen—which I’m still not, although I’m getting started—he’ll definitely give you a good idea what all the fuss is about.

Finally, inReads.com, the book-centric social networking site I’ve been advising, had its full public unveiling earlier this week, including the latest in the series of “Whatcha Reading?” videos I’ve been shooting. This time around, I spoke to Holly Black and Ellen Kushner after they’d finished a signing at Books of Wonder to celebrate the publication of Welcome to Bordertown, a new collection of stories set in the shared-world fantasy setting first explored in a set of Terri Windling-edited anthologies back in the mid-1980s.

24 June 2011 | read this |

Romance Readings in Manhattan: June 22 & 27

Lady Jane’s Salon, the romance reading series I’ve helped curate since February 2009, is usually held on the first Monday of each month—but we decided a while back we wouldn’t even try to compete with the Fourth of July. Instead, with the annual national meeting of Romance Writers of America coming to New York City next week, we decided to throw our biggest evening yet on Monday, June 27, with six guest authors reading from their work. (Well, five, really, since Leanna Renee Hieber is another of the series’ founders.) If you’re a romance fan, though, keep in mind that Sarah Maclean, Dianna Love Snell, Karen Rose, Carrie Lofty, and Eloisa James won’t be the only authors there—a lot of writers come out for RWA Nationals, and we expect a good number of them to come to this party to cheer on their colleagues, so you won’t want to miss this. We’ll be at Madame X (94 W. Houston Street), starting the show at 7:00 p.m., and all you need to get in is $5 or a gently used paperback romance novel.

Before that, however, I’ll be joining Sarah MacLean, Lauren Willig, and Cara Elliott this Wednesday, June 22, at the Roger Smith Hotel (501 Lexington Avenue) for a night of “Rakes, Rogues, & Mischief.” We’ll be meeting at the lobby bar for cocktails at 6:00 p.m., then heading up to the penthouse for a 7:00 reading. (There’s a rooftop bar, too, so odds are the party will continue past the readings…) You can RSVP for this event on Facebook, or just come by that evening. Either way, we’d be delighted to see you!

20 June 2011 | events, lady jane's salon |