The Book Queue

It’s been a while since I put together a list of things to read from the book queue, so it doesn’t really matter if I do so now, but I’m going to do it anyway. You’re welcome. We’ve got some interesting non-fiction on the list, a holiday offering, some candidates for Vintage SF Month, and the usual smattering of nerdy literature.

• Which Lie Did I Tell?: More Adventures in the Screen Trade by William Goldman – I loved Goldman’s first Adventures in the Screen Trade, so I’m guessing I’ll like this one too. I’m cheating a bit since I’ve already started this, but my guess was right. This is great, and it covers Goldman’s work in the 80s and 90s (I don’t know about you, but I’m more familiar with his work from that era, most notably The Princess Bride).
• Science Fictions: The Epidemic of Fraud, Bias, Negligence and Hype in Science by Stuart Richie – I’m guessing this will be a depressing read, but it’s an interesting subject.
• A Very Scalzi Christmas by John Scalzi – This one should be a lighter, more fun read for the holidays. I’m guessing this contains a bunch of things that Scalzi has already posted on his blog (and thus I may have already read), but it should be fun.
• Masquerade in Lodi by Lois McMaster Bujold – It’s another Penric & Desdemona novella and they’re always good…

• Master of the Revels by Nicole Galland – This is the sequel to The Rise and Fall of D.O.D.O.. Galland collaborated with Neal Stephenson on that first book, but is apparently on her own here. Of course, the cover emphasizes Stephenson more than anything else, which is funny. I’m never clear on how author collaborations actually work, but as I understand it, Galland did the bulk of writing on the first book, so hopefully she’ll be able to keep it up on this one. I’m actually quite looking forward to this, since the first book ended sorta weird.
• The Complete Stories of Theodore Sturgeon, Volume III: Killdozer! – I tackled Sturgeon’s To Marry Medusa for the last Vintage SF Month, and in keeping with my recent affinity for short story collections, I figured I’d take a crack at this one, which famously contains Killdozer!, a Retro Hugo award winning novella about a possessed killer bulldozer. What’s not to like?
• The Lincoln Hunters by Wilson Tucker (1958) – Time travel about a historian sent back to record a Lincoln speech, but he finds out that he’s been sent back before. Or later. Something paradoxy like that. This was on my list for Vintage SF Month last year, but I never got to it. I think it’ll make the cut this year. Or, er, next year.

Alrighty then, that should keep be busy for a couple months…