Category Archives: Culture

Reading Well: Ancillary Justice, Ancillary Mercy, and Ancillary Sword by Ann Leckie

Posted on January 14, 2016 by Daniel (@MKNN)

Ann Leckie‘s Ancillary Trilogy is among the most imaginative science fiction debuts you will find. They are very much of the genre, so if spaceships and alien cultures aren’t your thing, you should probably pass on this one. But, if they are, it’s … Continue reading →

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@The Movies with PopPop: The Story of the Weeping Camel

Posted on January 10, 2016 by Daniel (@MKNN)

And now for something completely different… The Story of the Weeping Camel, a 2003 award winning documentary by Byambasuren Davaa and Luigi Falorni, follows the life of a contemporary nomadic Mongolian family in the Gobi desert who raise camels and … Continue reading →

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Reading Well: Last Call by Tim Powers

Posted on January 7, 2016 by Daniel (@MKNN)

Last Call by Tim Powers mixes many of my favorite things: neo-Egyptian mythology, tarot cards with the power to fundamentally disrupt reality, and, of course, poker. Or, in this case, a pseudo-poker game called Assumption, played with a full deck of tarot … Continue reading →

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@The Movies with PopPop: Spotlight

Posted on January 4, 2016 by Daniel (@MKNN)

If you haven’t seen Spotlight, do! It’s a very well made movie that will keep you focused all the way through. Spotlight is about the team of Boston Globe journalists who uncovered the depth and breadth of sexual abuses in … Continue reading →

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@The Movies with PopPop: If I Were You

Posted on December 27, 2015 by Daniel (@MKNN)

The 2012 film, If I Were You, directed by Joan Carr-Wiggin and starring Marcia Gay Harden, Leonor Watling and Joseph Kell is one of those movies that while not great, is delightful and an amusing and diverting couple of hours. … Continue reading →

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Reading Well: The Girl in the Road by Monica Byrne

Posted on December 24, 2015 by Daniel (@MKNN)

The Girl in the Road, Monica Byrne‘s debut novel, carries with it one strikingly unforgettable image: a boardwalk across the ocean from India to East Africa. The path moves up and down on the waves, and the energy from that motion … Continue reading →

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Reading Well: Lock In by John Scalzi

Posted on December 7, 2015 by Daniel (@MKNN)

In some ways, Lock In by John Scalzi is two different things lurking inside one book. On the one hand, it is a sketch of a fascinating possible future where an epidemic has left millions of people fully conscious in fully paralyzed bodies, … Continue reading →

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@The Movies with PopPop: Clouds of Sils Maria

Posted on December 5, 2015 by Daniel (@MKNN)

Clouds of Sils Maria is a 2014 film, written and directed by Olivier Assayas and starring Juliette Binoche, Kristen Stewart and Chloe Grace Moretz. This is a very interesting film dealing with several layered themes: aging; acting; “real” life and fiction among … Continue reading →

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Reading Well: Waiting by Ha Jin

Posted on November 30, 2015 by Daniel (@MKNN)

Waiting is a novel by Ha Jin, set in near-contemporary China and focused (although it never quotes nor acknowledges Langston Hughes) on exploring the question of deferred dreams. The protagonist is a comfortably successful doctor, stationed at an urban military base. He has a wife, … Continue reading →

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Reading Well: The Southern Reach Trilogy by Jeff Vandermeer

Posted on November 3, 2015 by Daniel (@MKNN)

The Southern Reach Trilogy (the individual books are Annihilation, Authority, and Acceptance) is an engaging and intriguing piece of horror fantasy, somewhere between traditional Southern Gothic and HP Lovecraft. Each books is pretty short–the whole trilogy is about 800 small-size pages. … Continue reading →

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