tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6134967755121125919.post460503614358078726..comments2023-04-12T06:20:01.812-04:00Comments on MEREDITH MORGENSTERN: Influences, Part IIIMeredithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08508302421134951238noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6134967755121125919.post-72389359223443185102014-09-18T13:11:53.235-04:002014-09-18T13:11:53.235-04:00Good questions!
I do recommend all the books list...Good questions!<br /><br />I do recommend all the books listed here, especially Dreamland and The Known World. If you like Arthuriana, the Pendragon's Banner trilogy is my new favorite. Are any of them dated? Probably. Even by fiction standards, I think Exodus might not stand up, not with the politics going on in Israel today. Then again, right now might be the perfect time to remember how Israel got its start as an independent nation and what threats it faced from the very get-go. <br /><br />I wish I could read more non-fiction. I wish my reading tastes were more diverse, but, like with the menu at my favorite restaurants, I know what I like and I've been too disappointed too often when I venture outside of that. Recently, I've been happily surprised to discover that one area of non-fiction I enjoy is autobiographies or memoirs of female comics. Rachel Dratch, Tina Fey, Mindy Kaling: they're funny, they're insightful, they aren't boring. So, there's that, I guess. :-)<br /><br />Every year my husband has a "reading project" he assigns himself, and this year I made my own: spec fic by women of color. I've been toying with the idea, for next year, of doing subgenres of sf/f/h that I don't normally read: steampunk, space opera, epic (second world) fantasy, cyberpunk, etc. What do you think?Meredithhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08508302421134951238noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6134967755121125919.post-23241217851117843762014-09-18T08:39:26.009-04:002014-09-18T08:39:26.009-04:00For a long time, I read everything - crime fiction...For a long time, I read everything - crime fiction, thrillers, literary, speculative fiction. When I jumped back into the world of SFF I read exclusively that for a while, now I'm intentionally aiming for 25% or so, and broadening out. I kind of want to read everything (fiction). I definitely think that you don't have to be "steeped" in SFF to write it - what do you think? Of course, part of what I mean is that as a guy who reads a couple of books a month, being "on top" of what's coming out really isn't an option, anyway.<br /><br />At any rate, I'm the same way about non-fiction. I really want to read it, but I just don't enjoy it. Part of it is the way my brain works: I don't absorb information well unless I'm using it, so a bunch of facts are interesting at the time, but I won't retain them if I don't integrate them.<br /><br />So of the books you listed, which would you most recommend? Do you think any of them would be dated, today?Steven M. Longhttp://stevenmlong.comnoreply@blogger.com