Walking the bounds
The internet has recently been celebrating the work of fantasy novelist Diana Wynne Jones, who died last year. I spent my childhood reading and rereading her books, which, as British imports, I could never find for sale. I even retyped a significant portion of one of my favorites, Archer’s Goon, so I could have a … Continue reading
On eating your feelings
Dear readers, thanks for your patience while I’ve been writing less frequently. After spending almost a year on the application process, I was lucky enough to get into a few MFA programs, and have been spending my time either driving across the state to visit programs or wallowing in anxiety about visiting programs. I realize … Continue reading
April 9-12, 2012
Matt Santori-Griffith loves bringing comic books home every week, and he loves stopping by his local brick-and-mortar store to hear what else is happening and what the store team is reading. One of the recent recommendations was Image Comics’ The Sword, and you can read about it in “Speak softly and carry a big sword”
She flies the TARDIS better than the Doctor, she knows what he’ll do before he does, and she has better hair. (You think the Doctor doesn’t know she has better hair? Oh, he knows.) Matt Santori-Griffith suggests it’s time to just admit that River Song is a better Doctor than the Doctor himself. Read “Spoilers, sweetie!”
There are two kinds of readers in the world: Those who read, and those who re-read. Kelly Hannon is one of the latter, and she recalls a somewhat testy encounter with two single-time-only readers in “Re-reading, stupid”
Ana Holguin runs, even though she hates running. She’s trying to write a love story (a love of running, food, and self) in which she moves beyond denying herself to finding what feels good when she runs. Read “On the run”
Speak softly and carry a big sword
If there’s any truism worth adapting to the pastime of reading comic books, it’s that a good shop is hard to find. Last summer, after several years of ordering my comics online, I decided it was time to go back to shopping locally. Sure, I was saving a few bucks by buying through a website, … Continue reading
Spoilers, sweetie!
I’ve always firmly believed that, deep down, people like to be corrected when they are so wrong about something that it borders on embarrassment. Mind you, I say “people,” and not “friends,” for reasons that should be immediately self-evident. However, as one of the newest contributors to The Idler, I feel I have a responsibility … Continue reading
Re-reading, stupid
A week or so ago I had a customer selling books at the used book counter. She had about a dozen mass market romances and a Jodi Picoult hardcover. Usually I don’t remember these details, but this customer stood out. After I took her name and other information and gave her the wait time she … Continue reading
On the run
Sun is shining, birds are chirping, yes, even here in Michigan. And because this is Michigan, the desire to break out of the house and leap into spring at a full gallop is strong. And because I’m from New Mexico the desire to be out in the sunshine is even stronger. And so I run … Continue reading
April 2-5, 2012
Yael Borofsky is a bit bummed about her March Madness bracket, so she creates her own kind of bracket to determine the best goal song in the NHL. Read “Goal song madness”
He’s dangerous, flighty, and a creature of a broken heart. He’s constantly on the edge of not being the Doctor anymore. He’s David Tennant’s Tenth Doctor, Gavin Craig tells you why he’s the best of the modern Doctor Who Doctors in “Kindness and fury”
The sleuth is clever, cutting, erudite, epicurean, exacting, and enthralling. The sleuth is Sarah Cauldwell’s legal historian Hilary Tamar, and new columnist Suzanne Fischer spends some time in the professor’s world in “Death, taxes, and telexes”
It’s the murkiest, most morally ambiguous entry in the Star Trek canon, and maybe that’s why Daniel J. Hogan loves Star Trek: Deep Space Nine the best. Read “DS9”
Goal song madness
I’m pretty bummed about my March Madness picks this year, which is why I’m not making any predictions about the imminent NHL playoffs. To be fair, my secret March Madness sauce involves a complex model based on team color and mascot. Not exactly the stuff sports analyst careers are made of. Still, I’m not really … Continue reading
Kindness and fury
After nearly fifty years and eleven actors, we have some idea of what makes the Doctor: “He’s dangerous, he’s sardonic even when he’s sincere, he’s manic, you don’t quite trust him even when you do, and he needs his companion to keep him from going over to the dark side.” He’s a bit distant, and … Continue reading
