All the Myriad Ways by Larry Niven

If you ever recommend me a book, and I say I’ll check into it, rest assured that though it may take upwards of 8 years, I will get around to it.

Way back in the days before Internet Messenger, I had an email conversation with a friend about the Back to the Future trilogy and time travel movies in general. In that conversation, he referenced an essay from All the Myriad Ways about time travel.

Fast forward to a couple weeks ago when I was pondering my excessive number of credits on paperbackswap.com, and I remembered that book. Someone had it, and it arrived in time for my latest trip to Juarez.

It’s a mixture of sci-fi short stories and essays, and includes one of the more famous and wittier essays in sci-fi history, Man of Steel, Woman of Kleenex, a frank and logical discussion of Superman’s potential sex life. One imagines that the writers of Superman II had read this essay.

Ironically, the weakest essay of the bunch was the one on the various (fictional) theories of time travel. It was good to be sure, but missed some of the things we discussed in emails in 1999. Of course, the book was written sometime before 1971, but neither of the 1999 writers were purporting to be career science fiction writers describing an overview of all time travel theories.

The short stories were also well written and engaging, which almost makes up for the later Ringworld books.

The Duke and I by Julia Quinn

Okay, it was free. It came with my Palm Z22. I was stuck in a lab in Mexico with nothing to do, my books were elsewhere, my internet connection failed… it was just me, a Palm Z22, and several guys who didn’t speak english.

So, I read a romance novel.

It started off a little Jane Austinesque, sort of, but then deteriorated. My expectations were low, and they were met.

But it was a little interesting to think about what makes a book “bad”, aside from an uninteresting plot. This one was a textbook example of constantly, constantly telling instead of showing.

“Really?” Violet asked, trying not to look interested.

And how, exactly, does one try not to look interested? Show me.

Though, I supposed the author simply doesn’t have the motivation to work at it. I mean, apparently this book has 6 sequels or something like that, so Julia Quinn ain’t hurtin’.

Now, I’ve got to figure out how to get some more eBooks on my Palm, ’cause all that’s left is the Merriam-Webster dictionary.