READ A BOOK: Cinder by Marissa Meyer

It’s almost impossible to miss,  spend 15 minutes on the internet and your sure to bump into some mention or other of Marissa Meyer’s Cinder, a new dystopian novel placing a pot of cyborgs, magical powers and evil stepmothers on the boil.

Cinder is the debut novel of New York Times bestselling author Marissa Meyer . The story is loosely based on the classic fairytale “Cinderella”. Though Cinder is aimed squarley at a young adult/scifi audience, it’s a surprising good read for those of us who have managed to grow facial hair.  Cinder was selected as one of IndieBound’s Kids’ Next List for winter 2012. Read the full article »»»»

READ A BOOK! Distraction: Mark Curtis

It’s no secret – our love of the blogsphere – every now and then however, we stumble across bloggers that can ounly be described as standout! An example at hand is http://letterstoamerica.blogs.com/ Mark Curtis, author of ‘Distraction‘ has penned an uberool post on social theorist Robert Putnam.

Curtis is obsessed with what we can do with our mobile phones and the web, “it’s easy to lose sight of the big picture, because so much is changing and so fast, we are distracted by it.” His book steps back to look at our use of new technology and draws some uncomfortable and challenging conclusions about what society may need to do to get the best, not the worst, out of the digital era.

Post Breakout: Despite the extraordinary and rapid advances made by the Internet and mobile telephony, television remains the most successful mass medium yet known to man. Yet it has had some powerful, and I believe detrimental effects on society. Read the full article »»»»

READ A BOOK! Mark Mazower: Dark Continent, Europe’s Twentieth Century

I would normally churn through a book in a day, not skimming but reading. Mazower’s Dark Continent took 3 days and I’m now on my 3rd round, simply, I LOVE THIS BOOK. The premise is one that I’ve always found arduous to put into words: Our now perspective of history has little to do with the events that took place, the events that created what we now call history . . . Read the full article »»»»

READ A BOOK! How to be a Man: Glenn O’Brien

“A good line bears repeating,” I often repeat to myself

Glenn O’Brien is - hate this tag. but it fits – an old school man. He’s a a very hetro-dandy, bit of a style meister and a liver of life. He describes his working life rather opaquely as “writer, editor, copywriter and creative director, also worked as a grocery clerk, demolition man, steelworker, waiter, bartender, convention salesman, needlepoint painter, art director, singer, stand up comedian, and record producer”

O’Brien’s flippant CV continues through his personal descript “I’m a Pisces with Aquarius rising and a Cancer moon. I’m also a Fire Boar and right handed”

O’Brien was born in Cleveland, apparently during a blizzard, he attended public and parochial schools in Ohio and New Jersey and the Jesuit-run St. Ignatius High School in Cleveland. He studied at Georgetown University, where he edited the Georgetown Journal – founded by Conde Nast. O’Brien also attended Columbia University Graduate School of the Arts, where he studied film. He joined Andy Warhol’s Interview Magazine, which was one year old, in 1970, as Assistant Editor and was made Editor & Art Director in 1971. O’Brien left Interview and became New York Bureau Chief of Rolling Stone in 1974, and then took the position of Articles Editor at Oui magazine with the Playboy Corporation in Chicago 1975. His CV is endless and envious, oh and if it went passed you, he’s adept with a word. Read the full article »»»»

READ A BOOK! Charles Stross: Rule 34 – If it exists, there is porn of it. No exceptions!

Charles Stross’s latest techno thriller, Rule 34, is a clear view at the dark side of nerd culture, Stross has produced a grotesque and gripping page-turner. Rule 34 is a near-future science fiction novel by Charles Stross. Rule 34 is a loose sequel to Halting State.  The title is a reference to the meme Rule 34 of the Internet, a meme which states that “If it exists, there is porn of it. No exceptions.”  Rule 34 is told in second-person singular but from three points of view:  Edinburgh Police Inspector Kavanaugh who investigates spammers murdered in a gruesome and inventive ways, and learns about similar cases in other parts of Europe; Anwar, a former identity thief who becomes Scottish honorary consul for a fictional Central Asian state; and “The Toymaker”, an enforcer and organizer for the criminal “Operation”. Their interactions and conflicts drive the story.

It’s a slow Tuesday afternoon, and you’re coming to the end of your shift on the West End control desk when Sergeant McDougall IMs you: INSPECTOR WANTED ON FATACC SCENE. Read the full article »»»»