Bloom by Wil McCarthy
A story about survivors of a total environmental disaster (a nanobot bloom now developed into what's called the Mycosystem because of its funguslike growth), now living on one of the moons of Jupiter, and their expedition to what used to be Earth.
I didn't like this one as well as his Collapsium and related books.
Sassinak by Anne McCaffery and Elizabeth Moon
The story of a young girl kidnapped by pirates, who escapes, and trains to join the Fleet. Her goal is to track down the ultimate source of the piracy and eradicate it.
A good read. Moon's input is definitely felt. It's very military in her usual style.
Powers That Be by Anne McCaffrey and Elizabeth Ann Scarborough.
I purchased this at the Friends of the Penfield LIbrary book sale, and stuck it in my workout bag to read at the gym. And then I got caught up in the story and devoured it all at once, and need to find something else for the gym. Maybe I should order the sequel....
This is the story of Yana, a soldier in a massively bureaucratic company, who is retired to the barely-terraformed planet of Petaybee after she's gassed in an attack on colonists who have taken over a space station. It's about how she fits in with the PTB colonists, and gets involved with the strange things happening there -- unauthorized modifications to terran animal stock, disappearing survey teams, and an abrasive Company liason.
Very lighthearted reading, as you would expect if you're familiar with the authors. There are unicorns (of a sort), dogsledding, and romance.
Sheepfarmer's Daughter by Elizabeth Moon.
Picked this one up at the library book sale because I decided I wanted to re-read it. A fast read, but I skimmed over some of the military detail, which sped it up, some. I guess I was more after the broad outline of the story and the emotional coming-of-age than anything else.
Cyteen by C.J. Cherryh
This one is the story of Ari Emory, over a span of about 25 years, beginning a few years before her death and extending through the ascent to power of her clone, who is raised to be a mental (as well as physical) duplicate. It's a complex weaving of Ari's point of view and some of those surrounding her, some of whom don't have a complete picture of what's going on at the time they tell their stories.
Lovely, complex, political, science fiction. Identity, trust, cool science (taped learning and made-to-order artificial people)... Why didn't I read more Cherryh earlier?
The Clockwork Muse: A Practical Guide to Writing Theses, Dissertations, and Books by Eviatar Zerubavel
I'm a sucker for how-to-write books (even if I've never made a concentrated effort to sit down and write fiction), and I found this at the library. It seems more geared to nonfiction than fiction (not too surprising, considering the title). Contained some good common-sense advice, like: estimate how many pages you'll write for each section, and also how fast you expect to write them. Block out your writing time ahead of time, and mark it on your calendar. Write several drafts all the way through, instead of polishing a single section endlessly; that way different parts of your book can inform each other.
To Sir, With Love by E.R. Braithwaite. I meandered through the biography section of the library the last time I was there, and picked this up. I'd never read it before, which surprised Rich, who read it (and watched the movie) in high school.
It reminded me quite a bit of Up The Down Staircase by Bel Kaufman, which I had picked up at a used book sale and read when I was in high school. Not too surprising, since they both concern teaching a class of initially unruly high-school students.
It was a fast read -- very much a story biography rather than a times and dates and places biography. It does leave you wondering about Braithwaite, and what he did after the events in the book.
