First up, Galleycat's Ron Hogan calls for a new Sci Fi reviewer over at the NYTBR after reading the latest piece on John Scalzi. Here's one reason why he is not happy with current reviewer, Dave Itzkoff:

Setting aside the fact that I just reread Starship Troopers over the weekend, and it has aged quite well apart from a few bits of cornball dialogue, thank you very much, there are three plausible explanations for how such a boneheaded statement as calling The Cat Who Walks Through Walls a classic could be published in one of the nation's leading literary reviews. We can rule out the possibility that Itzkoff is making a poorly executed attempt at irony; if that were the case, he wouldn't pair it up with Stranger in a Strange Land, which has its problems but holds up reasonably well. We can also rule out the idea that he's being deliberately snide—as poor a reviewer as he is, one ought to presume he's acting in good faith. That leaves just one option: He really thinks Cat was as good as he professes to remember, and that (non-sci-fi fans will have to trust me on this) means his taste simply cannot be trusted.

As Itzkoff always responds to this sort of thing, it will be interesting to see what comes next. (Ed also has things to say on the subject and both Ron and Scalzi have already commented over there.)

I'm just going to say that I could never be a professional SF reviewer as this is a genre where you really really need to know your shit and namedropping the obvious is not the way to start. I'll stick with what I know, thank you very much. And just add the SF here and there, mostly for YA readers.

Gwenda linked to a piece in the NYT about women in science last week and after reading it, I thought about Alison Gopnik (brother of the very literary Adam). Gopnik has an excellent essay on becoming a professor of cognitive science at UC Berkeley in the recent collection, Curious Minds: How a Child Becomes a Scientist. (Very unfortunate title and cover photo - it seems to be a book about teaching parents how to make their kids interested in science but really it's a wonderful essay collection written by all sorts of scientists about what prompted them when they were younger to enter their fields.) Gopnik is funny, witty and must be a blast at parties - she seems like the sort of sparkling conversationalist that many of us aspire to. Her piece is very interesting, all about growing up in the Gopnik family which seemed strangely reminiscent to me of the Fadimans, and purely delightful to read. She does not go into difficulties in pursuing her profession and perhaps it is easier to be a woman in psychology then say physics (although really I have no idea), but it was a nice counterpoint to the piece in the NYT. Gopnik makes it clear that she has always been fascinated by children - something that seems to haunt most female scientists, but in her case helped her to be pointed in the right direction. If you are interested in science history or enjoy brief well written autobiographical pieces, then you must pick this book up. (I lucked into it in the bookstore.)

This piece on "near misses" in the Guardian has made me curious about several books, particularly the first one mentioned, I Want to Live. I can not recall coming across anything like this that would appeal to teen and adult readers and I am mystified as to why it did not sell. I'll have to see what I can do about getting a copy.

For all you librarians out there, I have to say that date night in a library sounds both novel and fun. Something to think about if you are trying to bring in new readers.

Christmas was beyond fabulous around here - the little guy was appropriately thrilled by every little thing he came across under the tree and has now entered into some holiday induced attention deficit hysteria that has him running from one toy to the next in a sad attempt to play with everything at once. This too shall pass but fun to watch.

As for me - 25 books and I am the happiest I have been in ages. Thanks to Jenny D for pointing me in the direction of both Jenny Diski and Toni Schlesinger, thanks to Donna Seaman for reminding me not to miss Terry Tempest Williams, Eclectica Magazine's interview made me want to read Dara Horn and Subterranean Press has turned me into an avid fan of Cherie Priest. As for all the others, well, expect to hear more as they are read. Quite frankly I am like my son right now - I do not know where to begin!