What I'm Reading Reading Reading
Nook Reading
I got a NOOK Tablet for Christmas. The first thing I bought was a novelette, The City of Cries, by Catherine Asaro. It was well worth $2.99!
I just finished reading Nightingale by David Farland on my Nook. This YA fantasy has a captivating character and an engrossing, fast-paced story. I am taking a writing workshop from this author in March in Utah, so read this book with a more critical eye than usual. I must say that it held up well under my scrutiny! My only gripe is with the changing points of view, a style that I find often ruins the suspense. Do young readers really need to be put into an adult's head to follow the story? I'd like to hear what others think about this practice in general as I prepare my first YA novel for the workshop!
Kindle Reading
I got a Kindle for Christmas in 2010. My favorite thing to read on Kindle are manuscripts from friends! But the best thing on Kindle right now is the new Analog anthology that (sounds of clearing throat) has my story in it
Photo: Locus magazine.
Old-fashioned Reading
I have a collection of science fiction magazines and books dating from the 1920s to the 1970s that I inherited from my Uncle Jack, plus my own collection that takes it from there to the present. My favorites include everything by Robert Heinlien and Edgar Rice Burroughs! Some of these are available via Nook and Kindle now. Others are available via Amazon. Some are included on my WAVE list below.
My favorite contemporary authors include Catherine Asaro, Lois Bujold, and Elizabeth Moon. For short stories, I like Carl Frederick, Jerry Oltion, and especially Geoffrey Landis.
Recommended Reading List for Modeling Space
(NF=nonfiction)I recommend that my gifted 6th-8th grade WAVE students read the works below if they are especially interested in some of the topics covered in my 9-week mini-course called Modeling Space. Links go to book reviews on this site except for the magazines. Note that books recommended for younger readers are also reviewed on my Kids' Nonfiction and Kids' Fiction book review pages.
All astronomy topics
StarDate magazine NF from UT/McDonald Observatory (has star charts and articles)
Analog Science Fiction magazine (all science-based stories)
Astronomy General
Engineering for Every Kid, NF by Janice Van Cleave
Greetings from Planet Earth by Barbara Kerley
Killer Rocks from Outer Space, NF by Steven Koppes
The Mysterious Universe, NF Ellen Jackson
Space and Astronomy, NF by Marianne Dyson
The Universe in a Nutshell, NF by Stephen Hawking (cosmology)
Living on the Moon
Darok 9 by H.J. Ralles
Home on the Moon, NF by Marianne Dyson
A Man on the Moon by Andrew Chaikin (Apollo)
Mission Control, This is Apollo, NF by Andrew Chaikin
The Moon is a Harsh Mistress by Robert Heinlein
The Once and Future Moon, NF by Paul Spudis
Shanghaied to the Moon by Michael Daley
Living in Space
Comet’s Curse - Galahad Series by Dom Testa
Have Suit Will Travel by Robert Heinlein
Leviathans of Jupiter by Ben Bova
Spacer and Rat by Margaret Bechard
Space Station Science, NF by Marianne Dyson
Living on Mars
How to Live on Mars by Robert Zubrin
Journey Between Worlds by Sylvia Engdahl
John Carter of Mars – series by Edgar Rice Burroughs
The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury
Red Planet by Robert Heinlein
Red Thunder by John Varley
Astrobiology/Alien Life
Alien Volcanoes by Michael Carroll (art and science)
Astrobiology, NF by Fred Bortz, PhD
Faraway Worlds, NF by Paul Halpern, PhD, illustrated by Lynette Cook
Foreigner by C.J. Cherryh (a favorite series for alien culture)
Planet Earth: Guide to the Planet by Steve Murrie
Planetology, NF by Tom Jones, former astronaut
Seed Seeker by Pamela Sargent
War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells
Astronauts/Astronomers Biographies
Almost Heaven by Bettyann Kevles
(women astronauts & cosmonauts)
Apollo EECOM, NF by Sy Liebergot (Apollo flight controller)
Failure is Not an Option, NF by Eugene Kranz (Apollo flight director)
First Man, NF by James Hansen (Neil Armstrong)
Flight, NF by Christopher Kraft (Apollo flight director)
Korolev, NF by James Harford (Russian chief designer)
The Last Man on the Moon, NF by Gene Cernan (Apollo astronaut)
Managing Martians, NF by Donna Shirley (NASA Pathfinder)
Planet Hunter, NF by Vicki Wittenstein
To Fly, NF by Wendie Old (Wright Brothers)
The Rocket Team, NF by Fred Ordway (worked with VonBraun)
