false 62 938 800 true 5779322 read 8 true 4186355 currently-reading 130 true 4186354 to-read 42 false 4315398 classics-to-read 8 false 4209767 reference http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/77895496 Shop Class as Soulcraft: An Inquiry Into the Value of Work (Hardcover) by Matthew B. Crawford
bookshelves: currently-reading
]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/60397838 The Lightning Thief (Percy Jackson and the Olympians, #1) by Rick Riordan
bookshelves: currently-reading
]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/57739785 to: From Dissertation to Book (Chicago Guides to Writing, Editing, and Publishing) by William Germano
It's a slim volume, both in size and in ROI, but that's not to say it isn't a valuable read - Germano's insight into both academia and the publishing industry is a strong dose of reality to the newly-minted Ph.D (or those of us who have written really hefty Master's theses and are figuring out what to do next). Germano not only talks about how the audience and required voice differs between dissertations and books, but he also breaks down the possibilities based on the amount of time the person is willing to spend on revisions and gives some ideas as to how much time is actually appropriate, to help guide the would-be author from falling into the trap of endless revisions and delays. (One of Germano's best visual images is the 40-year-old ABD student huddled in the library over Just One More Book, indistinguishable from a bum... There but for the grace of God, etc.)

Perhaps the biggest strike against this text (and a weak strike at that) is how the last third of the book goes into greater depth about how to focus on audience, voice and so on. This is solid, but also sort of a no-brainer for readers who have studied writing and publishing at all. Those of us who fall into that camp can happily skim through those last pages, but other academics new to the publishing game should find them a compelling read.

In the end, Germano's book should probably be handed out to newly-minted Ph.Ds along with their sheepskins. Those of us who are taking a slightly different road, however, will still find it valuable but perhaps not quite so much of a pageturner. ]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/54124580 to: Star Trek: Countdown (Paperback) by Robert Orci
On its own, it's not a bad read - it's a pleasant reunion with the Next Generation crew authored by the screenwriters of the upcoming STAR TREK reboot. I'll have a more informed opinion once I see the movie, but one of the most interesting things about this (from a transmedia scholar point of view) is how authorship of the reboot is ascribed to JJ Abrams, but emphasis is also being placed on the authorship of Orci and Kurtzman, who are the writers responsible for both the comic and the film. This kind of 'distributed authorship' is common in TV writers' rooms, of course, but from a transmedia perspective this requires a little more thought - two stages of authority? The authority of the 'showrunner' coupled with the authority of the authors? What happens when the writers stay the same but the showrunner (Abrams) stays the same? ]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/54123573 Hellboy: The Fire Wolves (Paperback) by Tim Lebbon
]]> http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/1274623-ivan Geoffrey made a comment on Ivan Askwith's profile:

Ivan likes pie. ]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/49149476 Orient Express (Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition) by Graham Greene
bookshelves: to-read
]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/48500096 The Maltese Falcon, The Thin Man, Red Harvest (Everyman's Library) by Dashiell Hammett
bookshelves: to-read
]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/48364171 to: If on a Winter's Night a Traveler (Everyman's Library (Cloth)) by Italo Calvino
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