* Overheard in the Store:
"We washed the rest of The Watcher. . . witched the rest of The Washer . . . DAMMIT. We WATCHED the rest of 'The WITCHER' last night!"
"I've never seen a 'Damn You, AutoCorrect' in real life before."
"When I worked for the hospital, I wrote, and then unfortunately lost, 'The Cat in the Hat Gets a Colonoscopy'."
"Ooh! An asexual tentacle monster! That's the closest thing to describing my actual gender."
"You can always tell the clouds that are hiding alien spacecraft behind them."
"This year EVERYONE is getting books!"
"Have YOU ever tried to wrap Z-Fold Mil Spec Combat Gauze to put in a Christmas stocking? I don't recommend it."
"I'll just let it live its Majestic Chicken Life."
"Everywhere I look -- tentacles!
"All I remember are bed shelves, clabbered milk, and people wandering off to die in the cold."
"It's THE CALL OF CTHULHU, done Dr. Seuss-style. There's no denying the world was waiting for that."
"The place is really called 'Normal, Illinois'? The city doth protest too much, methinks."
"You're right -- it's like calling a town 'Definitely Not Gay, Kansas'."
"Around here, I will tell you when to panic. You don't get to panic without authorization."
* The Bold Italic talked to Alan Beatts, Rudy Rucker, M. Luke McDonnell and Rina Weisman for this optimistic piece about science fiction in San Francisco! https://thebolditalic.com/san-franciscos-sci-fi-renaissance-95713a91171c
* We're delighted to share the news that Mysterious Galaxy Bookstore has new owners and will have a new location shortly! https://www.mystgalaxy.com/new-owners-and-location-mysterious-galaxy-2020
* The New York Times on how Chinese science fiction conquered America (spoiler: it had a lot to do with Ken Liu): https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/03/magazine/ken-liu-three-body-problem-chinese-science-fiction.html
* "Come and bake with us, Danny, forever and forever . . . . " It's a gingerbread Overlook Hotel!: https://nerdbot.com/2019/11/30/this-gingerbread-house-of-the-shining-is-amazing/
* The New Yorker talks with William Gibson (whose new novel AGENCY comes out January 21st): https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2019/12/16/how-william-gibson-keeps-his-science-fiction-real
* George R.R. Martin has opened Beastly Books next to his cinema in New Mexico: https://www.theguardian.com/books/2019/dec/16/george-rr-martin-opens-bookshop-santa-fe-beastly-books-game-of-thrones
* The fabulous Michael Moorcock turned 80 December 18th, so we thought it was time to revisit this great article on him: https://www.newyorker.com/books/page-turner/anti-tolkien
* Borderlands Cafe made this list of San Francisco's Saddest Business Closures in 2019, along with Lucca Ravioli and Beach Blanket Babylon <sniffles>: https://brokeassstuart.com/2019/12/19/s-f-s-saddest-closures-of-2019/
* "I think that a lot of rejection of critical analysis of people like Tolkien and Lewis, and of children's fantasy more broadly, comes out of this kind of harsh binary around how people deal with realizing that their faves are problematic." Read the rest of this fascinating article from scholar Maria Sachiko Cecire: https://slate.com/human-interest/2019/12/childrens-fantasy-literature-oxford-school-tolkien-lewis.html
* We are saturated with information. What matters now is how credible the source is: https://aeon.co/ideas/say-goodbye-to-the-information-age-its-all-about-reputation-now
* "The 20 Best Books of a Decade That Unmade Genre Fiction" from Wired Magazine. (Spoiler, this article is almost entirely about how amazing Ursula K. Le Guin & N.K. Jemisin are, and that is FINE.) https://www.wired.com/story/best-books-2010s-science-fiction-fantasy/
* Two different sponsors passed on this fascinating article about "How [Johannes] Kepler Invented Science Fiction and Defended His Mother in a Witchcraft Trial While Revolutionizing Our Understanding of the Universe": https://www.brainpickings.org/2019/12/26/katharina-kepler-witchcraft-dream/
* Cory Doctorow on imagining a better world: "Science fiction needn't be monochromatic disaster porn. Many of our most cherished science-fictional visions... propose a better world -- not a perfect one, and never free from strife... -- but still hopeful and inspiring." The complete article is here: https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/article-science-fiction-and-the-unforeseeable-future-in-the-2020s-lets/
* We have copies of the (gorgeous!) 40th Anniversary Edition of BUNNICULA in stock. Why is this book so amazing? Dear ones, sit back while Sarah Gailey explains the love story behind the vampire bunny story: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/blog/sci-fi-fantasy/the-enduring-legacy-of-bunnicula-a-40-year-old-in-joke-thats-still-hilarious/
* A sweet article on the 14 best bookstores in San Francisco! https://wayfaringviews.com/best-bookstores-in-san-francisco/
* "You can't wear Stormtrooper armour to Ren Faire!" "Hold my mead." https://www.facebook.com/wolfsdenarmoury/photos/a.10150119255449819/10157774858714819/
* How might future paleontologists visualize OUR era's animals? https://www.sunnyskyz.com/blog/2932/If-We-Drew-Modern-Animals-The-Way-We-Draw-Dinosaurs-Based-On-Bones-Alone
* Speaking of paleontology, here are some of the strangest dinosaur names: https://www.neatorama.com/2007/02/19/the-worlds-strangest-dinosaur-names/
* A Smithsonian exhibit on the real vampires among us: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/why-world-needs-bloodsucking-creatures-180973670/
* We really do live on the coolest planet. Here's proof: https://www.boredpanda.com/interesting-rarely-seen-things/
* Ye dinnae need the Keekin Gless o Erised tae ken woo awesome thees is! https://www.geeksaresexy.net/2018/01/19/harry-potter-scots-language-edition-might-best-book-time/
* "The Mushroom Hunters" by Neil Gaiman becomes a gorgeous animated short film: https://www.brainpickings.org/2019/11/25/the-mushroom-hunters-animation-neil-gaiman/
* "Star Wars" filming locations you can visit in real life: https://www.afar.com/magazine/star-wars-filming-locations-you-can-visit-in-real-life
* Welcome to Mystery Flesh Pit National Park: https://www.tor.com/2020/01/03/welcome-to-mystery-flesh-pit-national-park-one-redditors-colossal-feat-of-worldbuilding/
* Indie booksellers creating community (what else is new?!): https://www.mprnews.org/story/2019/12/27/indie-booksellers-create-community-to-survive-the-age-of-amazon
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