The Machine Stops is a short story (or maybe a novella) about a future world where humans stay in their rooms and interact with the world through a web of wires. It was published in 1909, when radio was just getting going, TV was barely an idea, and the Internet was over a century away. Yet … Continue reading The Machine Stops by E.M. Forster
The Time of the Wolf is a children’s novel about an eleven-year-old boy surviving in the wild, bonding with animals, and the olden days. I read a lot of these as a kid. Did everyone in Canada? It’s the late 1800s, somewhere in southern Ontario. Aaron McGregor’s parents have died of cholera and he’s moved … Continue reading The Time of the Wolf by Thomas A. MacDonald
I was paid $25 to review Miriam Toews’ novel The Flying Troutmans when I was a snotty twenty-something, and I said the book was well-written and entertaining, but didn’t seem to have anything important to say. As a cocksure creative writing grad I was obsessed with books that “needed to be written” and I gave … Continue reading Women Talking by Miriam Toews
Lab Girl is one of those books that celebrates the intelligence and wonder of plants, like The Hidden Life of Trees by Peter Wohlleben. But that’s not all. It’s also a book that criticizes the current scientific funding model of grant applications and gatekeepers, and shows how academic research really works. And it’s also a … Continue reading Lab Girl by Hope Jahren
Amy Attas 