February Reads, Podcasts & Space Cats

 

by Mary Saums

 

Have you seen any of the Cats In Space merchandise? Not the most intellectually stimulating artwork yet I can't look away. :)

So silly. I've ordered two t-shirts. No text, just images of cats somewhere in the galaxy fighting evil.

Here, evil gets in the first bite:

 

 

 

Just two books to recommend this month:

 

 

I was absolutely thrilled when I saw THE LIFERS' CLUB by Francis Pryor. Mystery and Archaeology! Hurray!! What could be better. And written by a distinguished archaeologist and author of many acclaimed books on British history.

Alan Cadbury works as a freelance dig supervisor around England. While on a job near his hometown in the Fens, he sees a newspaper clipping about a young man he knew years earlier. Ali had been a teenager at the time, working on a class project at a dig. He was intelligent and well-liked. Now, Cadbury is astonished to see Ali's photo and the news that he has been charged with the murder of his sister. Cadbury doesn't believe Ali to be capable of such a thing and sets out to help the boy if he can.

Loved it and hope there will be many more.

 

 

 

THE URBAN MONK by Pedram Shojai is a delightfully different self-help book. I like the subtitle - Eastern Wisdom and Modern Hacks To Stop Time and Find Success, Happiness and Peace. Fantastic. I'm all over helpful hacks and ways to stop time or at least stretch it a little bit. 

Shojai does a wonderful job of showing us how to navigate our too-busy lives and still have the time and energy to work on our inner selves. He's funny and very personable, like a friend helping you out. Highly recommended.

 

 

Do you listen to podcasts? I got a new phone recently and have discovered the joy of listening to really cool people who talk about interesting stuff. Here are my tops at the moment:

 

 

BULLETPROOF RADIO! Dave Asprey, founder of Bulletproof Coffee, is awesome and so are his shows. He's on top of the latest health breakthroughs, interviews intelligent people in many fields.

 

 

 

 

STAR TALK hosted by Neil deGrasse-Tyson features news stories in astronomy. He's adorable. He's fun. He's super-stellar.

 

 

 

MYSTERIOUS UNIVERSE is not about astronomy unless there's a woo-woo element involved. :) The hosts are funny Australian guys who cover stories about unexplained phenomena and weird stuff in general. Excellent production and lots of fun.

 

 

 

STAGGERING STORIES PODCAST

 

Well, well, what have we here? Just happened across this and will definitely be checking it out.

From the website: "A fortnightly podcast, featuring random thoughts from the Staggering Stories team. Mainly featuring discussion on television Science Fiction such as Doctor Who, Torchwood, Battlestar Galactica, Firefly, Star Trek, Star Wars, Babylon 5, Life on Mars, Ashes to Ashes, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Blake's 7 and so many more. Also general randomness on MMOs and all manner of other geek topics! Come and join in on the insanity!"

HOT. DAWG. I guess I'll be needing one of those extra battery packs for the phone while I catch up on this little bunch of podcasts.

 

Okay, so that's me this month. What are you reading/listening to?

 

 

 

Comments

[Elaine Viets]

Once again, Mary, you've come up with an intriguing collection of listening and reading. I've just finished a mystery with its roots in WW2, "The Light in the Ruins" by Chris Bohjalian. Crystalline prose and fine writing that doesn't admire itself. Cracking good mystery, too.
Highly recommend it.

[Mary S.]

I love Bohjalian! And have not read anything by him in a long time. Yes, he surely is a fine writer. Thanks so much for mentioning him.