Science fiction and the stories we tell

Lincoln Michel’s new novel, Metallic Realms, is a skillful send-up of science fiction fandom and writing group dynamics, set in contemporary Brooklyn. Crafted as a book within a book, readers meet the members of a sci-fi writing group known as Orb 4 who are struggling to get along, pay rent, and work on a series […]

Tempting titles to seek out on Independent Bookstore Day

Independent Bookstore Day is on Saturday, April 26, and it offers the perfect excuse to stop by Charlottesville-area bookshops to find a title or two to enjoy amidst these tumultuous times. For inspiration, local booksellers share their reading recommendations below.—Sarah Lawson 2nd Act Books  Charlie Newman-Johnson, manager The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell “The plot, […]

New memoir cultivates reverence for our fellow animals 

In her book, Moonlight Elk: One Woman’s Hunt for Food and Freedom, Christie Green writes: “When the days are distilled into life and death moments and attuned to tiny toenail prints in the soil and subtle wind shifts, my old identities pale.” A sensuous exploration of the animal world and our place within it, Green’s […]

Ed Park explores metafiction and the nature of reality

A finalist for the Pulitzer Prize, Same Bed Different Dreams by Ed Park is a complex kaleidoscope of a book that explores Korean history and diasporic identity, the nature of reality and dreams, and the drive (and dry spells) that are inherent in creative and political work.  The book offers an imagined history that overlaps with […]

Science, fact, and fiction

Terry Thorsen is a self-described technologist and co-founder of ChartIQ, a Charlottesville-based charting provider for the financial services industry. Seeking to apply his experience from the tech sector to more creative endeavors, Thorsen recently wrote The Germans Have a Word for It, a speculative fiction novel that will be published this month. His debut book […]

Author Event: Kelsey Johnson

If gazing into the boundless night sky prompts existential questions—“Where does it all come from? What does it all mean?”—you’ll want to open UVA Astronomy Professor Kelsey Johnson’s latest book. In Into the Unknown: The Quest to Understand the Mysteries of the Cosmos, Johnson doesn’t necessarily answer all the cosmic quandaries that confound us, but […]