The Usborne Book of the Future was published in 1978 and envisions the world in the year 2000 “and beyond.”
Some of my favorite predictions include:
– the human-robot space exploration teams,
– military troops transported by rocket and then dispatched via armed “hovercars,”
– these crustacean-like aliens pondering high-tech crystal balls,
– (under the heading 1991-2000) sunlight-reflecting […]
I was too busy this year to put together my annual Bloggers’ Favorite Books list (previous lists: 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006). But here’re some other round-ups that you might enjoy:
– “PW’s Best Books of the Year” — from the staff of Publishers Weekly.
– The New York Times’s “10 Best Books of 2007″ and “A Year […]
Filed in Uncategorized
|
Also tagged
|
World Hum:
Big news in the travel publishing world: BBC Worldwide has purchased indie guidebook publisher Lonely Planet. Founders Tony and Maureen Wheeler will retain a 25 percent stake in the company they founded more than three decades ago. Reuters puts the price of the deal at $203 million. Tony Wheeler said he believes the […]
Filed in Travel
|
Also tagged
|
Variety:
Millennium Films has optioned “Bangkok 8,” the first in a three-book bestselling mystery series by John Burdett. “V For Vendetta” helmer James McTeigue is attached to direct.
In “Bangkok 8,” a detective with the Royal Thai Police Force tracks the murderers of his partner, and also a U.S. Marine. The trail leads through Bangkok’s drug and […]
Simon Romero had an excellent story in the New York Times yesterday about Evo Morales, the president of Bolivia, fighting to defeat the high-altitude soccer ban I mentioned recently. I particularly like the lede (as well as the delightful image, above):
Bolivia’s president, Evo Morales, donned a green jersey the other day, watched a llama sacrifice […]
Jay McInerney reviews two new books that “attempt to account for the transformation of sushi from a provincial street snack to the international luxury cuisine of the 21st century.”
(Cartoon via.)
I’m delighted to announce that it’s time, once again, for the annual Newley.com Bloggers’ Favorite Books survey.
For the fourth year running, I asked some of my favorite bloggers to tell me about their favorite books of the year.
Respondents weren’t limited to titles published in 2006, but were free to pick any book they discovered during […]
Filed in Uncategorized
|
Also tagged
|
My latest Gridskipper post is about a talk and book signing that Tony and Maureen Wheeler, founders of the Lonely Planet guide book empire, gave here in Bangkok on Monday night.
British novelist John Baker (pictured above) asked a number of writers/bloggers the following questions:
1. Why do you blog?
2. Which author and/or book has most influenced you?
3. Which three blogs do you most visit?
4. Why do you read fiction?
5. What makes you laugh?
Here’re my answers.
Filed in Uncategorized
|
Also tagged Writing
|
John Burdett, author of two excellent novels about Bangkok, had an informative op-ed in yesterday’s New York Times. He says that there’s a reason delinquent foreigners come to Thailand — and that the country has some endemic problems of its own:
The story of the cute white girl in the red tartan bonnet who had been […]
Here’re some incredible photos of North Korea taken by a Russian guy. Set one, two, and three. (Via.)
By the way, if you’re interested in North Korea, you’ve gotta read Guy Delisle’s graphic novel, “Pyongyang.” Delisle’s a French guy who lived in NK for a while. It’s the most illuminating thing I’ve ever read about the […]
A special person recently gave me a special gift: “The Thinking Fan’s Guide to the World Cup,” a collection of football-related writings that includes contributions from Nick Hornby, Eric Schlosser, James Surowiecki, Jorge Castaneda, Dave Eggers, and many other influential thinkers.
The book’s introduction, by co-editor Sean Wilsey, perfectly encapsulates the heady mix of anticipation, nervousness, […]
I’m writing this from Bangkok. Arrived here yesterday on a direct flight from Kaohsiung. I’m staying near Siam Square. My belly is full of red curry with pork. I can taste Singha beer on my lips. The high was 92 degrees today. I can smell exhaust fumes from the tuk-tuks buzzing by outside. The air […]
More links to my Bloggers’ Favorite Books of 2005 survey:
– del.icio.us/popular/books
– Largehearted Boy
– Fimoculous.com’s massive 2005 compendium of year-end lists
– Simplicity
– The Olive Reader (Harper Perennial’s blog)
– Troy Worman’s Orbit Now! Personal Development blog
– Chip’s Spynotebook
– Hard, Cutting
– Nervous Breakdown
– And don’t miss the ever-expanding comments to the post, which have proven to be […]
The Smoking Gun:
The Man Who Conned Oprah: “Book Club” author’s best-selling nonfiction memoir filled with fabrications, falsehoods, other fakery, TSG probe finds.
Filed in Uncategorized
|
Also tagged
|