Do SciFi writers predict the future? Every once in a while I go back to reading science fiction. (I am a mystery lover.) This genre fascinates me because I consider sci fi writers to be on the cutting edge of our possible future. And like all readers of mystery I want to know how riddles get solved. Sci fi writers answer the riddle of who we will become at some future date. This week I pulled a paperback version of Orson Scott Card’s Ender’s Game off my bookshelf. I don’t remember when I bought it, but it must be some time ago because the pages are yellowing. He writes about world politics, living on other planets and mind control. But one simple image fascinates me…the desk you can write on. Kid’s write on their desks. They use this instrument to send messages. And they carry their desktops around to write on , study with and do their homework. Doesn’t this sound like the wildly popular tablets we are so fascinated with. This book was written in 1977. I don’t know about you but I got my first computer in 1983. It was an IBM machine with no hard drive and two floppy 5-1/4″ drives. I thought I was in the forefront of modern technology. Who would dream that 29 years late I would write with my Android tablet or my IPad?
Welcome to Newburgh Free Library’s blog Inspirations: a blog for readers and viewers.
At the Newburgh Free Library we would like to connect our community to the books and movies we love as well as get feedback from you on the books and movies that you love and want to share with others.
Of course we plan on introducing new titles that are coming out on the shelves at NFL, but we also hope to connect you with a hidden gem or two – things that you might not have discovered on your own. At our new blog, look forward to reading about staff picks, patron picks, nonfiction, mystery, and the newest in street fiction. It’s all up for discussion in Inspirations.
- adaptations
- Adirondacks
- adult books for young adults
- Alternative Histories
- atmospheric
- audiobooks
- awards
- based on books
- biography
- black history month
- book clubs
- book groups
- book review
- books
- cancer
- censorship
- character-driven
- classics
- coming of age
- compelling
- complex
- debut novel
- disturbing
- doris kearns goodwin
- dvds
- essays
- family relationships
- fantasy
- fast-paced
- fiction
- Florida
- good vs. evil
- haunting
- historical fiction
- history
- Hudson Valley Poets
- Hugo awards
- humorous
- immigrant experience
- Jane Austen
- Japan
- Kate Atkinson
- literary fiction
- literature
- love
- magic realism
- memoirs
- morgan freeman
- moving
- mysteries
- mystery
- national book award
- National Poetry Month
- Newburgh Free Library
- nonfiction
- nonfiction; books
- P.D. James
- PEN/Faulkner Award
- poetry
- psychological
- psychological fiction
- psychological thriller
- pulitzer prize
- reading
- romance
- satire
- science fiction
- science writing
- short stories
- suspenseful
- thought provoking
- thriller
- walter mosley
- witty
- WWII
Our Favorite Quotes
“There are worse crimes than burning books. One of them is not reading them.” - Joseph Brodsky
I agree Terrie. I often read sci-fi to see what is predicted in our future. I recently read the sf novel Ready Player One by Ernest Cline and thoroughly enjoyed it! This might be a title you might want to be on your reading list.