Reading challenge!

I've never done one of these before, but this one a) looks interesting, b) is being run by a friend, and c) will force me to clear some things off my to-read pile.

Speculative Fiction Challenge: Read six works of speculative fiction between now and Apri 1, 2008.

My list:

Fire Upon the Deep by Vernor Vinge
Nightwatch by Sergei Lukyanenko
Twilight by Stephanie Meyer
Noir by K.W. Jeter
The Once & Future King by T.H. White
Tailchaser's Song by Tad Williams

Four books that have been sitting around my house for awhile (years, in one case), one that I've been meaning to read forever, and one that's just come to my attention. (Guess which is which?)

In theory, I'll also write about each of these, but since that's gone so well in the past :P I make no promises.

Icon meme!

peachespig chose seven of my icons, and I'm supposed to explain the significance of each.

( Behind the cut )

Want to play along? Leave a comment, and I'll pick seven of your icons for you to explain to me!

Dumbledore, Rowling

Interesting article on Salon that is not so much about Dumbledore as about JKR's choice to keep doling out information about backstory and what happened after the books were over.

Also some thought-provoking letters, particularly this one.

No time for analysis now; I just wanted to throw this out there. Maybe after work.

Free NY Times?

So I am probably the last person in the world to catch on to this, but did you all know that The New York Times stopped charging for its archives back in September? All content back to 1987, freely available, along with selected articles from previous years. Cool.