Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

John H Gardner

@johnhgardner.bsky.social

92 followers 65 following 340 posts

Lifetime goal for reading: all winning books / novels (fiction and non-fiction) for Pulitzer, National Book Award, Hugo, Nebula and Locus (SciFi & Fantasy). Gamer since Atari 2600 days.

Posts Media Videos Starter Packs

Pinned

John H Gardner @johnhgardner.bsky.social · Jan 3

2025 Reading Book Thread - a log of the books read during the year. Monthly goal: 4 books from the Pulitzer, National Book Awards, Hugo, Nebula or Locus lists. Will also include non-goal books read. 🧵

63 9

John H Gardner @johnhgardner.bsky.social · 7h

Just can’t beat guys with hatchets standing by to stop a nuclear meltdown in the middle of Chicago.

John H Gardner @johnhgardner.bsky.social · 7h

Can’t disagree with this example - always liked the story of Vanderbilt funding and planning a foreign invasion force under Sylvanus Spencer (great name) to take down Walker. My candidate: The Chicago Pile experiment, brilliantly told by Richard Rhodes in his The Making of the Atomic Bomb.

2 3

John H Gardner @johnhgardner.bsky.social · 5d

Book 64: Look Homeward, Angel by Thomas Wolfe. Considered by some to be the runner-up for the 1930 Pulitzer for Fiction (to La Farge’s Laughing Boy). Wanted to read this since reading Wolfe’s biography by David Herbert Donald. This book is now in the public domain.

John H Gardner @johnhgardner.bsky.social · 9d

Book 63: All the Birds in the Sky by Charlie Jane Anders (2017 Nebula and Locus Fantasy winner, 2017 Hugo finalist). Recommended. Getting smothered at work, so it was nice to be able finish this somewhat surreal apocalyptic tale to get away from it for a bit. Another great testimonial from Chabon.

John H Gardner @johnhgardner.bsky.social · 20d

Book 62: Jade City by Fonda Lee (2017 Nebula finalist). Recommended. Looking forward to the next two installments in this trilogy.

John H Gardner @johnhgardner.bsky.social · 20d

Book 61: Martin Dressler: The Tale of an American Dreamer by Steven Millhauser (1997 Pulitzer for Fiction, 1996 National Book Award finalist). Recommended. I think I’m becoming a fan of the Bildungsroman, especially those like this, well written.

John H Gardner @johnhgardner.bsky.social · 25d

Acknowledging that correspondence (personal& business)has changed over time, but I’ve never seen an example approaching this level of detail. The closest I can think of is the end of Grant’s Memoirs and his - almost poignant - descriptions of late stage throat cancer. This…was not poignant.

John H Gardner @johnhgardner.bsky.social · 26d

Yep! You and Professor Oshinsky was what I was thinking of when I made the comment. I thought that was pretty cool when I heard that they did that.

John H Gardner @johnhgardner.bsky.social · 26d

I think I’m classifying this work correctly as a microhistory as it seems to have the characteristics of one, but I’m open to being corrected.

John H Gardner @johnhgardner.bsky.social · 26d

Book 60: No Right to an Honest Living: The Struggles of Boston’s Black Workers in the Civil War Era by Jacqueline Jones (2023 Pulitzer for History) Recommended. I wonder if UT lit up the tower for their professor emerita. They should have for this insightful microhistory.

2 2

John H Gardner @johnhgardner.bsky.social · 26d

Book 59: The Terminal Experiment by Robert J Sawyer (1996 Nebula winner, Hugo finalist). This is first novel I’ve read by this author.

John H Gardner @johnhgardner.bsky.social · 27d

I believe you’re correct on the latter point. It was also my 15 msec of fame: was in the stands when they filmed the finale of Rudy during the halftime of the ‘92 Boston College game.

John H Gardner @johnhgardner.bsky.social · 28d

ngl, that certainly helps. When we went empty nesting a couple years ago, time magically appeared. I suppose the next big bump will come when I eventually retire. Maybe I would break 100 then, for the full year though. Also, same here on the audio which helps with the long commute (and exercise).

1 2

John H Gardner @johnhgardner.bsky.social · 28d

Agreed on the 182 books. That’s a staggering amount. Admittedly, I do take time to play video games and watch a couple TV shows, but even if I cut that out, I’d still be off by an order of magnitude.

1 2

John H Gardner @johnhgardner.bsky.social · Sep 9

Book 58: Lavinia by Ursula K. LeGuin (2009 Locus Fantasy Award). Recommended. Reminded me of an earlier read, Wolfe’s Solider of the Mist.

Lavinia at the Altar (c 1565, 1572?) by Mirabello Cavalori, a scene depicted in LeGuin’s novel, Lavinia, 2009 Locus Fantasy winner.

John H Gardner @johnhgardner.bsky.social · Sep 5

Just you :)

John H Gardner @johnhgardner.bsky.social · Aug 31

Bi-monthly update of lifetime reading goal (as of August 31st, 2025):

Overall Totals Books Total Books Read Pages Total Pages Read
Pulitzer Biography 110 32 78367 24350
Pulitzer Nonfiction 68 21 36440 11726
Pulitzer History 109 34 73084 23229
Pulitzer Fiction 99 62 40410 27373
Pulitzer Memoir /
Autobiography 3 0 926 0
National Book Award
Nonfiction 156 25 86284 15203
National Book Award
Fiction 82 42 32064 19781
Hugo Novel 82 64 30449 24447
Nebula Novel 61 43 22657 16802
Locus Novel (SciFi +
Fantasy) 102 68 47967 33190
Totals 872 391 448648 196101
Remaining 481 252547
Percentage Complete 44.839% 43.709%
Percentage Remaining 55.161% 56.291%

John H Gardner @johnhgardner.bsky.social · Aug 31

Book 57: The Way West by A. B. Guthrie, Jr. (1950 Pulitzer for Fiction). The Oregon Trail Pulitzer. Guthrie is also known for his screenplay of Shane, one my favorite Westerns from childhood.

Oregon Trail: You have died of dysentery.

John H Gardner @johnhgardner.bsky.social · Aug 31

Was also a Hugo and Nebula finalist in 1972 as well.

John H Gardner @johnhgardner.bsky.social · Aug 31

Book 56: The Lathe of Heaven by Ursula K. LeGuin (Locus 1972 Novel winner) Recommended. Another well-narrated book by George Guidall. One of my favorite authors, Michael Chabon, had a great promotional blurb, captured in the Alt text of the photo.

The Lathe of Heaven by Ursula LeGuin (1972 Locus Winner) Michael Chabon’s promotional blurb:

“When I read The Lathe of Heaven as a young man, my mind was boggled; now when I read it, more than twenty-five years later, it breaks my heart. Only a great work of literature can bridge - so thrillingly- that impossible span.”

John H Gardner @johnhgardner.bsky.social · Aug 28

Book 55: The Rediscovery of America: Native Peoples and the Unmaking of US History by Ned Blackhawk (2023 National Book Award for Nonfiction) Highly recommended. A contrast with Frederic L. Paxson’s 1925 Pulitzer for History of the American Frontier: 1763-1893, a read from last year.

John H Gardner @johnhgardner.bsky.social · Aug 26

While I’m glad that they notify you of expiring titles (included in membership), I wish Audible did a better job of 1) giving more sufficient notice and 2) enablement of push notifications of such expirations. I had several appear at once in the past day.

Several expiring titles included in Audible membership

John H Gardner @johnhgardner.bsky.social · Aug 23

“…a pleasing natural odor”, which makes sense as you coalesce the vapor of human experience into a viable and logical comprehension.

John H Gardner @johnhgardner.bsky.social · Aug 21

Actually, the book that dude is holding is pretty fun (Toole’s A Confederacy of Dunces). While I did read that earlier this year the most fun was had reading Miéville’s Bas-Lag trilogy, especially Perdido Street Station.

Man holding John Kennedy Toole’s A Confederacy of Dunces

John H Gardner @johnhgardner.bsky.social · Aug 19

The Yiddish Policemen's Union? No shame there. Not as great as his Pulitzer, but still a very good book.