Betty Ballantine, half of a groundbreaking husband-and-wife publishing team that helped invent the modern paperback and vastly expand the market for science fiction and other genres through such blockbusters as “The Hobbit” and “Fahrenheit 451,” died Feb. 13 at her home in Bearsville, N.Y. She was 99.

I went into Find the Good: Unexpected Life Lessons From a Small-Town Obituary Writer by Heather Lende with a lot of perhaps too many expectations. I anticipated (and hoped for) humor of the macabre variety. Find the Good is a book of anecdotal advice from someone who regular faces death head on...or at least experiences it alongside those left behind. From the book's blurb, I thought that this was going to be a look at death with a light touch because how else can one continually run up against death and retain their positive outlook on life? I guess in a way Lende does explore the way she has had to structure her life so that she can continue to be a shoulder to cry on or an ear to listen when the grief overflows. As an obituary writer in a small town, most of the notices that she has had to write were about people that she knew if not intimately then by sight. That takes a toll on a person and also fosters an environment for emotional and spiritual growth.  There are some good, positive points made but in my opinion not enough to warrant an entire book. It would have made a good article or think piece. There's very little I can say about this one other than it didn't really live up to my expectations or blow me away. It would probably work well on a short train ride or as a beach read. It's a 3/10 for me, guys.

What I'm Currently Reading: still reading Scythe and Mine Own Executioner

The other great loss to the world of letters (besides Gunter Grass, another great) that not many are talking about. From The Guardian. If you want to understand Latin America, the United States colonialism and exploitation of the region, and globalism, Eduardo Galeano is one of the must-reads.

Clancy was noted for military-themed novels that were so accurate in their technical descriptions they often got close scrutiny from the military and intelligence agencies. After "Red Storm Rising" was released in the 1980s, Clancy was called in by the US Navy and questioned how he knew about some advanced weapon systems. His response was that he just did a lot of research and put two plus two together. 

RIP Tom, you will be missed. 

Science fiction master Frederik Pohl died today at age 93. During his career he wrote 65 novels and about 30 short story compilations. He is best known for a book he wrote in the 1950s called Space Merchants.