UK writer Samantha Harvey wins 2024 Booker with space novel

UK writer Samantha Harvey wins 2024 Booker with space novel
Samantha Harvey poses with the trophy after winning the Booker Prize award 2024, in London, Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024. (AP)
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Updated 13 November 2024
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UK writer Samantha Harvey wins 2024 Booker with space novel

UK writer Samantha Harvey wins 2024 Booker with space novel
  • The prize is seen as a talent spotter of names not necessarily widely known to the general public

LONDON: British writer Samantha Harvey on Tuesday won the 2024 Booker Prize, a prestigious English-language literary award, for her novel tracking six astronauts in space for 24 hours.
Harvey’s “Orbital” follows two men and four women from Japan, Russia, the United States, Britain and Italy aboard the International Space Station and touches on mourning, desire and the climate crisis.
The 49-year-old Harvey previously made the longlist for the Booker Prize in 2009 with her debut novel “The Wilderness.”
Harvey dedicated the prize to “all the people who speak for and not against the earth and work for and not against peace.”
Chair of the judges, Edmund de Waal, said “everyone and no one is the subject” of the novel, “as six astronauts in the International Space Station circle the earth observing the passages of weather across the fragility of borders and time zones.”
“With her language of lyricism and acuity Harvey makes our world strange and new for us.”
A record five women were in the running for the £50,000 ($64,500) prize which was announced at a glitzy ceremony in London.
Previous winners include Salman Rushdie and Margaret Atwood.
The prize is seen as a talent spotter of names not necessarily widely known to the general public.
The Booker is open to works of fiction by writers of any nationality, written in English and published in the UK or Ireland between October 1, 2023 and September 30, 2024.


What We Are Reading Today: ‘Europe’s Alpine Flowers’ by Bob Gibbons

What We Are Reading Today: ‘Europe’s Alpine Flowers’ by Bob Gibbons
Updated 08 December 2024
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What We Are Reading Today: ‘Europe’s Alpine Flowers’ by Bob Gibbons

What We Are Reading Today: ‘Europe’s Alpine Flowers’ by Bob Gibbons

“Europe’s Alpine Flowers” covers the flowering plants and conifers that occur regularly on mountains and in Arctic areas north of a line that runs from the Pyrenees to Southern Romania. 

For many botanists—and gardeners—the alpine flora is the best it gets. There are many species adapted to a harsh climate of extreme winter cold and strong winds, including some of our most beautiful rock plants, such as gentians, saxifrages, and crocuses. 

These also include subtle and rare flowers that require care to discover and identify.


What We Are Reading Today: “Bodega Bakes”

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Updated 08 December 2024
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What We Are Reading Today: “Bodega Bakes”

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  • She writes: “Bodegas are the heart of so many communities, and they’ve given me some of my most joyful memories — this book is my way of sharing that joy with the world”

Author: Paola Velez

James Beard nominated chef Paola Velez’s delicious debut cookbook, “Bodega Bakes: Recipes for Sweets and Treats Inspired by My Corner Store,” is a heartfelt tribute to her Dominican and Puerto Rican heritage, infused with the spirit of the Bronx in New York City where she was raised.

Published in October, it has quickly garnered attention as a must-have baking book, blending Velez’s vibrant storytelling style with inventive recipes inspired by her upbringing.

A bodega, as Velez describes it, is more than just a small neighborhood convenience store; it is a lively community hub — with stacks of snacks, essentials like headache medicine, chocolate and shampoo, and usually, a sleepy resident bodega cat.

She writes: “Bodegas are the heart of so many communities, and they’ve given me some of my most joyful memories — this book is my way of sharing that joy with the world.”

Bodegas in New York include a deli counter within the crammed premises, where freshly made sandwiches are made to order at affordable prices. Bodegas became the foundation for Velez’s culinary creativity, transforming humble cornerstore finds into extraordinary desserts.

The book features over 100 recipes, from her signature “thick’ems” cookies to Maria cookie icebox cake and pineapple empanadillas. It is a book bursting with personality and flavor.

Velez skillfully combines nostalgia with accessibility, ensuring that home bakers of all levels can recreate her inventive treats in their own homes. Everything you need to bake can be purchased at your favorite local bodega.

Cristina Tosi, the culinary celebrity and founder of a New York cult favorite, Milk Bar, wrote the foreword, calling the book: “a love letter — to her heritage, to her corner store, and to anyone who’s ever found magic in the simplest of ingredients.”

Beyond her culinary achievements, Velez is also a co-founder of Bakers Against Racism, a global initiative that raised millions for social justice causes through bake sales. She uses food not only to feed stomachs, but the spirit.

With “Bodega Bakes,” Velez elevates everyday ingredients and each page — and bite — is steeped in cultural storytelling.

 

 


What We Are Reading Today: ‘Tectonic Geodynamics’

What We Are Reading Today: ‘Tectonic Geodynamics’
Updated 07 December 2024
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What We Are Reading Today: ‘Tectonic Geodynamics’

What We Are Reading Today: ‘Tectonic Geodynamics’

Authors: Thorsten Becker and Claudio Faccenna 

Over the past half century, major achievements have been made in the study of Earth’s surface structure and kinematics and the internal dynamics of the lithosphere and mantle.

Many of these advances have relied on the integration of data and models from plate tectonics and geodynamics, yet traditional divisions persist in how these two disciplines are taught and practiced.

This textbook bridges the gap, connecting geophysical and geological approaches to understand the physical processes that shape our planet’s evolution. 


What We Are Reading Today: Not for Profit: Why Democracy Needs the Humanities

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Updated 06 December 2024
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What We Are Reading Today: Not for Profit: Why Democracy Needs the Humanities

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Author: Martha C. Nusssbaum

In this short and powerful book, celebrated philosopher Martha C. Nussbaum makes a passionate case for the importance of the liberal arts at all levels of education.
Historically, the humanities have been central to education because they have been seen as essential for creating competent democratic citizens.
But recently, Nussbaum argues, thinking about the aims of education has gone disturbingly awry in the US and abroad. We increasingly treat education as though its primary goal were to teach students to be economically productive rather than to think critically.

 and become knowledgeable, productive, and empathetic individuals. This shortsighted focus on profitable skills has eroded our ability to criticize authority, reduced our sympathy with the marginalized and different, and damaged our competence to deal with complex global problems. And the loss of these basic capacities jeopardizes the health of democracies and the hope of a decent world.

In response to this dire situation, Nussbaum argues that we must resist efforts to reduce education to a tool of the gross national product.

 


What We Are Reading Today: ‘Magnetic Reconnection’

What We Are Reading Today: ‘Magnetic Reconnection’
Updated 05 December 2024
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What We Are Reading Today: ‘Magnetic Reconnection’

What We Are Reading Today: ‘Magnetic Reconnection’

Author: Masaaki Yamada

Plasmas comprise more than 99 percent of the visible universe; and, wherever plasmas are, magnetic reconnection occurs.

In this common yet incompletely understood physical process, oppositely directed magnetic fields in a plasma meet, break, and then reconnect, converting the huge amounts of energy stored in magnetic fields into kinetic and thermal energy.

In “Magnetic Reconnection,” Masaaki Yamada offers an illuminating synthesis of modern research and advances on this important topic. Magnetic reconnection produces such phenomena as solar flares and the northern lights, and occurs in nuclear fusion devices.