Linkies for fun

[hawkwing_lb]

Science confirms reading literature is good for your brain:

Moreover, the study showed that simply by asking the readers to alter their method of reading--from “leisure” to “analytical”--they could drastically alter the patterns of neural activity and blood flow within their brains. The study could have implications in the way reading affects the brain and how we train our brains to be better at things like concentration and comprehension.

Jo Walton, Death, Gods, and Repartee: Roz Kaveney's "Rituals":

Roz Kaveney’s Rituals occupies a very interesting space that not much else has been interested in exploring. It’s a little like Good Omens, and a little like Waiting for the Galactic Bus, and now that I have three of them I can declare them a genre—and say this is a splendid example of “Witty Blasphemy.” Or maybe “Adorable Blasphemy” would be a better name?

Genevieve Valentine, Dredd:

Its questionable moments aside, it's solidly written, and sometimes even approaches poignance. (Once, Anderson and Dredd break through the wall onto a small balcony; the lingering, silent shot of Mega-City at night is beautiful and calm...until Anderson realizes there's no exit and they'll have to go back the way they came.) If you can handle a body count in the hundreds, lovingly-detailed gore, and a movie in which heroics are proven useless in the greater scope, it's got some clever moments, more tension than many other SF action flicks, and smart lead characters on both sides of the fence.