From Powells.com
Hot new releases and under-the-radar gems for adults and kids.
Our favorite books of the year.
Staff Pick
Le Guin's collection of blog posts is as enlightening to those who have never heard of her as to those who are longtime fans of her fiction. She is, in her final years, as clever, decent and kind as ever, and her particular voice is readable and wise whether she's talking about compassion in the age of Trump, representation in literature, or just narrating endless hours spent observing her cat. Her insights on aging are occasionally laugh-out-loud funny, but for the most part this collection's joy is simply that it's a few more moments with a Portland treasure. Recommended By Tyler D., Powells.com
A lively and engrossing collection of blog posts ranging from an encounter with a rattlesnake to a discussion of Homer and Joyce. Whatever the subject, Le Guin’s elegant prose is always a joy to read. Recommended By Mary Jo S., Powells.com
Synopses & Reviews
Ursula K. Le Guin on the absurdity of denying your age: “If I’m ninety and believe I’m forty-five, I’m headed for a very bad time trying to get out of the bathtub.”
On cultural perceptions of fantasy: “The direction of escape is toward freedom. So what is ‘escapism’ an accusation of?”
On breakfast: “Eating an egg from the shell takes not only practice, but resolution, even courage, possibly willingness to commit crime.”
Ursula K. Le Guin took readers to imaginary worlds for decades. In the last great frontier of life, old age, she explored a new literary territory: the blog, a forum where she shined. The collected best of Ursula’s blog, No Time to Spare presents perfectly crystallized dispatches on what mattered to her late in life, her concerns with the world, and her wonder at it: “How rich we are in knowledge, and in all that lies around us yet to learn. Billionaires, all of us.”
Review
"Le Guin's mindful empathy for every kind of living and non-living thing makes her a role model for the rest of us who ever tried to walk a mile in another kind of shoe...With her profound skepticism of the merits of capitalism, her à la carte Eastern spirituality, and her willingness to be disliked, she could certainly be a strong contender for Mayor of Portland." PopMatters
Review
"A delightfully random bouquet of musings on aging, writing, the moral character of the United States, Homer, her cat Pard, and everything in between...Following LeGuin's penetrating mind as she thinks about the problems of our world and puzzles of language makes No Time to Spare a more than worthwhile read for fans and new readers alike." The Riveter
Review
“[An] altogether fantastic collection No Time to Spare: Thinking About What Matters... [is] a magnificent read in its tessellated totality.” Brain Pickings
Review
"[There's] a welcome lightheartedness to this serious and morally weighty collection. It is a book that truly does matter." The Houston Chronicle
About the Author
URSULA K. LE GUIN was born in Berkeley, California, in 1929, and passed away in Portland, Oregon, in 2018. She published over sixty books of fiction, nonfiction, poetry, drama, children's literature, and translation. She was the recipient of a National Book Award, six Hugo and five Nebula awards, and was inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Letters.