In some ways, this was a hit and miss memoir of sorts. Then again, it wasn't really a memoir as much a collection of blogs posted about current and personal events, and much about cats, though I cringed when LeGuin talked about swatting a cat on the rear. To some degree, this seemed to be a memoir reflecting on life as an elderly person, yet, at other times, the author seemed ageless. One blog post was about a story of Zadie Smith's that she questioned if it was "true" fiction or "false" memoir, wondering why in the story the main character refers to person who opened her mail in a servitude way, not as a person. Another time she questions Charles Blow on his choice of words discussing evolution. With both blogs posts, these were jumping points to reveal more about LeGuin than to answer the question she ponders about their writing.

3 1/2 stars. I am not familiar with Ursula K. Le Guin's work but did quite enjoy her musings on life (and her cat Pard). While she and I don't see eye to eye on many things, her style of writing is enjoyable, informative, and entertaining.

This group of essays really brings home the point that we are running out of time, we baby boomers. Fifty may be the new 30 - but even so, most of us passed even that watershed years ago. Ursula Le Guin is a wonderful writer of SciFi - both for adults and children - but in this endeavour she covers life as we know it, women trying to find a comfortable resting place in life as we face the last decade or so.

This is an awesome read - covering everything from religion to abortion rights, environmental hot spots, the government and taxes. 'Lying it all away', written October 2012 should be required reading for all Americans, both the public and the political. 'Nude Politician' written October 2014 is another I may print out and place on the break room wall. 'Belief in Belief' written February 2014 covers our changing perception of trigger words. What does the word 'believe' mean to you? What did it mean to you when you were 20? how has it changed our perceptions of justice, race, evolution?

This woman will keep us hopping. Ursula doesn't want us to rest in our retirement. Now is the time, while we have the time, to welcome change, to make it happen. I hope we have her around for many more years to come, and that I have the internal fortitude to follow through on her great lessons on life.

In this collection of essays, Le Guin talks about literature, politics, belief, aging, and life, and it is just delightful. She is so interesting. Even when she's talking about her cat, Pard, there's a deeper layer to her musings. She sees the world with such clarity and wonder, and these essays allow the reader to experience that perspective. This book ended up being a smart, feel-good kind of read.

If you are familiar with her blog then you have a head start. The book is easily read. 

Each section talks about a topic and how that topic affects us. Such as Aging, The Literary World, And generally trying to make sense out of everything. Interrupted by sections on her cat Pard and his oddities.

It reads like a blog. And that is really what it is. All of her blog posts re-set in a book form. She is a very interesting lady and I laughed a lot during this book.

Comes out on December 05, 2017

Netgalley/Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

I have read several of Ursula Le Gin's books and lately have also been listening to some of her speeches and interviews online and I really like the way this woman thinks. This little collection of essays was like sitting down and having a chat with Ursula. You get a sense of the experience that comes with age in her writing. I also loved how short each entry was. I was perfect for picking up while enjoying a morning coffee or for filling fifteen available minutes before running out the door to work. Her writing in these essays is a reflection of her thoughtful intelligence. I very much enjoyed this book.

I received a galley of this book via Netgalley.

Le Guin's blog posts are gathered in this new book that is refreshing and packed with wisdom. With a gently acerbic voice, she confronts the silliness of denying one's age, discusses the time she refused a Nebula nomination, and muses about the many goings-on of her cat, Pard. This book feels like sitting down an old friend who is tactful and blunt at once, and it's a joy to read. I say that, though I read it in a very difficult time (the passing of my beloved elderly cat followed by a sudden bout of flu). Her words made me smile when most things didn't make me smile.

Ursula Le Guin is nearly 90 years old. She's one of the greatest writers of our time.

Sadly, she's stopped writing books. She just blogs.

What may be her final book, No Time to Spare: Thinking About What Matters, is a collection of some of her blog posts.

The title and cover are enticing.

However, as the cliche says: don't judge books by their title.

Among the 40 chapters, there are few truly deep, introspective, wise, and thought-provoking ones. Several have to do with her beloved cat, Pard.

If you're a big Ursula Le Guin fan, this book is good for you.

However, if you're a real fan, you probably already read all her blog entries already - and there's nothing new here, I believe.

VERDICT: 3 out 10 stars.

The book is coming out December 5, 2017.

This collection of short essays (which were originally posted on Le Guin's blog) is an absolute treat not only for Ursula Le Guin's fans but for any reader who appreciates clever, funny and well-written opinion pieces. The book is divided in parts, each one of which is devoted to a specific topic such as aging, literature and writing, feminism, politics and miscellaneous musings on everyday life and its ordeals. In between those sections there are some parts which she has devoted to her cat, Pard, and his journey into life with the author. Those pieces were truly adorable.

I received a kindle format version of this book at no cost, in return for promising to write an honest review. I am a long-time fan of Ursula LeGuin’s writing – especially the books of the Hainish Cycle, so was actually quite pleased to have this opportunity to read and comment on the book shortly before publication.

In the spirit of "no time to spare," I will offer this quick overview of my thoughts. This is a compilation of entries from Ursula LeGuin’s blog, posted during the years of 2010 through 2016. Reordered topically, they are short pieces dealing mostly with becoming old, gender, writing, philosophy, and nature – and with interstitial sections about her cat. I found the sections on the cat to be mundane, while the majority of the others were insightful and thought-provoking but fragmented.

Before going into it a little more, I should reveal some things about myself, as that has shaped how I respond to her work. In spite of my name, Tomislav, I am American born and grew up in the Midwest. I am a 62-year old recently retired biomedical engineer, take a secular view of my own existence, but am married to a Unitarian Universalist parish minister. Ursula LeGuin is of my parents’ generation; in fact she was 18 months old when my father was born. So, while her generational outlook is not mine, I think of my parents, and then I do understand.

Generally, I don’t take the time to read blogs. I really only wish to spend that kind of attention on the people who matter to me most – my family. Blogs are mostly disorganized, arbitrary, and indeed sometimes not well thought through. Ursula LeGuin’s career has shown her to have a visionary perspective, and important ideas to relate, but I find the finished product of a novel or story to be a more satisfying form in which to digest them. I started reading her work about 45 years ago, and upon periodic re-reading have found sometimes different meanings in the same pieces. However, as LeGuin observes in one of the included blog posts, with aging comes even less time to do things other than what has to be done. So, at this book, we have her perspective and ideas in a more raw state. But that is interesting to me. I’m in early and active retirement now, but my near future will be the lifestyle of my parents and of LeGuin, I should be so lucky.

Feminism – LeGuin sees gender and the male/female power imbalance in everything, more than I do. For example, I do not think the word “American” is implicitly male. I have lived most of my lifetime in an era of an articulated feminism, and at some point, some of the shift has become internalized. Not that equity is here, but I think for my parents’ generation even the basic tenets of feminism will always be a forced stance.

Writing – LeGuin loves words. She analyzes meanings. Me, I just use them – but I appreciate being shown more about what is implied by word choice. LeGuin loves story. She sees story as not just a series of interesting events, but reflective of prior story and culture. I think her understanding of existence is to be alive in a universe of interwoven stories. For me, math and physical science is that fundamental. So, when someone like me reads her recent novel Lavinia, not having previously read The Iliad or The Aeneid, in fact barely being familiar with them, it is an excursion into another universe and another way of thinking. Her blog entry “Papa H” reveals some of her thoughts on our archetypal stories, and shores up my understanding.

Nature – LeGuin has a philosophical love of nature, and of the tension between acting on it versus perceiving and entering into relation with it. However, as a person of words, she conveys nature through words. Personally, I find words to be a low bandwidth (allow me to say) way to appreciate what is essentially experiential. I am a bicyclist, kayaker, snowshoer, backpacker, and observer of nature, and her blog entries read to me like a note-to-self, “remember this in its full depth later”. It doesn’t work so well for others though.

It was both wonderful and sad for me to read this book, wishing for more, but gratefully receiving it.

Terrific ruminations on life and many other subjects by the great octagenarian writer. An American treasure, the author says much about her life and her view of things. Wonderful to read.

Good collection of blog posts about a lot of different things. I found most of them interesting.

What a wonderful body of literature Ursula LeGuin has given us! This collection of essays/blogs makes me smile, gives me pause, causes me to think. As did all of her stories.
Ursula LeGuin offers us amazing insights.
She has a lot to say that is important.
Highly Recommended.

I love Ursula K. Le Guin's writing, so I knew I would enjoy this book before I even started it. I saved it to read as I relaxed on the couch late in the evening, or as I ate my dinner - sometimes letting my meal grow cold while I was distracted at laughing or nodding at something Ursula had written. This book is actually a collection of blog posts that cover a wide range of topics. She discusses going to the animal shelter to find a new cat, and then has subsequent entries about Pard's antics around the house. There are serious pieces about the difference between knowledge and belief, or why women never seem to win the "big" literary awards. And there are musings on the nature of utopia and what it would look like.

Whatever she is writing about at the time, her beautiful style and personality always come through. Writing about old age or the literary life or even rounding up rattlesnakes in the backyard (with Denys Cazet), her wit and word choice make each idea or event come to life. It makes sense that she would have that gift, because she has been so busy experiencing her life for so many years. As she remarks, "I still don't know what spare time is because all my time is occupied. It always has been and it is now. It's occupied by living." Amazingly, we get the chance to see some pieces of that occupation as we read her thoughts - and whether we agree with her that writers of all kinds should stop relying on the F--- word so much (yes, please), or laugh at her suggestion that we should spare the feelings of vegetables and become Ogans (living only on oxygen) - we will be thinking and examining our own beliefs and deeply engaged throughout the process.

Not a best introduction for me to Guin's writing. I am yet willing to explore more of her works.

Good one for her fans though.

I'll always be a fan of Le Guin, good to see she has changed with the times well.