I'm looking for a book that was a favorite of a friend of mine, who is elderly and blind. She was recounting the plot to me but I couldn't find any matches searching. She said it was like a series of short stories, written in the 1950s or 60s. The plot is that this guy joined a ship because he ...

I have noticed a number of actors from various parts of the Star Trek franchise also playing parts in The Orville. Seth MacFarlane is obviously a huge Star Trek fan. Marina Sirtis played a teacher in The Orville's onboard school. Penny Johnson Jerald played Chief Medical Officer Claire Finn. Robe...

This is a 50s era short story I think. If I recall correctly, the hero wants spaghetti for dinner at the mess, and while investigating why he can't get it, he uncovers a conspiracy- the aliens who are infiltrating the ship are poisoned by garlic (I think- though I don't think the aliens are vampi...

I think I read this in the 80s. It is a short story. The protagonist is soon to be married. He works for a drug company. He is approached by researchers who also work at his company. They want him to be a human volunteer, to test a new drug to give him perfect recall of his entire life. The drug ...

The man is homeless. The devil arrives by train wearing a conductor's uniform. The devil offers him any wish he desires in exchange for his soul when he dies. They make the bargain and he wishes the ability to stop time at one especially happy moment. The devil gives him a watch that can stop tim...

Back in (probably) the 1980s I read a short story or novella set in an all-female society where people reproduce by parthenogenesis. Eventually their scientists re-create the Y chromosome (or at least the SRY gene) and create a man via IVF; one of the primary characters describes him as "the ugli...

uhI typed a long decription and lost it bsfore saving. Please bear with me while I rewrite one. The planet has mostly medieval technology. I think a train might have been mentioned at one point. I do not remember whether they know they are descended from humans from Earth. They were genetically e...

In "The Dreaming City" first published in Science Fantasy number 47, June, 1961, and reprinted in The Weird of the White Wolf (1967) Elric VIII, exiled 428th Emperor of Melnibone, agreed to lead an attacking force from six of the young kingdoms thrugh the maze to attack the capital city, Imrryr, ...

Is a book about a teenage girl who ends the summer with her grandparents in a rental house, every time they open up the front door they're transported to a new location they go to New York and they pick up her male cousin, at some point in time they're transported to Russia where a man is injured...

I think I this as a novel, but it is possible it was a short story. I read it in the 80s. There is a future,technological society. Almost every family has their own private aeroplane, they are analogous to cars in our society. When a baby is born, the childs father takes them for a test. They mus...

Ken 1 was injured while trying to surf on a board: Ken 2: Looks like this beach was a little too much beach for you, Ken. Ken 1: If I wasn't severely injured, I would beach you off right now, Ken. Ken 2: I'll beach off with you any day, Ken. Here is the scene from Barbie (2023): ...

Here is the scene from Barbie (2023), where Barbie turns on the shower, yet no water comes out. Strangely enough, she still experiences the sensation of being drenched in water: Why does Barbie feel like she’s in water when there’s no water coming out of the shower?

English is not my mother tongue and in many ways, I am trying to learn and appreciate it using reading. I have read A House for Mr Biswas by V.S. Naipaul and was amazed at the syntactical beauty of the prose. There were lines written with proper syntax and grammar and it made me learn a lot of th...

In a phone call, Dan from the FBI informs Aaron at Mattel about a peculiar situation involving Barbie and Ken dolls acting as real people in Santa Monica, and seeks Mattel's assistance to handle it. After the call, Aaron is left worried, recalling a similar incident from the past: Aaron: About ...

Sasha, during her interaction with the life-sized Barbie at school, shared her past experiences. She expressed that her play experiences with Barbie were quite horrible: Barbie: It was horrible? Why? Girl 2: Come on, Sasha. Girl 3: Give it to her. Girl 4: Destroy Barbie. What does "Destroy Bar...

I am looking for a book that teaches parents in Japan about the business side of kidnapping their own children. I was alerted to the existence of this book by one Mr. Paul Evans, whose daughters were taken away by his monstrously abusive ex-wife. If you are interested in more details about that, ...

I remember reading the book in 3rd Grade. The main characters were a team of large humanoid dinosaurs that were fighting against a similar team of humanoid dinosaurs led by an large alien who had a similar appearance to Shredder from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. One plot point I remember is the ...

The Mattel CEO fainted upon hearing from Aaron, a Mattel representative, that life-size versions of Barbie dolls were coming to Los Angeles from Barbie Land to roam the earth: Mattel CEO : Ahh! Ahh! No. Men trying to help Mattel CEO: Man 1: Get the chair! Man 2: Take the cart. I don't see an...

When I was younger I read a book with a female main character with a younger brother. The old people in this book rent out the bodies of young people.

I'm trying to find the title of a short story about astronauts being sent in ships to a point in the solar system (orbit of Jupiter?) where they disappear temporarily. When they return they have been given new knowledge (e.g the cure for cancer), but they don't live very long. The story is told f...

I can't remember a manga I read a few years ago. There is a girl with crutches who is guiding kidnappers through the forest (they have a kidnapped girl with them who is a disciple of some sort) and they are attacked by a big bear-thing (I think it was called like an iron claw bear) and the kidnap...