I am a fan of popular culture, but certainly not the type of celebrities who dominate the news with their inane activities. What I enjoy is reading books (primarily, but not exclusively historical and science fiction) and listening to music (mostly rock and roll, although I do slip into such genres as folk music, jazz, and blues at times). So here are some recommendations for all you readers and rockers out there:

▸ As I mentioned last week, Michael Bishop has been my favorite writer for decades, and I particularly recommend Brittle Innings, a coming-of-age novel about a group of youngsters playing minor league baseball during the World War II era. Oh, yeah, one of the characters is an aging first basement who has an uncanny resemblance to the Frankenstein monster. Believe it or not, this is a very serious novel.

▸ Andrea Barrett writes historical fiction, often about the quest for scientific knowledge told from the viewpoint of passionate scientists. Her best work is the novel Voyage of the Narwal, about the quest for the legendary Northwest Passage in the late 19th century.

▸ Clifford D. Simak is one of the true old-timers of science fiction, his first publications being in the early 1930s, and he remained a prolific writer until his death in 1988. If you never heard the word “pastoral” used to describe science fiction before, then you owe yourself a real treat by reading some of his classic works, especially Way Station or City.

▸ Chris de Burgh is one of the underrated singer-songwriters whose works range from high-energy rock and roll to tender ballads. My favorite albums are Man on the Line (which contains the truly-underrated song “Sound of a Gun”) and This Way Up.

▸ Richard Thompson started in the Celtic Folk movement of the 1970s as a member of Fairport Convention, but soon broke off, recording first with his then-wife Linda, and later as a solo artist. He is one of the true giants of rock and roll, and it is a shame that more people do not know of him. Either one of his collections Watching the Dark or The Best of the Capital Years are filled with superb music.

More? Science fiction writers Robert Silverberg (Nightwings or Dying Inside), Roger Zelazny (Lord of Light), C.J. Cherryh (Downbelow Station), Ursula K Le Guin (The Left Hand of Darkness), or Kim Stanley Robinson (The Years of Rice and Salt, the Mars trilogy); Historical fiction writers Cecilia Holland (Death of Attila) or Bernard Cornwell (Stonehenge); Rock and rollers the Kinks (Muswell Hillbillies or The Village Green Preservation Society), The Strawbs (Hero and Heroine) or Steve Forbert (Streets of This Town).

What do you enjoy reading or listening to? I’m always open to new entertainers.