Last year, I just listed five books of whatever category that rocked my world in 2008. I decided to split up this year's selections into a few categories, partly to be just a little more organized and partly as an excuse to post more books. These aren't necessarily books that came out in 2009, and in fact most are probably a few years old. I just happened to have read them in 2009! I also tried to limit myself to 2 or 3 in each category.
Fiction
City and the City by China Mieville
I liked Perdido Street Station and its sequel, The Scar, but City and the City is easily Mieville's best book so far. Its storytelling is tighter than in Perdido and Mieville's talent for creating and developing an interesting, fully-formed world does not weaken in this book in the least. I'm looking forward to his other new book, Kraken.
The Love We Share Without Knowing by Christopher Barzak
I've blogged about this one before, and I still stand by my claim that it is a truly superb book.
The Orphan's Tales: City of Coin and Spice by Catherynne Valente
This is the sequel volume to The Orphan's Tales: In the Night Garden, which made my best-of list last year. Valente's use of various (uncommon) mythologies and her creative narrative structure make this volume an excellent follow-up and a fantastic read.
Non-Fiction
Science Fiction by Adam Roberts
This is another book I've already blogged about. Go figure.
Anthologies
Wastelands edited by John Jacob Adams
Not only do nearly all of the stories in this anthology rock, but the editor pieced together a handy bibliographic list of must-read apocalyptic literature. It's not a conclusive list by any means, but it makes for the perfect finishing touch on an anthology that already would have had my vote for this list.
Paper Cities edited by Ekaterina Sedia
This book took the 2009 World Fantasy Award for Best Anthology, and against some stiff competition, too. And, what's more is that this book deserved to win against such competition. It's worth reading just to take a close look at urban fantasy (though I think Hal Duncan's contribution for Nova Scotia would have been just as at home here as the story Sedia selected.)
Nova Scotia edited by Neil Williamson
Amazon claims this book doesn't exist, but I have a copy so I know they lie. Perhaps on the U.K. version of the site...anyway, there's not a flop in this anthology. There were definitely a few I liked more than others, but overall this may be one of the most solid anthologies I've ever read.
Young Adult/Children's
Vintage: A Ghost Story by Steve Berman
I've already written more about this book here, and just as with Barzak's book I stand by my recommendation.
The Blueberry Girl by Neil Gaiman and Charles Vess
Gaiman and Vess make my favorite team in book writing and illustration. McKean is cool and all, but I've always preferred Vess's work. This is a very simple storybook, but it has a fantastic message and beautiful art, and I can't wait to give this book to my niece when she starts reading.
Showing posts with label reading list. Show all posts
Showing posts with label reading list. Show all posts
Friday, February 5, 2010
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Playing Catch-Up
So, blogging time seems to be rather difficult to come by even when I'm not caught up in a whirlwind of school- and work-related chaos. I've been offline for about a month now, actually, just trying to catch up with myself and my household to-do list. Well, today I'm house (and dog) sitting for some friends, and I'm taking the opportunity to post a little something here, just to prove that I'm still around and in the game.
Shamefully, though I was so excited about the Outer Alliance's formation back in September, I haven't really been active on the site at all. However, every time I manage to drop by they have something cool posted. Every Friday sees another GLBT writer spotlighted on the site, and I'm not on nearly often enough to keep up. How do they find these people? I suppose the internet really has made the world a smaller place (though sometimes I get the feeling that everybody interesting lives on one of the coasts or another country all together. The pickings seem a bit slim in this region...)
I recently finished Richard K. Morgan's fantasy novel The Steel Remains, and I hope to pick up one of his earlier SF books before too long. The Steel Remains is an excellent, violent, bloody, and actually pretty funny book featuring a gay warrior who makes no apology for his queerness. It's a welcome change from the flouncy fag best friend/sidekick who dies halfway through the story. I like seeing a gay guy beat the crap out of somebody else for once. The book is by no means perfect, but if you're in the mood for a fun, rough-and-tumble fantasy that maybe happens to include one or two very interesting sex scenes (very well done, coming from a straight man!) then The Steel Remains is definitely for you.
I'm in the midst of reading Adam Robert's Science Fiction and China Mieville's The Scar. The Adam Roberts title comes from a series of literary criticism works, the New Critical Idiom. From what I've heard and from my experience with the series, it's a pretty magnificent collection and well worth the effort of tracking the individual books down. I'd like to get my hands on a few other volumes, such as Magic(al) Realism, Myth, Gothic, Postmodern, and possibly Genre, just because. All of them would be cool to have though, since there's such a high quality of scholarship that goes into each volume. Roberts' book covers the basic history of science fiction and takes a stab at defining the genre, which is something I think has been turning up more and more lately on blogs with much higher traffic than this one can expect (such as Hal Duncan's column on BSCReview). Also, Roberts looks at the role of women and race in SF (using Star Trek and Le Guin's Left Hand of Darkness as case studies, so what's not to like?) and also examines the use of technology. I haven't read this last segment yet, and I was honestly a little surprised to see it included, though upon further thought it seems obvious. After all, what would science fiction be without science? My surprise is based mostly on the fact that I simply take science for granted and accept it in whatever role it is presented in, though one of my biggest gripes with the latest Star Trek movie is its misuse of (disregard for) science. But more about that later- it'll be a whole other blog post. I'll probably write more about Roberts' book when I finish it. So far it's been an education and a joy to read, and it's only made me want to read his novel Salt even more than I already did.
Mieville's book The Scar has also been an intriguing adventure. I love his city made of ships- but then his settings always astound me. This book maybe isn't as good as The City and the City but so far it's a worthy follow-up to Perdido Street Station. I'll be reading his YA novel Un Lun Dun before too much longer, and I'll also pick up the leather bound copy of King Rat from the bookstore I work at. It is...very pretty. This guy pretty much rocks everything he tries his hand at.
I'll compile my best-of-2009 list before too long. I may extend it to include more categories than I did last year- perhaps a separate YA category, maybe a non-fiction thing. I already pretty much know what's going to be on the list, I just have to make a few last decisions.
Shamefully, though I was so excited about the Outer Alliance's formation back in September, I haven't really been active on the site at all. However, every time I manage to drop by they have something cool posted. Every Friday sees another GLBT writer spotlighted on the site, and I'm not on nearly often enough to keep up. How do they find these people? I suppose the internet really has made the world a smaller place (though sometimes I get the feeling that everybody interesting lives on one of the coasts or another country all together. The pickings seem a bit slim in this region...)
I recently finished Richard K. Morgan's fantasy novel The Steel Remains, and I hope to pick up one of his earlier SF books before too long. The Steel Remains is an excellent, violent, bloody, and actually pretty funny book featuring a gay warrior who makes no apology for his queerness. It's a welcome change from the flouncy fag best friend/sidekick who dies halfway through the story. I like seeing a gay guy beat the crap out of somebody else for once. The book is by no means perfect, but if you're in the mood for a fun, rough-and-tumble fantasy that maybe happens to include one or two very interesting sex scenes (very well done, coming from a straight man!) then The Steel Remains is definitely for you.
I'm in the midst of reading Adam Robert's Science Fiction and China Mieville's The Scar. The Adam Roberts title comes from a series of literary criticism works, the New Critical Idiom. From what I've heard and from my experience with the series, it's a pretty magnificent collection and well worth the effort of tracking the individual books down. I'd like to get my hands on a few other volumes, such as Magic(al) Realism, Myth, Gothic, Postmodern, and possibly Genre, just because. All of them would be cool to have though, since there's such a high quality of scholarship that goes into each volume. Roberts' book covers the basic history of science fiction and takes a stab at defining the genre, which is something I think has been turning up more and more lately on blogs with much higher traffic than this one can expect (such as Hal Duncan's column on BSCReview). Also, Roberts looks at the role of women and race in SF (using Star Trek and Le Guin's Left Hand of Darkness as case studies, so what's not to like?) and also examines the use of technology. I haven't read this last segment yet, and I was honestly a little surprised to see it included, though upon further thought it seems obvious. After all, what would science fiction be without science? My surprise is based mostly on the fact that I simply take science for granted and accept it in whatever role it is presented in, though one of my biggest gripes with the latest Star Trek movie is its misuse of (disregard for) science. But more about that later- it'll be a whole other blog post. I'll probably write more about Roberts' book when I finish it. So far it's been an education and a joy to read, and it's only made me want to read his novel Salt even more than I already did.
Mieville's book The Scar has also been an intriguing adventure. I love his city made of ships- but then his settings always astound me. This book maybe isn't as good as The City and the City but so far it's a worthy follow-up to Perdido Street Station. I'll be reading his YA novel Un Lun Dun before too much longer, and I'll also pick up the leather bound copy of King Rat from the bookstore I work at. It is...very pretty. This guy pretty much rocks everything he tries his hand at.
I'll compile my best-of-2009 list before too long. I may extend it to include more categories than I did last year- perhaps a separate YA category, maybe a non-fiction thing. I already pretty much know what's going to be on the list, I just have to make a few last decisions.
Friday, November 13, 2009
Cory Doctorow, New Arrivals
This entry was originally going to be my paper on Rousseau and Matthew G. Lewis' The Monk, but Blogger freaks out every time I try to transfer the text from my Word document. Maybe I'll upload it somewhere and post the link instead...I had the same problem with a post on mythology I went through the trouble of typing, only to find out I couldn't put it up here. Grr.
So instead of posting my paper, which probably no one wants to see anyway, I decided that today's entry would be a review of Cory Doctorow's YA novel Little Brother. This book was up for this year's Hugo Award, and deservedly so, I think. As you can probably tell by the title, Little Brother pulls heavily (and quite beautifully) on George Orwell's 1984, and would probably be an awesome follow-up to any teen reading Orwell's masterpiece.
I've been on a major kick with this whole "classics-updated-for-the-new-age-of-politics" thing (just ask me how I feel about the incredible Gundam Wing revamp that is Gundam 00) and Little Brother does not disappoint on that front. I just wish Doctorow had written this novel a few years earlier, while I was still in high school and growing up in the shadow of 9/11 inspired domestic fear-mongering legislation like the Patriot Act. I can just imagine the uproar his book would have caused in my little reading circle! I've already been advocating it to several of my friends, many of whom went to high school with me.
Honestly, at first I was a little put off by Doctorow's use of 'hip slang', which occasionally...wasn't that hip. I got a good snicker or two (at at least one moment of "WTF, srsly?") but after a few chapters I didn't even realize I was listening to a 17 year old techie geek speak. All I was aware of was how rocking awesome the book had become once it started really taking off. Doctorow's knowledge and use of technology is both frightening and seriously cool, and kind of makes me want to pick up a computer programming book or two so I can learn how to actually do some of the bad-ass tricks Marcus pulls off in the novel. Also, he managed to piss me off all over again about the U.S. running rough-shod over MY personal rights and privacy. Ooh, I felt 16 and angry again!
The plot summary on Amazon covers everything else you probably want to know. I simply felt the need to share my exciting discovery with the world! If you see a copy of this book, at least pick it up and look it over. It may be one of the best books you read this year.
---
In addition to Last Drink Bird Head, I have a copy of Richard K. Morgan's fantasy The Steel Remains on its way to my doorstep. It's shipping all the way from London though (isn't it sad when directly importing something is cheaper that buying it used from a middle man?) so it may be a few weeks before it arrives.
Next review- possibly Max Brooks' World War Z? Seriously, it totally rocks. Or perhaps Greg Pak's and Carmine Di Giandomenico's X-Men: Magneto Testament. Guys, when a graphic novel is good, it's really, really good, and Magneto Testament is AWESOME.
So instead of posting my paper, which probably no one wants to see anyway, I decided that today's entry would be a review of Cory Doctorow's YA novel Little Brother. This book was up for this year's Hugo Award, and deservedly so, I think. As you can probably tell by the title, Little Brother pulls heavily (and quite beautifully) on George Orwell's 1984, and would probably be an awesome follow-up to any teen reading Orwell's masterpiece.
I've been on a major kick with this whole "classics-updated-for-the-new-age-of-politics" thing (just ask me how I feel about the incredible Gundam Wing revamp that is Gundam 00) and Little Brother does not disappoint on that front. I just wish Doctorow had written this novel a few years earlier, while I was still in high school and growing up in the shadow of 9/11 inspired domestic fear-mongering legislation like the Patriot Act. I can just imagine the uproar his book would have caused in my little reading circle! I've already been advocating it to several of my friends, many of whom went to high school with me.
Honestly, at first I was a little put off by Doctorow's use of 'hip slang', which occasionally...wasn't that hip. I got a good snicker or two (at at least one moment of "WTF, srsly?") but after a few chapters I didn't even realize I was listening to a 17 year old techie geek speak. All I was aware of was how rocking awesome the book had become once it started really taking off. Doctorow's knowledge and use of technology is both frightening and seriously cool, and kind of makes me want to pick up a computer programming book or two so I can learn how to actually do some of the bad-ass tricks Marcus pulls off in the novel. Also, he managed to piss me off all over again about the U.S. running rough-shod over MY personal rights and privacy. Ooh, I felt 16 and angry again!
The plot summary on Amazon covers everything else you probably want to know. I simply felt the need to share my exciting discovery with the world! If you see a copy of this book, at least pick it up and look it over. It may be one of the best books you read this year.
---
In addition to Last Drink Bird Head, I have a copy of Richard K. Morgan's fantasy The Steel Remains on its way to my doorstep. It's shipping all the way from London though (isn't it sad when directly importing something is cheaper that buying it used from a middle man?) so it may be a few weeks before it arrives.
Next review- possibly Max Brooks' World War Z? Seriously, it totally rocks. Or perhaps Greg Pak's and Carmine Di Giandomenico's X-Men: Magneto Testament. Guys, when a graphic novel is good, it's really, really good, and Magneto Testament is AWESOME.
Monday, May 25, 2009
New Arrivals
Saints and Strangers by Angela Carter
De Profundis by Oscar Wilde
The Crimson Labyrinth by Yusuke Kishi
Eidolon by Jonathan Strahan
Three Plays: Blood Wedding, Yerma, and The House of Bernada Alba by Fredrico Garcia Lorca
The New Weird edited by Ann & Jeff Vandermeer
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Currently Reading
Just Finished-
The Orphan's Tales: Cities of Coin and Spice by Catherynne M. Valente
This was every bit what I was expecting and hoping it would be. The mystery of the orphan girl's origin finally comes clean in this volume, and the story was beautifully told and just as mesmerizing as the first. I think the first is still my favorite book of the two, but that's due mostly to the fact it surprised me. I went into the second book knowing what Valente was capable of, and boy-oh-boy did she deliver!
On Hold?-
Trainspotting by Irvine Welsh
I'm not totally sure why I seemed to have stopped reading this book. I was enjoying it, but I didn't really click with it, you know? I'll give it a week or two and try to pick it back up once this semester's over and I have a little more spare time and energy. (And did anyone else find that the book wasn't nearly as gross as its reputation implied? I was expecting to be disgusted and appalled through the whole thing, but so far there have only been two or three little moments where I went "ugh!")
Reading-
Trouble on Triton by Samuel R. Delany
Actually, I only started this one this morning, but I've been moving along at a good clip (except for the little break from reading I took, where I watched The Corpse Bride and cooked lunch) and I'm nearly as far along in Triton as I am in Mainspring. It's much harder reading than Mainspring, too- damn you, Delany, and your complicated scientific and philosophical passages that make me slow down, read, re-read, contemplate, and play connect-the-dots in my brain. This isn't easy for me to do first thing in the morning! Delany, if you weren't so damn good at it and totally worth the struggle, I'd hate you.
Mainspring by Jay Lake
I've waited how many months now to get my hands on a copy of this fucker? Too many, that's certain. I've read a few of Jay Lake's short stories and browsed his blog (livejournal? don't remember now) a time or two...and I've waited. And waited. And waited. Every time I saw a copy at B&N or Half-Price- not that I ever shop at bookstores other than the one I work in, of course- I'd talk myself out of buying it (I can't support the competition, right?) because eventually- EVENTUALLY- we'd get a copy at my job and I'd get my employee discount and all that jazz. In fact, a copy came in a few months ago- and my coworker (it's a good thing I like him!) snatched it up before I saw it! So I waited. And waited. And Waited. And lo and behold, what comes in last Saturday but my very own copy of Mainspring! I even did a little victory dance for the benefit of my coworkers (especially the one who nabbed the other copy!) and I bought the little fucker before I left that night. I win. (And the book's been pretty damn fun, too!)
Awaiting-
Dark Reflections by Samuel R. Delany
Yes, there are still some Delany books I don't own. And yes, that number keeps shrinking. This particular Delany book is somewhat semi-autobiographical in that the main character- a probable stand-in for the author- is a black, gay poet, as Delany was before he turned to science fiction (and then to 'literary' fiction...but whatever). The character's life is told in reverse- that is, he starts out as a succesful older man and as the story progresses, the reader is gradually introduced to him as his younger and more ambitious self. At least, that's what all of the reviews and summaries I've seen have said. I'll have the book by the end of the week, and then I'll know more.
Nova Scotia: New Scottish Speculative Fiction edited by Andrew J. Wilson
This was a 2006 finalist for the World Fantasy Award for Best Anthology, and holy hell but does it have a great line-up. Ken MacLeod, Jane Yolen, Charles Stoss, Neil Williamson, and seventeen others contributed to this collection, and I have no fucking clue as to how in the hell this thing is out of print. (Why? WHY?) After all, "forget, the Loch Ness monster, Brigadoon and all the usual tartanalia: Nova Scotia examines the Scotland of the 21st century and offers 22 unique insights on living in this New Scotland". And yeah, I totally stole that from the website.
New Additions to My Wish List-
The Secret History of Moscow by Ekaterina Sedia
My friend (the coworker who snagged that first copy of Mainspring, actually) swears by this woman's writing, and from what little I've seen I must say I'm excited. Hopefully I'll like her as much as my coworker does, which is frankly very possible.
In the Forest of Forgetting by Theodora Goss
This is a short story collection by a writer who I've read in Lady Churchill's (well, ok, I've only ever seen The Best of compilation), and every time I've fallen a little more in love with her work. Now that I've found a collection of her stories, I have to get it.
Paper Cities: An Anthology of Urban Fantasy edited by Ekaterina Sedia (not so new on my wish list, but it will probably be one of the next few things I order online)
Sedia again. This anthology contains works by Jay Lake, Hal Duncan, Anna Tambour, Forrest Aguirre, and Catherynne M. Valente, and I'm starting to see a trend in the authors whose short fiction I collect. Anyone else detect a trend?
There are a number of other anthologies that I've been eyeing, but I'm trying to keep my consumption level down for the time being. But just wait. They will be mine!
The Orphan's Tales: Cities of Coin and Spice by Catherynne M. Valente
This was every bit what I was expecting and hoping it would be. The mystery of the orphan girl's origin finally comes clean in this volume, and the story was beautifully told and just as mesmerizing as the first. I think the first is still my favorite book of the two, but that's due mostly to the fact it surprised me. I went into the second book knowing what Valente was capable of, and boy-oh-boy did she deliver!
On Hold?-
Trainspotting by Irvine Welsh
I'm not totally sure why I seemed to have stopped reading this book. I was enjoying it, but I didn't really click with it, you know? I'll give it a week or two and try to pick it back up once this semester's over and I have a little more spare time and energy. (And did anyone else find that the book wasn't nearly as gross as its reputation implied? I was expecting to be disgusted and appalled through the whole thing, but so far there have only been two or three little moments where I went "ugh!")
Reading-
Trouble on Triton by Samuel R. Delany
Actually, I only started this one this morning, but I've been moving along at a good clip (except for the little break from reading I took, where I watched The Corpse Bride and cooked lunch) and I'm nearly as far along in Triton as I am in Mainspring. It's much harder reading than Mainspring, too- damn you, Delany, and your complicated scientific and philosophical passages that make me slow down, read, re-read, contemplate, and play connect-the-dots in my brain. This isn't easy for me to do first thing in the morning! Delany, if you weren't so damn good at it and totally worth the struggle, I'd hate you.
Mainspring by Jay Lake
I've waited how many months now to get my hands on a copy of this fucker? Too many, that's certain. I've read a few of Jay Lake's short stories and browsed his blog (livejournal? don't remember now) a time or two...and I've waited. And waited. And waited. Every time I saw a copy at B&N or Half-Price- not that I ever shop at bookstores other than the one I work in, of course- I'd talk myself out of buying it (I can't support the competition, right?) because eventually- EVENTUALLY- we'd get a copy at my job and I'd get my employee discount and all that jazz. In fact, a copy came in a few months ago- and my coworker (it's a good thing I like him!) snatched it up before I saw it! So I waited. And waited. And Waited. And lo and behold, what comes in last Saturday but my very own copy of Mainspring! I even did a little victory dance for the benefit of my coworkers (especially the one who nabbed the other copy!) and I bought the little fucker before I left that night. I win. (And the book's been pretty damn fun, too!)
Awaiting-
Dark Reflections by Samuel R. Delany
Yes, there are still some Delany books I don't own. And yes, that number keeps shrinking. This particular Delany book is somewhat semi-autobiographical in that the main character- a probable stand-in for the author- is a black, gay poet, as Delany was before he turned to science fiction (and then to 'literary' fiction...but whatever). The character's life is told in reverse- that is, he starts out as a succesful older man and as the story progresses, the reader is gradually introduced to him as his younger and more ambitious self. At least, that's what all of the reviews and summaries I've seen have said. I'll have the book by the end of the week, and then I'll know more.
Nova Scotia: New Scottish Speculative Fiction edited by Andrew J. Wilson
This was a 2006 finalist for the World Fantasy Award for Best Anthology, and holy hell but does it have a great line-up. Ken MacLeod, Jane Yolen, Charles Stoss, Neil Williamson, and seventeen others contributed to this collection, and I have no fucking clue as to how in the hell this thing is out of print. (Why? WHY?) After all, "forget, the Loch Ness monster, Brigadoon and all the usual tartanalia: Nova Scotia examines the Scotland of the 21st century and offers 22 unique insights on living in this New Scotland". And yeah, I totally stole that from the website.
New Additions to My Wish List-
The Secret History of Moscow by Ekaterina Sedia
My friend (the coworker who snagged that first copy of Mainspring, actually) swears by this woman's writing, and from what little I've seen I must say I'm excited. Hopefully I'll like her as much as my coworker does, which is frankly very possible.
In the Forest of Forgetting by Theodora Goss
This is a short story collection by a writer who I've read in Lady Churchill's (well, ok, I've only ever seen The Best of compilation), and every time I've fallen a little more in love with her work. Now that I've found a collection of her stories, I have to get it.
Paper Cities: An Anthology of Urban Fantasy edited by Ekaterina Sedia (not so new on my wish list, but it will probably be one of the next few things I order online)
Sedia again. This anthology contains works by Jay Lake, Hal Duncan, Anna Tambour, Forrest Aguirre, and Catherynne M. Valente, and I'm starting to see a trend in the authors whose short fiction I collect. Anyone else detect a trend?
There are a number of other anthologies that I've been eyeing, but I'm trying to keep my consumption level down for the time being. But just wait. They will be mine!
Saturday, April 25, 2009
(More) New Books
I was bad this week- I bought more books, even after my spending spree last week and after paying on my gigantic expensive layaway. I also adopted a few abandoned books from our donation closest at work, but that only makes up for it a little bit.
Anyway, this week's new acquisitions list contains-
Anyway, this week's new acquisitions list contains-
Mainspring by Jay Lake
The Great Book of Amber by Roger Zelazny
The Tale of Genji by Lady Murasaki Shikibu (though I prefer this edition, which I also own)
Great Expectations by Charles Dickens (Norton Critical Edition)
The Eternal Champions Series, Volumes 1, 2, and 3 (The Eternal Champion, Von Bek, and Hawkmoon)
And, because I'm a loser who can't kick the deadly habit...
Han Solo's Revenge by Brian Daley (sorry, no accurate Amazon image)
The Trouble With Tribbles: The Birth, Death, Sale, and Final Production of One Episode by David Gerrold
Sunday, April 12, 2009
Upcoming Releases- 2009
So instead of reading or writing or really doing anything remotely productive, I spent the evening browsing Amazon and checking out upcoming releases by my favorite writers. I already have Anne Bishop's new book The Shadow Queen (which I'm not as pleased with as I had hoped, unfortunately) which snuck under my radar until I stumbled across a copy at Barnes & Noble. To keep this from happening again, I decided to compile a list here for books I'm gonna have to order A.S.A.P!
First off is Jeff Vandermeer's Booklife: Strategies and Survival Tips for the 21st Century Writer. Though I normally avoid books on writing like the plague on society they are, I think I'll have to break my own rules and check this one out. Vandermeer's non-fiction is, strangely enough, the reason I started reading him in the first place, and this book looks like it's going to deal with issues that actually are important for modern day writers including, as Amazon.com claims, "personal space versus public space, deadlines, and networking, [and] the benefits of interacting with readers through new technologies". This one is due out in October, so I've got a while to wait before I can get my hands on a copy.
China Mieville's new novel, The City & The City, is coming out this May. I'm fighting the urge to pre-order it...at least until it gets a little closer to the release date and my willpower breaks. I'm a little behind on my Mieville books, but this one looks pretty intriguing and I just might have to bump a few things down on my reading list to make room for it.
I was hoping to get a copy of Catherynne M. Valente's Palimpsest at one of my local bookstores, but once again I forgot how weak the fantasy sections in my Hastings and Barnes & Noble are. I'll be buying this one off of Amazon before long, I fear.
Neil Gaiman has another children's book (Crazy Hair) due out at the end of May. I already have a copy of his other new children's book, The Blueberry Girl, and I love it. Charles Vess' artwork is unbelievably beautiful in The Blueberry Girl, and I'm sure Dave McKean's illustrations in Crazy Hair will be as odd and wonderful as they always are.
Oddly enough (for me), I'm greatly tempted to read Drood by Dan Simmons. Like books on writing, I tend to avoid fiction about writers, but I think Simmons may be on to something with his novel about Charles Dickens and his last, unfinished manuscript, The Mystery of Edwin Drood. Besides, this is one giant sucker of a freaking novel, which hopefully translates into plenty of reading entertainment for me!
I'm also looking out for a copy of Steve Berman's Mr. October's Naughty Bedside Reader, which doesn't have a release date yet, sadly. Like Valente, I'll probably have to order this one off Amazon, since my local bookstores don't know who he is, either (ugh! I need to have a chat with the people who pick stock. Whoever these Robert Jordan and R.A. Salvatore guys are, they need to quit taking up so much room on the store fantasy shelves!).
First off is Jeff Vandermeer's Booklife: Strategies and Survival Tips for the 21st Century Writer. Though I normally avoid books on writing like the plague on society they are, I think I'll have to break my own rules and check this one out. Vandermeer's non-fiction is, strangely enough, the reason I started reading him in the first place, and this book looks like it's going to deal with issues that actually are important for modern day writers including, as Amazon.com claims, "personal space versus public space, deadlines, and networking, [and] the benefits of interacting with readers through new technologies". This one is due out in October, so I've got a while to wait before I can get my hands on a copy.
China Mieville's new novel, The City & The City, is coming out this May. I'm fighting the urge to pre-order it...at least until it gets a little closer to the release date and my willpower breaks. I'm a little behind on my Mieville books, but this one looks pretty intriguing and I just might have to bump a few things down on my reading list to make room for it.
I was hoping to get a copy of Catherynne M. Valente's Palimpsest at one of my local bookstores, but once again I forgot how weak the fantasy sections in my Hastings and Barnes & Noble are. I'll be buying this one off of Amazon before long, I fear.
Neil Gaiman has another children's book (Crazy Hair) due out at the end of May. I already have a copy of his other new children's book, The Blueberry Girl, and I love it. Charles Vess' artwork is unbelievably beautiful in The Blueberry Girl, and I'm sure Dave McKean's illustrations in Crazy Hair will be as odd and wonderful as they always are.
Oddly enough (for me), I'm greatly tempted to read Drood by Dan Simmons. Like books on writing, I tend to avoid fiction about writers, but I think Simmons may be on to something with his novel about Charles Dickens and his last, unfinished manuscript, The Mystery of Edwin Drood. Besides, this is one giant sucker of a freaking novel, which hopefully translates into plenty of reading entertainment for me!
I'm also looking out for a copy of Steve Berman's Mr. October's Naughty Bedside Reader, which doesn't have a release date yet, sadly. Like Valente, I'll probably have to order this one off Amazon, since my local bookstores don't know who he is, either (ugh! I need to have a chat with the people who pick stock. Whoever these Robert Jordan and R.A. Salvatore guys are, they need to quit taking up so much room on the store fantasy shelves!).
Sunday, March 22, 2009
Reading List
Just Finished:
Pirate Freedom by Gene Wolfe
By 'just finished' I mean I read the last page less than two hours ago. This book was my first Gene Wolfe experience, and while I wasn't exactly overwhelmed, I was intrigued enough that I think I'll pick up one of his more renowned books before too long.
Reading at Work:
The Involuntary Human by David Gerrold
This is my lunch-break book, partially because it's a collection of shorter works ranging from Star Trek screenplays, novel excerpts, short stories, and quotes from the character Solomon Short. It's been great fun!
A Canticle for Leibowitz by Walter M. Miller, Jr.
Is there anything about this book I can say that hasn't already been said? I'm reading a third printing of the first edition, priced at $100, which means I can only read it when I'm sitting with a customer back in our locked collectibles room, where it's located. I am in love.
About to Start:
The Best of Lady Churchill's Rosebud Wristlet edited by Kelly Link and Gavin J. Grant
This is a collection including Jeffrey Ford, Margaret Muirhead, Kelly Link, and a large number of other writers all previously published in the lit magazine Lady Churchill's Rosebud Wristlet.
The Orphan's Tales: In the Cities of Coin and Spice by Catherynne M. Valente
First off, Valente gets a gold star for being mentioned in three blogs in a row. Secondly, this is the sequel to The Orphan's Tale: In the Night Garden, and if it's anything like the first, I'm in for a hell of a ride!
Impatiently Awaiting:
Logorrhea: Good Words Make Good Stories edited by John Kilma
This anthology contains works by Jay Lake, Hal Duncan, Michael Moorcock, Marly Youmans and Jeff Vandermeer, among a number of other great writers (it's just that the ones listed are the reasons I ordered the book).
Pirate Freedom by Gene Wolfe
By 'just finished' I mean I read the last page less than two hours ago. This book was my first Gene Wolfe experience, and while I wasn't exactly overwhelmed, I was intrigued enough that I think I'll pick up one of his more renowned books before too long.
Reading at Work:
The Involuntary Human by David Gerrold
This is my lunch-break book, partially because it's a collection of shorter works ranging from Star Trek screenplays, novel excerpts, short stories, and quotes from the character Solomon Short. It's been great fun!
A Canticle for Leibowitz by Walter M. Miller, Jr.
Is there anything about this book I can say that hasn't already been said? I'm reading a third printing of the first edition, priced at $100, which means I can only read it when I'm sitting with a customer back in our locked collectibles room, where it's located. I am in love.
About to Start:
The Best of Lady Churchill's Rosebud Wristlet edited by Kelly Link and Gavin J. Grant
This is a collection including Jeffrey Ford, Margaret Muirhead, Kelly Link, and a large number of other writers all previously published in the lit magazine Lady Churchill's Rosebud Wristlet.
The Orphan's Tales: In the Cities of Coin and Spice by Catherynne M. Valente
First off, Valente gets a gold star for being mentioned in three blogs in a row. Secondly, this is the sequel to The Orphan's Tale: In the Night Garden, and if it's anything like the first, I'm in for a hell of a ride!
Impatiently Awaiting:
Logorrhea: Good Words Make Good Stories edited by John Kilma
This anthology contains works by Jay Lake, Hal Duncan, Michael Moorcock, Marly Youmans and Jeff Vandermeer, among a number of other great writers (it's just that the ones listed are the reasons I ordered the book).
Saturday, March 21, 2009
Top Reads 2008
I was digging around Half Price a few days ago with my friends, pulling out old favorites and recent good reads (and, of course, new eye-catching titles) when I came across a copy of The Book Thief. I handed it over to one of my friends and told her that it was probably one of my favorite books from last year, probably in my top five. That got me to thinking, though...What have I read recently (as in the year 2008) that really moved me? That was so good, every time I see another copy of it, I'm tempted to buy it and send it to someone else who needs to read it? My coworker and I read Hal Duncan's Vellum at the same time, and a number of our other coworkers heard us talking (very animatedly) about it and started reading it, too. Now everytime we get a customer named 'Seamus' or 'Renard' or 'Carter', we twitter a bit, exchange significant looks, and in general scare the living hell out of said customer.
Anyway, that's part of the joy of finding a really good new book, right? You share it with people you love and you know will love the book almost as much as you (because you always have first rights to fangasming, since you discovered it, right?). Well, these books made the cut out of the massive stack of things I read in 2008 to be listed as my top five. Not all of them are new- or even from this decade (Delany's for example), but all are excellent reads which I've pushed to customers at my job or to my friends and coworkers. My copy of Vellum is starting to look a bit tattered from being loaned out...maybe I should keep the next copy I buy...
The Orphan's Tales: In the Night Garden by Catherynne M. Valente (I have a link to one of her interviews on my last blog)
The Motion of Light in Water: Sex and Science Fiction Writing in the East Village by Samuel R. Delany (It's the only non-fiction book to make this list, and yet somehow it's still about SF. Go figure.)
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak (Ok, ok, it's a YA novel...don't judge me! Get the book and judge it!)
Vellum and Ink by Hal Duncan (I'm counting these on one line because they're a...duology. I guess)
Perdido Street Station by China Mieville (This is another I keep talking up to customers. I plan on re-reading it sometime soon, too)
Anyway, that's part of the joy of finding a really good new book, right? You share it with people you love and you know will love the book almost as much as you (because you always have first rights to fangasming, since you discovered it, right?). Well, these books made the cut out of the massive stack of things I read in 2008 to be listed as my top five. Not all of them are new- or even from this decade (Delany's for example), but all are excellent reads which I've pushed to customers at my job or to my friends and coworkers. My copy of Vellum is starting to look a bit tattered from being loaned out...maybe I should keep the next copy I buy...
The Orphan's Tales: In the Night Garden by Catherynne M. Valente (I have a link to one of her interviews on my last blog)
The Motion of Light in Water: Sex and Science Fiction Writing in the East Village by Samuel R. Delany (It's the only non-fiction book to make this list, and yet somehow it's still about SF. Go figure.)
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak (Ok, ok, it's a YA novel...don't judge me! Get the book and judge it!)
Vellum and Ink by Hal Duncan (I'm counting these on one line because they're a...duology. I guess)
Perdido Street Station by China Mieville (This is another I keep talking up to customers. I plan on re-reading it sometime soon, too)
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