November 4-10 Book Porn

Thirteen books have arrived in the past few days, with 9 being review copies and 4 being purchases (the top and bottom photos). Expect a few features and/or reviews on many of these books before Christmas time.

Left: Andrzej Sapkowski, Bautismo de fuego (fifth Geralt/Witcher book; enjoyed it quite a bit and will review it in the future); Roberto Bolaño, Estrella distante (high, high expectations for this earlier novel of his, as I've already decided that 2666 is one of my favorite reads for 2008, although it will not appear on my year-end list simply because I read it in Spanish and in its original language, it was first published in 2005).




Left: Bruce Sterling, The Caryatids (due out in about 3-4 months, will read it later); Gene Wolfe, An Evil Guest (read it a few months ago, thought it was minor Wolfe, but will re-read it in a couple of months before making up my mind on it in a review); Edward M. Lerner, Fools' Experiments (likely a "rainy day" read at this time).



Left: Jim Butcher, Princeps' Fury (from Butcher's other series, again this will wait until another day, especially since I don't have the first few volumes); James P. Blaylock, Knights of the Cornerstone (been meaning to try his work for some time, so I'll start with this fantasy, even if it might not match his more famous work...or might it?).




Top-Left: Dana Stabenow (ed.), Unusual Suspects (apparently, this is an original paranormal mystery anthology); Deborah Chester, The Crown (billed as the second book of a new trilogy by a long-established author).

Bottom-Left: Nina Harper, Succubus Takes Manhattan (sequel to a book I received a few months ago and still have yet to read, apparently this is an urban fantasy); John Levitt, New Tricks (also a second volume in an urban fantasy series).



Left: Jorge Volpi, No será la Tierra (one of founding members of Mexico's Crack Manifesto writing group, I have high hopes for this novel. Plus, play close attention to that photo and what's transpiring there); Jeffrey Ford, The Drowned Life (anything less than a candidate for my year-end finalist list for Best Short Story Collection will be a major shock and disappointment. That's how much I have enjoyed Ford's stories in the past).