December 4-6 Book Porn

Five books this time, four of them purchases and one the finished copy of a previously-received ARC. As always, I show my purchases mostly for those few who might be curious about what I buy and if it differs greatly from what I receive for review consideration.

Left: Rómulo Gallegos, Doña Bárbara (before there was the Boom Generation, there were Latin American writers such as the Venezuelan Gallegos, taking influences from France, Spain, and occasionally the US and making adaptations to fit with what was transpiring in Latin America. This work is a classic for a reason and I am curious to discover that reason, since until recently, this book was not easily available for a gringo such as myself); Rikki Ducornet, The One Marvelous Thing (microfiction collection with illustrations provided. Ducornet has a lush, poetic writing style and so far, halfway into this collection, it is almost certain to be discussed more later this month, as it is just the sort of read I wanted to read right now); J.K. Rowling, The Tales of Beetle the Bard (based off of the book's references in the last HP book, I've already reviewed it).



Left: Mark Schultz, The Stuff of Life: A Graphic Guide to Genetics and DNA (the sort of book that makes complicated stuff like genetics a bit more comprehensible for non-science majors such as myself); Michael Moorcock, Elric: The Sleeping Sorceress (third volume in a series of reissues of Moorcock's Elric stories. Need to read the second one first, but since the fourth one arrived as an ARC last week, felt obligated to buy the third volume now, with hopes of reading all three volumes in the coming weeks.)