More May 18-22 Book Porn

Another 12 books were received in the mail this week, with six being purchases and the other six being review copies. Some interesting books in this week's mailbox arrivals, with three pictures devoted to one of the more intriguing layouts I've seen for a fictional work.

Top: Ken MacLeod, Divisions (reprint omnibus, with Fractions being the first half and this the second. Will read both of these sometime in the near future); P.R. Frost, Faery Moon (author's second novel and I think this is part of a series, so I'm uncertain if I will read this); Tanya Huff, The Enchantment Emperium (apparently this is either a standalone or a new series beginner, so I might read this sometime this summer); Simon R. Green, The Spy Who Haunted Me (another one of this NYT Bestseller's novels).



Top: Stewart O'Nan, Last Night at the Lobster (someone, I forget whom, described O'Nan as being the voice for the working class. If that's the case, then based on this short novel alone, he's an outstanding talent for developing characters and narrative voice. Loved this book and will read more of his stories in the near future); Sang Pak, Wait Until Twilight: A Novel (debut novel coming out in early August that is, according to the author and his publicist, a combination of a coming of age tale and a Southern Gothic. Since I'm a native Southerner, I plan on being all over this like white on rice, with a probable review sometime in mid-to-late July); Michael Moorcock (ed.), New Worlds (2004 reissue of an anthology of some of New Worlds more representative stories and articles. Good stuff so far); Bradford Morrow (ed.), Conjunctions: 48: Faces of Desire (Spring 2007 issue/book that contains around 30 stories that revolve around facets of desire. Some good stuff here); Bradford Morrow (ed.), Conjunctions: 47: 25th Anniversary Issue (will be reading this anthology over the next week or two).



Left: Andrzej Sapkowski, El último deseo; Sapkowski, La sangre de los elfos (just showing off the new Spanish covers for the first and third volumes in La saga de Geralt. Already have reviewed these in English, but I will say that I'm finding José María Faraldo's translation to be superior to the English translation done by Danusa Stok, although some of that is due to Spanish having a fuller archaic literary language compared to English).


J.C. Hutchins and Jordan Weisman, Personal Effects: Dark Art.

This is an unusual book to examine. The first picture (above) is of the book when closed; it looks of normal size from a distance. But consider the two pictures below when the book is opened. There is a pocket to the left that contains a psychiatric report, family photos, death and birth certificates, and links to actual web sites that will further the immersive experience, according to the press kit. This book is described as being "the steller first of an interactive supernatural series" and apparently Weisman is an "alternative reality game whiz" who designed the contents of the book's packet, while Hutchins (who is the author of the audiobook podcast trilogy 7th Son) is making his print debut. Don't know if this is the second coming of Mark Danielewski's House of Leaves or something that would be a glorified mess, but this has piqued my interest, so I might read/review it before its June 11th release.