An additional 9 books have been bought or received from Wednesday-Friday and for those of you (apparently less than half according to the latest poll figures) that are really interested in these, the first two images are of the five review copies and the final one of four books I bought in a local store on Friday. Can you tell a difference here in my reading/buying habits as compared to much of what I receive these days?
Left: Charlaine Harris and Toni L.P. Kelner (eds.), Wolfsbane and Mistletoe; William C. Dietz, When Duty Calls; Anya Bast, The Chosen Sin.
(I wonder if there's an unintentional fertilization image in that Dietz cover art...)
Two more publisher-sent books, one of which contains a rather odd-looking naval battle, the other with a "spunky lass" cover shot. What to make of these?
Left: Taylor Anderson, Destroyermen: Crusade; Talia Gryphon, Key to Redemption
And finally, four books that I purchased. Three are by late 20th/early 21st century writers, the other by a 19th century French short story master. How do their cover arts match up to the ones above?Top-left: Dave Eggers, You Shall Know Our Velocity!; Bret Easton Ellis, American Psycho
Bottom-left: Haruki Murakami, The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle; Guy de Maupassant, A Parisian Affair and Other Stories
Between this and the other books bought/received this week, I have lots of reading ahead. And with a week-long vacation coming up in 4 weeks, it'll be a nice time to read, I hope. Now off to watch some college football and to work on composing my first true review in months.
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10 comments:
The only one I've read is American Psycho...it is both funnier and infinitely more disturbing than the movie. Enjoy!
I hope I shall, although "enjoy" might not be the most appropriate of words for stories like that one ;)
The wording in the poll about book porn is a bit off for me - I voted for Like it, some good, some bad, though what I mean is some that interest me, some that do not since there are quite a few good books on these posts that are just not for me.
For example Murakami - I tried quite a few times and never connected to his writing, though I love some Japanese literature a lot (especially Tanizaki, Mishima and Kawabata of which I read quite a lot and own most of their translated novels if not all) - but I recognize that he is very appreciated by many people and by critics
Now if you want to argue that William Dietz is junk, I would not contradict though years ago when I was reading mostly sf and trying every non-tie-in sf novel, I went through several of his Legion novels and even some standalones like Prison Planet though today I find them kind of boring...
Where's the option "I hate you for receiving all those books,and even more for actually finding the time to read them?"
I blame my illiterate cousins,who have taken to come calling every other day now.
I love Murakami,but I know he was attacked by some classical Japanese authors (Kenzaburo Oe,I think) who complained that he was too "western".
Interesting that you arrived to Watchmen so late,and I remember reading Children of the Alley and the Joke when I was in High School in 1989...
Bye
Marco
I guess we're both on Roc / Ace / Daw / Penguin's mailing list now.
I read the first book by Anderson and really enjoyed it, even if it was a little rough aroudn the edges.
Marco,
Sorry that I didn't think of that option! :P As for reading Moore, Mahfouz, and Kundera relatively late in life, I blame it more on a combination of biases (mainly against graphic novels, now mostly in the past) and ignorance of what was available. Then again, I wonder if I would have enjoyed them as much if I had read them earlier in life.
Liviu,
Choice wording is very tricky, especially when I try to have them be as concise as possible. As for arguing the merits (or not) of authors such as Dietz that I've never read, I'll defer for now. The little bit I've read indicates it probably isn't going to be the sort of fiction that would stimulate my mind.
Rob,
Certainly seems that way. Say, have you received anything from Underland Press yet? I enjoyed the Evenson and will read the Elliott book in a couple of months. Curious if you're receiving those as well.
Nothing from Underhill, though the books look pretty good.
I'd suggest emailing Victoria Blake, the publisher, about it then. I believe Matt Staggs passed along my contact info to her and from what I've noticed so far, she's quite aware of the online review field and likely would be agreeable to sending you review copies.
Larry: I'm not on the Roc / Ace / Daw mailing list, but I did get those Underland Press books. Wrapped in a nice black ribbon tied in a bow. :)
Delightfully twisted in a quiet way.
Yeah, that ribbon was a great touch. Same goes with the handwritten note about them.
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