Posts Tagged ‘library’
a laugh at Dan Brown’s expense
Posted on: October 12, 2011
Ahh, the smell and feel of new books. Even if they are only new-to-me. Even if they came from the library and I have to give them back. They are still the physical object known as book, usually smooth on the outside by not always, often shiny and sometimes embossed. Sometimes with print on three of six faces, alluring cover art or none at all, dearest book thing how do I love you?
Allow me to introduce you to my latest aquirrings:
Terminal World, by Alastair Reynolds.
I didn’t have much luck with Reynolds’ debut novel, Revelation Space, it was an “almost” book for me. Almost awesome, but not quite. So when Terminal World was announced as my local SF group’s October read, I was excited to give Reynolds another shot. I’m about 100 pages in, and so far, so good!
The photo doesn’t do it justice at all, but the cover art is stunning. It’s embossed, so the light reflects of the artwork in all sorts of alluring ways. and it’s got air ships! Let’s see if I can get a decent close up of the cover art:
New Aquisitions
Posted on: June 1, 2011
Well, I guess most of these can’t rightly be called “aquisitions”, since I got more than half of them from the library:
Wow, that’s a crappy picture! Book pr0n it ain’t! That’s what I get for taking pictures when half asleep. oh well.
The World House: Restoration, by Guy Adams is an ARC from Angry Robot books that will hit your local bookshelves in July. It looks wonderfully creepy. Stay tuned for reviews of Guy Adam’s first book, The World House, and this new one in the next few months.
M John Harrison’s Viriconium – Three novellas and a handful of short stories taking place in his Viriconium world. A post-post-post apocalyptic Earth where everything but surreality is scarce. Harrison is known for dreamy, surreal prose and storylines that overlap in time and space. I read this book about five years ago, I hope it’s as good as I remember.
Thanks to recommendations from @Mascheph and some discussions on Gav Reads, I picked up Ellen Kusher’s Swordspoint and Lynn Flewelling’s Luck in the Shadows along with Anthony Burgess’s The Wanting Seed. On first blush, the Burgess looks the most interesting.
Why is this copy of The Wanting Seed in a zip lock bag, you ask? Because I got it randomly at a garage sale a few days ago. And wow was it musty and smelly! Thus the zippy bag and baking soda. Book should be not-to-stinky in a few days.
Don’t tell anyone, but sometimes when I get super cheapo stinky books (this one cost me a quarter), after I read them I throw them out. If the book is really good, I’ll buy a not-stinky copy or get it from the library. I just don’t want to fill up my bookshelves with stinky stuff that’s falling apart, you know?
If you have read and or reviewed any of these, please let me know in the comments.
Bibliothecary!
Posted on: May 12, 2011
Because I love you, here’s what you can look forward to on LRR in the next little while:
Review of The Sinful Stars*, an anthology based on the Fading Suns role playing game. Edited by Bill Bridges, one of the creators of the Fading Suns universe, of stories I’ve read so far, I’d say about half of them are very good to excellent. If all goes well, the review will post on Saturday. Also, thanks to Sinful Stars, I’ve discovered my new favorite bookish work: bibliothecary.
Any PRG’ers among my readers? Have you read or written fiction based on your table top game of choice? This shared universe thing is pretty cool as well, it’s got me interested in maybe giving the Martin edited Wild Cards a shot.
hello University Library!
Posted on: April 4, 2011
It’s been so long since we went to the University Library that my guest card had expired. That taken care of, the other half hit the top floor for ancient history, and I headed to the basement where the New Books are showcased (along with vending machines, and apparently soon they are getting a SmoothieKing. In the library?? A SmoothieKing In the library?!?!?!?!).
If you live anywhere near a university, community college, or tech school, I highly suggest calling their library and inquiring about getting a guest card.
Both are collections of Essays, and both connect to speculative fiction. Or at least I can connect them to speculative fiction.
We’ve got:
Harem Histories: Envisioning Places and Living Spaces, edited by Marilyn Booth
and
Fundamentalism, Politics, and the Law, edited by Mark J. Rozell and Marci A. Hamilton
I might be a liar
Posted on: March 20, 2011
last week I finished two books and decided two other books in my “to be read pile” would be give-aways for one reason or another.
I felt so in control of my TBR pile! it was so in control in fact, that I said out loud to a number of people “my stack of books is under control!”
then I went to the library. On the way home I checked the mailbox.
TBR pile under control?
I am a damn liar.
Yes, that stack contains brand spankin’ new stuff, old stuff, even library stuff. cuz that’s how I roll. Read the rest of this entry »
Grinning like a Fool
Posted on: March 2, 2011
A few days ago I got an e-mail from my favorite public library:
The material you’ve requested is ready for pick up: How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe, by Charles Yu.
So I went and picked it up, grinning like a fool the whole time. Yesterday I read the first half of the book. It’s a fast-ish read, much stream of consciousness, social commentary, funny little digs at companies, good stuff. It’s also very, very depressing at times. To the point where half way through, I had to put it down. That’s gonna be an awkward book review to write. How do you say “this book was freaking depressing!” and make it sound like a compliment?
So I picked up Jasper Kent’s Thirteen Years Later instead. I always love me some suspense and scary bad guys. Got about 50 pages into it last night and early this morning. And as to be expected, it’s very good. No pun intended, but it sucks you right in.
Then, this morning I got one of the best e-mails I’ve ever gotten.
Better than Cory Doctorow’s response to my drunken fanletter, and almost better than Scott Lynch’s response to my drunken fanletter/love letter. BTW, awesome audio interview with Scott Lynch here. The man has a lovely voice, I wonder if he’s ever contemplated a career as a newscaster?
Back to this mornings awesome e-mail. It was from my favorite Public Library. It read:
The material you’ve requested is ready for pick up: The Wise Man’s Fear by Patrick Rothfuss. Read the rest of this entry »
Chances are, if you’re reading this, you love books.
You probably also own a lot of books.
And your friends know you love books and own more than a handful of them.
It’s inevitable.
Maybe not today, and maybe not tomorrow, but one day, someday soon, someone is going to say “can I borrow that?”
What kind of lending library is your private collection?
a) I’m happy to lend any book I own to any of my friends.
b) My closest friends get lending privileges, often more than they really want.
c) Some of my books I’m happy to lend out, with other titles if you want to read it, I’ll buy you a copy instead of lending it.
d) my books! no touch! get away from my stuff!
And just for kicks, because it’s happened to all of us, what’s been your worst experience lending out a book?
I’m currently about half way through Stephen Lawhead’s Hood. Like much of what he writes, it’s far too atmospheric to blast through in a day and a half. If I can finish it tomorrow, I’ll try to get a review up on Monday. I’ve also got a beautiful Mark Hodder Arc that’s going to be my first read of February.
And because I have a bucket of other books I’d really like to get to, what did I do today? I went to the library, of course!!
and this is what I came home with:
Ignoring the sofa upholstery that’s so ugly as to be legendary, we have the following:
Not from the library, but borrowed from a friend, is The Meq, by Steve Cash. first book of a series.
Home Fires by Gene Wolfe – because come on, it’s Gene Wolfe! I haven’t read a ton by him, but everything I’ve read by him I liked. I keep wanting to call it Home Fries, but maybe that’s just cuz I’m hungry?
The Warded Man, by Peter V Brett – actually got this for the husband, but I’ll probably give it a shot too. I’ve heard good and bad about it.
Flatterland by Ian Stewart – with a subtitle of “Like Flatland, only more so”, I hope it’s more readable than the original Flatland. I’ve always been a fan of the original Abbott, but much of the satiric undertones has always been lost on me. Having a plot that’s “math and geometry” is hard to pull off. Let’s hope this isn’t an epic fail.
The Habitation of the Blessed, by Catherine Valente – everyone says this is awesome. Also, the book is very pretty.
Do any of these look interesting to you? Have you read any of them? if you’ve reviewed of these books on your blog, post a link in the comments.
The Mountains of Majipoor, by Robert Silverberg
written in: 1995
where I got it: library
why I read it: Silverberg rocks my world.
On my last library jaunt, I was hoping to find Robert Silverberg’s Lord Valentine’s Castle, or Majipoor Chronicles. Alas, the library only had the third book in the series, Valentine Pontifex. And who wants to read just the third book? I’ve read them all, but I wanted to start at the beginning. Then I happened upon The Mountains of Majipoor, a stand alone that does take place on the massive planet of Majipoor, many generations after Valentine. How could I say no?
Thanks to an innocent accident in his youth, young Prince Harpirias finds himself banished from the Castle Mount, given a useless bureaucratic post out on the edge of civilization. Slowly losing contact with his friends, and realizing his hometown has forgotten him, he becomes bitter and angry.
The quest part of the story comes along fairly quickly when Harpirias learns that an archaeological team of scientists has been taken hostage by an even further northern tribe. At first angry that responsibility to save the team falls on him, Harpirias soon realizes if he negotiates the release of the scientists, he can look forward to a Hero’s welcome back home at the Castle Mount.
Progress Schmogress.
Posted on: January 7, 2011
Look at some new goodies I have!
From the publisher (Thanks Pyr!!!) we’ve got The Wolf Age and Blood of Ambrose by James Enge. I’m super excited about these, I think Enge is right up my alley. BTW, check out the Enge novelletta, Traveller’s Rest on the PYR blog. you can download it all e-book like, or if you are super-old-skool like me, you can print it out and read it, killing a tree and promoting use of toxic printer ink.
Borrowed from a friend: 
The first three (is there more than three??) Percy Jackson and the Olympians books by Rick Riordan. See that bookmark in the first one? I started reading it yesterday, and I gots one question: why isn’t all YA stuff this good?
Also, I’ve got Joe Hill’s Horns on hold at the library, to be picked up tomorrow, hopefully along with some classic Robert Silverberg.
Progress made towards my New Years Resolution to read what I’ve got instead of aquiring new stuff? ZERO.
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