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Recently acquired books
message 551:
by
Ron
(new)
May 11, 2011 01:21AM
I found Michael Flynn's Up Jim River and after ten pages feel obliged to order The January Dancer to get the backstory. Also: a used copy of Cory Doctorow's Someone Comes to Town, Someone Leaves Town which I look forward to greatly, and a thing called Theories of Flight by Simon Morden, of whom I've never heard; this is the second in the 'Samuil Petrovitch' series, but here I feel less obliged to read them in order, I just want to see if it's any good (forty pages in, and it's more than decent).
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-The Hidden Goddess by M.K. Hobson (sequel to The Native Star
-Silver Borne by Patricia Briggs (Mercy Thompson #5)
-Shades of Grey by Jasper Fforde
-Naamah's Curse by Jacqueline Carey
After Theories of Flight I went back and got Morden's first book in the series, Equations of Life and have since polished it off too, and I went to Morden's website (bookofmorden.uk) and found that he has an e-book of short stories setting up his post-Armageddon London, which he offers free for download. These books are fast and great fun, and I recommend them to those who feel they might like post-apocalyptic cyberpunk with a noir feel. However, there are no vampires, bit of a missed opportunity there.
I picked up 4 at Half Price Books today:- Geist by Philippa Ballantine (I don't normally go for paranormal/urban fantasy with a romantic sub-plot, but this one piques my interest more than most, and it was 3 bucks new, so why not?)
- Life of Pi by Yann Martel (It seems everyone but me has read this already. I couldn't pass it up for $2 new.)
- Planet Earth. The Traveller's Guide - a lovely non-fiction to share with my son
- Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly by Anthony Bourdain - for a gift, although I wouldn't mind reading it, too
Didn't realize there were Half Price Books outlets in Washington state. They are a regular stop for me whenever I visit my grandkids in Texas.And you should give the Anthony Bourdain book a go. Quite revealing. Just a tad more gritty than his Travel Channel episodes.
So far in May:The Night life of the gods
Counterpoint: Dylan's Story
The Picture of Dorian Gray: An Annotated Uncensored Edition
The Iron Grail
The Vintner's Luck: A Novel
Last Call
Heart's Blood
Tex and Molly in the Afterlife
Finally Out: Letting Go of Living Straight A Psychiatrist's Own Story
The Broken Kings: Book Three of The Merlin Codex
Stonewielder: A Novel of the Malazan Empire
Prince: A Novel
Minions of the Moon
The Steampunk Trilogy
InterWorld
A Glastonbury Romance
Fool on the Hill: A Novel
Swim the Moon
My Summer of Wes
Candiss wrote: "I picked up 4 at Half Price Books today:Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly by Anthony Bourdain - for a gift, although I wouldn't mind reading it, too "Read this. I really enjoyed it.
Little bit of Trivia, In the latest season of Treme all the scenes that take place in the New York were written my Mr Bourdain.
I found three Mary Stewart ebooks available here in New Zealand and at a very good price which was exciting. All my paperbacks are very old and ratty.The Ivy Tree
The Moonspinners
Stormy Petrel
Amazon.co.uk has most of the rest listed as becoming available at the end of the month. I'm hoping they will show up locally as well since I've been wanting to read through Mary Stewart's novels in the order she wrote them for a while. Some will be Ferrara some will be new for me. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.
Some of them will be REREADS and some will be new. Sorry. I haven't quite mastered editing posts on the iPad so gave up and just posted my correction in a new post.
I read a lot of Mary Stewart when I was younger. I love her in a nostalgic way.
Stewart's Merlin trilogy (now 4 books, I believe) was one of my favorites.
Yes those 4+ book "trilogies" are becoming more and more prevalent...:)
Jim wrote: "Stewart's Merlin trilogy (now 4 books, I believe) was one of my favorites."Ditto. If I'm remembering correctly, they are the first genre series I read and loved as a kid. (I can't recall any sf/f books I loved before these, and always credit Mary Stewart for pushing me to explore more spec fic. I believe the progression was actually "entries on myths in an old 1950s set of encyclopedias" >> "world mythologies" >> "legends and folklore" >> "Mary Stewart" >> "other science fiction and fantasy literature".)
Denae wrote: "I read a lot of Mary Stewart when I was younger. I love her in a nostalgic way."Yeah, me too - loved those books. In particular, I remember one that involved a small neighbourhood of sorts - the houses were built around a large courtyard where the children could play and be watched by everyone.
Don't remember the name of the book though.
I believe Mary Stewart is Mary Stewart Rhinehardt - or the other way around - not sure.
Anyway - she was a wonderful author.
Another author I liked when I was young - well, like I was 28 or so - it was Mary Taylor Caldwell. She wrote big doorstoppers - my favourite by her was Dear and Glorious Physician.
Those were more or less my first serious books - up till then, the only thing I was reading - other than what I'd been made to read in high school - was harlequin romances - True Story magazines and smutty pocket books I found in my father's stash in the basement. The harlequins started when I was in my mid-twenties. I was going on 28 when we moved to Orangeville - the librarian there told me - I'm going to start you on some real literature. And that's what I started on Mary Taylor Caldwell and Mary Stewarts.
I like fiction, fantasy, sci-fi when it's done well - I don't care if the books aren't considered literature, but they've gotta' have some gumption or I don't bother with them.
I like the odd silly stuff once in a while - but it doesn't hold me for long.
Mike (the Paladin) wrote: "Just got The Guardener's Tale"That looks really interesting. It seems to be one of those gems that fell through the cracks, considering reviews and award noms vs how well known the book is (not).
I've added it to my TBR. Thanks, Mike (the Paladin)!
I got from an update on one of my Goodreads Friends (sorry, can't remember who). It caught my interest and like you I thought it looked interesting and ordered it.
Did a little used book tour the last couple of days and picked up four books I have been snooping forRobots and Empire
The Robots of Dawn
Destination: Void
The Ascension Factor
Candiss wrote: "Jim wrote: "Stewart's Merlin trilogy (now 4 books, I believe) was one of my favorites."Ditto. If I'm remembering correctly, they are the first genre series I read and loved as a kid. (I can't r..."
Ditto, Ditto. This was the 1st Arthurian series I read as they were released in the '70's I think. They have a lot of good Britlore. A good contrast is Stephen Lawhead's Pendragon Series. I usually read these 2 series back to back every 5 years or so.
Candiss wrote: "-...- and as an anniversary gift:
The Book Of Symbols: Reflections On Archetypal Images - Archive for Research in Archetypal Symbolism..."
This looks fascinating. I studied Celtic numismatics for the last 2 decades of last century which have many symbols for which there is no written evidence about meaning.
These include known symbols like swastikas, infinities, triskeles, spirals and many unnamed symbols. One needs derive meaning from Indoeuropean archetypes to one's imagination. The congruency of multiple symbols and their possible meaning is even more fascinating.
I started with Jung's Man and His Symbols and remember a great multiple volume work I tried to find for a long time, but which was always too expensive. Its name is lost in the interstices of my brain. I think I've forgotten more than I ever knew ;-)
Mod
Kathi, my finger is poised ready to ring for medical assistance if required.
Mod
I was at Costco with my mom this morning and couldn't resist picking up a couple of books they had there:
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, which I've been wanting to read, and The Land of Painted Caves by Jean Auel - I know that the writing is going to be terrible, but I can't help it. I *loved* The Clan of the Cave Bear and its sequels when I first read them in high school, and even though I was disappointed in them upon re-reading as an adult, I still have an irrational attachment to the series and just had to have the last one. Plus, my mom was paying, LOL!
Shel wrote: "The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks..."This looks quite interesting but I have been a bit worried about picking it up. I get the sneaking suspicion that there is an agenda with the book. A person unknowingly donates some cells and now the family is looking for some sort of payday....
Mod
I will be picking this up, too. Partly because I, too, devoured the first few books of this series way back when and partly because I've heard about the painted caves recently on some NPR program(s). This series reminds me of Diana Gabaldon's Outlander series--started out with a bang then got sort of predictable and drawn out--but I will still finish the series at some point.
Shel wrote: "You *sure* you're ok, Kathi? LOL!"
Yes, thanks Helen & Shel!!
I've actually bought a number of books lately. I always do, and forget to post them. The Salt Road
Port Eternity
The Chanur Saga (Compact Space, #1-3)
Chanur's Endgame (Compact Space, #4-5)
Tripoint
Rimrunners
Merchanter's Luck
And the following ebooks:
Heart of the Witch (free from BN)
Dissolution
The Last Child (cheap)
Hissy Fit (cheap)
The Four Corners of the Sky: A Novel (I have no idea why I bought this. Maybe it was free? I'm a kid in a candy store?)
Kathi wrote: "Shel wrote: " ...The Land of Painted Caves by Jean Auel "I will be picking this up, too. Partly because I, too, devoured the first few books of this series way back when and partly because I've ..."
Hey! Oh, man! How long have we all been waiting for that one ... I have the first five. Stopped reading them a long time ago. Didn't even finish reading Shelters of Stone.
But I will definitely be adding The Land of the Painted Stones to complete the collection.
Thanks for posting the news!
Ken wrote: "Shel wrote: "The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks..."This looks quite interesting but I have been a bit worried about picking it up. I get the sneaking suspicion that there is an a..."
I never did get started on this one, but I will eventually.
Sandra aka Sleo wrote: "I've actually bought a number of books lately. I always do, and forget to post them. The Salt Road
Port Eternity
The Chanur Saga (Compact Space, #1-3)
Chanur's Endgame (Compact Space, #4-5)
Tripoint
Rimrunners
Merchanter's Luck
Well, this ought to get your need for a Cherryh fix taken care of! I have The Salt Road also, but don't know when I'll get to it.
Jim wrote: "Sandra aka Sleo wrote: "I've actually bought a number of books lately. I always do, and forget to post them. The Salt Road
Port Eternity
The Chanur Saga (Compact Space, #1-3)
Chanur's Endg..."
Yes. I'm lovin' Cherryh. Always have.
Ah I am soooo weak.Went to the bookstore and to buy ONE book, 80 bucks and 3 books later.....
Picked up
Berlin 1961
The Crusades
Voodoo Histories
Me too - I bought 8, and one I have in paperback already. I bought the kindle version.
Things got a little out of control at amazone last week .. So got this huge package in the mail today..
It feels a bit like christmas :D
It's all "first reads" so cant wait to start..
I want a book parcel! My shopping was all virtual. I loved the Hunger Games. Read Divergent last week, good idea and I became more involved as I read more but it started off as being a bit young.
Helen wrote: "I want a book parcel! My shopping was all virtual. I loved the Hunger Games. Read Divergent last week, good idea and I became more involved as I read more but it started off as being a bit young."Great :) i've heard a lot of good about both Hunger Games and Divergent, and they have got amazing ratings in here as well.. It was one of my concerns that they would be too YA and maybe a bit too "Chick-litted" for my taste.. But thought they deserved a chance anyway..
I'm getting things I forgot I ordered! But Regenesis arrived day before yesterday and I put everything else aside to gobble it up.I also got Crystal Soldier and The Light Bearer. And The Silent Tower in ebook format.
I bought The Passage on Saturday. My Amazon books should be arriving tomorrow, too, with Dhalgren, and The Windup Girl, as well as a ton of non-sci fi/fantasy books.Pay day was Friday so, as always, it's time to go on a book buying spree that'll end with me broke! Problem with working in a bookstore. Too much temptation.
Ugh-I just had the longest post written out and the site refreshed and cleared it all out...grrrrI just got a package from Bettworld that contained:
Globalhead
Strands of Starlight
Rendezvous with Rama
The Merro Tree
Pushing Ice
Then aa stop at a used bookstore yielded:
Downbelow Station
To Ride Pegasus
Sign of the Unicorn
The Martian Chronicles
Fahrenheit 451
The Anubis Gates
A lot of these have been on my wishlist for a long time so I was happy to get some things cleared off...now if I could only get my tbr pile down under 100!
Maggie wrote: "Ugh-I just had the longest post written out and the site refreshed and cleared it all out...grrrrI just got a package from Bettworld that contained:
Globalhead
Strands of ..."</i>
Maggie - [book:The Merro Tree is outrageously good, and just drastically overlooked. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.
Mod
Kathi wrote: "Planning some shopping over the weekend... Half Price Books has an additional 20% off their books."You and me both, Kathi. I've been toting around the sale flyer for 2 weeks, anticipating.
I ran across some great old SF books last weekend at a local Half Price Books:The Memory Bank by Wallace West
The Cosmic Rape (yikes) by Theodore Sturgeon
and
The Space Egg by Russ Winterbotham
Janny wrote: "Maggie wrote: "Ugh-I just had the longest post written out and the site refreshed and cleared it all out...grrrrI just got a package from Bettworld that contained:
Globalhead
[book:..."
Hey Janny! I actually added it to my TBR based on something you had written about liking it! When I am ordering from used book places I usually try to see if it's in stock to no avail. I was actually surprised to see it now and so I snapped it up.
I just ordered a slew of books. Should get a big box when they come. I feel ashamed for indulging my addiction when I have such a pile here unread. ::blushes::
Mod
If that's the case, I should live is a state of constant shame, but I don't! I live in enjoyment of what I'm reading and anticipation of all the good books to come! What good is having an addiction if you can't indulge it? (from one addict to another...)
Janny wrote: "...Maggie - The Merro Tree is outrageously good, and just drastically overlooked. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. "Sigh, it seems only available as a mmPB which I no longer read unless the font size and space between lines (leading) is big enough. There are just too many books to read without having to mess with magnifiers.
Does this book have the typical tiny font size with lines smashed too closely?
Kathi wrote: "Sandra aka Sleo wrote: "I just ordered a slew of books. Should get a big box when they come. I feel ashamed for indulging my addiction when I have such a pile here unread. ::blushes::"If that'..."
Ah good! I can relax now that you've given me permission. :D
Kernos wrote: "Janny wrote: "...Maggie - The Merro Tree is outrageously good, and just drastically overlooked. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. "Sigh, it seems only available as a mmPB which I no longer re..."
I have an older edition and the type is slightly larger than the newer ones that are apparently part of a secret plot to make us all go blind!
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