Saturday, May 5, 2007

Breaking Out The CueCat

So I just got to use the CueCat scanner to enter books into LibraryThing because yes, I went to Barnes and Noble and bought more books. Even though I have way too much on my plate right now, I couldn't wait for the new Fablehaven book that came out this past Tuesday. So I bought that first and will jump into that tonight. By doing so, I'm breaking a rule I set for myself which was to read one book at a time. Oh well, I'll try to go back to that rule after this one.

I also picked up The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova. I'm really looking forward to this one, but I'm thinking I'm going to wait until the R.I.P. challenge in October to read it as it will fit in nicely with Dracula. It's the story of a woman who discovers that her father spent his life trying to track down Vlad the Impaler and I believe that she does so herself. At least that's what I gather from the bookflap. Sounds great! And it was a bargain book at only $6.98!

Next up is Dragons: The Greatest Stories, which is...you guessed it, an anthology of short stories about dragons edited by Martin H. Greenberg. I bought this one because there's a short story in it by Orson Scott Card called The Bully and The Beast which he is writing a novel based on. This is the only place I've seen the short story in print. There's also stories by Ray Bradbury, Anne McCaffrey, Roger Zelazny, Alan Dean Foster, and Ursula K. LeGuin among others. Great cover too! It's a bargain book too!

Also in the bargain book pile: A really cool version of Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman that I had to tell myself not to buy because I already had a copy. This one has a spider web on the cover and has a blue bookmark sewn in. It's $5.98. I highly recommend picking this one up if you don't have a copy. Also saw plenty of copies of Susanna Clarke's wonderful novel Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell left for $6.98. Everyone should own a copy of this book...and you can't beat that price.

I picked up the newest issue of Realms of Fantasy as well. There's a new short story by Charles de Lint in it called Companions to the Moon and it's illustrated by Charles Vess. Charles Vess is doing a series of illustrations for Realms of Fantasy and will illustrate short stories for the next six issues! How cool!

And finally, I wanted to mention that on Orson Scott Card's website, he is selling signed copies of his book, Magic Street, for $8.95. Magic Street is one of my favorite books by Card. It's an urban fantasy set in suburbia and is about a boy who finds a portal in between two houses that leads him to the world of Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream. Much more involved than that, but that's the basics.

Ok, tired and dirty from work, so I'm going to take a bath and then start on Fablehaven: Rise of the Evening Star.

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thanks - you just reminded me that I let my subscription to RoF lapse. Time to rectify that!!

DesLily said...

I love, love, love the sale tables at B&N lol.. but I truly hate that they always put the middle book of a trilogy on that sale table to suck you in to buying all 3! That can get expensive, especially when you don't know for sure if you will like them. It's one thing to get book 1 on sale and if you like it then buy the others at normal price.. but really a bummer they always put the middle book on that table! grrrrrrr.

(sorry to disagree with you but I couldn't make myself get past 200 pages of Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell!)

Ana S. said...

That Dragons anthology sounds absolutely delightful. So many great authors! And plus, I have a thing for dragons.

And you got me interested in that Orson Scott Card book - I've been meaning to read more of his work after "Enchantment", so I think I'm going to pick that one up.

Anonymous said...

I have The Historian sitting on my bookshelf waiting for me to start it. I was debating keeping it for the RIP challenge, but I'm not sure if I'm going to be able to put it off for that long...

And while buying that Orson Scott Card book on his website sounds soooooo tempting, I have promised myself not to buy any more books for the rest of the month... (it's going to be a LONG month).

chrisa511 said...

Quix - I love that magazine...I don't know why I never bought a subscription. I just buy it every month it's available.

Deslily, Haha! I know exactly what you mean about the middle book in the trilogy. I hate that too. Sorry to hear that you didn't like Jonathan Strange. I guess it's not really for everyone.

Nymeth, I'm a dragon fan too. Looking forward to that one. Magic Street's great. Very contemporary and fun book. You should enjoy it.

Court, I was thinking the same thing..."can I really wait til October..." It's only May 6th! No more books for the rest of the month?! Lol

Booklogged said...

Chris, I can feel your excitement from your writing. It's catching. Havent read any Fablehaven yet, but I see I need to. Also, need to read Card's Magic Street.

Bellezza said...

I loved The Historian. It's too bad you bought your copy, even if it is under $10.00, because I would've sent you mine. I read it after reading the orginal Dracula, as you suggest you'll do, which was a great tandem read. I think waiting for Fall is also a wise choice. I can't wait to discuss it with you; I like it a lot. All 9 bajillion pages!

chrisa511 said...

Booklogged, Yeah, I tend to get a little overly excited over book :p Fablehaven's great...at least the first one was...just getting into the second.

Bellezza, I'm glad you read this one! I'm looking forward to discussing it with you as well. Thanks for your kind offer :) And I see that it's a bajillion pages..haha, I like that number.

Bookfool said...

Wow, sounds like you had some fun! Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell is one I'd probably go ahead and fork out for at bargain price, so I'm sure it's a good thing I haven't made it to Jackson, lately. Barnes & Noble and Borders are dangerous.

chrisa511 said...

Bookfool, Aren't they dangerous? Especially those bargain sections. Those $7.98 books add up pretty quick!

Carl V. Anderson said...

"By doing so, I'm breaking a rule I set for myself which was to read one book at a time."

Welcome to the dark side, my brother! ;)

I may read The Historian for the R.I.P Challenge this year as well.

chrisa511 said...

Carl, yeah, that's a hard rule to keep. I'm to anxious to read one book at a time. There's too many good one's out there. But I'm going to try to get back to it after these two.