Tagged: look what just arrived

Look What Just Arrived! (#8)

Carrie Pictures 2012It’s been a while since I’ve done one of these posts, but I’m still getting new books, so here are my latest books:

  • Scarlet by Marissa Meyer
  • 11/22/63 by Stephen King
  • I Never Walked Alone by Shirley Verrett
  • There Comes a Prophet by David Litwack
  • Genome by Gary Alan Henson
  • Arlo and Jake Enlist by Gary Alan Henson

I loved Cinder by Marissa Meyer so much that obviously I had to get Scarlet as soon as I could.  I haven’t started it yet because of previous commitments (read: getting through my In Progress page), but it’s one I’m eager to start.  11/22/63 by Stephen King is a book I got ripped off at the airport for, but I suppose it was worth it.  I’m nearly on page 300 and so far, so good.

I Never Walked Alone by Shirley Verrett is sentimentally and financially the most valuable book I own.  Shirley Verrett was an incredibly talented woman in the opera scene who faced ridiculous amounts of discrimination in the 70s and 80s.  She also is the best Tosca I’ve ever seen, which is saying a lot because Tosca is my second favourite opera.  But the incredible thing about the copy I own is that it is signed with a personalized message to a man named Hal.  I bought her autobiography used because it was $40 new, so I never, ever expected to get an autograph from my hero.  Yet there it is, clear as day: signed and dated.  There’s something incredible about holding something your hero once held that I just can’t explain.

There Comes a Prophet by David Litwack is a book I received from the author himself and so far, so good.  It actually looks like a different take on fantasy, so there’s lots of promise.  Both Genome and Arlo and Jake Enlist by Gary Henson are short, but look promising and I can’t wait to read them.  I also received these from the author himself.

Do you guys have any books you’re really excited about?  Discover any new authors?  What do you consider to be your most valuable book (in terms of financial or sentimental value)?

Look What Just Arrived! (#7)

Carrie Pictures 2012 280Yes, I’m posting today.  For real this time!  And yes, I went to the bookstore.  Again.  So what did I get there?

  • Hade’s Daughter by Sara Douglass
  • Kushiel’s Mercy by Jacqueline Carey
  • Kushiel’s Justice by Jacqueline Carey
  • Legends anthology
  • The Josephine B. Trilogy by Sandra Gulland
  • The Memoirs of Cleopatra by Margaret George

Most of these, except for the Jacqueline Carey books, were completely random reads.  I was in the Used section after finding nothing too interesting in the small YA section (way too much vampire stuff) and stumbled across most of these.  Hade’s Daughter is completely random and frankly I know nothing about it, but I picked it up because it was about ancient Greece.  The Legends anthology (volume 1) is also another impulse buy but I’m looking forward to this one because it has entries by Stephen King, Orson Scott Card and a couple other big names.

The Josephine B. trilogy sounds oddly familiar, but I know I haven’t read it before.  Most likely I had been drooling over it on Amazon in the past, but never bothered ordering it.  The Memoirs of Cleopatra is one I’ve had my eye on for a while, but for $30 it was never happening.  This is one case where I love buying used because although it is over 900 pages, the price should not be that high for a paperback book.  But hey, what do I know about the factors involved in pricing a book?  (Not much, to be honest.)  What I do know is that I bought all of these used books for less than the cover price of The Memoirs of Cleopatra new.

Look What Just Arrived! (#6)

Carrie Pictures 2012 279People seem to think (and I don’t know where they got this idea from) that I like books.  That’s why I got a lot of books for Christmas.  So here they are:

  • The Path of the Fallen by Dan O’Brien
  • The First Man of Rome by Colleen McCullough
  • The Riddle by Alison Croggon
  • The Skystone by Jack Whyte
  • City of Fallen Angels by Cassandra Clare
  • The City by David Moody
  • The Return Man by V. M. Zito

Actually, the first one, The Path of the Fallen is not a Christmas present so much as a pleasant Christmas Eve surprise from the author who sent me his book to review.  Dan O’Brien’s book will be a workout for my wrists because it is 600 pages and is a surprisingly heavy book.

Aside from City of Fallen Angels, all of the books I received are ones I’ve never read.  Yesterday I finished The Return Man (expect a review soon!) and last night, or early in the morning depending on how you count I finished The City by David Moody.  I want to finish some of the books I received last time and the time before that (and the time before the time before that) before I start on any other new ones, which means I’ll be reading and reviewing popular fiction like Game of Thrones and 1984.

So, my fellow book lovers, what did you get for Christmas?

Look What Just Arrived! (#5)

Well, I went book shopping in Ottawa and was extremely lucky because Chapters had a sale where you could buy three books and get the fourth free.  I bought eight books there, four of which were Christmas presents.  Anyway, here are the books I bought in the store:

  • The Crystal Cave by Mary Stewart
  • Pillars of Rome by Jack Ludlow
  • Claudius the God by Robert Graves
  • World War Z
  • Antony & Cleopatra by Colleen McCullough

The Crystal Cave is a book I just happened to stumble across and picked it up because it is about Merlin.  As you are probably well aware by now, I love the Arthurian legends.  Pillars of Rome by Jack Ludlow is also a chance find but I picked it up because I love ancient Rome.  Claudius the God by Robert Graves was certainly not chance and it was hidden so well that I actually had to ask one of the clerks to help me find it.  I found it and would have liked to find a more…tasteful…cover but that was the only version they had.  Since I’m desperate to hear of Claudius’ years as Emperor, I wasn’t too picky.  And lucky me, I stumbled across a bunch of Colleen McCullough’s books!  I picked up Antony and Cleopatra because the first book in her Roman series wasn’t available.

Now you’re probably wondering where World War Z fits into all of this.  Well, I was sitting in the airport and noticed that my plane was going to be delayed so I immediately headed for the nearest bookstore.  I hadn’t brought any of the books with me because they were too large to fit into the pocket of my laptop case.  That’s why I bought World War Z: It was long enough to keep me occupied on the long flight back home, but not too long as to be bulky to carry around.  Also, one of my friends who loves zombies recommended it.  He doesn’t recommend books often, so when he does you know it’s good.

So what are you reading now?

Look What Just Arrived! (#3.5)

I hadn’t intended on buying 5 more books, but for whatever reason I decided to go birthday shopping for my friend in a book store.  That was how I blew my entire month’s book budget.  Anyway, here are the books I bought:

  • The Clan of the Cave Bear by Jean M. Auel
  • Old Man’s War by John Scalzi
  • The Kingdom of Gods by N.K. Jemisin
  • Delirium by Lauren Oliver
  • Wondrous Strange by Lesley Livingston

Wondrous Strange is what I originally bought for my friend’s birthday present, but then my shopping kept going.  Delirium by Lauren Oliver is a book that didn’t really sound appealing to me before I read an excerpt online and liked what I saw.  The same was true of The Clan of the Cave Bear, but I’m skeptical about how that one will turn out.  The Kingdom of Gods by N. K. Jemisin is a book I’ve been looking at for a while, but never found it in my small local bookstore.  And yes, after following John Scalzi’s blog for 3 years I finally got around to buying one of his books.  If his blog is anything to judge his writing by, I have a feeling I’m going to enjoy Old Man’s War.