Sunday, January 2, 2011

First Book Purchases of the Year and Other Happenings

Yesterday was a really long day, so today, I went book shopping (there is no logical correlation between the two...).

I sure hope John Fowles is as good of a writer as I think he is, because I'm racking up on his literary output.  Daniel Martin is a novel of Fowles that I've not heard of, but it fit the theme of 2011 "Doorstopper Year" and a gut feeling told me it was a safe buy.  My wallet said it was a safe buy because I only paid two dollars for a hardback copy.

Arturo Pérez-Reverte was one of my great discoveries last year and I look forward to The Nautical Chart a stand-alone title.  There was a small book by some guy named Kurt Vonnegut that I've never read; Slaughter House Five.  The latter is a book I have the least powerful urge to pick up and read of all books on my TBR shelf, but it was only six bucks.  The most intriguing book I found on this trip was The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror: Tenth Annual Collection edited by Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling.  The table of contents is absolutely staggering in this 1996 collection and the fun thing about anthologies isn't finding new favorites by authors I already know, rather coming across authors that are new to me and great writers.  It included stories from: Charles de Lint, Neil Gaiman, Terry Dowling, Patricia McKillip, Gabriel Garcia Márquez, Thomas Ligotti, Michael Swanwick, Angela Carter, and --the biggest surprise, to me--Susanna Clarke.  I had no clue she had publication credits going back to 1996 (though I've since read the story by her included here).

This shopping trip also helped me understand why my blogging has been on the rise in the past month or so.  That examiner gig is only kinda blah...  The support is awful.  I send emails asking questions get little to no reply, or an answer to one of four questions asked and I really just don't have the drive to put content up there.  However I resolved to do so in the beginning, it seems the material just ended up on my own blog instead of theirs.  I could go on with examiner frustrations but I don't want to dedicate the time to it.  (Should any of 'them' be reading, I've done the survey, and sent multiple emails to my content editor.  I mean seriously, why do I have to jump through hoops to include a link in an article?)  

So what are your first of the year book purchases?

5 comments:

Nicole (Linus's Blanket) said...

Happy New Year!

That's too bad about Examiner. I know a few bloggers who seem to be having some succes with it, but I know that I would have a really hard time trying to write content for more than one spot.

I bought and have already read Disgrace by J.M. Coetzee. It was beautifully constructed and written, but a very disturbing little book. I will probably think about it for some time to come.

Chad Hull said...

Examiner; blah; I'm over it...

Sometimes disturbing is good. I'm already interested.

Happy New Year to you as well and all the best.

Marion said...

First book purchases of the year. . . Kraken, by China Mieville. And (don't laugh) two books on magic, which are for research.

Chad Hull said...

How could I laugh at books on magic? I need to study up myself; you absolutely have to tell me what they are.

Marion said...

One is ADVANCED MAGICAL ARTS by RJ Stewart; the other THE LOST ART OF ENOCHIAN MAGIC by John DeSalvo. It comes with a handy CD for practicing Enochian chants. I'd play it it the car, but what if I conjured up an angel and trapped it under the hood or something? That would be awkward.