Sunday Musings

There's a racket being run at Books-a-Million and Borders.  It's one of those sale offers that tries to capitalize on consumer impulses of what they perceive to be a good deal.  They got these tables set up all around the store with "Buy two get a third free" signs and stickers.  One particular table had me drooling with offerings from A.S. Byatt, Patrick Rothfuss, John Irving, Sarah Waters, and Gabriel Garcia-Marquez. I was about to put a serious dent in my TBR list until I saw the prices.  Thanks to an iphone and 'snaptell' I saw that I could save about $21 by passing on what seemed to be an awesome deal.  I'm all for supporting brick-and-mortar stores, but when I spend that kinda money it will be at one of the local family owned stores, not a large chain.  I go to chain retailers to look at publishers remainders and bargain books.  (I know my efforts are in vain but I try...)

So I stuck to the bargain books as I planned and for nine bucks made out with Trader by Charles de Lint, The Magicians by Lev Grossman, and Escapement by Jay Lake.  Reading de Lint was a new year's resolution as is reading some steampunk (Lake).  While I read Lake before Escapement does mean I have to track down book one of this trilogy; for that reason alone I'm surprised I bought it.  This is actually the fourth time I've bought Grossman's novel though this time I don't know who I'll 'force-lend' it to.  I guess I liked it even more than I knew.  And by the way, does Michael Swanwick really count as steampunk?

Shopping today threw into sharp relief an interesting fact of my reading last year: I didn't read a single mass market paperback.  I finished Ender's Game last week and hope to have a review up shortly; it is the first mass market paperback I recall reading in a long time.  That was just a random fun fact.

I've discovered I like rye.  In fact I'll go so far as to say, "it's delicious."  If I can be sexist for a moment--and I can--it's a man's drink.  In today's drinking culture I can understand how rye has lost so much ground to bourbon, but just try a Manhattan with rye--as it should be--as opposed to bourbon; you'll see things the way I do shortly and if not, have another one...  I could see myself doing "Rye Reviews" much as I have with rum as soon as I get a better grasp on it.