I stumbled upon Haruki Murakami’s After Dark one day. I picked it up intrigued by the cover (yep, sucker for a cover right here). With little interesting me in my stack of books, I went for the new one and barely left the couch until it was finished. Spellbound would be a good word. Am I excited about his new book, 1Q84? Umm, yeah, like hell I’m excited.
Today’s Book
Today’s Book – The Raven
On Thursdays, I usually talk about the book I’m currently reading or maybe something in my messy pile of books that serves as my physical TBR. But this week’s reading plans went crazy awry and I can’t talk about the book I’m reading because I haven’t spent any time reading it. So, instead, and since it’s October and creepy is befitting this month, I thought this would work.
Note – In case you happen to open this link while browsing your reader in say a Starbucks or possibly even at your desk at work (for shame!), know there is a scream right at the beginning. You might want to adjust volume levels.
Yes, Edgar Allan Poe’s The Raven is now a movie staring John Cusack. All behold the possible wonderfulness of this. Unless of course if you don’t like these type of movies, then feel free to ignore.
Today’s Book – The Taker by Alma Katsu
Usually I like to talk about the book I’m currently reading on Thursdays, but I thought I’d take a look at my next read — The Taker by Alma Katsu.
I’ve been craving this book. Drooling over this book. Wondering how long I can hold out before buying this book. Then suddenly I lucked out. I’ll be getting a copy for review very soon. Like probably today. How happy am I right now? So *very* happy! So happy, I’m barely able to execute complete sentences. 🙂
Today’s Book – is not actually a book but don’t hold that against me
Cuz it’s about a book! Yes, I realize you’ll all be very tired soon of hearing about how wonderful George RR Martin’s Song of Ice and Fire series is but this I needed to share. It’s an editorial that appeared in The New York Times on September 7, 2011 titled – Trapped in a Tapestry of Ice and Fire.
I love that this is an editorial about a book. *Love it.* This makes me happy. I would go on about the deeper meaning of this being an editorial about a fantasy book in the paper of record, or talk about the people who bemoan that we’ve stopped reading, blah, blah, blah. But I seem to have met my match in a germ making the rounds so that’s all I have that’s coherent. Go ahead and read. And, if this doesn’t make sense, don’t hold it against me. Blame the nasty germs.
Today’s Book…is more than a book
It’s a soundtrack too. Did you see this article in The New York Times about ebooks? Part of me knows this is about sales and appealing to a large mass of people who may not read often. And publishing is a business which means exploring possible revenue sources with new technologies. I’m not against a concept like this and props to the person who came up with the idea for this company but why can’t books be books? Why do they have to be and do something more?
Today’s Book – The Magician King by Lev Grossman
Lately, all my today’s book posts have been about additions to my TBR. The list is getting long…not that I’m complaining. 🙂
Today’s book is The Magician King by Lev Grossman. I read the first book in the series, The Magicians, liked it, actually rated it high but also had some issues with it. Overall, I thought it was well done and the snarkiness that held me back from loving it seemed, well, plain snarky of me to use it as a major reason to dislike of the book in general.
First, don’t you love the cover? Cover lover that I am, it made me want to run out and buy it for that reason alone.
Second, I love a good fantasy, and though the snarky attitude I mentioned earlier** bothered me some, the fantasy was still strong and really, who doesn’t love a fantasy book set at a boarding school?
** OK, I know part of this book was a take on other fantasy novels (Harry Potter, Narnia, Lord of the Rings to name three) but the issues the author had and the way he poked fun at the other worlds annoyed me because without those previously mentioned books, he wouldn’t be writing his own set of fantasy novels. Toss all the stones you want but make sure you aren’t doing it inside your glass house. Just sayin’.
Anyway, moving on. If you’re interested, here’s the book’s site. It doesn’t give you much but you can enjoy gawking at the covers.
Today’s Book – The Faerie Ring by Kiki Hamilton
You know all those newsletters you get? Well, the other day I decided to go through them all, skimming here and there, trying to get through as many as possible before my self-allotted time gave out. That’s when I came across this little tidbit. It’s a book trailer for The Faerie Ring by Kiki Hamilton which is coming out this September.
It takes place in Victorian London, a favorite time period of mine, and involves faeries. Faeries are not a staple of my fantasy reading but why can’t they be? Also, the trailer looks gothic and foreboding — love that combination.
If you’re interested, more info about the book is here.
Today’s Book – is a new book
I’m reading Cleopatra: A Life by Stacy Schiff, actually I’ve been reading it for the last week. It’s good, very good, but life’s been hectic so I haven’t spent much time it. Due to my unexpected reading delay, I thought I would instead talk about a new book I bought — Demon Fish: Travels Through the Hidden World of Sharks by Juliet Eilperin.
Confession time. I heart sharks. I just do. I don’t know why. On a trip to St. Thomas a few years ago, my husband and I went on a kayaking day trip and I was disappointed at not seeing a shark when we stopped to go snorkeling at a wreck. The wreck was a small speedboat so don’t be too impressed with me. Anyway, the barracudas were interesting and the tropical fish were very pretty but no sharks. While packing up and getting ready to head back our guide said, “Oh, look, a shark.” I dropped my paddle and kayak, ran back in the water, and got a glimpse of the said shark. It was a nurse shark. It’s wasn’t big, it wasn’t all that scary either, but it was a shark. Smiling, and very thrilled with my shark encounter, I picked up my kayak and got in for the trip home. My husband made fun of me all the way back, “Who runs in the water after a shark?” Hmm, I do. True story.
So this week I give you my summer reading, Demon Fish. My perfect beach book. 🙂
Just Book Reading 