Monday, April 11, 2011

Book Loot

Hi! I flashed this book loot picture from recent Powell's adventure last time:




... intending to come back and say more. Here's more!

Ah, a stack of new books. Love love.



First off, I finally got A Game of Thrones by George R R Martin, which I have been hearing praised for years, but for some reason I never gave too much thought to reading. Why? I love epic fantasy. I don't overload on it, but when it's good, it's so very very good! The Name of the Wind, by Pat Rothfuss, has been a favorite. And I read Tigana by Guy Gavriel Kay last year. Terrific. But with this for some reason it took the HBO series and all its attendant publicity to make me think, "Huh. I could read that."

(Speaking of which, we don't have TV, but I watched the sneak peek first 15 minutes of the HBO series at my parents' house and it looks good.)

So. I have begun it, am maybe 80 pages in, and I'm in awe and in love, and also in dread, because it is easy to see that this author does not spare his readers' hearts. Something has just happened, in fact, already, that I cannot believe, and that says: "this author isn't farting around."

I'm sure I'll have more to say as I get further into it. So far, so excellent.

By the way, I am making a project for myself to compile a Fantasy Education list to start in on. There is way too much that I haven't read. Suggestions welcome! More on that later.


But anyway, A Game of Thrones wasn't the first of the loot stack to get read. That would be this:




Where She Went by Gayle Forman, the sequel to If I Stay, which though it came out some time ago, I only just read last month. In, like, two sit-downs. Same with this one. These are books you need to clear the evening for. Trust me. And do read If I Stay first. It's a tragic story, which is maybe why I hadn't gotten around to it yet, though I have always intended to. I knew the premise, and I guess my imagination just couldn't fill in the possible ... texture ... that would make it fun and beautiful and all the things I had heard it was. Well, it is. And funny, too. I guess I hadn't expected that. And romantic. But also very, very sad.

It's essentially the story of a comatose girl trying to decide whether to live or not in the wake of the car accident that has killed her whole family.

Yikes, right? Just pick it up and see if you can put it down. Where She Went too, which follows it up with where some of the characters are a few years later -- and you will want to know. I snuck a few pages in the car on the way home from the bookstore and didn't want to stop.



And for something completely different ...




This picture book is by a local artist and was autographed, which is why it caught my eye. And it is freaking cute beyond anything, which is why I bought it. Holy! The cute! Look. Maggie Rudy is a felt artist, and she has a blog called Mouses Houses, which makes me want to steal things because she has no etsy site or any apparent will to sell these marvelous wonderful mice. Darn it.


LOOK!



Oh my goodness. *want want want*




So much more at Mouses Houses; do look. The below might be my favorite, because it is when the artist returned home from New York with the contract for the book. I wish I had something like this to commemorate my first book sale!




 The book is The House that Mouse Built and it is darling, and a good read-aloud too!



One last one from the stack, then, and it's a weirdy. If you like Edward Gorey, Dillweed's Revenge might be for you. It is unpleasant and cute at the same time, with art by Carson Ellis, another Portlander, yay!




Mistreated kid, kind of like a boy Cinderella, happens to have a box of demons under his bed.

Revenge is had.

If only, Cinderella.




There. Books.

Yum.

Good night!




14 comments:

Msb said...

Oooooh. I love recommendations from writers I adore. Thank you. I'm going for the Gayle Forman books and The House that Mouse Built!

mel said...

omg!! you have GOT to add the rest of Guy Gavriel Kay's books to your Fantasy reading list...GOT TO...LOVE!! (and he's Canadian --WOOT!). The Fionavar Tapestry...*swoon* -- i've read them over like a hundred times...as well as his others. But yeah..The Summer Tree, The Wandering Fire, The Longest Road -- that's the trilogy -- RUN!! go buy them...:)

those mice are unbelievably cute!

awesome recommendations...added to my list!

Oh - have you read any of the James Owen books - the Imaginarium Geographica? -- I just finished Here There Be Dragons....and of course have had to get the next one...

stopping now...

:D

Anonymous said...

Read a third of Name of the wind and couldn't get into it. Seemed like an exceptionally long prologue. Heard it picks up more than halfway through, and the ending is good but it felt like work to me :(

Laini Taylor said...

Ooh, Mel, done and done. I will absolutely add more Guy Gavriel Kay to the list!

And Anonymous, huh. I never felt that way at all. It was pure magic to me!

tone almhjell said...

Martin does not fart around. He breaks heart.

I'm definitely looking into Guy Gavriel Kay and Gayle Forman.

I wish amazon would just give me a thousand dollars store credit. Here you go, Tone. Just for living somewhere remote. Just for having a last name that is as hard to pronounce as it is to spell. Just cause you've earned it lately.

Oooh - word verification "brans". I love Bran.

Jessica Fleming said...

As far as recommendations, try Elizabeth Haydon's Symphony of Ages series. The only bad thing I have to say about it is the series isn't finished yet.

Also, pretty much anything by Charles de Lint. My favorites so far, though, are Someplace To Be Flying and Spirits in the Wires.

Anonymous said...

Tone,
Laini might not have mentioned to you that I secretly own Amazon so I'm sending you a gift card for one BILLION euros in books. Enjoy!
(Hoo-B)

Alysa Stewart said...

Carson Ellis! He did the art in the first Mysterious Benedict Society book! And I LOVED it. They switched artists for books 2 and 3, an unfortunate thing in my opinion. Not that the new artist isn't good. Just not AS good imho.

Laini Taylor said...

Tone, whew, good timing on my reading and your comment (re: word verification. If I'd seen it yesterday I would have known something about Bran that was, um, in the balance at the time!) And can I have in on the Amazon freebies with you? :-)

Alysa, I know! And she's a she! Which for some reason makes me happy. Interestingly, she is married to the Decembrists guy!

tone almhjell said...

Oh dear, I almost spoiled it for you! Sorry! I thought that's what you were referring to as the shocker you mentioned earlier. Okay. I'm going to be very careful from now on, promise!

And dear secret owner of Amazon, you are hereby invited to have cupcakes by the fireplace in my kitchen this afternoon. I'm thinking lemon cupcakes with merengue frosting. You too, Laini. Bring Jim. Actually, let's make it all of you. Let's bring books to swap and have coffee and marvel at the Norwegian spring. (How can something so brown and sodden and bent of neck be so BEAUTIFUL?)

Sarah Wedgbrow said...

I love A GAME OF THRONES and wanted to read the rest of the series straight away. It is a story that stays with you...even the word direwolf gives me chills. And the women characters are fantastic. So glad you picked it up.
I too read IF I STAY last month and it slayed me. I was convinced that I could not read another book. I am pacing myself with WHERE SHE WENT, but will be getting it soon enough.
Recommendation--if you haven't read anything by Robin McKinley yet, I would say get PEGASUS and then BLUE SWORD and THE HERO AND THE CROWN. I read them all this year, and I think McKinley is the Master at YA Fantasy.

Granny Smith said...

Oh, those cute mice! I want them too. My favorite Beatrix Potter book is (still!) The Tale of Two Bad Mice.

J said...

May I just say, George RR Martin is AMAZING! I've read the whole Song of Ice and Fire series many times, and Windhaven is also an incredible book (if you're looking for other books of his). Looking forward to hearing how you liked it! :)

Stephanie Perkins said...

I *want want want* Dillweed's Revenge. Helloooo, next Amazon order! It sounds/looks amazing.

AND YAY GAYLE!!!

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