Stacking the Shelves

[calissa]

Some of you may have seen this on my social media accounts, so apologies for the spammage.

Recently, word went out that Gaslight Books--a local second-hand bookshop that specialises in sci-fi and fantasy--was closing down next month and therefore having a sale. This happened to coincide nicely with an earlier promise from my sweetheart to take me book shopping. So last weekend we headed over. Here's what I ended up with:



Dead Until Dark by Charlaine Harris--the first of the True Blood series. Much like the TV show, I expect it to be a little too soapy for my taste, but thought I would give it a go anyway.

Sailing to Sarantium by Guy Gavriel Kay--I picked this one up because I recalled lynnoconnacht was a GGK fan and I'd not tried any of his work before.

Temeraire by Naomi Novik--I've heard many things about this from the talechasing community, so onto the pile it went.

The Dark Mirror by Juliet Marillier--My sister has a copy of this I probably could have borrowed. But if Juliet Marillier remains true to form I'm going to want my own copy.

Crown Duel by Sherwood Smith--Picked up on a strong recommendation from a friend who shares very similar taste in books.

The Silver Metal Lover by Tanith Lee--This one has been on my wish list for some time.

Tehanu by Ursula Le Guin--Can you believe I haven't read this?

The Dragonbone Chair by Tad Williams--Another friend's favourite book. Weirdly enough, the author must have seen my photo because he sent a message through a mutual friend to say that the cover on this issue is rather uncommon. It stopped being produced once the publishers realised how quickly the little window in the cover got ripped.

Mt TBR is now teetering perilously close to 200 books.

Comments

[onewhitecrow]

All good things! Sailing to Sarantium is the first half of a duology of GGK at his best (when he is good, he is very, very good, and when he is bad he is awful), Temeraire is fast fun fluff and The Dragonbone Chair is a decent introduction to Tad Williams, wee flaws and all...also, I am intimidated by hearing that other gods talk to you. Meep.

[calissa]

Meep, indeed! I was a bit intimidated, myself.

Are you reading anything particular at the moment?

[onewhitecrow]

Pfft, you're no mere mortal yourself.

I'm working 9-odd hour days and trying to shake a black dog, so comitting to fiction's pretty much been out the window for months. I'm worried my urge to read may have vanished, too (it sounds outlandish, yes, but a few years ago I'd have been bewildered at the idea that one could just up and lose the ability to write).

Anyway, paranoia aside, I'm scraping slowly through a couple of nonfiction books in my lunchbreaks and free weekends: Ghenghis Khan by John Man (who has the Best Name, but probably reads the Telegraph, if not the tabloids) and Shamanisim: a reader edited by Graham Harvey, an anthropological textbook that collects a lot of very interesting papers on the subject.

[calissa]

It is very kind of you to say so, though I feel very much like a mere mortal :)

I can see why you might be worried about losing your reading ability and I apologise for bringing up those fears for you. Thank you for sharing what you're reading anyway. The book on shamanism sounds particularly interesting *prods libraries*

[calissa]

Also, a friend of mine is a cosplay photographer and took this at one of the conventions he attended. I thought you might be amused.

[onewhitecrow]

Captein's Army takes Australia!

Any luck? If you can't inter-library loan a copy I'm willing to lend mine/recommend other texts on shamanisim...Piers Vitbesky's The Shaman is a particularly good introduction.

[calissa]

It certainly made me smile.

No luck, surprisingly. But please don't worry. I shall put it on my wish list and con my sweetheart into buying it for my birthday.

ETA: Woo! The public library here has a copy of The Shaman, so perhaps I shall start there.

[onewhitecrow]

Unsurprisingly, surely? It is pretty academic (though I want to copy just about everything to show various people). I hope you have an equivalent of ABEbooks, then, 'cause otherwise that is fiendish expensive...

Oh, do! It is an excellent introduction. Clears up all sorts of mislabellings and common misconceptions without being anthropologically up itself.

[calissa]

Surprising because my search included the databases of the two universities in town and the National Library of Australia (also in town).

And it appears my public library was lying to me after all. *grumbles* I shall just have to track down the books the hard way. At least I have plenty to read in the meantime.

[onewhitecrow]

Oh! That is odd, since I remember it as one of the standard anth. texts at Bristol...

Alas! Though since your other reading includes Sailing to Sarantium, that is not so terrible.

[alee_grrl]

Of these I've read Dead Until Dark, and Tehanu. I think I started The Dragonbone Chair at one point, but don't recall if I finished it. I did love Tad Williams' Tailchaser's Song though. I fell in love with the Earthsea books as a teen, which is when I read Tehanu. Of the series that was the one I re-read the most. As for Dead Until Dark, I enjoyed the book but not enough to read the whole series. I was mostly amused by a book taking place in the part of Louisiana that I was familiar with--Shreveport and the surrounding area, which is in the northern part of the state. Most things set in Louisiana are pretty explicitly set in or near New Orleans, which is far to the south of Shreveport (at least an 8 hour drive via various interstate highways).

[calissa]

I read the Earthsea books as a teen as well but had no idea there was a follow up until very recently. I'm looking forward to reading the whole lot together.

I've just started reading Dead Until Dark and it occurs to me that it did quite a few interesting things--like the setting. However, it has been in the public conscious so long now that I have trouble seeing the originality in it.

[alee_grrl]

The whole concept of Dead Until Dark does feel a bit cliche now, especially after the show has reached such popularity. And the interesting things it did do were still not enough to keep me interested past the first book.

Reading the whole of the Earthsea books together is great fun. My set of the books was among a several boxes of books that I lost in a move (long story short, I was not able to retrieve all of my things from my mother's house before we stopped talking to one another). I keep meaning to pick up another set and re-read them, but then I get distracted by all the other things that I haven't yet read and want to read. The problems of a bibliophile. :)

[calissa]

Oh yes, the problems indeed. :)

Thank you for stopping by and sharing your thoughts here. I do enjoy a good book conversation.

[sidheblessed]

I'm a bit sad that Gaslight is closing. It was nice to have our own specialty fantasy/sci-fi store.

Meanwhile, awesome book haul!

[calissa]

They had a pretty hefty range of crime novels, too.

Thanks!

[sidheblessed]

True. I'm sure crime readers will miss it, too. I do hope the owner enjoys her retirement, though.