Ordinary Day

Bought from Angry Robot Books:

• The Guild of Assassins, by Anna Kashina. This is Book 2 of her fantasy series The Majat Code, about which I’ll be doing a (delayed) Boosting the Signal post to go up tomorrow morning.

Pre-ordered from Kobo:

• Lock-In, by John Scalzi. I was going to get this anyway, since I’d read the preview chapters that Tor.com posted as well as the novella that does some introductory worldbuilding for the story. But I went ahead and pre-ordered after seeing Mr. Scalzi’s recent post on the Amazon/Hachette developments, and someone giving him shit about it and cancelling their Amazon pre-order with him. I decided pre-ordering from Kobo was appropriate balance.

Bought from Dark Horse:

• Spike: Into the Light, by James Marsters. This is a graphic novel purchase, and digital for that matter, but I’m counting it here since it’s a full graphic novel as opposed to individual comics. Wanted to grab this out of general interest in James Marsters actually writing the story. And I always did like Spike! It’s a story going into some of what happened to Spike after he got his soul back at the tail end of Buffy: The Vampire Slayer.

Bought in print when I was in Qualicum for De Temps Antan, from a tiny little bookshop there called The Mulberry Bush, where I had a delightful conversation with the proprietors along the lines of “Tell me about something awesome I can buy by Canadian authors”:

• Life of Pi, by Yann Martel. I heard about the movie version of this, of course. And I’m sure I could have grabbed a copy of this in local bookstores. But I hadn’t known the author was Canadian, and hey, the bookstore successfully pitched it. And I do like to have a bookstore successfully pitch me a book I haven’t read before.
• The Sisters Brothers, by Patrick DeWitt. Again, Canadian author, and I liked the idea of the dark sort of noir-ish humor described to me as contained by this book.

105 for the year.

Mirrored from angelahighland.com.

I’ve been reading a lot from the library lately, partly because Dara and I are having to sink a lot of money into rental property renovation, but also partly because it’s super-easy to check out library books on my newer Nook with the Overdrive app. But that said, I’ve made a few recent purchases regardless. Like I do. Here they are!

From Kobo:

• The Gods of Gotham, Seven for a Secret, and Dust and Shadow, by Lyndsay Faye. These are mysteries, and I grabbed these because of Faye writing an excellent response on CriminalElement.com to the Slate article not long ago about why adults shouldn’t read YA. Faye’s response was pure gold and I resolved that I clearly had to read her books. Doesn’t suck either that Dust and Shadow is a Sherlock Holmes story. I’ve already read The Gods of Gotham as a library checkout, which confirmed that I needed to add Faye to my Buy list.
• Ancillary Justice, by Ann Leckie. SF. This one’s been getting a lot of buzz for being on the Hugo ballot, and it was at $1.99, so I thought I’d better grab it while that price was good.
• A Rogue by Any Other Name, One Good Earl Deservers a Lover, and No Good Duke Goes Unpunished, by Sarah MacLean. These are all historical romances, the first three of MacLean’s four-book series about the owners of a gaming hell in London. The series has been getting some nice buzz since MacLean was interviewed last November on the Dear Bitches Smart Author podcast. And Book 3 of her series is up for a RITA this year. I find the titles kind of twee, but the series itself is fun. Read the first two as library checkouts, and then put MacLean on the Buy list.

Meanwhile, from B&N in ebook form:

• The Day the Dead Came to Show and Tell, by Mira Grant. Because MIRA GRANT, and also because woo, new Newsflesh story! If you haven’t seen Grant/McGuire’s own warning about this, do NOT read the summaries you may see of this novella on Goodreads or on any pages giving the book publicity. There’s a spoiler in ‘em. Just go straight to the novella. Which is, as per usual, Grant’s excellent brand of zombie-ridden grim.
• The Lady Astronaut of Mars, by Mary Robinette Kowal. I’d already read this but when Tor put it out for ebook purchase, I decided I needed to grab it. It’s a novelette up for a Hugo this year, and it’s a bittersweet little story about an aging astronaut having to choose between one last mission in space–and remaining at the side of her dying husband.

From B&N in print:

• Shaman Rises, by C.E. Murphy. The final Walker Papers novel! Already bought in ebook, but this is me getting it in print. Because KIT.
• The Jedi Doth Return, by Ian Doescher. Finishing up Doescher’s delightful adaptations of the original Star Wars trilogy into Shakespeare-style plays. Can’t wait to giggle at this one.

And last but not least, from Carina in ebook:

• Trancehack and Witchlight, by Sonya Clark. Sonya Clark is one of my fellow members of the Here Be Magic blog, and these are her first two books with Carina. They’re paranormal romances, but set in a futuristic timeframe, and they sound fun. Plus, I wanted to grab Trancehack while it was still on sale for 99 cents. Which ends TODAY, so if you think you might want to check this book out yourself, grab it fast before the price goes back up!
• An Inconvenient Kiss, by Caroline Kimberly. Historical romance. Grabbed this one because the plot blurb sounds interesting, and the cover is beautiful. I approve of this recent trend in romance covers of the heroines in beautiful gowns.

100 for the year.

Mirrored from angelahighland.com.

It’s been a while since the last time I emptied the change jar, so I took it to the Coinstar machine at Safeway and found I had a whopping $77, woo! So I dumped it all into an iTunes code, and promptly bought myself a bunch of Tor titles I had on the To Read list–because I will happily buy from the iBooks store if the titles are DRM-free.

So here are the Tor titles I nabbed:

• In the Garden of Iden, by Kage Baker. SF. Because I’d always heard this series was good, and although Ms. Baker has unfortunately passed away, I kept meaning to check this out.
• Awakenings, by Edward Lazellari. Urban fantasy. One I’d seen buzz about on tor.com, and thought it sounded interesting.
• A Darkling Sea, by James L. Cambias. SF. First contact story. Nabbed because this had an excerpt posted on tor.com, and the excerpt was interesting enough that I wanted to read the book.
• The Highest Frontier, by Joan Slonczewski. SF.
• Eyes to See, by Joseph Nassise. Urban fantasy. Nabbed because I thought the idea of the blind protagonist (who of course has otherworldly sight) sounded nicely creepy.
• Three Princes, by Ramona Wheeler. Fantasy. Nabbed because AU involving a world where the Egyptian Empire remained a dominant power through most of history.
• Silver, by Rhiannon Held. Urban fantasy. Nabbed because werewolves.

And meanwhile, I nabbed these from B&N:

• Dangerous Refuge and Night Diver, by Elizabeth Lowell. Her two most recent romantic suspense releases, which I have already read as of this writing. Found them less interesting than many of her earlier works, although Night Diver actually surprised me by having queer side characters.
• Maplecroft, by Cherie Priest (pre-order). Historical fantasy. Nabbed by pre-order because LIZZIE BORDEN.

Nabbed from Amazon:

• Steam & Sorcery, by Cindy Spencer Pape. Steampunk romance. Grabbed this (even though I already own it in ebook form) because it’s one of Carina’s first print-on-demand titles and I want to see what the output looks like, not to mention support the POD effort.
• Per-Bast: A Tale of Cats in Ancient Egypt, by Lara-Dawn Stiegler. Nabbed because I know the author and she was offering the book for free on the Kindle over the weekend. Also because fantasy set in ancient Egypt, and cats!

Grabbed this from GreatBigSea.com:

• Where I Belong, by Alan Doyle. Because ALAN DOYLE, and also because this is his forthcoming memoir, to be released in October! Pre-ordering straight off of greatbigsea.com because pre-orders are, indeed, love. And because GBS.com is guaranteeing signed copies, woo.

Lastly, picked these up from Dragonwell Press:

• Lex Talionis, by R.S.A. Garcia. SF/mystery. Grabbed this because of featuring it on Boosting the Signal!
• Mistress of the Solstice, by Anna Kashina. Fantasy. Grabbed this because I’d originally bought it when it was called Ivan and Marya and published by Drollerie Press. Wanted to grab a copy to support Anna Kashina’s re-issue of the book.

86 for the year.

Mirrored from angelahighland.com.

Bought from Kobo:

• Brown Girl in the Ring, by Nalo Hopkinson. Future dystopian fantasy/urban fantasy. This was actually bought from my original Kobo account, but only because I had gotten a tiny amount of credit on that account and I wanted to spend it. Which means this book won’t sync to my main Kobo library but OH WELL that’s okay. I have ways of getting around that. And I wanted this book because I’d been meaning to read it for ages, and because I really like the title.
• Three Parts Dead, by Max Gladstone. Fantasy. I saw this series getting some buzz on tor.com, and the third book’s just dropped, so the first book as of this writing is available for $2.99.
• Artemis Awakening, by Jane Lindskold. SF. Another one I saw getting plugged on tor.com, and since I’ve read and liked Lindskold before, I thought I’d given this one a try too.
• The Goblin Emperor, by Katherine Addison. Lots of great buzz about this one all over the place. But really, you had me at “elves with airships”.
• Circle of Shadows, by Imogen Robertson. Mystery. Book 4 in her lovely Crowther-Westerman series, which I’m quite looking forward to reading!

From Barnes & Noble:

• Revenant, by Kat Richardson (pre-order). Urban fantasy. This is, I believe, the final entry in the Greywalker series. I’ve got to get caught up!
• Skin Game, by Jim Butcher. Bought for obvious Because Dresden Files DUH reasons. Got to get caught up on these, too.
• Sparrow Hill Road, by Seanan McGuire. Actually bought this twice, because Dara wanted it in print, and I picked up the ebook. But since the trade paperback was for Dara, it’ll count only once on my tally here!

71 for the year.

Mirrored from angelahighland.com.

Acquired in print from Norwescon:

• Jim Henson’s Labyrinth: The Novelization, by A.C.H. Smith. This is a special hardback re-release of the original novelization of the movie, with illustrations by Brian Froud. To which I went, WANT, so yeah.
• The Wild Girls, by Ursula K. Le Guin; The Science of Herself, by Karen Joy Fowler; and Report from Planet Midnight, by Nalo Hopkinson. Bought from PM Press in their Outspoken Authors series.
• The Warrior Who Carried Life, by Geoff Ryman. This was a freebie in the Norwescon swag bags.
• The Second Ship, by Richard Phillips. Another freebie from Norwescon swag.

Acquired in ebook form from B&N:

• Luna: La vengeance des elfes noirs, by Élodie Tirel. Book 2 of her Luna series, picked up since I finally made it through book one. More reading in French, woo!
• Fugitives from Earth, by Brad Wheeler. SF. I’ve got this in trade already from fellow NIWA member Brad Wheeler, but I grabbed the ebook too now that I’ve met Brad–and having it in ebook will bump up the likelihood that I’ll read it faster.
• An Eighty Percent Solution, by Thomas Gondolfi. SF with some magic involved, grabbed because I chatted with the author at Norwescon and it was fun to basically go ‘okay, tell me about your book’!
• Thomas Riley, by Nick Valentino. Steampunk. Another Norwescon-inspired purchase, from talking directly to the author.
• Insomnium, by Zachary Bonelli. Alternate-universe SF, and my third Norwescon-inspired purchase, following chatting with the author along the indie tables outside the dealers’ room.
• Other Systems, by Elizabeth Guizzetti. Again, SF, and the last of my Norwescon-inspired purchases.

Acquired in ebook from Kobo:

• Valour and Vanity, by Mary Robinette Kowal. Pre-ordered, the latest in her Glamourist series.

And last but not least, acquired in print from B&N:

• William Shakespeare’s Star Wars: Verily, a New Hope, and William Shakespeare’s Star Wars: The Empire Striketh Back, by Ian Doescher. Pretty much what it says on the tin, here–these are the author’s adaptations of the stories of the original Star Wars trilogy into Shakespearean-style play format. And I’ve already read ‘em at this point and can attest that they’re quite delightful! Very much looking forward to The Jedi Doth Return now, coming out later this summer.

52 for the year.

Mirrored from angelahighland.com.

Because I haven’t done one of these in a while, and because I’d like to clear out my list of Stuff I Really Need to Get Done before I scamper back up to Canada tomorrow for Le Vent du Nord goodness, here’s a roundup of recent book acquisitions!

From Amazon:

• Stronger Than Blood, by Genevieve Griffin. Urban fantasy YA, as I’ve posted about before. I don’t normally buy ebooks from Amazon, but for this, I make an exception.

From Barnes and Noble, because I was in the mood to augment my French ebooks collection and because I’ve got credit to blow on the B&N store:

• Luna: La cité maudite, by Élodie Tirel. Fantasy YA, in French, as I’ve posted about before. I already had a print copy of this, but I wanted an ebook copy, in no small part because getting a print copy of this book means I have to order it from Quebec, and I’d be sad if I lost it or spilled anything on it!
• Gaïg 1: La prophétie des nains, by Dynah Psyche. Again, fantasy YA. Grabbing this because it’s by the same imprint that does Élodie Tirel, and I’m interested in the apparent main character on the cover being a female dwarf. (Yes, folks, if I have to stuff an entire extra language into my head in order to read me some fantasy featuring a female dwarf, I AM PREPARED TO DO THAT. However, not all of us are language nerds. Hey, US fantasy market, step up to the plate here, won’t you?)
• Rivière des morts, by Esther Rochon. Not sure whether to call this fantasy or horror, given that as I understand it, there’s some Lovecraftian mythos fun going on in here. Can’t wait to tackle reading it! And, this is another book I have a paperback copy of, but again, reluctant to let it out of the house for fear of damaging it or losing it, ’cause ordering books from Quebec is spendy!
• Sentinels: Lynx Destiny, by Doranna Durgin. Paranormal romance. ‘Cause I’ve liked the others in this series so far, and hey, Doranna Durgin is pretty much auto-buy in these parts.

Directly from Gary Botting, as a “from one author to another” gift at the De Temps Antan show at the Rogue:

• Chief Smallboy: The Pursuit of Freedom, by Gary Botting. This is a biography about a chief of the Cree, Bob Smallboy, and a part of Canadian history with which I am unfamiliar. It should be an interesting and informative read!

And again from Barnes and Noble, this time in print:

• Half-Off Ragnarok, by Seanan McGuire. Urban fantasy, book 3 of her Incryptid series. Because Seanan.
• A Turn of Light, by Julie E. Czerneda. Fantasy. Already have this in ebook, but Ms. Czerneda is definitely on my list of “must have in both formats” authors.

Lastly, from Angry Robot:

• Blades of the Old Empire, by Anna Kashina. Fantasy. Astute readers may observe that this is the book I featured last week on Boosting the Signal!
• The Thief’s Gamble, by Juliet E. McKenna. Fantasy. Because I need more fantasy novels by women!

17 for the year so far.

Mirrored from angelahighland.com.

The book-buying gods have smiled upon me, for lo, I received not only a B&N gift card for my birthday, I also got a VISA gift card from work for hitting my five-year mark with them. I took the latter over to a B&N to get myself a gift card loaded up with that card’s balance (after nabbing a copy of the soundtrack for Desolation of Smaug). Which means, of course, a tasty, tasty book roundup post!

Nabbed therefore from B&N:

• The Splendour Falls, by Susanna Kearsley. For general “I buy everything by Susanna Kearsley” reasons, and this is one of her older books I haven’t managed to read yet. I have a paperback copy, but I buy her in both formats, and this is the first this ebook’s finally been made available to US markets.
• What Remains of Heaven and Where Shadows Dance, by C.S. Harris. Books 5 and 6 of her Sebastian St. Cyr historical mystery series.
• To Darkness and to Death, All Mortal Flesh, and I Shall Not Want, by Julia Spencer-Fleming. Books 4, 5, and 6 of her Clare Fergusson/Russ Van Alstyne mystery series.
• Magic Bleeds, by Ilona Andrews. Book 4 of the Kate Daniels urban fantasy series.

7 for the year so far.

Mirrored from angelahighland.com.

When last we left Thorin’s company in the Lonely Mountain, Bard’s army and that of the Elvenking had shown up to deliver them a Siege-o-gram. Postage due: a share of the treasure of Smaug. Not terribly surprisingly, this didn’t go over well at all. Particularly given how Thorin’s getting crankier what with the lust for the Arkenstone being well and thoroughly on him.

Chapter 16, “A Thief in the Night”, kicks in with that very question. ‘Cause yeah, Thorin, about that Arkenstone? Bilbo might know something about that…

Read the rest of this entry »

Mirrored from angelahighland.com.

Immortal Lies

And now, for a quick post-Solstice roundup of stuff I’ve recently acquired for my electronic reading amusement!

Scarfed off of Project Gutenberg (yay! Project Gutenberg! Because free books are awesome!) because of this article about women doing horror writing in the 19th century, and I wanted to check out some of the titles they mentioned:

A Night on the Borders of the Black Forest, by Amelia Ann Blanford Edwards. Grabbed this one in no small part because of this woman being the model for the character of Amelia Peabody, who, as you know, is EXTREMELY relevant to my interests.

The Uninhabited House, by Mrs. J.H. Riddell.

A Phantom Lover, by Vernon Lee.

And, grabbed off of Kobo (to whom I must give props for FINALLY implementing an actual shopping cart, because WOW it annoys me to have to buy a bunch of ebooks one at a time!):

Immortal Lies, by S.L. Gray. A.k.a. my Willowholt tribesmate shadowhwk, whose official site now lives right over here! This is her first urban fantasy and I look forward to reading it.

On a Red Station, Drifting, by Aliette de Bodard. SF. Grabbed this one due to Tor.com speaking well of it, and also because I want to expand my horizons a bit. The thought of some SF written with non-Western sensibilities appeals.

181 for the year.

Mirrored from angelahighland.com.

Well, all this fun with dragons strafing Lake-town is all very well and good, but I know what you’re thinking, Internets: what’s going on with Bilbo? Good question, for which I’m sure that Chapter 15, “The Gathering of the Clouds”, will have answers!

And since I’m so far behind on getting these posts done, I’ve actually read the rest of the English edition as I write this. This post, however, will stay focused on Chapter 15.

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Mirrored from angelahighland.com.