Let The Books Roll In

I'm away on vacation until later this afternoon so, in lieu of real content or beautiful pictures of San Juan Island (which I will post soon!), I thought I would just share some of my recent book acquisitions with you.

Last weekend I went out and bought Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman after reading Un Lun Dun. I can't wait to compare them!

I got an ARC from Penguin of Ice Land by Betsy Tobin. It seems like a mythical quest-type novel set in Iceland in 1000 A.D. It doesn't release until the end of August, I believe, so I won't be reading it for a bit.

And then I got a few cheap hardcovers in the massive B&N.com clearance -- none of these for more than $3.99 apiece! I always feel a bit guilty for some reason when I get awesome deals like this.

First is The Mammoth Book of New Historical Whodunnits. I own the Mammoth Book of Egyptian Whodunnits already and these are my favorite types of short stories because there's always a plot and resolution! Lynda S. Robinson is the only author I recognize in the collection so maybe this will even lead me to some new authors.

The second book of short stories I grabbed is 20th Century Ghosts by Joe Hill. These are obviously ghost stories -- which I could read all year long but I will probably save these for the fall.

The Book of Air and Shadows by Michael Gruber is one that I keep getting recommended on Amazon based on other books I choose. It's a thriller about books so I knew I would have to read it at some point! Apparently Gruber is a Seattle-ite as well so it will be supporting a local author.

One that I grabbed totally based on the cover is Hippolyte's Island by Barbara Hodgson. There is a naturalistic drawing of a tropical, probably flightless bird on the cover and some worn index letters down the side. Now that it's in my hands, I can see what I've actually gotten in for. This is an illustrated novel full of sketches and drawings and more about a naturalist that rediscovers some tiny islands in the South Atlantic. I think this will definitely find its way into my hands soon! It's a beautiful book.

One author that I have always wanted to try is Amitav Ghosh. They had The Hungry Tide on the list, a novel set in the Sundarban Islands off the coast of India. The main character is a marine biologist and this is another book that just begs to be read in the summer.

I hadn't heard about Guy Gavriel Kay or his book Ysabel until Eva mentioned this book a while back as one of her Once Upon a Time challenge books. She didn't love it but didn't hate it either so I will try it out. It has dark cathedrals and ghosts and lots of ambience so I will probably save this for a fall read as well.

The final book I grabbed is Darwin Conspiracy by John Darnton because I can't resist any novel with "Darwin" in the title. This book is set both on The Beagle and back in Victorian England while Darwin writes On The Origin of Species. What I really need to do is tie this in with my promised reading this year of Origin.

Hopefully I will be reviewing some of these titles for you this summer and fall! They are joining my tall TBR stacks but may make it out sooner than later.

Winding down a short but much needed vacation,
K