TSS: Spine Bookshelf Tour

I've had a few questions about the books that appear behind me in some videos. I know it looks like I've created a 5 foot tower of books, but the books are actually on a bookshelf called a spine bookshelf.

The books on this shelf are an eclectic collection and the only thing they have in common is that they are mostly hardbacks.

Enjoy the tour!

Vlog: Borders Book Haul

So, you might have figured out by now that I'm living a double life! I still like to write blog posts, but have discovered a great book community on YouTube too.

If you prefer the written version with cover photos, go here.



Books listed:

Tales of the Dying Earth by Jack Vance
Planet of Adventure by Jack Vance
Smoke and Mirrors by Neil Gaiman
Fragile Things by Neil Gaiman
Riddle-Master by Patricia McKillip
Mr. Timothy by Louis Bayard
Royal Escape by Georgette Heyer
Shadowland (The Mediator Series #1) by Meg Cabot
Ghost Train to the Eastern Star: On the Tracks of the Great Railway Bazaar by Paul Theroux

Borders Book Haul

I went to my local Borders last Friday and picked up a few books I'd been wanting before all the books got picked over. Thought I'd share my book haul with you.

Tales of the Dying Earth by Jack Vance

This is a bindup that includes The Dying Earth, The Eyes of the Overworld, Cugel's Saga, and Rhialto the Marvellous

I don't hear too much about Jack Vance anymore, but he is a prolific writer who goes back to the Golden Age in Science Fiction writing. His works, when they can be found, are usually filed under Science Fiction, but they are a delightful combination of SF, Fantasy, and Adventure.

I had to buy this bindup even though I already own these titles as individual publications. Those separate books are getting old and fragile so I thought a nice bindup with The Dying Earth and its sequels would be an appropriate addition to my collection.

Planet of Adventure by Jack Vance

Another Jack Vance bindup that includes City of the Chasch, Servants of the Wankh, The Dirdir, and The Pnume.

It's been ages since I've read these books, but I can remember the fun I had reading them! Vance's worlds and creations just suck you in. I can still "hear" the clicking noises of one of the alien languages he created for this series.

Again, I wanted to add this bindup to the collection since my individual copies are old and fragile. One drawback of a bindup though is the loss of the individual cover art. I will miss the artist's rendering of the Pnume on the original cover of the book by that name.

Smoke and Mirrors by Neil Gaiman

Fragile Things by Neil Gaiman

I probably don't need to say much about why I picked these two books up! If you are a Neil Gaiman fan, then you understand. What I don't understand is why I didn't already have them in my collection. I can't tell you how many times I went to the store and had these two titles in my hand and then put them back on the shelf. Apparently, I can sometimes show book buying restraint, but it is a bit odd that I restrained myself from two of Gaiman's books (THAT I REALLY WANTED). Oh well, I have them now. Smile.

Riddle-Master by Patricia A. McKillip

This bindup includes The Riddle-Master of Hed, Heir of Sea and Fire, and Harpist in the Wind.

Apparently I'm on a bindup binge! I've never read any books by this author, but I've seen her titles around for a long time and have seen other bloggers commenting on her books. I'm hoping that I enjoy this one. It is fantasy, and I like fantasy. Stephen Donaldson and Peter Beagle both make positive comments in the book blurb on the back of the book, and that is a positive sign since I like both of those authors.

Additional bonus: The cover art on this copy of the book is by Kinuko Y. Craft. Love her work.

Mr. Timothy by Louis Bayard

I recently read my first Bayard novel and enjoyed it very much. I read The Black Tower, a historical detective novel about the period following France's Reign of Terror and Restoration and the young son of Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette.

This book appears to be a take on one of Dickens' characters from A Christmas Carol. Tim Cratchett is now a 23 year old adult living in a London whorehouse and trying to gain financial independence from Uncle Scrooge. Oh, and in this one it is Timothy that is haunted by a ghost. One book blurb comments on "Bayard's appreciation for the lurid exoticness of Victorian London." Sounds like my kind of book!

Wondering if I should save it to read closer to Christmas?

Royal Escape by Georgette Heyer

When I want to escape, one of my "go to" authors is Georgette Heyer. She is a mid-twentieth century writer of historical fiction, Regency romances, and mysteries.

Royal Escape will be my first historical by Heyer. So far I've read several of her Regency romances and have yet to read any of the mysteries. One of the things I like about Heyer is the obvious amount of research she puts into her work.

In Royal Escape, Heyer "follows King Charles II's daring flight to France in 1651 after Cromwell's forces defeated the king at the Battle of Worcester. For six weeks, Charles's life was in danger as he hid in the English countryside disguised as a servant, unable to find a way across heavily guarded borders. Two young women helped him finally escape, one of whom became his lifelong friend." (from back cover)

Shadowland: The Mediator #1 by Meg Cabot

The Mediator is a Young Adult (YA) series about Suze, a teen aged liaison between the living and the dead. In other words, she sees ghosts. From what I can tell from reading the first chapter, Meg Cabot includes witty dialogue (and I love witty dialogue) and creates a likable character in Suze. The fact that the story involves ghosts is a plus for me.

I'm sure this will be a quick and fun read, but since I purchased it in mass market paperback format I can afford not to like it too. I'll see how this one goes before picking up any more in this series.

Ghost Train to the Eastern Star: On the Tracks of the Great Railway Bazaar by Paul Theroux

Ghost Train to the Eastern Star is a travel narrative and the only non-fiction I picked up in this book haul. I have a fascination with books about the Silk Road, Asia, and train travel. This book covers two of those fascinations. Paul Theroux recreates a grand tour by train through Asia that he took 30 years ago when the world (especially that part of it) was quite different.

I will leave you with this passage from page 2, which should show you why I decided I had to read this book:

"Ghosts have all the time in the world, another pleasure of long-distance aimlessness -- traveling at half speed on slow trains and procrastinating. And this ghostliness, I was to find, was also an effect of the journey I had chosen, returning to places I had known many years ago. It is almost impossible to return to an early scene in your traveling life and not feel like a specter. And many places I saw were themselves sad and spectral, others big and hectic, while I was the haunting presence, the eavesdropping shadow on the ghost train."

Vlog: Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs

For those of you who prefer to watch book reviews, I've created this video so you can see me ramble on about this book!



Jackson Pearce on "Symbolism" http://youtu.be/IVOuvdxEZfc

Book trailer http://youtu.be/XWrNyVhSJUU

Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs

Title: Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children
Author: Ransom Riggs
Publisher: Quirk Books
Year: 2011

The main character in Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children is 16 year old Jacob Portman. Growing up, Jacob loved listening to his grandfather tell fantastical stories about his life in an orphanage on an island in Wales. Tales of an enchanted place with monsters and peculiar children with unusual abilities. Jacob began doubting these stories as he grew older and came to think of them as phantasms representing his grandfather's life as a WW2 orphan in war torn Europe. But a family tragedy sends Jacob on a quest to find out if his grandfather was merely an extraordinary storyteller, or if there is truth and danger in those old stories. This quest leads him to a crumbling old ruin, in the midst of a foggy bog, on a remote island off the coast of Wales. Strange happenings here lead Jacob to ask: Are there really monsters? Are the peculiar children still alive after all these years?

Ransom Riggs weaves his tale around real vintage photographs, some of which are rather haunting (see the photo that gave me the creeps at right!). This device is quite clever and definitely adds to the tension and sense of "otherness" in the story. The book trailer makes the story seem like it might veer toward horror, but I found the book to be more disturbing, eerie and mysterious than horrific; the focus is more about what we, and Jacob, don't know and don't understand than it is about monsters jumping out at us from the dark.

A coming of age theme brings a bit of depth to the story. Leaving childhood and learning to face the monsters in our lives is every bit as disturbing as the story the author tells, but I'm not sure the author meant the story to be a metaphor so much as an excellent example of storytelling.

Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children appears to be a standalone novel, but the author could certainly continue the story at a later date. I would be satisfied either way. I'm not sure if the book is being marketed as a Young Adult (YA) novel or not. It could certainly be considered YA, but I think it also has a wider appeal and adult readers will find it intriguing and entertaining.

Book trailer:




Book received from the publisher through LibraryThing Early Reviewers.

A Small Book Haul and a DVD!

Doctor Who Season 6.1 - DVD
I've been watching this series since at least the Tom Baker days!

Witch by Barbara Michaels - Mystery
Bumblesby (Tim) had this one in a book haul and it looked interesting.

A Dance With Dragons by George R. R. Martin - Fantasy
Gah! I think there is supposed to be a number 6 and 7 in this series. Better get back to reading.

Forever by Maggie Stiefvater - YA
Werewolves.

The Diamond of Darkhold by Jeanne DuPrau - YA
Post-apocalypse.

Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs - YA
Peculiar. Very peculiar.

Middle Eastern Fiction

I'm going to ease back into blogging and provide a list of books (don't you just love lists?). I'll admit right up front that this is not original work on my part; I'm pulling from my recent issue of Bookmarks magazine (July/August 2011 No. 53) and using a combination of my own words and those of others. Nonetheless, I found it interesting and thought I'd share!

The article in Bookmarks features "notable fiction of various countries within the Greater Middle East, focusing on the mid-20th century to the present. The selections are written by Middle Eastern authors as well as those of Middle Eastern descent and those with experience in the region."

Overview
Tablet & Pen: Literary Landscapes from the Modern Middle East (2010) edited by Reza Aslan
An anthology of more than 600 stories and poems of Arabic, Turkish, Persian, and Pakistani literature over the past 100 years. Organized geographically and chronologically.

Afghanistan
A Thousand Splendid Suns (2007) by Khaled Hosseini
Khaled Hosseini is a native of Kabul who came to the U.S. in 1980. This book chronicles three decades of turmoil leading up to and after the Taliban. Depicts the life of women in Afghanistan.

The Swallows of Kabul (2004) by Yasmina Khadra
Algerian army officer Mohamed Moulessehoul took the pen name Yasmina Khadra to avoid military censorship. Explores the effects of repression through the eyes of two men.

Algeria
The German Mujahid (2008) by Boualem Sansal
Compares Nazism and Islamic fundamentalism. The narrator is the drifter son of a German father and an Algerian mother and lives in an Arab housing complex outside Paris.

Egypt
The Yacoubian Building (2004) by Alaa Al Aswany
The author lives in Cairo and criticizes religious extremism, political corruption, and sexual repression in Egypt under Mubarak. This novel provides a snapshot of Cairo's various religious and socioeconomic groups. Takes place in the Yacoubian building, a once grand but now decaying Art Deco structure which houses inhabitants from all walks of life.

The Map of Love (1999) by Ahdaf Soueif
Booker Prize Finalist
The author is a female Anglo-Egyptian novelist , political and cultural commentator, was born in Cairo and educated in Egypt and England. The story is a journey through time which begins with the discovery of old English and Arabic documents found in the apartment of the main character's dying mother. A love story that includes issues including colonialism and the clash of cultures.

Palace Walk (1956; trans in 1990) by Naguib Mahfouz
Part of the Cairo Trilogy (Palace Walk, Palace of Desire, Sugar Street)
Author is a Nobel Prize winner. The story follows Egyptian history between 1919 and Nasser in the 1950s. Provides a glimpse into Cairo society from the breakdown of tradition to the country's modernization. One of the first novels to offer social commentary on Egyptian life to Western eyes.

Woman at Point Zero (1983) by Nawal El Saadawi
Author is an Egyptian feminist writer, activist, physician, and former Director of Public Health. The novel is set in 1970s Egypt and features a psychiatrist asked to examine a female inmate, Firdaus, on death row for killing her former pimp. Firdaus' story sheds light on gender inequality in Egypt.

Iran
Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood (2003) by Marjane Satrapi
Volume 1 of two (Persepolis 2: The Story of a Return)
Autobiographical, black and white graphic novel. Depicts the author's childhood and adolescence in Tehran during and after the Islamic revolution. Paints a portrait of daily life under the new Iranian regime -- from wearing a veil to a very real sense of fear and endangerment.

Censoring an Iranian Love Story (2009) by Shahriar Mandanipour
The author has himself been censored from publishing fiction in his native country of Iran. A post-modern novel about a novelist having a difficult time writing a simple love story because of the government censor. Imagine trying to write a novel and being held up by constant scene rewrites and deletion of "offensive" dialogue.

The Septembers of Shiraz (2007) by Dalia Sofer
The author and her family fled post-revolutionary Iran when she was 10 after her father was unjustly imprisoned. Semi autobiographical and set in 1981.

Israel
To the End of the Land (2010) by David Grossman
A powerful antiwar novel. Has tragic parallels to the writer's own life: Grossman's youngest son was killed in the last days of the 2006 Lebanon war, which the author had opposed.

A Woman in Jerusalem (2006) by A.B. Yehoshua
Los Angeles Times Book Prize
Short novel about the attempted return of the body of a Slavic immigrant to Israel to her isolated Soviet village. Raises questions about identity, religion, nationality, guilt, penance, and morality.

A Pigeon and a Boy (2006) by Meir Shalev
Two intertwined stories that explore the meaning of love and home. The first tale is set in the period before Israeli statehood. The second tale takes place in the present.

My Michael (1968) by Amos Oz
Describes a young woman's marriage in 1950s Jerusalem. Described as existentialist in parts, ruminative, slow and worthwhile. Provides glimpses into Jerusalem's neighborhoods and landscapes from a bygone era.

The Bus Driver Who Wanted to be God & Other Stories (2004) by Etgar Keret
Brief and powerful stories mostly set in contemporary Israel with ordinary characters confronting life's realities and absurdities. Described as fierce, vulgar and amusing.

Beaufort (2007) by Ron Leshem
Sapir Prize for Literature
A debut novel and basis for the film, Beaufort. An Israel Defense Force unit is stationed at Beaufort Castle in southern Lebanon. The story is narrated by the unit's 21-year-old squadron commander. Focuses on contradictions within the military, the essence of Israeli identity, and the general absurdity of war. Described as evocative and haunting.

Jordan
Staircase of a Thousand Steps (2001) by Masha Hamilton
The author is an American journalist and author who spent five years in the Middle East reporting for the Associated Press. A coming of age story about an eleven year old Jordanian girl with a unique gift to experience others' memories, past and present. Described as being defined by mysticism and history and challenging the traditional role of Muslim women and the clash between tradition and modernity.

Kuwait
A Map of Home (2008) by Randa Jarrar
The author is an American novelist and short story writer who grew up in Kuwait and Egypt. This is her debut novel. Described as audacious, intimate, and funny. The coming of age story of a Muslim girl in Kuwait, Egypt, and Texas. Portrays the universality of adolescence.

Lebanon
The Hakawati (2008) by Rabih Alameddine
Roma Prize
The author is a Lebanese-American painter and writer born in Amman, Jordan to Lebanese Druze parents. Grew up in Kuwait and Lebanon and left as a teenager to live in England and then California. Hakawati is Arabic for "storyteller." This novel involves stories within stories and is described as imaginative, sprawling, bittersweet, and humorous as it encourages the reader to see beyond stereotypes.

Libya
In the Country of Men (2006) by Hisham Matar
Book Prize Finalist
The author was born in Libya in 1970 and lives in London. He last saw Libya in 1979. His father, a dissident former diplomat, was kidnapped there in 1990 and imprisoned in Tripoli. The Qaddafi regime executed several of Matar's relatives. This is a debut novel that takes place in the summer of 1979 in Tripoli. Described as a sophisticated portrait of fear, mistrust, and betrayal; emotionally wrenching and poetic.

Pakistan
Moth Smoke (2000) by Mohsin Hamid
New York Times Notable Book of the Year
Author is a dual citizen of Pakistan and the UK who writes about the intersection of personal and political themes. Apparently a subversive novel that was a cult hit in both Pakistan and the US. Uses multiple perspectives, trial scenes, and essays to explore one man's moral descent, played out against Pakistan's nuclear testing.

The Reluctant Fundamentalist (2007) by Mohsin Hamid
Booker Finalist
Anxieties and fears in modern day Pakistan. Explores the aftermath of 9/11 and its international climate. Written as a single monologue.

In Other Rooms, Other Wonders (2009) by Daniyal Mueenuddin
National Book Award Finalist, Pulitzer Prize Finalist, New York Times 100 Best Books of the Year
The author is a frequent contributor to the New Yorker. A debut collection of eight linked stories based in part on the author's experiences managing his father's farm in Pakistan. Described as painting a detailed picture of feudal Pakistani culture that is rapidly fading into history.

Palestine
Gate of the Sun (2006) by Elias Khoury
The author is a Lebanese novelist, playwright, critic and public intellectual. The novel's main character recites the Naqba (catastrophe) stories about Palestinian lives from the War of 1948 to the present day Israeli-Palestinian conflict. These stories are described as reflecting the displacement, terror, and hope of the Palestinian people; haunting, comical, and heartrending; bloody and sad; and recreate a Palestinian homeland through imagination.

Mornings in Jenin (2010) by Susan Abulhawa
The author is the daughter of Palestinian refugees of the 1967 war, grew up in Kuwait, Jordan, East Jerusalem, and the United States. The novel begins in the middle of the last century and follows twin brothers and their sister, born in a refugee camp. Chronicles three decades of conflict and provides a portrait of refugee life, both the suffering and joys.

Martyrs' Crossing (2001) by Amy Wilentz
The author is an American writer, professor, and former Jerusalem correspondent for the New Yorker. Novel explores the gray areas of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Saudi Arabia
Girls of Riyadh (2007) by Rajaa Alsanea
The author grew up in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and currently lives in Chicago. Described as a Saudi chick-lit writer (!). The novel features four 20-something upper-class Saudi women dipping their toes into Western culture and looking for love.

Triple Time (2009) by Anne Sanow
Drue Heinz Literature Prize
The author is an American writer who lived in Saudi Arabia for two years in her early teens. This is a collection of loosely connected stories, many set in the 1980s, that reflect the author's experience. Describes the uneasy alliance between tradition and modernity. The full description of this book sounds delightful.

Turkey
Snow (2004) by Orhan Pamuk
New York Times Book Review Notable Book of the Year
Orhan Pamuk is the first Turkish Nobel Prize laureate and one of Turkey's most prominent novelists. He now teaches at Columbia University. This novel brings to the fore the conflict between Islam and Westernization that grips modern Turkey. Features themes of inner personal turmoil as well as complex political strife.

The Bastard of Istanbul (2007) by Elif Shafak
Examines the effects of censorship on individuals, families, and nations. Described as being filled with oddball characters and magical realism; a complex study of how the past can overshadow the future.

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I've provided title links to Amazon.com, but if you prefer to see which libraries hold these books go to WorldCat.

Blog Revival!

Yah. I know. I haven't posted since April. I won't bore you with the details, but it isn't just one thing. Multifaceted problem, you know. Anyway, I MISS YOU ALL!!!! So I'm going to try and pull myself together here and start posting and visiting again.

Thanks to Eva at A Striped Armchair and Memory at Stella Matutina for their recent cheerleading on Twitter. I appreciate the encouragement to get this blog going again! This is why I love book blogging. Book bloggers are the best!

OK. Off to write a book post today and get it up within the next couple of hours.