Mailbox
Monday is a weekly meme started by Marcia at Mailbox Monday in which
bloggers can ramble on about the books they received/bought/stole over a given
week. Each month a new blogger hosts the meme, and this month it’s Lori’s Reading Corner.
Happy New
Year, Folks! It’s the first Mailbox Monday
post of 2013. Sorry I couldn’t start
things out on a more exciting note, but the book haul at my house this week is
comprised of a couple of audio books from the library and the aftermath of my
wife’s spending spree at Barnes & Noble (instigated by a gift card from my
parents, no less). But a book is a book,
and she picked out some nice ones. So
let’s do this.
--- The Books ---
Shadows
in Flight
by Orson Scott Card – Orson Scott Card’s biggest claim to fame (other
than selling a jack-ton of books) is a science fiction novel called Ender’s Game. Maybe you’ve heard of it? Anyway, Shadows
in Flight is kind of a spin-off of Ender’s
Game. Or like, a spin-off of a
spin-off. Card took an ancillary
character from the origin novel, Bean, and built several series off him. He has
a genetic mutation which makes him insanely smart, but also makes his body grow
unchecked. It results in a fatal form of
gigantism and a lifespan of 20 years. In
Shadows in Flight, Bean has taken his
three children, also having the fatal gigantism, in a space ship, accelerates
to near light speed, and blasts into the deep cosmos, hoping that some day
humanity will find a cure for their gigantism.
I got it as an audio book from the library, and boy was it a good read.
Eye
of the Red Tsar by Sam Eastland – Another audio book from the library, Eye of the Red Tsar was quick to catch
my… err, eye? Whatever You know what I mean. I had to get it. It combines two of my favorite
genres—historical fiction and mysteries.
This one is set in Stalinist Russia (duh) in the 1920s. Pekkala was once
called the Eye of the Tsar, the Tsar’s personal investigator, but at the
opening of the book he’s a prisoner in a Siberian logging camp. He’s given a “get out of jail free” card in
exchange for one last mission. You know,
that old song and dance. But the cliché
plot hook is fairly easy to overlook, especially considering all the historical
detail involved. So far, it’s pretty
good.
Sharp
Objects by Gillian Flynn – Sharp Objects is Gillian Flynn’s first novel, the tale of a deeply
disturbed young woman named Camille Preaker who works as a reporter in Chicago . She’s a cutter, and over the years she’s
carved words into her flesh—WICKED, GIRL, BABYDOLL, WHORE. The list goes on. For eight years she’s been gone from her
hometown, avoid her family (her hypochondriac mother and twisted half-sister)
and bad memories like the plague, but then two preteen girls are murdered, and
her editor sends her back into the maelstrom to cover the story. This was actually one of my wife’s
after-Christmas purchases, but after seeing her tear through it in a matter of
days and hearing all about the twisted shit packing its pages, I’m down like
Charlie Brown. This is one I just gotta
read.
Gone
Girl by
Gillian Flynn – Gone Girl
is Flynn’s third novel, and of late it has been one of the more “in” titles on
the book blog circuit. Guess that means
the publishers were pushing it pretty hard.
Or it’s a really good book. Maybe
both? This one is told from the male
perspective, a town “golden boy” whose wife disappears on their fifth wedding
anniversary. What follows is the kind of
psychological mystery readers have come to expect from Flynn—a narrative that,
as it unravels, makes the truth hazier and hazier. My wife is reading this one as we speak, so
my evenings recently have been punctuated with Becky suddenly saying, “Hey,
listen to this!” and then serenading me with various passages from the book. That’s what I get for marrying a fellow
English major.
The
New York Times: The Complete Front Pages
1851-2012 – This coffee table book (i.e. huge honkin’ tome)
contains reprints of New York Times front pages from some of the most seminal
dates in history. Calling it “The
Complete Front Pages” is kind of a misnomer, considering that it only contains
300-something front pages. So it’s not
really complete, now is it? But
regardless, it’s pretty damn cool to look up the front pages from D-Day or the
day Kennedy was assassinated. It’s also
got essays from current and former NYT columnists, so there’s plenty of stuff
to read. Don’t expect to see a review
for this puppy, though. This is more of
the bathroom reading variety. So maybe
instead of a coffee table book, they should call it a commode basket book?
And now
that I’ve showed you mine, it’s time to show me yours. What did you get
in your mailbox this week?
My book club has chosen Gone Girl for sometime this year so hopefully I'll be getting to it sooner rather than later. I'm never current on the hot books these days.
ReplyDeleteMe neither! If it wasn't for.my wife I'd be permanently stuck about 5 years behind everyone else!
DeleteI'm hoping to read Gone Girl this year - I'm so behind in the "popular books".
ReplyDeleteYou and me both, sister!
DeleteEnjoy all your books...haven't read Gone Girl, but friend has. She liked it.
ReplyDeleteElizabeth
Silver's Reviews
My Mailbox Monday
Yeah, I hear it's pretty fantabulous. Thanks for stopping by!
DeleteI've seen lots of things about Gone Girl, but haven't read it yet. Enjoy!
ReplyDelete2 Kids and Tired Books MM
That in itself.should say a lot. But then we're reminded of 50 Shades of Grey and... *shudder*
DeleteGone Girl sounds good.
ReplyDeletehttp://tributebooksmama.blogspot.com/2013/01/mailbox-monday.html
Thank you ma'am.
DeleteI read Gone Girl, it was messed up. I have her other two on the TBR - saving for when I want to read about gnarly people. Enjoy your books, they sound really good! I read Ender's Game just last year and want to check out at least the first Bean book - I hear it is super fun.
ReplyDeleteI think just about anything written by Gillian Flynn is going to be f***ed up. And yes, the Ender series is wonderful. Ima have to read more.
DeleteAn excellent list there. You got a ton of great reads. I adored Ender's Game and don't read the others for fear it'll ruin Ender's for me. Gone Girl I won ages ago I plan on reading that one this year myself.
ReplyDeleteI still need to read ender's game at some point. Maybe my library will have an audiobook copy?
DeleteHmmm... a comparatively slow week for my 'mailbox'. "Everything Was Goodbye" by Gurjinder Basran, about a young woman of Indian heritage growing up in suburban Vancouver; "Vacuum Diagrams", a collection of short stories by Stephen Baxter; Michael Ondaatje's "The Cat's Table" for next month's book club, and, joy of joys, "Classics of Western Literature: Bloom County 1986-1989" by the inestimable Berke Breathed ($2 from Value Village... *swoons*).
ReplyDeleteNice list, Jessica!
DeleteI'm very curious about "Gone Girl"... looks like it's right up my alley.
ReplyDeleteI'm curious about the new york times front pages book. i have first revised edition from 2009, which very clearly states on the cover that it has Cd's that contain all the front pages from 1851 to the summer of 2009.
ReplyDeleteI'm considering getting it as a birthday present, but would like to know if the 2012 edition does contain the Cd's with all the front pages ( updated to 2012 of course) on them and the cover redesign simply didn't leave time to say that, or if they the got rid of the Cd's for this edition.
Hey there,
DeleteYeah, I noticed what you were talking about on the back page. There's a quote from some person talking about the book who mentions "DVDs" containing all the front pages not reproduced in the book. But my copy didn't come with that. All it came with was a shoddy plastic bookmark. Maybe I didn't get it because I bought mine off the bargain shelf at Barnes & Noble? Not sure.
Anyway, looks like I have the same problem as you. Sorry I couldn't help more. :/
that's all right. even if they don't have the Cd's ill probably just keep the ones that came with my old edition and get the new edition anyways.
Deletebut thanks for the help all the same.
https://www.rashed-kw.com/تسليك-مجاري-الكويت/
ReplyDeletehttps://www.rashed-kw.com/شركة-تنظيف-بالكويت/