Mish mash, mostly (all?) bookish

[meganbmoore]

1. Is it just me, or do books look better the more cheaply you acquire them? Because somehow, the stack of $0.99 manga (actually, mostly manhwa, but that's nitpicking) that I only have mild curiosity about and figured that it couldn't hurt to check them out at that price looks more attractive than the stack of series I love and/or can't wait to check out. But between the Book Closeouts sale and Rightstuf's current sale, my plans to wipe out the manga backlog before A-Kon are crushed. Also, I am disappointed that the copy of Vol 1 of Never Give Up that I ordered didn't ship, because Vols 2-3 did. I guess I'll add Vol 1 to the list of stuff to look for at A-Kon.

2. Speaking of those 2 websites, Rightstuf is currently having a Spring Cleaning sale until the 13th. Everything in stock is an extra 10% off, which makes most of the already discounted stuff 32% off. They already shipped all but 1 book in my order, and the sale only started Thursday. Book Closeouts is also having a sale until the 13th, this with a lot of their inventory marked down to $1.99. I'm not even allowing myself to look at that sale, as it's time to start saving spending money so I can blow it at A-Kon and Half Price Books.

3. The backlog has been updated. (It includes the stuff from Rightstuf, even though that has yet to finish the journey between here and the warehouse.)

Books that have been added the last month or so:

Anthology: Sails and Sorcery: Tales of Nautical Fantasy
M.T. Anderson: The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation: Vol 1. The Pox Party
Frank Beddor: Seeing Redd
Truman Capote: Breakfast at Tiffany’s
Susane Colasanti: When It Happens
Maryse Conde: I, Tituba, Black Witch of Salem
Alison Croggon: The Naming
Kate Elliott: Spirit Gate
Jasper Fforde: The Eyre Affair
Jessica Day George: Princess of the Midnight Ball
Frewin Jones: The Faerie Path
Frances Mayes: Under the Tuscan Sun
China Mieville: Un Lun Dun
Dru Pagliassotti: Clockwork Heart
Tamora Pierce: Beka Cooper: Terrier
Deanna Raybourn: Silent in the Sanctuary
Carrie Ryan: The Forest of Hands and Teeth
Shan Sa: Empress
Alexander McCall Smith: The Kalahari Typing School for Men, The Full Cupboard of Life, The Sunday Philosophy Club
Judith Tarr: King’s Blood
Sherry Thomas: Delicious
Megan Whalen Turner: The Queen of Attolia




4. The parents and I will be visiting my brother's family from Friday to Sunday, and then my mother's sister. I have no idea who they're getting to feed the cats, as they hadn't even realized that would be a problem until I pointed out that their regular catsitter would be going with them. Meanwhile, I will be spending 9-10 hours in the backseat of their car.

[Poll #1378108]

5. Aren't these things supposed to have 5 items? *thinks* Verizon sent me a refund check for $27.87. I doubt I will do anything imaginative with it.

Comments

[shewhohashope.livejournal.com]

I'd put in two votes for Queen of Attolia if I could. This is where the series gets really good.

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

The first one was only "ok" until near the end. And then there were queens and politics.

[shewhohashope.livejournal.com]

The second one has a lot more politics and more Queens! Well, mostly one Queen, but there's a lot of her.

[worldserpent.livejournal.com]

I've heard great things about Octavian Nothing. Un Lun Dun is interesting, but as I said in my recent post on it on my LJ, I prefer his books for adults.

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

In all honesty, it was just the first book of his I ever saw at the used book store.

[retsuko.livejournal.com]

Argh, I need to change my vote to both UnLunDun AND The Naming. So, um, yeah, that's one vote for The Naming. :S

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

Click on the poll # right above the poll, and I think the "fill out poll" link will let you change your vote.

[anime-babble.livejournal.com]

I have to second the Queen of Attolia rec. The Thief is merely ok. The Queen of Attolia is great, and the King of Attolia is FANTASTIC.

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

That seems to be the general consensus.

[keilexandra]

Agreed.

[mystickeeper.livejournal.com]

OMG READ OCTAVIAN NOTHING!!! *FLAIL*


My stack of 20 manga made cackle maniacally, as cheap books often do. And yeah, I get a lot more excited when the books are cheaper. THus, you are very naughty for pointing out more sales to me!!

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

When they're cheaper, YOU CAN GET MORE!

[estara.livejournal.com]

I am so envious that you can read in the back of a car...

Yay for Sherwood Smith, Tamora Pierce and Michelle West (and of course Megan Whalen Turner)!

[mistaria.livejournal.com]

I am also envious of this ability.

And yaying over Tamora Pierce. :D

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

Not nonstop, but for decent stretches.

[kyuuketsukirui.livejournal.com]

I'm on vol. 6 of Never Give Up! right now, and determined to see it through only because it's only 13 volumes and I'm curious to see if it gets any better. So far it's pretty bad, though.

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

Really? It was recced to me as good.

[kyuuketsukirui.livejournal.com]

Well, the whole plot is that she doesn't feel girly enough and he doesn't feel manly enough, so they're determined not to get together until they're more suited to each other. I'm hoping that the ending will be that they realise they don't have to conform, either physically or mentally, to the strict gender roles they're clinging to, but man, at volume six it shows no sign. There's also some really bad homophobia (worst in volume one, but continuous throughout the series).

[kyuuketsukirui.livejournal.com]

Also it's one of those stories where we're just supposed to accept that she's had a crush on the guy all her life, but we're never shown why. Maybe just because he's pretty, as that seems to be his only redeeming quality.

[re-weird.livejournal.com]

I highly recommend both Octavian Nothing and Queen of Attolia.

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

They are ahead of almost everything else so far!

[re-weird.livejournal.com]

It's also the source of this great icon! How can that not convince you? (g)

[darkelf105.livejournal.com]

I loved Octavian Nothing. I am currently reading the Forest of Hands and Teeth so am curious as to what you'll think. I dunno if I could recommend the Naming. It wasn't bad, but it just seemed kinda bland and there weren't any really interesting characters. The MC is okay, but sometimes she made me want to scream just because I'm not as sympathetic with teenaged protagonists as I once was and the definite lack of adult women irked me. Like they were there, but never more than a few pages at a time. I did however, like all the bard school stuff.

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

The bard stuff is what caught my attention.

[darkelf105.livejournal.com]

I take back what I said because now I am curious to know what you think. I actually did like the world enough to continue onto book two but am having a tough time getting through it. There are enough elements in the series to keep me interested, but nothing seems to be geling for me. I keep feeling like the author is glossing over the interesting bits to move on with the plot and thick as the books are, I feel like they're under developed which I think is frustrating me because I really do like the world quite a bit, but maybe the frustration is all me.