Books Received–March 31 (and a question)
The Situation arrived today, and it looks great! Woo-hoo!
Also, Farah Mendlesohn’s Rhetorics of Fantasy–on the same day as The Magic Pickle, which, for some reason, cracks me up. As well as two literary magazines we’ll need to pass on to the third-year guest editor for Best American Fantasy. (To be announced later this week.) I know Farah’s spent a long time on Rhetorics, so I’m going to curb my natural inclination to be wary of the kind of (re-)classification of types of fantasy that seems to be its thesis and just dive right in and report back.
So, that said, it has now been two weeks since I started posting photos of books received. I’d like to continue doing so, in part because it means that every book that comes in gets at least this minimum coverage, but also because people seem to be enjoying it. Am I right or wrong? If most of you just think it’s cluttering up the blog, let me know.
Jeff
March 31, 2008 at 11:43 am
The piles of books are a high point in the day for me.
March 31, 2008 at 11:52 am
I love it.
March 31, 2008 at 11:58 am
I said it before. Books are pretty, so photos of books are pretty.
March 31, 2008 at 12:02 pm
“I love it.”
Ditto.
March 31, 2008 at 12:03 pm
I love it, especially when I get to compare it to my meager haul. It’s interesting to see which books the publishers target towards reviewers/authors. Sorry for the momentary lapse into vanity. It’s a lunch break thing that’s about to pass.
March 31, 2008 at 12:06 pm
I like it, even though it makes me very jealous…. :D
March 31, 2008 at 12:11 pm
I like looking at books.
March 31, 2008 at 12:11 pm
I love it!!!
March 31, 2008 at 12:23 pm
It’s an interesting insight into what publishers think you might like. Its especially interesting when they guess wildly wrong.
March 31, 2008 at 12:39 pm
Okay–thus far it seems like a consensus. I like doing it, actually, in part because it helps me keep track of all the books.
Larry–it’s not because I’m an author. It’s because I make about 30% of my income from reviewing for various places.
JV
March 31, 2008 at 12:57 pm
Jonathan:
They don’t guess–they send almost everything. It’s a lot easier for them, and they know they can’t really always predict what a reviewer will like. For example, I posted about a funny heroic fantasy series from DAW today:
http://www.omnivoracious.com/2008/03/jim-c-hines-bri.html
I have 3-5 slots to fill a week for Amazon, so I cover a wider variety of stuff than what hits my particular sweet spot (not a slam on the Hines, which I enjoyed very much). The most personal reader is me as fiction writer. The second most personal is me as editor. The third most personal is me as just plain old reader. Those are really three different people. There’s also the fourth reader, yet another person, who informs me on what he thinks Amazon readers in their vast diversity might like.
Oddly enough, Ron Charles at the Washington Post has now given me three straight books to review that theoretically hit my most personal reader, all three radically different from one another. I think he has ESP.
JV
March 31, 2008 at 1:24 pm
I love seeing the book photos, especially since you cover a lot of graphic novels and such. I mean, before today, I didn’t even know there was a book called The Magic Pickle!!
March 31, 2008 at 1:44 pm
I’m really glad you liked Jim Hines. He’s als a very cool guy, and does weekly LOLbooks at his livejournal.
March 31, 2008 at 3:08 pm
I’ve had The Situation for a couple of weeks now, they even sent me two by mistake, I think. I may have accidentally ordered two, I’m not terribly organised. It does look great though and is pretty much next in my in pile.
March 31, 2008 at 3:51 pm
I love the book photos, even though I have difficulty dealing with the particular shade of green they make me turn each time I see them. Anyone have any good makeup tips?
March 31, 2008 at 5:36 pm
I finished The Situation yesterday. Wow! It reminded me of The Metamorphosis by Kafka. I had to laugh out loud a few times. Some of the absurd but true situations in work environments. I thought it was hilarious when the main character(I forgot his name) says that once in a while his manager calls him up to her office which is on the fiftieth floor! hahaha. Ridiculous and yet so true. It’s funny I waited months for The Situation to be released and I finished it in a couple hours! haha. Well worth it though. The artwork rocks too!
March 31, 2008 at 5:39 pm
Thanks, Donnie!
JV
March 31, 2008 at 6:39 pm
Jeff,
The pictures are definitely a highlight for me. It’s a combination of just enjoying pictures of shiny new books and envy over having shiny new books show up at your doorstep (or wherever they show up)
March 31, 2008 at 6:55 pm
Love the book photos too.
March 31, 2008 at 7:55 pm
I spy Redivider! Home of the most hilariously, uproariously bad poem I have ever read!
March 31, 2008 at 9:08 pm
You should keep posting these photos. They’re like pornography for bibliophiles. I certainly enjoy them myself.
March 31, 2008 at 9:30 pm
matt is right – porn for booklovers. The parrot was a nice touch.
March 31, 2008 at 9:41 pm
Zee parrot–he shall return.
April 1, 2008 at 3:10 am
Mmmm. Books. Mmmm…
(Please don’t stop.)
April 1, 2008 at 9:36 pm
What’s the book sitting next the the Magic Pickle book? The art on it looks kind of pleasing.
April 1, 2008 at 9:51 pm
That’s ReDivider, a really cool literary magazine!
April 1, 2008 at 11:42 pm
Sweet! I’ll check it out.
April 9, 2008 at 2:55 pm
I adore pickles. Like, pavlovian reaction to the word even. No pickle jar is safe in this house. So it seems appropriate