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anghara, by way of David Louis Edelman.What were YOUR last three book purchases? Why did you buy those books and not something else?
I believe mine were:
-Warrior & Witch, by Marie Brennan (aka
swan_tower). I liked the first book a lot, and wanted to see where she went with the second. Also, I like to support fellow new authors when I can. Not that Brennan needs my help. Her books are kicking butt and taking names!-The World Guide to Gnomes, Fairies, Elves & Other Little People, by Thomas Keightley. This is for research, possibly for future princess books. I've seen a few good recommendations for the book, so I thought I'd give it a try.
-Uglies, by Scott Westerfield. Word of mouth buzz works. I've heard a lot of good things about Westerfield's trilogy, so when I saw the book in a bookstore, I snagged a copy. Haven't read it yet, but I'll probably post a review when I do.
Your turn. What were your last three book purchases and why? Books thrive best on word-of-mouth. So go forth and mouth some words!
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Comments
Spectrum 12 - Because I missed its release last year and didn't find 13 available anywhere yet!
The Annotated Dragonlance Chronicles - The margin notes from Weis & Hickman telling of the D&D adventures they played that formed these novels are fabulous. They make me feel like I was part of the game as well as the story.
2) ILLIUM by Dan Simmons, because it's SF, with Mars and the Trojan War. And, it's Dan Simmons.
3) GOBLIN QUEST - because I've been following your lj, and realized it was a perfect gift for my brother.
Now that's exactly the sort of response I like to see for this meme :-)
The Name of the Rose, Umberto Eco - Suggested by an old prof AGES ago, though I haven't actually managed to get into it. I think it's under the couch right now. Which is a shame, because it's got such a good rep, but I'm just having trouble getting excited about it.
My Gender Workbook, Kate Bornstein - Gender is a special interest of mine, and I thought it'd be good to go through it. I think I'm a little too sophisitcated in a couple of areas to really get the full benefit of some of the exercises, but it's an interesting read.
And you know, there are some "good" books that might actually be wonderful works of scholarship or literature, but just don't click. There are a few Big Name authors in SF/F where I've picked up their books because of the rep and because everyone talks about how great they are, and I can't get past the first chapter...
Beginnings, Middles, and Ends by Nancy Kress, because I have plot issues. Also because there's a guy over at the Asimov's forum that raves about her.
Innocents Abroad, short stories by Gene Wolfe, because I think I like Wolfe (when I can figure out what he's talking about), and it was on sale at at Amazon.
My Name Is Legion, book of three novellas by Roger Zelazny, two of which I haven't ever read. Because it's Zelazny, of course.
By the way, Hi, Jim. I wandered over from Speculations, where I always enjoy your writerly comments.
::Makes a note of the Zelazny book::
Also Warrior and Witch, funnily enough.
And The Future Eaters: An Ecological History of the Australasian Lands and People, because Something Awful tried to eat my brain at WFC, and if it comes back, I would like to be able to
write it competentlyward it off.So was this brain-eater a humanoid zombie-type, or more of the space-alien parasite variety?
And of course I'm happy to know GQ is on the list for the next run!
Uglies by Scott Westerfeld
Tithe by Holly Black
I'm checking out YA. Is it my imagination, or has its popularity soared over the past few years? Just about everyone I know is reading it or writing it or both.
It could also be a broadening of categories, to some extent. Goblin Quest isn't YA, but I've had great reactions from younger readers, and have done a little marketing in that direction...
Kensington Gardens by Rodrigo Fresan, because the write-up in the Guardian Books section drew my attention to it and because I think it might be tangential research for something I'm writing. (Yes, fledgling on MA course - should I apologize? ;-)
Groupie by Jenny Fabian and Johnny Byrne Definite research for a book not er... my life.
Grand Tour: Or, the Purloined Coronation Regalia by Patricia C. Wrede. Why? It's the second in a trilogy and I liked the first. Also it's not a bad pastiche on Heyer, really isn't not. And yes it's YA.
Not at all! I did the MA thing myself a few years back. Welcome! So what are you MAing in?
Your lunch time writing was inspirational in terms of my 650 words a day goal (though somedays it's more it's never less) but I'm still feeling my way in the darkness of plot structure.
*grin*
Ought to warn you that the LJ is where my fannish self lives.
Seven point plot structure er... no. Where in memories should I be looking? *grin* And God it seems that one needs to devour Vogler and Campbell to see how the hell to subvert everything instantly. I'm finding first drafts to be a fluid thing of nightmarish beauty.
It was to me in workshop to unbland a character and suddenly she's changed house, background and economic bracket.
1. Meet Bob your protagonist. Bob has a problem.
2. Bob tries to solve his problem.
3. Bob fails, and potentially makes things worse.
4. Bob tries again.
5. Bob fails again. The stakes have now risen even higher.
6. Bob tries one last time, an all-or-nothing attempt.
7. Bob fails or succeeds, depending on the kind of story you want.
It's pretty simplistic, but it helped me get a concrete grasp on things like making the protagonist get out there and actively try to solve the problem. And I love when the early try-fail cycle actually make things worse, because it heightens the investment for the character.
So in Goblin War, for instance, Jig runs away to get help to save his fellow goblins, but the "help" he finds is an even bigger threat. Oops! Jig has failed to solve the problem, and now things are worse.
Heh ... Jig hates me :-)
(Buying a copy of one's own unpublished novel sounds a little *odd*, doesn't it?)
Before that was Goblin Quest, which I think counts even though my husband bought it for me, because I'm the one that told him he ought to take a look at it. :)
And I can't remember what I bought last before Goblin Quest.
Usually my husband does all the shopping. I think the last thing he bought might have been Is this Apocalypse Necessary? by C. Dale Brittain. He hadn't picked it up when it first came out because he was hoping it would come out in mass market later on, only it didn't, so he finally got around to special ordering a copy. Either that or it was Thud!
My own Cantata In Coral and Ivory: My husband wants a bound copy of this book so that he doesn't have to try either read it off a screen or muck around with manuscript pages when he wants to read it again. I do a nice private printing, if I do say so myself -- custom full color cover art, and in this case a bit of black and white interior art as well. When I show people the printed copy I have of another one of my stories they all assume its a real book until I explain otherwise. You'd be surprised how many people don't pay attention to things like publisher information and ISBNs. >:)
Goblin Quest: Because it sounded funny.
Is This Apocalypse Necessary?: This is the last in the Yurt series, which we have been fans of since book one, A Bad Spell in Yurt, came out. We own every other book in the series.
Thud!: pTerry rules.
2.) "Windows Server 2003 Inside and Out", I forget by whom.
3.) "Blood Moon" by Jim Butcher.
Why?
1.) Because I used to have the 11th edition, which I loaned to a friend, who promptly moved 1200 miles away. Bastard. On the other hand, a lot's changed since the 11th edition, and it's for work, so it's tax deductible.
2.) Because at work I need to figure out how to properly set up a Terminal Services server to host a database application, and I've never done that on Server 2003. Plus, it is tax deductible.
3.) Because I read "Storm Front" and liked Harry Dread, and so bought the sequel.