The Leaning Tower of Just Arrived Books
Posted on November 11, 2010 Posted by John Scalzi 45 Comments
I mention to people that I often get ten to 20 new books/ARCs sent to me a week, but there’s nothing like a little visual representation of how many books come my way, so, here, this is roughly the stack of books which have arrived since I returned home from World Fantasy on the first of November:
For those of you who don’t wish to count, there are 36 books in that stack. It doesn’t count the three books I received from Subterranean Press, on account that they were still in bubblewrap and the Jenga-like qualities of this particular stack of books were pronounced enough. It also doesn’t include the ARC I got of my own book, because, well. That would be silly, wouldn’t it.
If you want a closer look at the picture, the better to read all the titles, here’s the larger size. That said, let me put a quick spotlight on some of the books here:
* The ARC of Bloodshot, which is the first volume of Hugo-and-Nebula nominated author Cherie Priest’s new urban fantasy series, which will be out in January;
* Marjorie Liu’s In the Dark of Dreams, which represents her transfer of her very popular Dirk & Steele series over to Avon books (congrats, Marjorie!), and will be out at the end of the month;
* A big care package of Haikasoru books, including All You Need is Kill, which I blurbed when it came out, Harmony, which won the Seiun Award (that’s Japan’s equivalent of the Hugo), and The Ouroboros Wave, their latest, which will be out next week.
* Mogworld, the debut fantasy novel of Yahtzee Croshaw, the snarky git behind Zero Punctuation;
* Writers Gone Wild, a book chronicling the historically bad behavior of Hemingway, Mailer, Woolf, Plath and other such literary types, all of which will conspire to make you feel better about that what you did with your Friday night. This book is a special treat for me because it’s the debut book of my pal Bill Peschel, who was kind enough to send me a copy with the inscription “To John Scalzi — who is much too sane to appear in a book like this.” He may be right. I must try harder. Anyway, this will be a fine holiday gift for the writers you know. Just warn them that these are cautionary tales, not how-to instructions. Here’s a link. Also, if you click on Bill’s name, his blog is currently featuring excerpts from the book.
I’ll write up some of the rest of these soon, but for now, enjoy the leaning tower of books.
There are times when I think a grim punishment for some would be to not only receive all the genre books, but be forced to read them too. All of them. Every last one of them.
I’ve just bought Mogworld, hope it’s good.
You know if you happen to drop that Joe Abercrombie Heroes in the mail to me. i won’t cry
You have Anne Bishop’s new anthology!! I now loathe you with the fire of a thousand suns.
Oooh, I see The Heroes in there. Just finished up Abercrombie’s Best Served Cold today. Though, I might need to compose myself and think of nice thoughts for awhile before I tackle another of his books. A girl can only take so much bleak and snark in one sitting :)
Looks like Haika Soru loves you…”All you need is kill” was pretty good, though a bit short. It kind of reminded me of your writing, which is why I mention it.
I see Battle Royale in there. Good book!
Gods, man! In getting huge stacks like that, how many duplicates do you get?
One thing I’ve always wondered… when do you find time to read them all? I consider myself a fairly voracious reader but with work and other stuff I get through 4-5 books a month.
Wow..in addition to all the “swag” from World Fantasy Con…
Harmony also won the Japan SF award, which is a rough equivalent to the Nebula! (And it’s a personal favorite…)
And you licking another writer’s bald head wasn’t enough to get you in that book? Really, you must try harder. Maybe something involving an inflatable sheep would be required.
Great goooglymoogly! Will you actually read all of those?!
I’m coveting The Heroes so much right now.
I can make out most of the titles, but what’s the skinny book atop “Writer’s Gone Wild”?
Wow, the tower does make quite the visual. If you dropped some of those Haikasoru in the mail my way, I would not cry. Seriously though, I do wonder like another commenter if you get duplicates; I mean, that’s some extra dead trees there. And do you read any of them, whether for pleasure or work-related (and you may have said this someplace already)? I read All You Need is Kill, have Loups Garous on the TBR.
Best, and keep on blogging.
Yeah, read The Heroes and tell us about it… or just send it to me.
I bought Writers Gone Wild last week while at Barnes & Noble. It was on a display table right next to a bunch of Star Wars books/puzzles/games. The title caught my eye. I flipped through it. I added it to my stack and walked to the register. Never under estimate the power of market placement of Star Wars items.
I’m highly jealous of Anne Bishop’s “Twilight’s Dawn”. It’s not out until March :( Though I suppose the disadvantage of ARCs is that they’re paperback and I do love hardbacks…
How many of the books you receive do you read, on average? I imagine a fair load of them must go unread or you’d never have any time to actually write!
Do you actually read so many books a week? If so, how do you find time to write, and do music? I was proud of my reading habits, but now I feel very inadequate.
::makes grabby fingers at “Twilight’s Dawn” along with Erin Thompson and Lanta::
Damn…not sure what else to say but, damn…that’s a lot of good looking books. Question: sending arcs I understand for the pre-release press rush. But do you routinely get books that have been out for a while, too? If so, does that mean sales are a little off or what?
Also, I do love those Haikasoru books. Nick Mamatas is doing a hell of a job for them. I interviewed him for and quite enjoyed his views on translating and editing Japanese fiction.
Damn. Screwed up the link!
Gah! The new Kim Harrison! I’m two books behind!
Also, I continue to be mystified why every publisher outside of North America insists on running the spine text so that it’s upside-down when the book is face up.
Or do the Japanese books have the front cover on the opposite side? I assume these are English translations, so that doesn’t make much sense, but maybe I’m missing something?
A Harry Turtledove book! I approve. Turtledove is terrific.
What? They didn’t send you a copy of the new SFWA Handbook yet? It’s a very nice and helpful volume.
I have one. I had it hand-delivered. BECAUSE I AM THE PRESIDENT.
When God’s War comes in, you will have to pass it off to Krissy.
Putting all that in front of us bibliophiles….and mentioning that it’s a mere week’s worth…..
Rub it in, brother, rub it in.
I have rarely been as jealous of someone as when I saw that you had an ARC of “The Heroes” and it seems as though I am not alone.
A truly drool-worthy haul of good looking and sounding books, and that’s just one weeks worth!!??!! I don’t know why ‘Battle Royale’ is there since it’s at least ten years old, but excellent choice–‘The Hunger Games’ came from that. ‘Kraken’ rocks off the socks, and I see you have the new Alan Campbell so I’m officially jealous. I’m curious about ‘The Horns of Ruin’ and ‘Mogworld’ and can’t wait to give them a read. Yahtzee is indeed a smarmy git and I love him to death. All in all an impressive take.
Battle Royale actually came out in 2003 in English, but that’s the new edition with a re-edited translation, an intro by Max Allan Collins, an interview with the now-late director of the film, and a twenty-two page afterword by the author (the longest thing he’s published since the book itself).
Oooh… Vampire Empire: The Greyfriar at the bottom there. Hooray for Raleigh-Durham representing!
Speaking of leaning towers, did you have anything to do with that smokestack in Springfield that fell the wrong way?
Why do you have 2 copies of Turtledove’s newest book? My god man, isn’t 1 more than enough? :-o
How many of those books will you read?
If Joe Abercrombie hasn’t had a chance to do a write up on Whatever yet about one of his books, please consider letting him. His work is outstanding.
Chalk up another individual who is extremely covetous of the Abercrombie ARC.
new Juliet Marilliet book!!?? When you are done can I have it? LOL
I know the stack is overwhelming, but struck by extreme jealousy here…
lucky you!
I’m about halfway through The Heroes right now. Definite irony in the title, and I’m delighted at just how funny so much of it is. Joe just sees the humor in the darkest situations.
Had about 21 titles turn up this week, some nice stuff coming out with the new year, but a lot of stuff that I frankly found disappointing for the holiday season.
Damn you, Thomas.
If you don’t want the work, you can always send me “Atlantis and Other Places”. I’d be happy to review it for you :) I didn’t even know Turtledove was continuing that series–I thought Liberating Atlantis made for a solid trilogy ending. Can’t wait for its release on Dec. 7.
Oh, never mind. Checked the blurb on B&N’s website, it’s just a short story collection. But it looks like all short stories I haven’t read before, at least.
Jon @ #40: Stay tuned. I suspect I’ll be working with Orbit on a giveaway for this.
Just finished Mogworld. Loved it… great mix of Monty Python, World of Warcraft, and Zero Punctuation.
John, I’m sure you have probably done this before, but could you list some of your favorite all time sci-fi books? you only have to do a few, not 500 :)