The Books That Arrived While I Was Away
Posted on July 2, 2012 Posted by John Scalzi 71 Comments
I’ve taken to showing the books that show up at the Scalzi Compound over on Twitter, but I didn’t do that while I was on tour, because, duh, I was on tour. So by way of catching up, here’s what showed up in June. I’m running the picture a little larger than usual, but you can also see a much larger version of the picture here. There are some excellent books in this picture, most of which are either out now, or will be out in the near future.
That copy of Pirate Cinema looks enticing. (By Grabthar’s hammer, that’s a lotta books…)
I’m just going to stop reading. There’s no way I can keep up with all these words writers write.
John, why do you get so many books each month? Are they looking for reviews, or what do you call them, “Jacket call-outs”?
That’s a lot of books!
Side note: your “larger version of the picture” link seems to require would-be viewers to sign into flickr to see it.
Well, you do have a long (5 day) holiday weekend coming up. I’m sure you can get through those in that generous amount of time.
Mmm, Apocaplypse Codex. And welcome back, David Brin. John, what do you do with these books when done? I know you are a enthusiastic benefactor of your local library. Are there publsiher rules against that? Do you have a scary cellar or garage with … very …. high … towers … of review copies?
I heard that Scalzi guy has a new book out – did you get a copy of that yet?
Rather a lot, actually. Heinlein!
My goodness. How many books do you receive in a year?
Oh wow, you’ve got Stross’s Apocalypse Codex already! I’m envious…
If it’ll help you out, you can just send them over to my house.
deep, dark, book envy….
You have, like, the BEST JOB in the whole wide world.
Nice spread. Tip your mail carriers everybody!
good googly sue that’s a lot of books. How many do you actually get to read?
wow.. a new copy of “Assingment in Eternity”? Anything new? Just the average reprint/new cover art?
Out of curiosity, what happens to the books you don’t have time to read? Do you donate them to the local library or return them to sender or something?
Nevermind, just saw the book acquisition FAQ. [BTW, the fact that you receive enough books to need a book acquisition FAQ is awesome.]
How the heck did Lawrence Block get into that stack, and WHEN DID THEY START ALLOWING FULLY TOPLESS WOMEN ON THE COVERS OF BOOKS?
It looks like this new edition of Assignment in Eternity is just a Baen reprint of its previous edition with a new afterword by David Drake, according to the cover image at Baen’s site. Presumably the contents are the same as always: “Gulf” (essential reading for fans of Friday written more than 30 years later), “Elsewhen,” “Lost Legacy,” and “Jerry Was a Man.”
Do you mostly read on paper or electronically these days? Do you get electronic versions if you want?
So do you have to budget any money toward buying books or does everything you want to read just appear at your door?
Angie: a NSFW tag would have been nice… didn’t think you were serious
You got that many books in a MONTH?! How in the world do you find time to read them all? (I’m one to talk… constantly buying books at a rate far higher than my rate of actually reading them…)
Here’s a likely stupid question for you, Scalzi. Obviously you prefer SF/F, but do you like to read other genres? Do you read much, if any, nonfiction? Do you actually have time to read for pleasure, given your writing/touring/SFWA schedule?
Okay, that was more than one question. I’d still be interested in the answers, though.
:-)
Holy Toledo!
Are you actually able to get through all the books that are sent to you? Do you just skim some of them? Do you even try?
What do you do with all of them? I have to assume your basement reached capacity a looooooong time ago
I can get the new Daniel Abraham book now?!? I can get the new Daniel Abraham book now!! *places hold, tells entire world to read it*
If there was anything I envy most about writers, it’s this. My fantasy is having a library just stacked and packed with books. I’m doing pretty well on my own but to have the publishers just send books to me would make things immensely easier. However, the second part of that fantasy is having the time to read it all.
Showing off with your Apocalypse Codex? Cheeky monkey.
Oh, you have _The Twelve_….so jealous. If you don’t have time to read it right now, I could probably squeeze it in.
Lot of Baen in that stack.
I love these new book pictures. It’s like looking in the window of a candy store.
Two questions though: How long did it take for you to build that stack? and (she asks laughingly) how long did Daisy take to knock it down?
Scalzi,
How long do you estimate it would take you to read all of the pictured books?
You bastard you have The Twelve.
Heinlen is dead
Out of this stack, I can highly recommend Alif the Unseen. It’s really good.
“y”:
So is Anderson.
Tho it does kind of beg the question (asked above, sort of) of why Publishers would send out advance reading copies of famous (or infamous ?) reprints. Unless it’s a deal where everything on their release list gets sent out to the usual crowd of reviewers/bloggers/writers regardless whether it’s been years and years since the original publication. Or maybe they think there’s enough people that haven’t read it since the last printing that a kind word from an author/notable will help make the newer edition reach the hands of a larger share of its intended audience.
And, well, a new Mercedes Lackey. I like me some ML.
@Terry I picked up an ARC of that a few weeks ago. Thanks for the prod to read it… it sounds fascinating.
But coveting is a sinnnnnnnnn… Darn you to heck. You *do* have the world’s best job.
Mmm, Graham Joyce and Charlie Stross. A mighty fine haul you have there, Mr. Scalzi.
Existence by David Brin is awesome – I read my hardcover copy in two days.
@ Jim Watts
I love quality-over-quantity authors like Brin and Vinge. Not only are they easier to keep up with, but there’s less worrying about disappointment and they tend to repeat themselves less than high-volume authors. That said, I’ve yet to get to Existence. Ordinarily I wait for the paperback both because I”m a cheapskate and because they’re easier to hold one-handed while eating (my main reading time). But I recently got into ebooks and I’m still adjusting to the idea of novels out in stores before the movie is finished…or something like that
Hmm. Lately, there’s been a lot of angst amongst the publishing community toward book bloggers (not my bag, but I’m friends with quite a few). The biggest complaint is, “If you want ARCs, you have to add value.” But that’s very vague. To some that means, “Read the damn book and put out the review.” (I forgot which prominent person said that recently and caused the natives to riot.) To others it’s, “Good reviews = more ARCs.” Still others require that there be a minimum size of viewers before they’ll consider you for an ARC.
You are overwhelmed with more free copies than you could ever read and you don’t review – though you’ll say something brief if you genuinely liked a book. Do they send them to you just hoping you will mention them in passing? Even a picture like the above “adds value” in a way most book bloggers could never manage due to your site traffic.
Just makes me wonder, what do you think of the whole ARC and adding value thing?
For a second I thought that there was a new MHI!!!!
(*sigh*)
I have been eying that Stross series for a while now. I might have to bite the bullet soon…
@ Kris
The Laundry series is Stross’s best stuff, hand down. Only Glasshouse comes close to equaling it. But I do strongly recommend starting at the beginning with The Atrocity Archives. Really, with the exception of Singularity Sky, you can’t go wrong with Charlie, and even that wasn’t too bad for a freshman novel, but I think a lot of people who started there thought meh and could be missing out on his better stuff. I know I waited six years between Singularity Sky and Accelerando.
The Kylie Chan books are brilliant, though that’s a second Trilogy in the series.
Re ‘Y’ – Heinlein is eternal.
A new David Brin? Probably worth a look, haven’t read him since he sent the whole ‘Startide’ universe into a black hole…
@ Dana
You’re dearly missing out if you haven’t read Kiln People.
Jealous!! I had two Sci-Fi collections, and had to leave them behind overseas when moving at short notice, so I see that and have a Pavlovian drool.
Please package and send to me in deepest, darkest yorkshire. Pretty please ?
Peter Cibulskis- There is a new MHI coming in a couple months. The eARC is available from Baen now, it’s 15 bucks. I like the series so much I got it, even though it will be 6 bucks when the book is released. So you kind of have to weigh ” I want it now!” versus “Hey, it’ll be cheaper if I’m patient.”
I don’t think I have any measurable patience when it comes to getting my favorite books right away.
Anyone jealous of “The Apocalypse Codex” in the pile up there, it is released today, so what are you waiting for? Although as Gulliver said it is very worth starting at the begining of the series if you haven’t read any of the Laundry Files before. Now I need to get back to “The Apocalypse Codex” before my boss gets here and insits I start working. They can be so unfair that way. But if I want more money to get more books, I have to play along.
“Krampus” must be Christmas-ey, so I bet you can save that one for a few months!
John, how many of these will you actually read? Good grief, I can barely manage a book every few weeks!
Dude… Kindle… :-)
WOW! I was all geeked out because I got ONE book from a publisher the other day to review LOL I wanna be like Scalzi!
Ben Bova’s got a new Orion book? I thought he finished those decades ago.
I was unexpectedly chuffed to see K A Bedford in the pile. I think it’s because he is from where I’m from (yay Perth!). I also didn’t know there was a sequel to Time Machines Repaired While-U-Wait.
An ARC of The Twelve!!! Please, please tell me you are reading that one next.
Poor Man. Sucks to be Scalzi because you like have to read them ALL, not for the repartee or the scintillating prose, but for the ideas man! The ideas! BTW thanks for coming to Chicago, Love ya!
Nice. I would sherpa for you to have a chance to get that many awesome books for free. You should hire an intern or something.
Thanks, Gulliver, I actually enjoyed Singularity Sky; so if you are stating that the Laundry series is better, I’ll make it my next read (perhaps by tomorrow). FYI: Thus far, Blue Remembered Earth is unusual, but excellent.
Really want Justin Cronin’s new book.
Would this be an appropriate time for a thread about “covers that I couldn’t take to school without getting a huge hassle from the teachers about the sort of books they thought I was reading in public”? For example, I’m pretty sure these are not the flying mountains Anderson intended:
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/518hO%2B3Lt6L._SL500_AA300_.jpg
Signet loved covers like this back in the 1970s:
http://www.paperbackfantasies.jjelmquist.com/images/szafran/HeinleinMethuselahs.JPG
This *is* actually not too inaccurate: Davy gets around:
http://randall120.files.wordpress.com/2010/06/512xivsvljl-_ss500_.jpg
(all nsfw to some degree)
James, I also had that edition of Methuselah’s Children, and, like you, I had to keep it at home.
As egregiously 1970s covers go, that one was pretty egregiously 1970s (unless it was 1960s but the hair looks at least late 1960s).
GoodReads says that Signet edition was published in August of 1975. I was in college, so I would not have to have left it at home to read it. Maybe I’m confusing it with another book cover.
I very much enjoyed the kylie chan books, I’m wishing the other half of the series had been published in the states, alot of those books are on my to read list.
can I borrow your copy of The Twelve?
could I borrow Alif the unseen? (and/or what happens to the books after you read them?