A Week’s Worth of Book Arrivals

Posted on October 15, 2012    Posted by      96 Comments

I’ve noted before that during the average week I will get somewhere between 10 and 40 books sent to me, which is a figure some people have treated with either amazement or skepticism. So to illustrate the point, here’s a week worth of printed matter, sent to me by various publishers between last Tuesday (when I left home) and today (when I got back). It’s 33 books. And it doesn’t count the three books I actually bought this last week (Mark Helprin’s In Sunlight and in Shadow, the new Jacqueline Carey (for Krissy, who is a fan) and Bud Sparhawk’s Vixen), and the four I was given as gifts at Capclave.

Books! They’re awesome.

Also, if you want a better look at the individual titles, here’s a bigger picture of the haul. There are some excellent titles in here. Tell me in the comments which ones are catching your eye.

 

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96 Comments on “A Week’s Worth of Book Arrivals”

  1. Oooh … would love advice to have people send me books randomly… :-) Any day there’s a book in the mail is a good day, IMO

  4. Polterheist
    The Wild Ways
    Into The Hinterlands
    Wolf Among The Stars
    Dying Of The Light
    Fire Season
    Night And Demons

    All of these will end up in my possession eventually, one way or another…

  9. Eye-catching: The Dragon Men (I have no idea what it is about), Krampus: The Yule Lord (ditto), The Casandra Project, Bronze Summer, Flame of Sevenwaters (all ditto, for the last, Sevenwaters as one word is pretty intriguing), The Other Normals, The Rook (such a nice book, haven’t seen that hardcover binding though, which is indeed eye catching and also distracting), and The Creative Fire (yay more Brenda Cooper!).

  10. I must needs learn more of this Anomaly book. Who is the author? Also, Starman Jones and Bronze Summer – SQUEEEEE

  11. I am looking forward to reading The Flame of Sevenwaters. It’s a nice series. Also, I think it is hysterical that they are still printing V C Andrews books even though she has been dead since 1986.

  14. I’m assuming that you don’t read all of these –
    How do you decide what to read? (you may very well have answered this before)
    What do you do with all of the books when you’re done? In my house, as soon as the linen closets started filling up with books, we donated a metric carload to the local library. Thanks to ebooks this is no longer much of a problem for us.

  17. The Other Normals was the first to pop out for me, then Rook. Anomaly couldn’t help but pop out due to it’s positioning and illustrations. I started humming, “One of these things is not like the others, one of these things just doesn’t belong…”

  18. Nothing really stands out for me (most likely due to my ignorance). The Cronin book you posted a few blogs back was neat, but my wife will be getting that to me from her bookstore. Nice haul.

  20. _Fire Season_ ; Athena might like it, though she should read the first one too. Is it just me or are treecats much like Fuzzies?

  24. I’ve already got Fire Season, but haven’t gotten a chance to read it yet. A new print of Starman Jones – great! One of the more underrated Heinlein books. I’ll also get The Clone Sedition – that’s been a very good series so far.

    Mainly, though, with this haul, for me – the new Kris Longknife book by Shepherd would be the top of my TO READ list.

  29. Ooooh! A collaboration between McDevitt and Resnick? Sounds great! BUT the Kindle price is much too high.

  31. Eric Flint, David Drake, David Weber, and something called Krampus all sound like fun. Would be interested in hearing how the Mark Helprin book is as well. I read Winters Tale when I was in high school and its stuck with me all these years.

  34. Not a huge fan of fantasy, so a bunch of those wouldn’t get a second glance from me. Krampus is enough of an unusual and non-stereotyped title that I’d probably at least give it a glance, though. The octopus on The Rook definitely caught my eye. The Other Normals is an excellent and intriguing title. Polterheist sounds amusing, and I’m a sucker for a good comedy. Or even, sometimes, not-so-good. Beyond that, I have to go with name recognition, and aside from classics like Heinlein and Corwainer Smith and George R. R. Martin that I’ve already read, the one that stands out to me is Jack McDevitt. The Cassandra Project is the only guaranteed sale (no questions asked) I see in the stack.

  35. Robert Heinlein! He’s my favorite!

    Also noticed the Tad Williams book. And how can you not be curious about a book titled “PolterHEIST”? And the Robert Beuttner….I wonder if that’s another set in his Orphanage universe…

  36. How many different cartons contained those 33 volumes?

    I’m jealous… to a point. I have enough trouble with acquiring more books than I have time to read when I pay for them. I’d hate to have to sort them to decide what to keep. Even after I did that, I’d keep two or three times as many as I’m likely to read and I would eventually have to have another sorting.

  40. I’m happy to see The Cold Commands by Richard K Morgan because this means he might let that fantasy trilogy remain a trilogy and die in well-earned obscurity which would allow him to get back to s/f, which he writes much better. I endured the first book, waited patiently for the second, which I promptly threw against the wall 50 pages in.

  41. Rapture (woo hoo!), Bronze Summer and The Cold Commands are the ones that jump out at me.

  43. A Different Daniel: I can’t disagree with you more. I own both /The Steel Remains/ and /The Cold Commands/ and they’re some of the best fantasy I’ve read in years.

  44. Ooooh, Mark Helprin has a new book out?! have added that to my wishlist…

    When the People Fell. (May have to re-read some Cordwainer Smith. Between the original paperbacks and the NESFA collection, I think I’ve got everything he wrote; he’s been one of my two favorite SF authors since I was about 11, when I read one of his stories in one of my father’s SF magazines. Yes, I’m that old. *wry*)

    The Wild Ways.

    Creative Fire.

  45. Kris Longknife is always good fun. And I’ve been waiting for the McDevitt/Resnick project for months.

  46. Def Cordwainer Smith, but I wouldn’t have noticed if Johne Cook hadn’t pointed it out. Good eye.

    And Krampus, the Yule Lord, because I am a Miss Monster fan, and she’s done several amazing Krampus designs. Krampus is the monster that canes the kids on Santa’s Bad List. But possibly only in Germany. As I rudimentarily understand it, anyway.
    And of course it’s such a bitchen word to say. Krampus!

  47. Besides books others have already praised, “Undercurrents” by Robert Buettner is really worth a look. It’s the second book of the “Orphan’s Legacy” series.
    Years ago R. Buettner wrote the five books of the “Jason Wander”/”Orphan’s War” series.
    “Ophan’s Legacy” is a sequel (and a lot better IMHO) that starts many years later with “Overkill” ( where the Abrams MBT used for hunting is not the “overkill” part ^__^ ) and continues with “Undercurrents” (in a whole different setting besides the main characters, but if you read the “Jason Wander” books you will notice lots of connections to them).

  49. McDevitt/Resnick collaboration, count me in. That one leaps off the page.
    Other than that it’s a lot of stuff I probably would have enjoyed in college, but sadly can’t hold my interest any longer or lost me along the way.

  50. “The Cold Commands” certainly caught my eye. My physician has just grounded me for the next week due to a good cold gone bad. “Polterheist” is a great play on words. I’d open the cover. I like the title, “The Creative Fire,” as well. No “Shanghai Steam” in the stack? Maybe Absolute XPress will send you a copy of that anthology soon.

  53. Strong recommendation for the Cordwainer Smith. This is some of the strangest stuff you’ll ever read. I believe that between “When the People Fell” and “We the Underpeople” you get all of Cordwainer Smith’s sf stories plus his novel.

  54. I’m envious that you still have Tanya Huff’s “The Wild Ways” ahead of you… Come to think of it, I’ll read it again.

  56. Drake, Weber and Lindskold, Baxter, Martin, Huff…I’ve heard The Cold Command was good…and now I have to dig out my copy of Starman Jones for a re-read.

  57. Cold Commands stands out to me. I love Richard Morgan’s stuff anyway, but Steel Remains and Cold Commands are wriggle in your pants good.

  58. Kameron Hurley’s Rapture caught my eye.

    I love these book recaps. Gives me the impetus to hop on over to B&N and get a few more books.

  59. The packaging for that Anomaly thing makes me think tabletop RPG. Specifically, White Wolf’s old “Trinity” game. Like everyone else apparently, “Krampus” makes me smile. I kind of wish we had long parades of folks dressed like demons every Christmas like they do over there. I’d love to have an excuse to dress as a horrifying demonic entity, instead of just being possessed by one as I usually am ;-).

  62. I’m thinking of grabbing the Krampus book by Brom. Love having the cherished mythology of childhood freaked the hell out.

  64. Nice! I hope you’re sending your surplus books to the guys deployed OCONUS, sorry, overseas, for you civilian types. Or maybe to the local VA hospital? We LOVED it when we’d get books when I was in Iraq and Kuwait. Didn’t get any in Afghanistan but I wasn’t there long. When I was in Kuwait I got a copy of OMW that had been read by so many guys the pages were falling out. It got so frustrating that I bought a copy on Amazon. It’s probably still circulating around Camp Virginia today. I’ve been a fan ever since.

    BTW, I was surprised to learn you’re not a vet. You seem to think like one and your humor sure as hell would fit in!

  65. Tempted by Krampus, although it’s not in my budget, and Anomaly gets my curiosity meter pegged.
    What’s the new Jacqueline Carey? I buy them and loan them out to friends, and they never come home.

  66. Eye-catching:
    The Creative Fire – enjoyed Building Harlequin’s Moon (in collaboration with LVCN)
    KRAMPUS – first parsed as kampus, a title I’ve never read but which I keep running into nearly forty years after it came out…!
    Tales of the Weird – I can make out the Nat.Geo. on the upper/LHS of the spine, but does that really say David Drake at the other end? <wibble/>
    The Cassandra Project, because McDevitt! Resnick! squeee!

    Would appreciate what you have to say about Bronze Summer, if it wouldn’t violate your standing rules and you find a spare moment.

    Also, I note that The Shattered Dark is in a separate pile from Dying of the Light, which seems only prudent.  (If Ohio calls to thank you, betcha that’ll probably be the reason.)

  67. Space for new books is really becoming something of a problem, but I’m on the library waitlist for Flame of Sevenwaters and I have The Cold Commands-not read yet- second the request for Morgan to get back to s/f. The only one I want to own is the Cordwainer Smith. There’s a huge high rise on the way out of town that today, 40 years later, I still mentally call “A;pha Ralpha Boulevard.” Gosh, that guy was good.

  69. “I must cranch!” The opening scene of Scanners Live In Vain is one of the most vivid and strange pieces of writing it has ever been my pleasure to read.

    Cordwainer Smith’s words are rich and exotic, and I love savoring them slowly. I have both When The People Fell and We The Underpeople on my Kindle, and I think it is time for a re-read.

  70. Oh, the 1635: The Papal Stakes book. It’s on my list to get next month. *drools* I love that series.

  71. I don’t know, but it looks l like a fairly good incentive for those who write to continue writing and hone the craft – if a perk of being successful is being drowned in books.

    Working in the industry to feed your habit.

  72. Bunch of interesting stuff there, a few books I’ll own sooner or later and more I’ll be reading but what really caught my eye? There’s a new reprint of Starman Jones?! Excellent!

    The corruption of future generations can continue apace.

  73. Cordwainer Smith!
    It’s been ages since I’ve read anything by him — I think it’s time to go find his books again.

  75. I’m sure you already have the Cordwainer Smith, but it’s nice to see it in print again.

    Dying of the Light: George’s first. Still in his Pathetic Nerds Unlucky In Love period. He’s done better.

    That Heinlein guy was popular in his time.

    VC Andrews?? Do you have paper recycling pickup out in the boonies?

  77. The only 2 that caught my eye are The Cassandra Project and Rapture. Maybe 1635: the Papal Stakes.

  79. Erg….I hate reading your blog via email. It inevitably results in more books getting added to my Amazon wish list.

    Sigh

    Just on the title alone, Krampus rings the bell. Although “When The People Fell” also gets a “check it out…might be good”.

    I had no idea about “Anomaly”, but after a bit of reading, it gets into my reading backlog as well.

  80. Added to wish list: Drake, Night; Kent, Clone; McDevitt and Resnick? Oh yes.
    Weber, Lindskold ‘Fire Season’ was good.
    Brom, Krampus was an SFBC book of the month, it should get here pretty soon.

  82. Cold Commands is a great book, but I confess that ‘Dying of the Light’ was the thing that I was most envious of.

  84. Instantly noticed the Kameron Hurley, the big shot showed Juliet Marillier and Tad Williams.But why are they sending you a decades old Heinlein?

    I’m looking forward to the new Carey too, Dark Currents, looks amazing and arrived a few days ago.

  85. I read “The Rook”, then my 9 year old daughter read it, Then my wife. We all found it excellently written, well paced and very entertaining. While its not a comedy, I did hear some giggling.

  87. Ooooh! You get books at a fast enough pace to actually keep up with my reading habit! I have to do things to earn money so I can afford to buy the books to read. People don’t just send them to me free. Pooh.

  88. Sooo… How long would it take to entirely fill your house with books if you never got rid of any that came in?

  89. Is VC Andrews seriously still writing new books? I remember reading those Flowers in the Attic books waaaaaaaaaaaay back in middle school.

    Great, Scalzi, now you’ve gone and made me feel old.

  90. You other commenters. I hate you all.
    Added to wish list because of _You_ ‘The Rook,’ ‘The Other Normals,’ ….
    Do you b, fine people even /know/ how much I’ve on that to do list!

  92. Before I clicked through to the full-size version of the picture, I that the Steve White title was “Golf among the Stars”; probably a totally different novel than the one that was actually published…

  93. Okay, I’m jealous. Free books. That said, The Coed Commands and The Other Normals look interesting to me. I really enjoyed The Wild Ways from Audible.

  95. vis Krampus by Brom.
    I want a panda hat.
    –
    –
    I thought that Brom just drew awesome thru mehh pictures.
    (Odd that things change over a few dozen years.)
    I’m gunna havta check out his about half a dozen other novels.

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