[Shrek & Fiona] Our Favorite Authors--Number 5

As we count down our top five favorite authors, Fiona fires first.

[Fiona]
I love the library where I grew up. The Whitinsville Social Library, a step into the past of golden days gone by. Beautiful structure with marble floors, wooden card catalogues, long wooden tables with oversized antique wooden chairs and stools. Hand carved archways, grandfather clock with spinning sun and moon faces to indicate the time of the day. I loved to watch and listen to that clock. In fact, I often went to this sanctuary to escape my dull life.

I first encountered Robert Cormier's books when I was in the seventh grade. I remember the moment clearly. I had gone to my town's library with some school friends to do research on some project. I got bored and went shopping in the stacks for something interesting to read. Right behind the circulation desk in the stacks somewhere in Dewey Decimal land of the 700s and 800s I found I Am The Cheese.

This book changed my life. I read it in one sitting. It made me rethink the way I looked at the so-called adults I was supposed to have a non-faltering faith in. I returned to the library the very next day.

I have read everything ever published by Robert Cormier. Only after I started reading his columnist work did I find out that he was from Leominster, Massachusetts. I often thought about writing to him and telling him how he changed my views on literature, life, people and how we treat each other. I regret that I never did write him. Robert Cormier died in 2000.

Published novels

Now and At the Hour (1960)
A Little Raw on Monday Mornings (1963)
Take Me Where the Good Times Are (1965)
The Chocolate War (1974) [very interesting take on fund-raising]
I Am the Cheese (1977) [My first read]
After the First Death (1979) [My all time favorite read]
The Bumblebee Flies Away (1983)
Beyond the Chocolate War (1985)
Fade (1988)
Other Bells for Us to Ring (1990)
We All Fall Down (1991)
Tunes for Bears to Dance to (1992)
In the Middle of the Night (1995)
Tenderness (1997)
Heroes (1998)
The Rag and Bone Shop (2001)

[Shrek]
Before I started reading Jacqueline Carey's books I generally didn't read books by female authors, although I don't recall any particular reason for not doing so. And I don't even recall why I picked up her first novel, Kushiel's Dart, off the stack of "remainder" mass-market paperbacks that BJ's Wholesale Club used to sell. The cover is one you would see on any run of the mill second tier science fantasy novel, and really isn't that eye catching. But for whatever reason I picked it up, and the blurb on the back sounded interesting. As I was making up my mind if I was going to buy it or not I noticed her second book, Kushiel's Chosen, was sitting atop of another stack of books. I threw caution to the wind and bought them both. Funny thing is I also ended up buying two books from Sara Douglass that day, and almost ten years later they are both still sitting in my ever-growing to read stack. Fiona has read them though, so it wasn't for naught.

Carey has written three connected trilogies set in the Terre D'Ange Universe, each one building on the series before it. The three trilogies focus on different characters, with Phèdre nò Delaunay being the protagonist in the first three books. As her story moves along Imriel de la Courcel, son of the biggest traitor in Terre D'Ange is introduced and his story becomes the basis of the second trilogy. The third trilogy is set in the future of Terre D'Ange, with Moirin of the Maghuinn Dhon, who is a descendant of the Queen of Terre D'Ange featured in the first six books. All the books, especially the first trilogy, have some mature content that may not be suitable for young readers, although nothing is extremely explicit and everything that happens truly plays a role in the story.

Many readers, myself included, were disappointed that Carey chose to jump ahead into the future with the Moirin trilogy.

Between the Phèdre and Imriel trilogies Carey released two book entitled Banewreaker and Godslayer, often refered to as The Sundering series. It's a story loose based on Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings, only told from the viewpoint of "the bad guys". It's an interesting series that tells a tale that not everyone fighting for the side of "good" has honorable intentions, nor were all the bad guys truly "evil". Between the Imriel and Moirin series Carey released Santa Olivia, a standard futuresque story about an over oppressive government fighting a war.

Despite some formula in her stories I liked them all, so that gets her into my "top 5".

Published novels

Kushiel Universe series
Kushiel's Legacy series

Phèdre Trilogy series
1 Kushiel's Dart (June 2001)
2 Kushiel's Chosen (April 2002)
3 Kushiel's Avatar (April 2003)

Imriel Trilogy series
1 Kushiel's Scion (June 2006)
2 Kushiel's Justice (June, 2007)
3 Kushiel's Mercy (June, 2008)

Moirin Trilogy series
1 Naamah's Kiss (June, 2009)
2 Naamah’s Curse (June 2010)
3 Naamah’s Blessing (June 2011 release date)

The Sundering
1 Banewreaker (November 2004)
2 Godslayer (August 2005)

Santa Olivia
1 Santa Olivia (May 2009)
2 Saints Astray (October 2011 release date)

[Shrek] My 2010 reading list

Lamentation (Ken Scholes) ...421
U is for Undertow (Sue Grafton) ...403
Black Ops (WEB Griffin) ...784
The Last Templar (Raymond Khoury) ...532
The Killing Hands (P.D. Martin) ...392
The Sanctuary (Raymond Khoury) ...629
The Breach (Patrick Lee) ...376
Innocent Mage (Karen Miller) ...652
Awakened Mage (Karen Miller) ...714
Monster Hunter International (Larry Correia) ...726
The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo (Stieg Larsson) ...600
The Sign (Raymond Khoury) ...565
The Apostle (Brad Thor) ...532
The Accidental Sorcerer (K.E. Mills) ...551
Witches Incorporated (K.E. Mills) ...562
The Girl Who Played With Fire (Steig Larsson) ...642
Marine One (James W. Huston) ...513
Book Of Souls (Glenn Cooper) ...372
Naamah's Kiss (Jacqueline Carey) ...784
The Ezekiel Option (Joel Rosenberg) ...415
The Sculptor (Gregory Funaro) ...385
When Boston Won The World Series (Bob Ryan) ...192
Shadow Magic (Jaida Jones & Danielle Bennett) ...440
Wizard Squared (K.E. Mills) ...549
Zero Minus Ten (Raymond Benson) ...272
The Facts of Death (Raymond Benson) ...290
High Time To Kill (Raymond Benson) ...304
Doubleshot (Raymond Benson) ...304
Never Dream Of Dying (Raymond Benson) ...320
The Man With The Red Tattoo (Raymond Benson) ...289
Devil May Care (Sebastian Faulks) ...278
Red Sox Rule (Michael Holley) ...207
Dynasty (Tony Massarotti) ...299
Pursuit Of Honor (Vince Flynn) ...517
The King's Bastard (Rowena Cory Daniels) ...640
The Uncrowned King (Rowena Cory Daniels) ...396
The Usurper (Rowena Cory Daniels) ...489
The Professional (Robert Parker) ...332
Early Warning (Michael Walsh) ...391
Monster Hunter Vendetta (Larry Correia) ...647
The Last Pope (Luis Miguel Rocha) ...310
City Of The Sun (David Levien) ...439
Where The Dead Lay (David Levien) ...402
The Amber Room (Steve Berry) ...390
The Romanov Prophecy (Steve Berry) ...387
The Third Secret (Steve Berry) ...376
Dead Or Alive (Tom Clancy) ...950

Total pages: 21,986

[Shrek] Just Some Random Thoughts

While I'm sitting here as the temperature races past 90°F, I figured this is a good a time as any to post some stuff that's been ringing through my head since my last update.

I don't usually post book reviews, mostly because I read for the enjoyment of it and don't want to add the burden of keeping notes for stuff I read. I think that takes away from the pleasure I get from reading a good story. But the last two books I read are worthy of a quick mention--although for the exact opposite reasons.

The next to last book I've read was The Ezekiel Option by Joel Rosenberg. His first two fiction books were fun reads, jumping right into action sequences that kept you hooked throughout the book. Rosenberg isn't a great writer, but he was a good story teller that kept the plot moving. In The Ezekiel Option, Rosenberg again comes up with a great plot and starts the book off like his first two. But in this book it appears Rosenberg went insane at some point in the novel, and basically ruined what was the start of a great story with an ending that was, putting it as nicely as I can, pure bullshit. I've crossed him off my list of authors to pay attention to.

Luckily it didn't take long to find a replacement. The Sculptor, the debut novel by Rhode Island native Gregory Funaro, is an incredibly well written "formula" story that pits an FBI agent and a college professor against a serial killer. But unlike many authors, Funaro stretches that formula to its breaking point without having his characters turn into caricatures. I sent off a quick e-mail to Funaro (the first time I've ever sent an e-mail off to an author) mentioning how much I liked the book, and I got a nice "folksy" reply.

I give The Sculptor five stars, and I highly recommend it. Just make sure you leave a light on afterward--trust me on that. You can read more about the book on Funaro's website, gregoryfunaro.com.

Being on vacation this week I get to listen to a little more sports talk radio than I usually get to. Unfortunately Dale and Holley, who have the 10am-2pm slot on WEEI and are my favorites on the station, are on vacation this week. Fortunately, so are Dennis and Callahan, the morning show blowhards that I count myself lucky to miss most mornings. Filling in for the blowhards this week is Bob Neumeier, a former WEEI personality. Every time he's on the radio I wonder why Neumy doesn't have a regular gig in this market. He's 100% better than most of the on air talent on either of the big sports radio stations.

Every time we go past a BP gas station I wonder why anyone buys gas there. And here's the funny thing: the Gulf oil debacle plays no role in why I wonder that. No matter where we go, BP is the most expensive gas station around. Why would anyone choose to go there? It makes no sense that people would literally just throw money away by picking an expensive gas station.

Fiona's birthday was a few days ago and we decided to celebrate at our favorite restaunt, Joey's Bar & Grill on Mill St. in Worcester. Saturdays have prime rib as one of the specials, and as that's one of my favorites I didn't have to hear the rest of the specials to know that's what I wanted. Fiona also ordered it, and both of our dinners were cooked to perfection. For desert we had a slice of something called "Tuxedo cake", that was so super rich I'm glad we decided to split a piece. A couple of the girls there added a candle and sang Birthday by the Beatles to her.

We can't say enough great things about Joey's, and if you haven't been there you should check it out. You won't be disappointed. If you're a veal parmesan fan, go on Thursday. Just sayin'...

[Shrek] Number Two Looks Great, Where's Number One?

With hockey playoffs starting and a few other things going on, it's been a while since Fiona or I graced these pages. I actually intended to make this post a week or so ago, but the fact I had almost no time to write it allowed the story to play out a little more and make it a little more head scratching than it was originally.

The two of us occasionally make the long and arduous journey (read: five minute drive) down the street to the local Barnes & Noble to, as I like to put it, "visit the books". I love everything about books, and very seldom do we leave without buying at least one. While I generally buy new bestsellers at places like BJ's Wholesale Club or WalMart because of the deep discount, neither really stocks new authors or science fiction so a trip to B&N almost always results in finding something interesting to read.

One thing I've noticed about the B&N in Lincoln Plaza is they don't really seem to have any concept of how to order books. Now I'm sure that because they are a chain most of what they get, both new books and re-orders, is based on what they've sold in the past. But someone needs to explain to me how a store can have a dozen copies of an author's new book and not have a single copy of any of their others. Or worse, have those books be sequels or part of a series and not have a single copy of the original book. And in most cases it's not that they just sold out of that book--there's often no spot where that book would have been to begin with.

I really noticed this the Saturday before Easter when we got to spend some time with a friend from Delaware that was up visiting family for the holiday. After going out to dinner at Joey's Bar & Grille Ra...hmmm, perhaps he doesn't want his name used, so I should change it. Keeping with the Shrek and Fiona theme, I'll call him Puss in Boots because he probably wouldn't like being called Donkey.

So Fiona, myself, and Puss in Boots decided to go out and grab a coffee after dinner, and because of Puss in Boots' love of the foul tasting Starbucks coffee, we headed to B&N as that's what they serve in their in store cafe. While Fiona and Puss in Boots waited for their coffee, I wandered over to the science fiction section where they literally had half a dozen new titles that were sequels or book two in a series on the shelf and not a one had a single copy of book one available. That's too bad for a couple of those authors, because I eventually went to eBay and bought their books used, meaning they made nothing off the sale.

During our conversation in the cafe Puss in Boots mentioned a book by an online friend of his named Larry Correia called Monster Hunter International. So I wandered back into the science fiction section, where I wasn't too shocked to find B&N didn't have a copy. (So I'm sorry to tell Mr. Correia he didn't make a dime off me either as I also bought his book off eBay the same day I bought a couple of those other series).

Flash forward to yesterday, and in Fiona and my weekend journey we ended up back at B&N in Lincoln Plaza, and lo and behold they had some other "book twos" on the new book shelf without a book one around to be found. I wasn't really looking for anything but Fiona found a couple of things, so we made our purchase and left. Later in the evening we decided to go out to dinner so we decided to look in at Joey's Bar and Grille, our favorite haunt and the place we took Puss in Boots when he was here. It was PACKED.

As we're regulars and the hostess is a super sweet nice lady, she was a little upset that she couldn't get us a table. It didn't bother Fiona or I; we figured it would be packed and we didn't have a reservation. And to be honest, I want my favorite restaurant to be busy at 8pm on a Saturday. Because we were picking up our niece at her work we decided not to wait around and instead headed to the Shoppes at Blackstone to kill some time before she was out of work. Of course, we wandered into the B&N there.

Now I wasn't too shocked to see their stock of remaindered hardcovers was a little different, but I was shocked to see that they had many more new books that the B&N in Lincoln Plaza didn't have. In fact, they had two new science fiction books that definitely weren't at the Lincoln Plaza store, and with each of the sequel/book twos they had on the new book shelf they had a copy of the first book (or in a couple of cases the spot where that book would have been on the shelf was obvious so it appears they had one and sold it recently).

The store was so different in their selection that we may make the B&N at Shoppes at Blackstone our "primary" B&N as opposed to the one right up the street from where we live, and obviously I now question the competence of the person running the store in Lincoln Plaza.

But at least Mr. Correia will have more chances for his book to sell--the B&N at Shoppes at Blackstone had five copies available.

[Shrek] Long Time, Eh?

Both Fiona and I have been busy lately, and unfortunately the blog is one of the things that got pushed to the back burner. That means we missed posting our annual holiday greeting....that just keeps it fresh for next holiday season.

With 2009 being long over, here's the list of books I finished during the year.

The Confession (Sheldon Siegel) ...423
My War (Andy Rooney) ...313
By Order of the President (W.E.B. Griffin) ...624
The Hostage (W.E.B. Griffin) ...750
The Hunters (W.E.B. Griffin) ...815
The Shooters (W.E.B. Griffin) ...737
Silent Snow (Steve Thayer) ...407
His Majesty's Dragon (Naomi Novik) ...356
Throne of Jade (Naomi Novik) ...400
Black Powder War (Naomi Novik) ...365
Empire of Ivory (Naomi Novik) ...400
God's Spy (Juan Gómez-Jurado) ...360
The Last Patriot (Brad Thor) ...480
Santa Olivia (Jacqueline Carey) ...341
Body Count (P.D. Martin) ...376
Victory of Eagles (Naomi Novik) ...376
Kushiel's Mercy (Jacqueline Carey) ...808
Empire (Orson Scott Card) ...351
Child 44 (Tom Rob Smith) ...509
Honor Bound (W.E.B. Griffin) ...550
Blood and Honor (W.E.B. Griffin) ...723
Secret Honor (W.E.B. Griffin) ...609
Death and Honor (W.E.B. Griffin) ...771
Secret of the Seventh Son (Glenn Cooper) ...393
Havemercy (Jaida Jones & Danielle Bennett) ...431
Extreme Measures (Vince Flynn) ...430
Rough Weather (Robert B. Parker) ...320
Knight Life (Peter David) ...343
Hostile Intent (Michael Walsh) ...407
The Murderers' Club (P.D. Martin) ...440
Banquo's Ghosts (Rich Lowry & Keith Korman) ...344
Fan Mail (P.D. Martin) ...475

Total pages read: 15,327

Even though I don't have a wager for this year (yet), I'll still list what I'm reading on the right because it garnered much conversation in the "real world".

Hopefully we'll be able to find time for more posts.

[Shrek] Ten Thousand And Counting

Some of our new readers may not have heard, but earlier this year I was challenged to a bet for charity by a friend to read 10,000 pages in one calendar year.

Just moments ago, I broke the 10,000 page mark. Presuming my math is correct, I'm at 10,364.

The current list:
The Confession (Sheldon Siegel) ...423
My War (Andy Rooney) ...313
By Order of the President (W. E. B. Griffin) ...624
The Hostage (W. E. B. Griffin) ...750
The Hunters (W. E. B. Griffin) ...815
The Shooters (W. E. B. Griffin) ...737
Silent Snow (Steve Thayer) ...407
His Majesty's Dragon (Naomi Novik) ...356
Throne of Jade (Naomi Novik) ...400
Black Powder War (Naomi Novik) ...365
Empire of Ivory (Naomi Novik) ...400
God's Spy (Juan Gómez-Jurado) ...360
The Last Patriot (Brad Thor) ...480
Santa Olivia (Jacqueline Carey) ...341
Body Count (P.D. Martin) ...376
Victory of Eagles (Naomi Novik) ...376
Kushiel's Mercy (Jacqueline Carey) ...808
Empire (Orson Scott Card) ...351
Child 44 (Tom Rob Smith) ...509
Honor Bound (W. E. B. Griffin) ...550
Blood and Honor (W. E. B. Griffin) ...723

As I've done during the countdown to 10,000, I'll continue to list what I've read on the list to the right.

[Shrek] BOLO: Tom Clancy

When asked, I used to say Tom Clancy was my favorite author. I'm going to have to say that's not true anymore, and that he's been passed by W.E.B. Griffin on my list. I'm sure the reason for that is Clancy hasn't released a book in years (and his "latest", 2003's The Teeth of the Tiger, was terrible), while Griffin continues to pop out one great military thriller after another. Clancy has also been passed on my list by Vince Flynn and Brad Thor, two authors that are now as "hot" as Clancy was in his heyday.

I, of course, reserve the right to change my list if Clancy decides to release another book.

In a totally unrelated note--was Gilbert Gottfried ever funny? Fiona and I watched a One Night Stand On HBOcomedy last night, and in an episode obviously filmed in the mid '80's, Gottfried was spectacularly unfunny. I can't think of a single time I though he was even remotely amusing.

Since I mentioned my favorite author, I'll mention my favorite comedian is Lewis Black. For those that don't know who he is, he currently "stars" in a series of commercials for tourism in Aruba.

Contains some rated "R" language; not for the kiddies:


As someone that likes to tell jokes, I find the "science" of comedy very interesting. Perhaps someday I'll get into that more, but one thing I love to do is tell a joke and only have a handful of people in the room get it. That way the joke is twice as funny for some of us as we watch the folks that don't get it look perplexed.

Kind of like our Theme Thursday post.

[Shrek] Time for a vacation

It took until May 31st, but I'm finally finished with hockey stuff for this season. Don't get me wrong, Worcester's extended play-off run was a great thing, but it's nice that I can finally take some time not involving hockey. The plan is, at least for now, to do nothing hockey related until Labor Day (excluding Booster Club stuff and a Sharks sidewalk sale later in June). This will be the first summer I've taken off from hockey since before the IceCats left town in 2005.

You'd think there being no team here in the summer of 2005 would have meant not doing anything hockey related, but in actuality it was like I had a second 40 hour a week job trying to get a team to move to Worcester.

I'm looking forward to reading the several stacks of paperbacks I have collected over the past few months, and I have to make a run to That's Entertainment soon to pick up some stuff they've been holding aside for me for, well, quite a while. I've also got a couple projects I'm thinking of starting, but perhaps thinking about excuses not to do them will be easier.

Unfortunately, this summer's movies look like a lot of garbage. Fiona and I have already seen Star Trek (it was great, and we highly recommend it), and Fiona will want to see Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince so we'll no doubt catch that. We're thinking about catching State of Play at the West Boylston Cinema (our favorite second run movie place), but our schedules don't really mesh for when it's playing, so that may not happen. The rest of the summer movie releases look like crap.

But I'm sure I'll find something to keep me busy...

[Shrek] Some eBay Tips For Sellers

Lately I've been surfing eBay to fill in some holes in my bookshelf. I hate to read a series out of order so if I'm missing a book or two from a series I prefer to grab them at Annie's Book Swap or eBay.

One thing I've also been doing is going through the wholesale lots on eBay to grab whole series from authors I like. In doing so, I see a lot of things sellers are doing wrong in that category. Even though I doubt any of those sellers will read this, I feel compelled to offer them some advice.

1) Look to see what everyone else is selling.
The number of sellers listing the same things are pretty high, and it's funny to see a bunch of sellers staring their lots at a low price and another couple starting nearly identical lots for five to ten times more. Unless you've got something different, don't expect to make a fortune selling book lots.

2) If you have romance books to sell, save your time and throw them away.
Don't take my word for it, use the search function. People that read romance books must not know how to use the internet, because the vast majority of lots don't get bids. Yours won't either, trust me.

3) Learn your genres
Science fiction and horror/suspense are not the same thing. Political thrillers and war novels aren't the same thing either. Don't put them together and expect bids. And another thing you shouldn't mix together: male and female writers of any genre. Lots of readers have a preference for one or the other. Mixing them, unless you find the right reader, reduces the number of bidders you get.

4) List the books in the lot, and have a picture of the covers
And don't do just one or the other unless you have no choice. I have a list of books I'm looking for, and if you don't list the books in the lot I can't decide if I'm going to bid or not. Having a picture of the covers helps for the folks that are more visual.

5) Multiples of the same book is a no-no
Listing a lot of four of the same book is dumb, even if it's a book people might care about. Listing a lot of four of the same book that no one cares about is just a waste of time and money.

6) Don't bother listing your book as "HTF"
When there were thirty listed in the last month, and a hundred available in the eBay stores, "hard to find" seems like a silly thing to say. Plus if it's a paperback released in the last ten years, it ain't "HTF" under any definition of the phrase.

There's a ton more stuff I could list, but as I have to snipe an auction in 3 minutes I'll have to leave it at this...for now.

[Shrek] One Year; Ten Thousand Pages

I have recently accepted a wager that I could read 10,000 pages worth of novels, biographies, etc. It's not a significant amount of money, and it all goes to charity, but seeing as I was planning on reading at least a little this year it seemed like a pretty easy bet to make. The person I'm wagering says it's not possible considering the schedule I keep. He should have taken a closer look at the math:

10,000 pages / 365 days = 28 pages per day.

I read more than that now.

The rules are simple, I can only read books that I would have read if I weren't involved in a bet, and magazines and newspapers don't count; it's only about books. So everyone can follow along, I've listed the books I've already read and the total number of pages. Check back fairly often for updates.

Since I was adding stuff to the layout, I finally got around to adding a couple more links the the list. The first is a list of book reviews The Outlaw Josie is doing as part of a project called "Cannonball Read", which is an attempt to read 100 books in a year and write reviews for each one. The second is a blog based on David Lynch's fiction.

[Shrek] A Few Words About Words

I am addicted to books.

I am not ashamed to admit it, nor do I plan on doing anything to stop this addiction. I also think an intervention is unlikely as Fiona is also addicted, so at least for now I can live my life without worry of friends telling me to stop reading.

One thing that does bother me is book publishes taking advantage of us book addicted folks.

I understand that it costs a lot of money to publish a book, and while I cringe when I plop down $7.99 for a book that can't be found at the many discount retailers, I get the concept that without paying that much no one along the chain of writer-publisher-seller makes money, meaning that less books would be produced.

While I'd like the price to go back to the $2.95 it was when I started buying books, I'm not looking for them to drop the price. I get that the folks involved have to pay rent and eat just like everyone else. I do not begrudge anyone from making a little money while the book passes through their "step" in the chain.

But someone needs to tell me why the new paperback format costs $9.95.

Let me get this straight--only the print is larger, not the actual length of the book? And to accommodate this larger print you've made the pages bigger and spread the text over more pages? And for this you're charging me an extra $2?

Huh?

Case in point, the two books I'm reading now: Memorial Day by Vince Flynn, and Kushiel's Scion by Jacqueline Carey (no, not that Jacqueline Carey, the one that's a fantasy writer). Both are writers that I'd have no problem calling their previous works "great".

Memorial Day is in the new, larger format and font, and is 564 pages not including the preview if his next novel...$9.95 cover price.

Kushiel's Scion is in the standard format, and is 943 pages not including the preview of her next novel...$7.99 cover price.

Two bucks for less stuff? Huh?

Obviously the price didn't bother me that much as I purchased them both. What it really results in is now I'll be reluctant to try new writers when I see their stuff while browsing. Other folks I know have said the same thing.

That means, at least in theory, that people along the chain in the book selling profession will end up making less money. And in an economy where entertainment money is hard to come by for many folks, that could be another nail in the coffin for the book publishing industry.

Thank God for used book stores...there's lots of new authors I can try at half-cover price.