I finished Jasper FForde's The Woman Who Died A Lot: A Thursday Next Novel this morning…I'm so sad. Not because it was disappointing, quite the opposite! Fforde's an extremely prolific writer (having released at least three novels since I was introduced to his work a few years back) so I'm sure the next one won't be too far behind, but it's always sad to put away Thursday. This novel was filled with all types of crazy plot lines, from Thursday trying to remove the mindworm (false memories of a daughter) Aornis implanted way back in the series to trying to figure out why she keeps finding herself in a synthetic body. As I was finishing it, I seriously considered re-reading the whole series again, but I have WAY WAY too many books to do that right now.
It was frustrating to not have been able to go back to BookWorld (the world of books and characters that Thursday was always able to read herself into, maybe the best part about the TN series), but Thursday's injuries and age made the journey impossible. It was still great, though, and I won't' say much more on it except you should all go read The Eyre Affair, the first installment in the series…seriously, you won't regret it (especially because there will be an eighth installment coming out!!)
Now to tell you all about my crazy spree yesterday. I left with a comic, miniature books, four novels, and a McSweeney's quarterly.
I love Neil Gaiman. When I was younger I read Coraline and though the drawings were horrifically scary (I can still see those eyeless people…), I loved it. Then when I was a little older I read Stardust, of course I loved it. More recently I read American Gods (which I can't even begin to talk about, another serious must-read!!!) and have kept a sample of The Anansi Boys on my Kindle ever since. I even read Good Omens, which I have a post on. So when I saw his Sandman comics in one of the first stands and couldn't find Hellblazer (the only comic I've ever tried to read and loved) , I got the first installment, Preludes & Nocturnes.
Then I stumbled across a really cute Spanish tent of the smallest books in the world and walked away with three volumes of love poetry (Me Gustas, Te Quiero, Te Amo) all sitting on a mini-shelf. I'm obsessed!! It's actually even readable. They're no longer than an inch!
I got two Kurt Vonnegut novels, The Sirens of Titan and Timequake, the latter being one I've often picked up and considered getting. I might be most excited about these two buys; Kurt Vonnegut has never disappointed me.
I also picked up a novel called Winter's Tale written by Mark Helprin. This was an impulse buy (though which of all these wasn't?) but it's one of those that, like Timequake, I've often picked up and started reading. It's a romance novel that looks at Peter, a burglar in New York, and the love affair he finds himself a part of. For some reason the word "magic" comes to mind when I think of this book, probably because of reviews I've read and the blurb on the back of the book. As silly as all that may seem, I love a good romance novel (look at my post on Dr. Zhivago and here I talk a little about Pamela) and couldn't leave this long, delicious, pretty novel behind.
The fourth novel I got is called A Million Heavens and is written by John Brandon. The second of his novels, it is published by McSweeny's and has, I must admit, an extremely endearing cover. (I'll post lots of pictures soon!) I don't know what to expect from this one but I really wanted it :). I'm going to copy the blurb of it here because it's what really got me to buy the book (along with that spectacular cover):
"On the top floor of a small hospital, an unlikely piano prodigy lies in a coma, attended to by his gruff, helpless father. Outside the clinic, a motley vigil assembles beneath a reluctant New Mexico winter—strangers in search of answers, a brush with the mystical, or just an escape. To some the boy is a novelty, to others a religion. Just beyond this ragtag circle roams a disconsolate wolf on his nightly rounds, protecting and threatening, learning too much. And above them all, a would-be angel sits captive in a holding cell of the afterlife, finishing the work he began on earth, writing the songs that could free him. This unlikely assortment—a small-town mayor, a vengeful guitarist, all the unseen desert lives—unites to weave a persistently hopeful story of improbable communion."The last thing I bought is the Sixteenth Edition of the Timothy McSweeney's Quarterly Concern which comes in a sweet fold-open book, with one side carrying a comb, another a story on a pack of cards (which can be read in any order), and two booklets with stories/novellas. It's definitely the most fun thing I bought yesterday, and I still walked away feeling like I should have gotten all the rest. I want to subscribe!!!
Well, now I have to figure out what the heck to read. Talk about overwhelmed. I probably can't buy a book for a year, I have so many to finish here at home. What to read next?!?!
I'll post soon to write a little on whatever it is I choose. What are you guys reading this week?
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