An angry patron comes stomping down the stairs to the Reference Desk. He is angry because he borrowed a book from us and then mailed it back. (Why did he mail it? I have no idea.) He is being charged for the book because it apparently never arrived. So he is here to check the shelf. Ok, no problem. He wants me to check with him. Ok, again, no problem. He tells me that he'll know it's the copy he borrowed because he UNDERLINED huge segments of the book and wrote notes in the back. When we locate the book he triumphantly shows me the blue and red ink all over the front, inside and back cover of the book. Great. Now we will know who to charge to replace the returned book.
Duh.
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Drood is heavy
Seriously. It weighs about 4 pounds and is 777 pages. This will keep a lot of people from reading it which is incredible unfortunate.
It is an amazingly well done book. Dan Simmons took the last few years of Charles Dickens life (1865 - 1870), added accurate and beautiful descriptions of Victorian London, created a mystery with an air of ghosts and mysticism to create a book that is a historical fiction/mystery told through the eyes of novelist Wilkie Collins.
The reality of daily life in London as well as Dickens and Collins' lives are not sugar coated. Dickens was a workaholic and adulterer and Collins was a drug addict. They were best friends, collaborators and competitors. While Dickens becomes more and more obsessed with corpses and crypts, Collins loses his mind and all his money in the underground opium dens of London. The pages fly by as Simmons takes us from the sewers to the countryside of London and as Dickens and Collins' reality becomes blurry and they seem to go mad we wonder if it is the drugs, sickness, or real life ghosts.
Read this book! Don't let the number of pages disuade you - by the end you will be wishing for more. Publishers Weekly and others are reporting that Guillermo Del Toro will be directing the film version of this book. It may end up being 6 hours long!
It is an amazingly well done book. Dan Simmons took the last few years of Charles Dickens life (1865 - 1870), added accurate and beautiful descriptions of Victorian London, created a mystery with an air of ghosts and mysticism to create a book that is a historical fiction/mystery told through the eyes of novelist Wilkie Collins.
The reality of daily life in London as well as Dickens and Collins' lives are not sugar coated. Dickens was a workaholic and adulterer and Collins was a drug addict. They were best friends, collaborators and competitors. While Dickens becomes more and more obsessed with corpses and crypts, Collins loses his mind and all his money in the underground opium dens of London. The pages fly by as Simmons takes us from the sewers to the countryside of London and as Dickens and Collins' reality becomes blurry and they seem to go mad we wonder if it is the drugs, sickness, or real life ghosts.
Read this book! Don't let the number of pages disuade you - by the end you will be wishing for more. Publishers Weekly and others are reporting that Guillermo Del Toro will be directing the film version of this book. It may end up being 6 hours long!
The Lisa Files
McNally Jackson books, an independent book store in New York City, is not only clean and spacious but is also full of good books and helpful people. I was also impressed by their displays - numerous and well done. But the real reason I stopped by McNally Jackson books was for their author event.
Lisa Lutz, promoting her third installment of the Spellman series, was at the bookstore this week. She seemed younger then I'd imagined but just as funny and sarcastic as her main character, Isabel Spellman.
When an audience member asked if it was true that she would never write more than 4 Spellman books (and she is finishing writing the fourth - it is due out next March) Lisa winced and looked at her editor, publisher and agent, all sitting in the front row. "Were you planted by my editor?" She demanded. There are no promises of Spellman books after the fourth installment, although she added that she had trouble tying up all the loose ends.
Lisa Lutz, promoting her third installment of the Spellman series, was at the bookstore this week. She seemed younger then I'd imagined but just as funny and sarcastic as her main character, Isabel Spellman.
When an audience member asked if it was true that she would never write more than 4 Spellman books (and she is finishing writing the fourth - it is due out next March) Lisa winced and looked at her editor, publisher and agent, all sitting in the front row. "Were you planted by my editor?" She demanded. There are no promises of Spellman books after the fourth installment, although she added that she had trouble tying up all the loose ends.
Monday, March 9, 2009
Loving Lutz
I just finished listening to the first two books in the Spellman series by Lisa Lutz: The Spellman Files and Curse of the Spellmans. These were great books to listen to. Isabel Spellman is a private investigator from a family of private investigators. She works for Spellman Investigations in San Francisco - the company is Isabel, her mom and her ex-cop dad. Isabel is a sarcastic, heavy drinking, ex-vandal with a bit of a record. She is overly suspicious in everyday life - which leads to family fights and losing over 9 boyfriends. These part-mystery, part-comedy books are quick reads or great listens: narrator Christina Moore gives a fabulous performance.
If you, like me, have finished the first two Spellman books and are left wanting more, there is not long to wait! The third installment, Revenge of the Spellmans, will be released tomorrow (March 10)!
I couldn't wait until March 10, so I did the next best thing - I found a copy of the movie Plan B. This is a 2001 straight to video movie starring Diane Keaton and Paul Sorvino. It was written by Lisa Lutz before she wrote the Spellman books. As movies go, it's not fabulous. But if you have read Lisa Lutz you can find that Spellman humor in this movie, as well as similar themes (she must have a brother - both Isabel Spellman and Fran from Plan B have brothers with OCD). Lisa Lutz wrote an article about her 10 years of writing and rewriting the screenplay of Plan B for Salon.com.
Still, not enough Lisa Lutz for me. So I will be driving into the city on Monday, March 16 to meet the woman behind the sarcasm in person. Lisa Lutz will be at McNally Jackson Books in NYC to sign and read from her new Spellman book.
If you, like me, have finished the first two Spellman books and are left wanting more, there is not long to wait! The third installment, Revenge of the Spellmans, will be released tomorrow (March 10)!
I couldn't wait until March 10, so I did the next best thing - I found a copy of the movie Plan B. This is a 2001 straight to video movie starring Diane Keaton and Paul Sorvino. It was written by Lisa Lutz before she wrote the Spellman books. As movies go, it's not fabulous. But if you have read Lisa Lutz you can find that Spellman humor in this movie, as well as similar themes (she must have a brother - both Isabel Spellman and Fran from Plan B have brothers with OCD). Lisa Lutz wrote an article about her 10 years of writing and rewriting the screenplay of Plan B for Salon.com.
Still, not enough Lisa Lutz for me. So I will be driving into the city on Monday, March 16 to meet the woman behind the sarcasm in person. Lisa Lutz will be at McNally Jackson Books in NYC to sign and read from her new Spellman book.
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
Sigh.
I just shushed two patrons. Finger to lips and everything. They did not teach me that in Librarian school ... I guess it just comes natural.
Thursday, February 26, 2009
My new boyfriend
I'm in love.
His name is Martin Millar but sometimes he goes by Martin Scott. He is a writer who was born in Scotland but lives in London. Most of his books were published years ago in the UK, but thanks to Soft Skull Press here in Brooklyn, they are slowly being released with nifty American covers.
I read Lonely Werewolf Girl after reading an odd review of the 560 page book. The back explained only enough to make me curious:
"While teenage werewolf Kalix MacRinnalch is being pursued through the streets of London by murderous hunters, her sister, the Werewolf Enchantress, is busy designing clothes for the Fire Queen. Meanwhile, in the Scottish Highlands, the MacRinnalch Clan is plotting and feuding after the head of the clan suddenly dies intestate. As the court intrigue threatens to blow up into all-out civil war, the competing factions determine that Kalix is the swing vote necessary to assume leadership of the clan. Unfortunately, Kalix isn’t really into clan politics — laudanum’s more her thing. Even more unfortunately, Kalix is the reason the head of the clan ended up dead, which is why she’s now on the lam in London. . . This expansive tale of werewolves in the modern world — friendly werewolves, fashionista werewolves, troubled teenage werewolves, cross-dressing werewolves, werewolves of every sort — is hard-edged, hilarious, and utterly believable."
It was the funnest book I've ever read. And now, Soft Skull has just released Milk, Sulphate and Alby Starvation, which was originally published nearly 20 years ago. When I was flipping through the New York Times Book Review last week and saw a review of this "new" Millar book I just about peed my pants. And it's a great review! You can read it here.
My boyfriend's other books include The Good Fairies of New York, Suzy, Led Zeppelin, and Me and Lux the Poet. Writing as Martin Scott, he received the World Fantasy Award for his series Thraxes. Warning: these books have the worst sci-fi cover art I have ever seen and people WILL judge you and your book by the cover. I am hoping Soft Skull will release these with cool new covers soon.
You can check out my boyfriend's blog here.
His name is Martin Millar but sometimes he goes by Martin Scott. He is a writer who was born in Scotland but lives in London. Most of his books were published years ago in the UK, but thanks to Soft Skull Press here in Brooklyn, they are slowly being released with nifty American covers.
I read Lonely Werewolf Girl after reading an odd review of the 560 page book. The back explained only enough to make me curious:
"While teenage werewolf Kalix MacRinnalch is being pursued through the streets of London by murderous hunters, her sister, the Werewolf Enchantress, is busy designing clothes for the Fire Queen. Meanwhile, in the Scottish Highlands, the MacRinnalch Clan is plotting and feuding after the head of the clan suddenly dies intestate. As the court intrigue threatens to blow up into all-out civil war, the competing factions determine that Kalix is the swing vote necessary to assume leadership of the clan. Unfortunately, Kalix isn’t really into clan politics — laudanum’s more her thing. Even more unfortunately, Kalix is the reason the head of the clan ended up dead, which is why she’s now on the lam in London. . . This expansive tale of werewolves in the modern world — friendly werewolves, fashionista werewolves, troubled teenage werewolves, cross-dressing werewolves, werewolves of every sort — is hard-edged, hilarious, and utterly believable."
It was the funnest book I've ever read. And now, Soft Skull has just released Milk, Sulphate and Alby Starvation, which was originally published nearly 20 years ago. When I was flipping through the New York Times Book Review last week and saw a review of this "new" Millar book I just about peed my pants. And it's a great review! You can read it here.
My boyfriend's other books include The Good Fairies of New York, Suzy, Led Zeppelin, and Me and Lux the Poet. Writing as Martin Scott, he received the World Fantasy Award for his series Thraxes. Warning: these books have the worst sci-fi cover art I have ever seen and people WILL judge you and your book by the cover. I am hoping Soft Skull will release these with cool new covers soon.
You can check out my boyfriend's blog here.
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