Sunday, July 17, 2011

The Pile - May & June '11

The TBR pile - we all have one and it grows faster than we can read. Mine is no exception. I thought it might be interesting to round up and present all of my recent acquisitions once a month, so ... here we go.

I was late in posting The Pile for May and I didn't buy much books in June, so I decided to merge both posts.





The Deserter (Peadar Ó Guilín)

I read The Inferior when it came out back in 2007 and I remember really liking it, so when I heard that The Deserter is finally coming out I was really thrilled. Peadar was kind enough to send me a review copy, but I absolutely have to re-read The Inferior so I'll be able to fully enjoy The Deserter. Reading priority: high.





Night Work (Thomas Glavinic)

I've accidentaly stumbled across this book while browsing the Web and thought the blurb on the back sounded interesting - Night Work is a book about some guy who finds himself alone on Earth while everyone else seems to have vanished into thin air. Reading priority: medium.








The Quantum Thief (Hannu Rajaniemi)

There was a lot of buzz around Quantum Thief a while ago, with it getting nominated for Locus award for best first novel and everything. It all got me curious, so I was very happy to receive a review copy of it from Tor. Reading priority: high.









Lovely Bones (Alice Sebold)

Not really speculative fiction, but even I have to take a break from time to time. :) Bought this because I wanted to buy something I usually wouldn't and I remembered a friend told me about this one. Reading priority: medium.









Pump Six and Other Stories (Paolo Bacigalupi)

No, I didn't read The Windup Girl yet. I still ordered Pump Six, just because. It's supposed to be really good and it's been on my wishlist for ages, mostly because it took so long before it was published in paperback. Reading priority: medium.






The Pile Special

I bet you know the feeling when you have a book on your TBR pile that seemingly everyone has read and praised, but you still haven't gotten around to reading it. I have plenty of those, and I will select and present one every month. My goal? To read it ASAP, preferably during the next month. This month's special is:




Brent Weeks: The Way of Shadows

I saw it, bought it and forgot about it, as usual. Then I met a girl last month who absolutely adores The Night Angel trilogy - even more so than A Song of Ice and Fire series. Now I think I really need to read The Way of Shadows, if only to see whether her love for it is justified.






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'Fun' fact: as for now, I've only read one of all The Pile Specials - Richard Morgan's Black Man. I've started reading Gormenghast and Nights of Villjamur, but I didn't feel I was in the mood for the latter and while I like the former, I read it a bit like a bedside story, a few pages every evening, so it will take me forever to read.

Wednesday, March 23, 2011

The Pile - February '11

The TBR pile - we all have one and it grows faster than we can read. Mine is no exception. I thought it might be interesting to round up and present all of my recent acquisitions once a month, so ... here we go.

I'm happy to say that February was a month when I bought less books than I read. Yay me! I'm also sorry for posting this so late. I guess 'beter late than never' is becoming my new motto.





K. J. Parker: The Folding Knife

This one was on so many Best of 2010 lists that I absolutely had to buy it. I already own the first book of The Engineer trilogy, but I think I'll start with this one. Reading priority: high.





Paolo Bacigalupi: The Windup Girl

Bacigalupi's collection of short stories, Pump Six and Other Stories, has been on my wishlist for some time, but it took so long for it to get published in paperback edition that I got tired of waiting and bought The Windup Girl (which was also praised all over the Internet) instead. Of course, after I bought it, I read some negative reviews on it and found out that the Pump Six paperback has been out since October. Just my luck, I guess. Reading priority: medium.







Dennis Lehane: Shutter Island

I bought this one because I liked the movie and because I adore unreliable narrators. The only problem is that I still remember what the twist was all about, so I either have to wait until I forget it or try to enjoy the book despite knowing what it's all about. For now, I'll try waiting a bit; reading priority is therefore low.






I also bought The Reapers Are the Angels by Alden Bell, but since I've already read it, I'll describe it in the Monthly report for February.

The Pile Special

I bet you know the feeling when you have a book on your TBR pile that seemingly everyone has read and praised, but you still haven't gotten around to reading it. I have plenty of those, and I will select and present one every month. My goal? To read it ASAP, preferably during the next month. This month's special is:




Richard Morgan: Black Man

This one has been sitting on my shelf for at least two years now. I'd read Morgan's Steel Remains and loved it, but since he is primarily known as an SF author, I wanted to read one of his SF novels as well. I choose Black Man because of all the positive reviews it got ... and never touched it again.

Saturday, September 11, 2010

2010 Hugo Award Winners

2009 Hugo Award Winners were presented at Aussiecon 4, in Melbourne, Australia, which was held from August 2-6, 2010.

The Winners:

  • Best Novel (TIE!): The City & The City, China Miéville and The Windup Girl, Paolo Bacigalupi China Miéville
  • Best Novella: “Palimpsest”, Charles Stross
  • Best Novelette: “The Island”, Peter Watts
  • Best Short Story: “Bridesicle”, Will McIntosh
  • The John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer: Seanan McGuire
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Congratulations to all the winners!

source (where you can find other Winners & Nominees as well): The Hugo Awards

 

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