The Pile: March & April '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 completely forgot to do The Pile for March! Luckily, I've presented some of the books in the Monthly report; otherwise, this list would be even longer than it already is.



Max Brooks: World War Z

This one was on my to-buy list for a very long time until I finally decided to buy it. On one hand, it's the book everyone mentions sooner or later when there's a debate involving zombie apocalypse; on the other hand, I'm not really a big fan of the zombie apocalypse. We'll see whether World War Z makes me change my mind. Reading priority: medium.

Patrick Rothfuss: The Wise Man's Fear

Do I even need to say anything about this one? I liked The Name of the Wind very, very much. I do have to re-read it, though, so The Wise Man's Fear will sit on my shelf for a bit more. Reading priority is therefore medium.

Stanislaw Lem: Solaris

I don't know much about this one other than it's a classic SF novel and that Lem is a pretty good writer. I bought it completely on a whim when I found it on a shelf of a local bookshop. Reading priority: medium.

Stephen Baxter: Flood

It's post-apocalyptic and it has a cool cover. Reading priority: high! (Yeah, this is essentially my criteria for which book to read next. I'm a shallow person. :D )

Christopher Priest: The Prestige

Another one of those 'saw the movie, bought the book' novels. However, I don't really think I'll forget the twist of The Prestige anytime soon, so reading priority is medium (and not low, as Shutter Island's is). I mean, this is Christopher Priest, how can I buy a book of his and not read it anytime soon?

Iain Banks: Transition

You know how it is when you absolutely need to buy a book and ordering it from the Internet is just not good enough? At times like these, I have to resort to local bookshops which don't really have that many books in English, and I buy the first thing that looks half decent. I don't know anything about Transition other than it was written by Banks, but that's good enough for me. Reading priority: low. (Ugly cover. Sorry, Mr. Banks.)

Iain Banks: The Crow Road

I also have this habit of buying at least one book whenever I travel abroad. I picked this one up in Belgrade, mostly because it starts with 'It was the day when my grandmother exploded'. How could I not buy it after an opening like that? Reading priority: high. (Pretty cover.)

Richard Matheson: The Shrinking Man

The second book I bought in Belgrade. The Shrinking Man is about a man who one day starts growing smaller and smaller (as the title tells us), and discovers that being really tiny is no fun at all. I really liked I Am Legend, so I hope this one will not disappoint too badly. Reading priority: medium.

Steven C. Schlozman: The Zombie Autopsies

I got this one as a review copy from Bantam. Looks very similar to World War Z - it's written as a journal kept by a neuroscientist who investigates a zombie disease. Reading priority: low.

Jon Steele: The Watchers

Another review copy from Bantam! This one looks much more intriguing than The Zombie Autopsies; 'a number of more or less ordinary people whose paths eventually intersect' is always an interesting, if much used, premise. Reading priority: high.

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:




Mervyn Peake: Gormenghast Trilogy

The story here is the same as with all of the previous The Pile Specials: I bought the book some time ago (Goodreads tells me that 'some time' in this case means 'more than one year') and never read it, even though I've been told that given my love of the fantastic, I'll surely enjoy it.