Book pile: yellow treats

This year's summer reading pile includes a lot of yellow covered treats.

Rabbit rabbit: Authority

Authority
by Jeff Vandermeer
SciFi, Horror | Published: 2014 | Goodreads
The bone-chilling, hair-raising second installment of the Southern Reach Trilogy

After thirty years, the only human engagement with Area X—a seemingly malevolent landscape surrounded by an invisible border and mysteriously wiped clean of all signs of civilization—has been a series of expeditions overseen by a government agency so secret it has almost been forgotten: the Southern Reach. Following the tumultuous twelfth expedition chronicled in Annihilation, the agency is in complete disarray.

John Rodríguez (aka "Control") is the Southern Reach's newly appointed head. Working with a distrustful but desperate team, a series of frustrating interrogations, a cache of hidden notes, and hours of profoundly troubling video footage, Control begins to penetrate the secrets of Area X. But with each discovery he must confront disturbing truths about himself and the agency he's pledged to serve.

Lovely Books and Things - 6.3.17

Lovely Books and Things
My Weekly Books and Films Update
Linking up with:
Stacking the Shelves (details)
Sunday Post (details)

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I attended a face-to-face book club (here) this week which got me reading A History of Loneliness by John Boyne. It is one of those books that surprised me. Fell in love with the author's style and plan on reading something else from his body of work - maybe The Boy in the Striped Pajamas.

The San Francisco International Arts Festival at Fort Mason (here) has been running since last week. I have been catching a few shows and enjoying both asian music and dance performances.

~*~
Bought:

All Our Wrong Todays
by Elan Mastai
-SciFi, Time Travel
Amazon | Goodreads
GEARING up for a dose of dystopia and scifi reading in the fall season.

China Rich Girlfriend
(Crazy Rich Asians #2)
by Kevin Kwan
-ChickLit, Romance, China
Amazon | Goodreads
GOT this in the used section of Green Apple Books as I wanted to read the first two books in the series before the third book, Rich People Problems that just came out. Of course, I need to get the first book soon, Crazy Rich Asians.

The Summer of the Ubume
by Natsuhiko Kyogoku
-Horror, Ghosts, Japan
Amazon | Goodreads
THE description grabbed me with its creepiness.

Emma
by Alexander McCall Smith
(The Austen Project #3)
-Retelling, Jane Austen, Romance
Amazon | Goodreads
COLLECTING this series to add to my Jane Austen bookshelf.


AND watched: on DVD

Brand New Testament (2015)
Le tout nouveau testament (original title)
Director: Jaco Van Dormael
Writers: Thomas Gunzig (scenario), Jaco Van Dormael (scenario)
Starring: Pili Groyne, Benoît Poelvoorde, Catherine Deneuve
-Comedy, Fantasy, Belgium | imdb | my rating: 3
Did you know that God is alive and lives in Brussels with his daughter?

THE premise and trailer are hilarious. The movie itself was cute with fun moments.


~*~
* comment and TELL me what you have acquired for your shelves recently

:-)

Lovely Books and Things - 5.27.17

Lovely Books and Things
My Weekly Books and Films Update
Linking up with:
Stacking the Shelves (details)
Sunday Post (details)

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Got delayed in posting this last weekend. So, below reflects two weeks worth. As you will see certain purchases were influenced by events attended.

I started entering books read with ratings into Goodreads from my reading logs that date back to 2006. This was the year when I started getting serious with reading and making notations of the books. In working with the lists it was fun to see which I remembered and which I accidentally re-read.

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Bought:

Green Apple Books on the Park, San Francisco, hosted a reading, signing and Q&A with Jeff VanderMeer for his latest release of Borne. Started out with a bird diary. Borne inspired by experience of growing up in Fiji and environmental issues.

Don't remember why, but Jeff wanted the crowd to say...

Bears can't fly
or can they?
Maybe I will know why after reading the book.

Borne
by Jeff VanderMeer
-Dystopia
Amazon | Goodreads
THIS will be my first VanderMeer read.

Annihilation
by Jeff VanderMeer
-Dystopia
Amazon | Goodreads
FOUND this in the used book section. It is the first book in the Southern Reach trilogy which is the Winner of the 2015 Nebula Award.

Acceptance
by Jeff VanderMeer
-Dystopia
Amazon | Goodreads
GOT this with the first one above. It is the third book in the trilogy. Gotta search for the second, Authority.

The Clothes They Stood Up In And The Lady And The Van
by Alan Bennett
-Short Stories, England
Amazon | Goodreads
Also found this in the used section while looking for Smut. Due to the theatre production I mentioned below, I was taken with Alan's style.


For Review:

The Vestige
by Caroline George
-YA
Release date: June 30, 2017
Amazon | Goodreads
I am curious about the end of the world scenario in this one.

Slave to Love
by Julie A. Richman
-New Adult, Romance
courtesy of Romance Read-of-the-Month Club -Thanks!
BarnesNoble | Goodreads
I have been accumulating some beefcake reading with from this club. But, have not yet had a chance to dip into any. I definitely will start in June!

Still Here
by Lara Vapnyar
-Contemporary Fiction, Russia
courtesy of Blogging for Books - Thanks!
Amazon | Goodreads
THE Jane Austen mention in the description caught my eye for this one along with the idea of virtual graves.


UNBOXING:

From Owlcrate package (details & signup):
OwlCrate is a subscription service that sends you magical monthly boxes tailored to a chosen theme. Each OwlCrate will contain one new Young Adult novel, as well as 3-5 other bookish treats to help you get your nerd on. @owlcrate

MAY Box includes:
theme: Comic Explosion
- Owlcrate spoiler card with comic book style page
- Owlcrate buttons - comic book theme
- Eliza and Her Monsters by Francesca Zappia
- Signed bookplate, letter and art piece from author
- Batman - FunkoPop
- Pen (6-colored) comic book theme from Ooly
- Wonder Woman - Dio Candle Company
- Afar (first chapter sampler) from Image Comics
- Coffee candies from Kafe Zing

Eliza and Her Monsters
by Francesca Zappia
-YA
Release date: May 30, 2017
Amazon | Goodreads
Eighteen-year-old Eliza Mirk is the anonymous creator of Monstrous Sea, a wildly popular webcomic, but when a new boy at school tempts her to live a life offline, everything she’s worked for begins to crumble.

Scott Westerfeld’s Afterworlds meets Nimona in this novel about art, fandom, and finding the courage to be yourself. Features illustrations by the author throughout. Perfect for readers of Rainbow Rowell’s Fangirl, this is the second novel by the acclaimed author of Made You Up.

In the real world, Eliza Mirk is shy, weird, smart, and friendless. Online, Eliza is Lady Constellation, the anonymous creator of a popular webcomic called Monstrous Sea. With millions of followers and fans throughout the world, Eliza’s persona is popular. Eliza can’t imagine enjoying the real world as much as she loves her digital community. Then Wallace Warland transfers to her school, and Eliza begins to wonder if a life offline might be worthwhile. But when Eliza’s secret is accidentally shared with the world, everything she’s built—her story, her relationship with Wallace, and even her sanity—begins to fall apart. With pages from Eliza’s webcomic, as well as screenshots from Eliza’s online forums, this uniquely formatted book will appeal to fans of Noelle Stevenson’s Nimona and Rainbow Rowell’s Fangirl.


AND watched: in theatre (live)

SMUT (2017)
An Unseemly Story
(The Greening Of Mrs. Donaldson)
Director: Amy Kossow
Producer: HARLYN | Associate Producers: Bruce Colman, Shelly Osborne
Based on book: Smut: Stories by Alan Bennett
-Comedy | Zspace | my rating: 5
One of England’s finest and most loved writers, Alan Bennett, explores the uncomfortable and tragicomic gap between people’s public appearance and their private desires in this tender and surprising story. In The Greening of Mrs. Donaldson, a recently bereaved widow finds interesting ways to supplement her income by performing as a patient for medical students, and renting out her spare room. Quiet, middle-class, and middle-aged, Mrs. Donaldson will soon discover that she rather enjoys role-play at the hospital, and the irregular and startling entertainment provided by her tenants.A master storyteller dissects a very English form of secrecy with this story of the unexpected in otherwise apparently ordinary lives.

THE interesting thing about this production is that it is presented as a short story (in action) versus a play. So the dialogue includes what you would read in the short story.


AND watched: in theatre

The Lovers (2017)
Director/Writer: Azazel Jacobs
Starring: Debra Winger, Tracy Letts, Aidan Gillen
-Comedy | imdb | my rating: 4
Debra Winger and Tracy Letts play a long-married, dispassionate couple who are both in the midst of serious affairs. But on the brink of calling it quits, a spark between them suddenly reignites, leading them into an impulsive romance.

Not what I expected, but very interesting. Lust versus love. Non-traditional relationships.


AND watching: on Hulu

The Handmaid's Tale (2017)
Creator: Bruce Miller
Based on book by: Margaret Atwood
Starring: Elisabeth Moss, Yvonne Strahovski, Alexis Bledel, Joseph Fiennes
-Drama, SciFi | imdb | my rating: 5
Netflix trivia: Margaret Atwood, the book's author, makes a cameo as an Aunt in Episode 1. She is the one who slaps Offred when she is reluctant to join in the group shaming circle.
Set in a dystopian future, a woman is forced to live as a concubine under a fundamentalist theocratic dictatorship.

Just as chilling as the book with a great cast.


~*~
* comment and TELL me what you have acquired for your shelves recently

:-)

Giveaway: The Thackery T. Lambshead Cabinet of Curiosities edited by Ann Vandermeer and Jeff Vandermeer

The Thackery T. Lambshead Cabinet of Curiosities:
Exhibits, Oddities, Images, and Stories from Top Authors and Artists
edited by Ann Vandermeer and Jeff Vandermeer
The death of Dr. Thackery T. Lambshead in 2003 at his house in Wimpering-on-the-Brook, England, revealed an astonishing discovery: the remains of a remarkable cabinet of curiosities.

A carefully selected group of popular artists and acclaimed, bestselling fantasy authors has been assembled to bring Dr. Lambshead’s cabinet of curiosities to life.


Including contributions from:

Holly Black
Greg Broadmore
Ted Chiang
Jeffrey Ford
Lev Grossman
China MiÉville
Mike Mignola
Michael Moorcock
Alan Moore
Garth Nix
Naomi Novik
Cherie Priest
Carrie Vaughn

and many more...

--~ Book Giveaway courtesy of publisher ~--

Win a copy of this book!

Open to US ONLY.

Offer ends: November 13, 2011

TO DO: (2-parts)

1. ONE of these:

ADD this book to your Goodreads

or

LIKE this book on amazon.

or

TWEET this: (or click the twitter button on this post)
Giveaway: The Thackery T. Lambshead Cabinet of Curiosities http://vvb32reads.blogspot.com/2011/10/giveaway-thackery-t-lambshead-cabinet.html

2. AND, let me know in comments what you did along with your email (if I don't already have it)

~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~

Contest has ended - winner is here

~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~

~*~
* image source of curiosity by Greg Broadmore

-+0+o+ October Trix-n-Treatz schedule +o+0+-

In My Mailbox - 7.24.11

Bought:

Captive of My Desires
by Johanna Lindsey
-still in pirate mode

For Review and giveaway:

The Thackery T. Lambshead Cabinet of Curiosities:
Exhibits, Oddities, Images, and Stories from Top Authors and Artists
edited by Ann Vandermeer and Jeff Vandermeer
courtesy of publisher
Thanks Jessica!
stay tuned: giveaway for this in October

Gypsy Knights
by Two Brothers Metz
courtesy of authors
Thanks Lafe and Rhett
stay tuned: giveaway for this ebook will appear during the rrRoad Trip event which starts later today!

Bring It Close
by Helen Hollick
re-released version
courtesy of author
Thanks Helen!
signup to win this book

Free from Netgalley: got mine, get yours!

Water's Edge
by Robert Whitlow
stay tuned: giveaway for this book will appear during August Thrills-n-Chills

~*~
Won from contest:

Russian Roulette
by Mike Faricy
courtesy of author
Thanks Mike!
get yours at A Reelfoot Hoodrat's Thoughts
-hurry, don't know when the offer ends

Surprise Gifts:

Worldweavers
Gift of the Unmage
by Alma Alexander
Thanks to Giada of Dr. Stravagante’s Traveling Book Circus

The Amethyst Road
by Louise Spiegler
Thanks to Giada of Dr. Stravagante’s Traveling Book Circus

~*~
UPCOMING event at vvb32 reads...

Word & Question
created by Shredded Cheddar
August host: vvb32 reads
JOIN in: write poetry with us
-basic details here
-my post on Aug 3 will give specifics

mini-schedule
Event theme tie-in: August Thrills-n-Chills
Aug 3: call for prompts
Aug 6: deadline for prompts
Aug 10-31: post poems

~*~
Bookie Brunch schedule
Now follow me to the third Bookie Brunch meeting for a bit of chit chat at This Miss Loves To Read.

Bookie Brunch Question of the day:
Do you think people only read classics because they are classics or because they are actually enjoyable?

Related topics to consider: Is there a classic that you don't think should be a classic? Why do you think that?

~*~
* get a heads up on free or discounted ebooks from Books on the Knob

* per usual, check out the sidebar for my current giveaways to you

* image from Leafcutter Designs - world's smallest postal service and you can get a letter kit at Chronicle Books

* In My Mailbox is hosted by The Story Siren and inspired by Pop Culture Junkie. A post where we share books acquired via mailbox, library, store, etc.

The Giving Mouth by Ian R. MacLeod

The Giving Mouth

by Ian R. MacLeod

part of

Steampunk (anthology)

edited by Ann & Jeff Vandermeer

Published: 2008

Genre: Steampunk

Excerpt from the book (page 54):

I remember that on the afternoon when my story truly begins I had been wandering in the marshes between the slagheaps and the Pits where the water's rainbowed oil and exposed minerals made grasses and flowers in colours of dream. Copper green. Cobalt blue. Oxide red. A lonely place, usually pretty, although often things nested and grew there that sent me stumbling away in disgust. So I always looking around in the wash of light, half in joy, half in fear.

Excerpt from the book (page 62):

The waiting steamhorse was chuffing restlessly. It had its fill of the best coal in the stables and although it was too stupid to understand the importance of the journey, it senses the something unusual was afoot. Its headlights glowed. Its piston arms were hot with anticipation.

My thoughts:

In-a-word(s): The Blight

This story story was described as being in a "gaslight" pseudo-Victorian mode.

You can probably tell that the second excerpt above was the inspiration for the pictures I selected this week. Neat, huh? mechanical horsies.

This short story was a dark one set amongst the poor workers surrounding a Castleiron with a queen who is "as round as a snowberry and twice as bitter."

And then, The Blight...

*image of steamhorse created by Vermin Star

Lord Kelvin's Machine by James P. Blaylock

Lord Kelvin's Machine

by James P. Blaylock

part of

Steampunk (anthology)

edited by Ann & Jeff Vandermeer

Published: 2008

Genre: Steampunk

Excerpt from the book (page 31):

St. Ives watched their comings and goings through his spyglass. He turned a grim eye on Hasbro, who stood silently behind him. "I've come to a difficult decision, Hasbro."

"Yes, sir."

"I've decided that we must play the role of saboteur, and nothing less. I shrink from such deviltry, but far more is at stake here than honor. We must ruin, somehow, Lord Kelvin's machine."

"Very good, sir."

...

"But the stakes are high, Hasbro. We must have our hand in. It's nothing more or less than the salvation of the Earth, secularly speaking, that we engage in."

"Shall we want lunch first, sir?"

My thoughts:

In-a-word: indubitably

Don't you just love that interchange above. Tee-hee, lunch before conquering the foes!

The Warlord of the Air by Michael Moorcock excerpt

Introduction: The 19th-Century Roots of Steampunk

by Jess Nevins

For someone like me, a newbie to the steampunk genre, this was a helpful intro. I also learned about Edisonade which are the stories that are American based versus classic Victorian Steampunk set primarily in England.

The first story I encountered was an excerpt.

Benediction: Excerpt from The Warlord of the Air

by Michael Moorcock

Ack! this was such a teaser. As stated in the title, it is an excerpt. The excerpt described a battle in the sky amongst airships. I'm going to have to hunt down this full-length novel to see what happens next.

Both of the stories above are

part of Steampunk (anthology)

edited by Ann & Jeff Vandermeer

*part of my Read-a-thon challenge

*image source of airships

*total pages read: 16