This is a post I’ve been meaning to do for a couple of days now, and only now I’m getting up the gumption to actually do the post. So, here it is…
I got books for Christmas (no surprise there … my Mom once said that I was the easiest person to shop for for birthdays and Christmas because all one needed to get was books and/or art supplies). Here they are:
Shock!
edited by M.C. Allen
(New York: Popular Library, Inc., 1965)
Paperback, 144 Pages, Short Fiction Anthology
ISBN: N/A, US$0.50
From the Cover: Vivid as a flash of sheet lightning in a house of horrors these stories illumine the strange, the weird, the unnatural world of the greatest storytelling imaginations of our day.
This collection contains the following stories: “The Destructors” by Graham Greene, “Evening Primrose” by John Collier, “Miriam” by Truman Capote, “Earth to Earth” by Robert Graves, “The Small Assassin” by Ray Bradbury, “The Hunger” by Charles Beaumont, “Thompson” by George A. Zorn, “Suspicion” by Dorothy L. Sayers, “You Can’t Run Fast Enough” by Arthur Kaplan, and “The Man and the Snake” by Ambrose Bierce
My Thoughts: Shock! is one of those books that I couldn’t not own, and so it was on my Christmas List, and a very nice relative sent it to me. This collection has some of the greatest authors compiled into one place, and—surprise surprise—there are only two in this collection that I have read previously: Ray Bradbury’s “The Small Assassin” (which is one of the scariest damn pieces of short fiction I have ever read) and “The Hunger” by Charles Beaumont (which was in the short story anthology of the same name that I have reviewed here before) and it is one of the stories from that anthology that I actually remember and remember liking a lot while I read it. I’m looking forward to putting it on my To Be Read pile some time soon.
The Little People
by John Christopher
(New York: Avon Books, 1966)
Paperback, 224 Pages, Fiction
ISBN: N/A, US$0.75
From the Cover: The Little People—Elves? Demons? They speak German. They carry whips. And they are connected in some mysterious way with Nazi experiments carried out in the charming old Irish castle during World War II. When members of the vacation part are found to be missing from their beds, and when pleading cries ring through the halls of the great house, terror grips hearts and minds, and the vacationers are brought face to face with the unknown…
My Thoughts: This book first came to my attention through the blog The Groovy Age of Horror back in March 2007, and it’s been on my Wish List since that time, but it was only this Christmas that my patience was rewarded. How can you not want a book with such an awesome/awful/groovy cover on your bookshelf? I cannot wait until it makes its way to the top of my To Be Read pile!
HAWG
by Steven Shrewsbury
(Lakeside: Graveside Tales, 2008)
Trade Paperback, 289 Pages, Fiction
ISBN: 9780980133820, US$14.95
From the Cover: Reap what you sow! Blue collar tough Andrew White knows that in the rural community of Miller’s Fork ad things are best left in the dark. He soon learns that monsters wear many shapes. In a populace rife with vice and deception, something has broken loose … something hidden and feral. Set free from a neighbor’s barn, a force rampages through the locality. Hungry and insatiable, the berserk wrath unleashed from Mr. Solow’s shed holds a darker secret than anyone could imagine. Only a factory worker, a twisted biker, an unsure sheriff, and a wounded addict stand in the way of the beast. Can they put aside their differences and defeat what lurks inside them in time to defend what they love? Come, peer inside the soul of Miller’s Fork and see if they possess the courage to stop the primal fury that is … HAWG.
My Thoughts: I first heard about this book through the Pod of Horror podcast that Mark Justice runs through Horror World. He interviewed “Shrews” and they plugged this novel, and since I love big, out-of-control, monstrous animal novels (like Jaws and Jurassic Park and their ilk) I had to get my hands on HAWG. Like The Little People, HAWG is one of those books that has been on my Wish List for a while, and a wonderful relative finally decided to fulfill my “wish” to own a book titled HAWG.
Opening Atlantis: A Novel of Alternate History
by Harry Turtledove
-Atlantis Series, Book 1-
(New York: ROC, 2008)
Paperback, 519 Pages, Fiction
ISBN: 9780451462015, US$7.99
From the Cover: Atlantis lies between Europe and the east coast of Terranova. For many years, this land of opportunity has lured dreamers from around the globe with its natural resources, offering a new beginning for those willing to brave the wonders of the unexplored territory. It is a new world indeed, ripe for discovery, for plunder, and eventually for colonization. But will its settlers destroy the very wonders they journeyed to Atlantis to find?
My Thoughts: This past year, I have really and truly discovered the genre that is “alternate history” and for the most part, have taken to it. Opening Atlantis was a late addition to my Christmas List, but I’m glad to have gotten it, because the premise sounds fascinating (if you look closely at the cover image there, you’ll see that the Eastern Seaboard of the United States is what constitutes Turtledove’s “Atlantis” and so I’m looking forward to see how that plays all plays out, especially given that Book 2 in the series is titled The United States of Atlantis and Book 3 is Liberating Atlantis.
Last but not least … especially in weight and length …
Under the Dome
by Stephen King
(New York: Scribner, 2009)
Hardcover, 1074 Pages, Fiction
ISBN: 9781439148501, US$35.00
From the Cover: On an otherwise normal, beautiful day, the town of Chester’s Mill, Maine is suddenly and inexplicably sealed off from the rest of the world in Under the Dome, Stephen King’s biggest, most riveting novel since The Stand.
My Thoughts: How could I not want this novel, and how could any one who knows me and loves me and claims to be related to me not know that this is the one book that would be a MUST on my Christmas list? I am really looking forward to getting my teeth into this book … it will be in audio format, though, because that is the one sure way that I can get through it, as opposed to trying to read all 1,074 pages (it is King’s longest) as I work on negotiating my second quarter of grad school … both classes and teaching.
My Christmas Loot
I got books for Christmas (no surprise there … my Mom once said that I was the easiest person to shop for for birthdays and Christmas because all one needed to get was books and/or art supplies). Here they are:
Shock!edited by M.C. Allen
(New York: Popular Library, Inc., 1965)
Paperback, 144 Pages, Short Fiction Anthology
ISBN: N/A, US$0.50
From the Cover: Vivid as a flash of sheet lightning in a house of horrors these stories illumine the strange, the weird, the unnatural world of the greatest storytelling imaginations of our day.
This collection contains the following stories: “The Destructors” by Graham Greene, “Evening Primrose” by John Collier, “Miriam” by Truman Capote, “Earth to Earth” by Robert Graves, “The Small Assassin” by Ray Bradbury, “The Hunger” by Charles Beaumont, “Thompson” by George A. Zorn, “Suspicion” by Dorothy L. Sayers, “You Can’t Run Fast Enough” by Arthur Kaplan, and “The Man and the Snake” by Ambrose Bierce
My Thoughts: Shock! is one of those books that I couldn’t not own, and so it was on my Christmas List, and a very nice relative sent it to me. This collection has some of the greatest authors compiled into one place, and—surprise surprise—there are only two in this collection that I have read previously: Ray Bradbury’s “The Small Assassin” (which is one of the scariest damn pieces of short fiction I have ever read) and “The Hunger” by Charles Beaumont (which was in the short story anthology of the same name that I have reviewed here before) and it is one of the stories from that anthology that I actually remember and remember liking a lot while I read it. I’m looking forward to putting it on my To Be Read pile some time soon.
The Little Peopleby John Christopher
(New York: Avon Books, 1966)
Paperback, 224 Pages, Fiction
ISBN: N/A, US$0.75
From the Cover: The Little People—Elves? Demons? They speak German. They carry whips. And they are connected in some mysterious way with Nazi experiments carried out in the charming old Irish castle during World War II. When members of the vacation part are found to be missing from their beds, and when pleading cries ring through the halls of the great house, terror grips hearts and minds, and the vacationers are brought face to face with the unknown…
My Thoughts: This book first came to my attention through the blog The Groovy Age of Horror back in March 2007, and it’s been on my Wish List since that time, but it was only this Christmas that my patience was rewarded. How can you not want a book with such an awesome/awful/groovy cover on your bookshelf? I cannot wait until it makes its way to the top of my To Be Read pile!
HAWGby Steven Shrewsbury
(Lakeside: Graveside Tales, 2008)
Trade Paperback, 289 Pages, Fiction
ISBN: 9780980133820, US$14.95
From the Cover: Reap what you sow! Blue collar tough Andrew White knows that in the rural community of Miller’s Fork ad things are best left in the dark. He soon learns that monsters wear many shapes. In a populace rife with vice and deception, something has broken loose … something hidden and feral. Set free from a neighbor’s barn, a force rampages through the locality. Hungry and insatiable, the berserk wrath unleashed from Mr. Solow’s shed holds a darker secret than anyone could imagine. Only a factory worker, a twisted biker, an unsure sheriff, and a wounded addict stand in the way of the beast. Can they put aside their differences and defeat what lurks inside them in time to defend what they love? Come, peer inside the soul of Miller’s Fork and see if they possess the courage to stop the primal fury that is … HAWG.
My Thoughts: I first heard about this book through the Pod of Horror podcast that Mark Justice runs through Horror World. He interviewed “Shrews” and they plugged this novel, and since I love big, out-of-control, monstrous animal novels (like Jaws and Jurassic Park and their ilk) I had to get my hands on HAWG. Like The Little People, HAWG is one of those books that has been on my Wish List for a while, and a wonderful relative finally decided to fulfill my “wish” to own a book titled HAWG.
Opening Atlantis: A Novel of Alternate Historyby Harry Turtledove
-Atlantis Series, Book 1-
(New York: ROC, 2008)
Paperback, 519 Pages, Fiction
ISBN: 9780451462015, US$7.99
From the Cover: Atlantis lies between Europe and the east coast of Terranova. For many years, this land of opportunity has lured dreamers from around the globe with its natural resources, offering a new beginning for those willing to brave the wonders of the unexplored territory. It is a new world indeed, ripe for discovery, for plunder, and eventually for colonization. But will its settlers destroy the very wonders they journeyed to Atlantis to find?
My Thoughts: This past year, I have really and truly discovered the genre that is “alternate history” and for the most part, have taken to it. Opening Atlantis was a late addition to my Christmas List, but I’m glad to have gotten it, because the premise sounds fascinating (if you look closely at the cover image there, you’ll see that the Eastern Seaboard of the United States is what constitutes Turtledove’s “Atlantis” and so I’m looking forward to see how that plays all plays out, especially given that Book 2 in the series is titled The United States of Atlantis and Book 3 is Liberating Atlantis.
Last but not least … especially in weight and length …
Under the Domeby Stephen King
(New York: Scribner, 2009)
Hardcover, 1074 Pages, Fiction
ISBN: 9781439148501, US$35.00
From the Cover: On an otherwise normal, beautiful day, the town of Chester’s Mill, Maine is suddenly and inexplicably sealed off from the rest of the world in Under the Dome, Stephen King’s biggest, most riveting novel since The Stand.
My Thoughts: How could I not want this novel, and how could any one who knows me and loves me and claims to be related to me not know that this is the one book that would be a MUST on my Christmas list? I am really looking forward to getting my teeth into this book … it will be in audio format, though, because that is the one sure way that I can get through it, as opposed to trying to read all 1,074 pages (it is King’s longest) as I work on negotiating my second quarter of grad school … both classes and teaching.
1 comments:
I love getting books for gifts as well as giving.
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