Shock Value: How a Few Eccentric Outsiders Gave Us Nightmares, Conquered Hollywood, and Invented Modern Horror (Kindle)

by Jason Zinoman
(New York: Penguin Press, 2011)
Kindle eBook, 272 Pages, 1309 KB, Nonfiction
ASBN: B004IYJEN8, US$12.99

ABCD Rating: CHECK OUT

From the Cover: Much has been written about the storied New Hollywood of the 1970s, but at the same time as Martin Scorsese, Steven Spielberg, and Francis Ford Coppola were making their first classic movies, a parallel universe of directors gave birth to the modern horror film-aggressive, raw, and utterly original. Based on unprecedented access to the genre’s major players, The New York Times’s critic Jason Zinoman’s Shock Value delivers the first definitive account of horror’s golden age. By the late 1960s, horror was stuck in the past, confined mostly to drive-in theaters and exploitation houses, and shunned by critics. Shock Value tells the unlikely story of how the much-disparaged horror film became an ambitious art form while also conquering the multiplex. Directors such as Wes Craven, Roman Polanski, John Carpenter, and Brian De Palma—counterculture types operating largely outside the confines of Hollywood—revolutionized the genre, exploding taboos and bringing a gritty aesthetic, confrontational style, and political edge to horror. Zinoman recounts how these directors produced such classics as Rosemary’s Baby, Carrie, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, and Halloween, creating a template for horror that has been imitated relentlessly but whose originality has rarely been matched. This new kind of film dispensed with the old vampires and werewolves and instead assaulted audiences with portraits of serial killers, the dark side of suburbia, and a brand of nihilistic violence that had never been seen before. Shock Value tells the improbable stories behind the making of these movies, which were often directed by obsessive and insecure young men working on shoestring budgets, were funded by sketchy investors, and starred porn stars. But once The Exorcist became the highest grossing film in America, Hollywood took notice. The classic horror films of the 1970s have now spawned a billion-dollar industry, but they have also penetrated deep into the American consciousness. Quite literally, Zinoman reveals, these movies have taught us what to be afraid of. Drawing on interviews with hundreds of the most important artists in horror, Shock Value is an enthralling and personality-driven account of an overlooked but hugely influential golden age in American film.

My Review: Okay, this book isn’t for everyone. I’ll start this review right off by saying that. Not everyone is going to find this as fascinating as I do, and even then, this book is not as shocking as I might have hoped. While there is some good insight here, most of what Zinoman has here is old hat for the horror genre … at least for those of us that are involved with the genre on a scholarly or academic level. Sure, there are some new stories here, and some interesting background material on the films in question and their creators and directors, but most of the conclusions that Zinoman has drawn are ones that I have read in articles and books that I have read as I write papers on the genre.

That said, what Zinoman has done is present this heavily academic material in a way which is easily accessible to the average reader. What I mean by that is that in order to learn some of the same things that Zinoman talks about regarding films like Halloween, Night of the Living Dead, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, and The Last House on the Left one would have to wade through a number of dense academic articles in obscure journals. For that reasons, Zinoman’s book is very handy. It is even handier (is that a word?) in Kindle form since it is searchable on the eReader and makes doing research that much easier.

In the end, though, reading Shock Value is really only for three audiences: (1) scholars and academics who are interested in the horror genre, (2) diehard fans of the genre of the kind who watch every DVD special feature and read all the articles and magazines (and often Groups 1 and 2 are one-and-the-same), and (3) Hollywood types who can’t understand why their remake of Halloween or A Nightmare on Elm Street or their Paranormal Activity knock-off have failed at the box office. Zinoman lays that out quite explicitly and Hollywood would do well to learn that lesson.

I enjoyed Shock Value, but will you? I honestly don’t know.

Zinoman wrote a four-part piece for Slate titled “How to Fix Horror” which can be found HERE and there is a Q&A with the author about his book HERE at MoreIntelligentLife.

Sample Saturday: Moon People 2 by Dale M. Courtney

Moon People 2: Mars Reborn
-Moon People Trilogy, Book 2-
by Dale M. Courtney

(Bloomington, Xlibris Corp., 2010)
Kindle eBook, 102 Pages, 534 KB, Fiction
ASBN: B003XIJ9LC, US$7.69

Sample: “CHAPTER 1 Mars Reborn This story begins off the planet of Mars where the Lunar Base 1 has positioned itself for 6 mouths of exploration and study for a possible genesis for colonization. So far Mars Base has found that under the surface of Mars are large cavities of ice. Also Mars base has found that the lava core has cooled off over the centuries. They also found that Mars magnetic field is very low and the rotation of the planet has slowed to an abnormal speed. First Science Officer Captain David Braymer and the crew of the Lunar Base 1 are about to implement an experiment that will heat up the core of Mars and raise its magnetic field. Also melt the ice cavity underneath the surface, that should create oxygen through out the planet if all goes well. Also by heating up the core in the right spot should increase the speed of rotation of the planet. This is one of the areas that we are a little worried about in the experiment.

“The Mars Base will be monitoring everything down on Mars and we will be monitoring everything from space. We do not really know exactly how much we will need to heat up the core. We have a few differences of opinions. We are going to use a microwave beam to heat up the core at three-second intervals. The beam itself has the strength of 200,000 watts once it leaves the ship. By the time it hits the surface the strength is about 50,000 watts and by the time it gets through to the core the power level is about 20,000 watts.

“On the bridge of the Lunar Base 1, Admiral Benson is in command. (Admiral Benson) Let’s put everything on the main viewer Lieutenant Parsons.”

My Reaction: First, my promise to you is that everything you see in that sample is in the book, typos and photo included. I cannot tell you how excited I am about this book, and I cannot wait to have the pocket money to be able to download this to my Kindle. I kid you not. I loved its predecessor Moon People (reviewed here) and this sample has me excited to enter more of the world that Dale M. Courtney has so carefully crafted for my reading pleasure! I would, however, recommend that you read Moon People before reading Moon People 2 because the first book’s plot is so intricate and the characters so complex that to dive right into Moon People 2 would be the height of folly. The very height!

The Friday 56: You Don't Say

The Friday 56 is hosted by Freda’s Voice

RULES

1. Grab a book, any book.
2. Turn to page 56.
3. Find a sentence that grabs you.
4. Post it.
5. Post a link with your post to Freda’s Voice (and here on Bryan’s Book Blog).

A little behind in posts because I’ve been feeling under the weather and not up to the mental activity blogging requires, but now that I think I’m coming out from under it, here is this week’s The Friday 56 (on Sunday) which comes from a book that was languishing at the bottom of my Kindle, and that I didn’t even remember I had probably due to the fact that it starts with Z, that and the fact that I’m knee deep in George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire right now. So, without further ado, The Friday 56:

Zombie CSU: The Forensics of the Living Dead

by Jonathan Maberry

(New York: Citadel Press, 2008)

Kindle eBook, 404 Pages, 2938 KB, Nonfiction

ASBN: B0041OT9JE, US$9.99

My 56: “‘The human body decomposes at varying speeds depending on a myriad of factors,’ [Martin Leadbetter, FFS, RPS, BA (Hons), international fingerprint expert and chairman of the Fingerprint Society] says” (56).

Book Beginnings: Here Come the German and the Greeks

Book Beginnings is hosted by A Few More Pages

How to Participate: Share the first line (or two) of the book you are currently reading on your blog or in the comments. Include the title and the author so we know what you're reading. Then, if you would like, let us know what your first impressions were based on that first line, and let us know if you liked or did not like the sentence. The link-up will be at A Few More Pages every Friday and will be open for the entire week.

I’m still slogging through A Clash of Kings, so it would be redundant to repost the opening. However, I am also listening to an audiobook, so I think I’ll post the opening to that particular book. It is The Ruins by Scott Smith. I first read this (in print) three years ago and loved it, so here is the beginning of The Ruins:

My Book Beginnings: “They met Mathias on a day trip from Cozumel. They’d hired a guide to take them snorkeling over a local wreck, but the buoy marking its location had broken off in the storm, and the guide was having difficulty finding it. So they were swimming about, looking at nothing in particular. Then Mathias rose toward them from the depths, like a merman, a scuba tank on his back. He smiled when they told him their situation, and led them to the wreck. He was German, dark from the sun, and very tall, with a blond crew cut and pale blue eyes. He had a tattoo of an eagle on his right forearm, black with red wings. He let them take turns borrowing his tank so they could drop down thirty feet and see the wreck up close. He was friendly in a quiet way, and his English was only slightly accented, and when they pulled themselves into their guide’s boat to head back to shore, he climbed in, too.

“They met the Greeks two nights later, back in Cancún, on a beach near their hotel. Stacy got drunk and made out with one of them. Nothing happened beyond that, but the Greeks always seemed to be turning up afterward, no matter what they were doing. None of them spoke Greek, of course, and the Greeks didn’t speak English, so it was mostly smiling and nodding and the occasional sharing of food or drinks. There were three Greeks—in their early twenties, like Mathias and the rest of them—and they seemed friendly enough, even if they did appear to be following them about” (1).

My Thoughts: Now, reading these two opening paragraphs one would never know that this was, in fact, a horror novel and quite a creepy one at that. Yet, there are some early stirrings of the uncanny going on in here that if you know your horror movies you can spot … and it certainly sets up the young Americans in trouble in a foreign country (none of whom really speak the language) very well. The Ruins does take some time to get started, though, and reader Patrick Wilson doesn’t necessarily do a stellar job of reading … I might call it passable. He certainly is no Frank Muller or Jim Dale or Campbell Scott or Ron McLarty. As for Smith’s book, you really do have to stick with it, because in spite of the opening, it does, in fact, get much better. (And much scarier.)

Bookshelf Lust

(via)

Get It?

(via)

(The answer)

How DOES One Pronounce "Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn"

So, seeing as I only have 15 minutes left until it is no longer the 20th, I have to saw Happy Birthday to Mr. H.P. Lovecraft who is 121 years old today. May I say sir, you look wonderful for your age.

So, in order to commemorate Mr. Lovecraft’s birthday, I give you the following story from the blog The Lovecraftsman (which I highly recommend if you are a fan of Howard Phillips’ work). The post (from August 4 … I’ve been sitting on it, wanting to reference it here, but haven’t had a chance yet) is titled “The Dunwich Horror Reader Sets 23-Year Record for Most Overdue Book” and it reads as follows:

An H.P. Lovecraft reader in Wellington, New Zealand, holds the record for the most overdue book at the local library after checking out The Dunwich Horror and Others on Feb. 12, 1988. More than 23 years later the book has yet to be returned, which amusingly puts it in the library’s “long-term overdue” category.

At the library’s 80-cents-per-day late fee that would amount to a fine of $6,851.20 and counting, although the fee is capped at $22.40 per book.

Update: The best comment ever about this story was just left on The Lovecraftsman Facebook page: “Will they find his rotted copse with the yellowed pages clutched spasmodically in his withered hand, and a look of cosmic horror on this face?” - Nick Hydra

Happy Birthday Mr. Lovecraft. Thanks for all the chills.

Some Song of Ice and Fire Fun

Here is some Song of Ice and Fire fun for your Tuesday evening…

From College Humor “If Adult TV Shows Were Remade for Children” (via)

Foxtrot by Bill Amend, August 14. 2011 (via)

“Game of Breakfast Win” from Win! (via)

Teaser Tuesdays: Great. Now I'm Hungry!

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (Make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

Today’s Teaser come from Book Two of George R.R. Martin’s Song of Ice and Fire series, and is especially apropos since I recently discovered the blog Cooking Ice and Fire which is Adam Bruski’s “journal of [his] ongoing efforts to cook every dish mentioned and described in Martin’s series and explore the history, real world references, techniques, and science behind each.” So with that, enjoy this week’s Teaser:

A Clash of Kings

by George R.R. Martin
-A Song of Ice and Fire, Book Two-

(New York: Bantam, 2003)

Kindle eBook, 1,040 Pages, 1803 KB, Fiction

ASBN: B000FC1HBY, US$8.99

MY TEASER: “While singers sang and tumblers tumbled, they began with pears poached in wine, and went on to tiny savory fish rolled in salt and cooked crisp, and capons stuffed with onions and mushrooms. There were great loaves of brown bread, mounds of turnips and sweetcorn and pease, immense hams and roast geese and trenchers dripping full of venison stewed with beer and barley” (347).

A Game of Thrones (Kindle)

by George R.R. Martin
-A Song of Ice and Fire, Book One-
(New York: Bantam, 2003)
Kindle eBook, 864 Pages, 2075 KB, Fiction
ASBN: B000QCS8TW, US$8.99

My Rating: ACQUIRE

From the Cover: Long ago, in a time forgotten, a preternatural event threw the seasons out of balance. In a land where summers can last decades and winters a lifetime, trouble is brewing. The cold is returning, and in the frozen wastes to the north of Winterfell, sinister and supernatural forces are massing beyond the kingdom's protective Wall. At the center of the conflict lie the Starks of Winterfell, a family as harsh and unyielding as the land they were born to. Sweeping from a land of brutal cold to a distant summertime kingdom of epicurean plenty, here is a tale of lords and ladies, soldiers and sorcerers, assassins and bastards, who come together in a time of grim omens. Here an enigmatic band of warriors bear swords of no human metal; a tribe of fierce wildlings carry men off into madness; a cruel young dragon prince barters his sister to win back his throne; and a determined woman undertakes the most treacherous of journeys. Amid plots and counterplots, tragedy and betrayal, victory and terror, the fate of the Starks, their allies, and their enemies hangs perilously in the balance, as each endeavors to win that deadliest of conflicts: the game of thrones.

My Review: Back in April, I was in San Antonio, Texas, to present a paper at a conference. The first couple of nights that I was there, I suffered from some pretty extreme insomnia and so I started flipping through channels and came across the HBO adaptation of Martin’s series. Little did I know what I was getting into. I immediately downloaded the sample to A Game of Thrones to my Kindle, and devoured that over breakfast the next morning. By then, I was hooked and as soon as I could afford it, I started downloading the series.

Book One, A Game of Thrones, immediately sucked me into the world of the Seven Kingdoms and I am loathe to leave. I know I must sound like a gushing fanboy, but in reality it is rare for me to find a fantasy series with a created world that is believable enough to me to jump in with both feet. Tolkien’s Middle-Earth, Rowling’s world of Harry Potter, and Tracy Hickman and Margaret Weis’ world of Krynn from the Dragonlance series are the only ones that I can think of that I willingly gave myself over to. Now, Martin has drawn me in in much the same way.

What I found most appealing about what Martin has done is that he has not sacrificed character for world building. All-too-often an author dabbling in these sorts of stories will create a massive and detailed world but will not put hardly any effort into the characters, resorting to the standard tropes that one might find in any high school game of Advanced Dungeon & Dragons. Martin’s characters, however, are fully-realized, seemingly living and breathing people who inhabit the space with you as you begin reading. I was especially taken with the Stark family (which is really no surprise, given that the book is designed to manipulate you to take the Starks’ point of view and sympathize with Eddard, Catelyn, Sansa, Arya, Bran and Jon Snow) and keenly felt each victory and defeat that they experienced. That Martin is able to accomplish that with me, someone who considers himself a rather jaded reader of fantasy fiction, was a very nice surprise. It allowed me to find pleasure in reading again after two years of grad school and intensely studying literature for that whole time, and for that I will always be grateful to George Martin.

That said, I don’t know that this series is for everyone. It is long and sprawling—none of the books are under 750 pages and they require a pretty big commitment in terms of time, effort and brain power expended in trying to keep track of everything that is going on. The searchable text of the Kindle helped in that respect (as did the fact that I did not have to carry around a monster-sized paperback) but on the whole, you really have to decide if you want to fork over the time to really give your all to this series especially when one considers the fact that Martin has stated that the Song of Ice and Fire series will in fact be a septet, and there are only five books so far (with a five year gap between Books Four (A Feast for Crows) and Five (A Dance with Dragons)) and according to reports Martin only has about 100 pages of Book Six (titled The Winds of Winter) down on the page. If you think you can commit like that to a series of books, then by all means, pick up A Game of Thrones, you won’t be sorry.

How To Train Your Dragon (Audio)

by Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III
translated from the Old Norse by Cressida Cowell
read by David Tennant
-How to Train Your Dragon Series, Book 1-
(London: Hodder Children’s Books, 2004)
MP3 Audiobook, 343.3 MB, 3.4 Hours, Children’s Fiction
ISBN: 9781840329698, US$15.95

ABCD Rating: ACQUIRE

From the Cover: Can Hiccup pass the Dragon Initiation Programme with a toothless dragon AND fight the Sea Dragonus Maximus before it gobbles up every Viking on Berk? It’s time for Hiccup to learn how to be a Hero.

My Review: Again, a book that I only picked up because I freakin’ loved the movie and I wanted to see what the source material was like. Also, it is read by David “The Tenth Doctor” Tennant, and how can you not love that?! I want to say up front that if you go in to this book expecting something similar to the DreamWorks film, this is what is the same: both have Vikings and both have dragons. That’s about it. The two stories could really not be more different, however “different” isn’t a bad thing. As much as I liked the film revision of Cowell’s story, I enjoyed the actual story all that more.

The tale that Cowell—through the character of Hiccup Horrendous Haddock—spins is absolutely wonderful. Sure, the Vikings she depicts are broad stereotypes, but when you’re in the middle of a story this good … the growth of Haddock from Hiccup the Useless to Hiccup the Useful, the faults and warts sort of just fall away and the story shines (much like what happens when reading the Harry Potter series). This is the perfect story for a young boy (in the age range of 7 to 10) especially one who might find himself bullied or picked-on at school because he’s not like the other boys. They will be able to relate to Hiccup and possibly even learn from his story and find a way to grow beyond the influence of bullying. This is not to say that this story is a magic bullet for bullies, but the ways in which Hiccup overcomes his supposed faults and is able to save the day will definitely be inspiring.

As for this audio edition, it doesn’t get much better than having David Tennant read this story. Tennant has the perfect balance of mirth and seriousness in his voice and is able to strike a balance between the two in order to really bring Cowell’s words to life. The only reader who could have possibly been better than Tennant would maybe have been Craig Ferguson.

In the end, I really enjoyed How to Train Your Dragon and so did my family; we listened to it in the car together anytime we were driving somewhere, and we’re all looking forward to the next book in the series.

True Grit (Kindle)

by Charles Portis
(New York: Overlook Press, 2007)
Kindle eBook, 240 Pages, Western
ASBN: B004I8V0Q8, US$14.95

ABCD Rating: ACQUIRE

From the Cover: Charles Portis has long been acclaimed as one of America’s foremost writers. True Grit, his most famous novel, as first published in 1968, and became the basis for the movie starring John Wayne. True Grit tells the story of Mattie Ross, who is just fourteen years of age when a coward going by the name of Tom Chaney shoots her father down in Fort Smith, Arkansas, and robs him of his life, his horse, and $150 in cash. Mattie leaves home to avenge her father’s blood. With the one-eyed Rooster Cogburn, the meanest available U.S. Marshal, by her side, Mattie pursues the homicide into Indian Territory. True Grit is eccentric, cool, straight, and unflinching, like Mattie herself. From a writer of true status, this is an American classic through and through.

My Review: Well, it’s been so long since I’ve read this that it seems unfair to write a review, but I will try to jot down some of the thoughts that were going through my head at the time I was reading this. It was finally seeing the Coen Brothers’ 2010 film that made me want to pick this up. I enjoyed the film, and being the book geek that I am, I wanted to read the story that inspired it. Honestly, I can say that seeing the Jeff Bridges movie is extraordinarily close to reading Portis’ novel. They were very faithful to the source. As for what I thought of Portis’ book, the clearest thought that I remember having while reading this was that True Grit is a book that I am going to have my daughters read when they reach the age of about 10 or 11. While the films focus on the character of Rooster Cogburn (John Wayne and Jeff Bridges) the book is all about Mattie Ross.

Mattie is such a wonderful female character in a genre that has very few strong female characters. Westerns are usually all about strong men who are tough as nails and any female characters are typically ancillary and typify the Madonna-Whore dichotomy (though in Westerns we might call it the School Marm-Saloon Girl dichotomy). Mattie, however, been just barely a teenager, is a much different character and one whom I would be thrilled to have my daughters read and emulate. Add to all of this a great adventure tale, easily the equal of Treasure Island (the book I’ll be giving to my son when he’s about the same age) and this is the perfect book to give to the pre-teen girl in your life, especially if you are like my wife and I and make every attempt to eschew and avoid the Disney Princess style of “femininity.” Mattie Ross will blow Aurora or Cinderella out of the water any day of the week!

Musing Mondays: I am Nosy

Today’s Musing Mondays (hosted by Should Be Reading) is as follows: Do you like looking at other people’s bookshelves?

My name is Bryan and I peer at other people’s bookshelves. (Hi Bryan) It has been 48 hours since I was last in someone’s house and nosed through their books. I have been doing this for years … since as far back as I can remember. Is it nosy? Probably, but if people didn’t want me looking at their books, why the Hell did they put them out on shelves in the goll-durned living room in the first place? Honestly, I can’t help it. I see a bookshelf and I have to wander over to it and start ogling the books. It’s almost a compulsion. Part of it is probably that I am not a very socially outgoing person, and so when I find myself in a social gathering, in order to avoid talking to people I will pore over books on shelves. Anyway, that’s my story.

Sample Saturday: Nerd Do Well by Simon Pegg

So, I’m test driving a new meme for Bryan’s Book Blog and I’m calling it Sample Saturdays. As you may or may not have noticed around here, I’ve become enamored with my Kindle and I am especially in love with the Sample feature. If you don’t already know, the basic idea is that through Amazon, you can send the beginning of any eBook to your Kindle, free of charge, in order to get a feel for the book. I have used this feature to death on my Kindle, so much so in fact, I currently have 255 unread samples on my Kindle. They have been a great help in choosing which books to move to my Wish List to eventually purchase and download, and which books to avoid like the plague … and there have been more than a few which I have chosen to ignore and never read again.

So, what I plan on doing for Sample Saturdays is choosing a Kindle sample I have read during the week, and do a run-through here including the publisher info, a sample from the beginning of book and then a quick reaction including whether or not I’ve decided to save it to my Wish List to purchase at a later date or send it to the trash heap.

Nerd Do Well: A Small Boy’s Journey to Becoming a Big Kid
by Simon Pegg

(New York: Gotham Books, 2011)
Kindle eBook, 368 Pages, 490 KB, Autobiography
ASBN: B004RKXO1Q, US$12.99

Sample: “FORWORD Hello, North America. Welcome to a very special edition of Nerd Do Well and to a foreword I am writing just for you. This isn’t in the original British version of the book, which is a good thing because the whole ‘Hello, North America’ salute would be lost on them, or else they might assume I was being ironic and making a comment about how North American culture has had such an influence over our own; we have become a sort of miniature facsimile of it, aping its cultural ephemera like an aspirational younger sibling. Ironic in itself considering Britain is culturally ancient and collectively cynical whilst contemporary North American society is relatively young and brash like a teenager: full of opinions, optimism and self-confidence.

“A confused metaphor, I know, but it explains our respective attitudes toward sarcasm and irony. I often find myself irked by my countrymen when they snootily insist that North Americans don’t ‘do’ irony. This simply isn’t true; there is a rich vein of dry and ironic humo(u)r which permeates the North American cultural output. The difference is simply a social one and I believe it goes back to the relative ages of our respective nations.”

My Reaction: I have always been a big fan of Simon Pegg’s work—Spaced, Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz, Doctor Who, Mission: Impossible, Star Trek, etc.—so when I saw that he had written an autobiography, I knew it was something that I was going to want to read. After diving in to Nerd Do Well’s sample, I found that it was pretty much what I had expected: smart, self-deprecating, humble, and absolutely hilarious. I want to finish reading it because Pegg is such an engaging writer, but I don’t know if it is something that I want to pay $12.99 for. It’s not at my local library, and so the only way that I am going to get to be able to finish reading this book would be to pay for it and again, I’m not sure I want to do that. At some point, I probably will, but the bottom line is that Nerd Do Well is not moving straight to the top of my Kindle Purchase List, but I am saving it to my Wish List so I can remember it when the time comes.

Book Beginnings: The Comet's Tail, the Maester, and the Gargoyles

Book Beginnings is hosted by A Few More Pages

How to Participate: Share the first line (or two) of the book you are currently reading on your blog or in the comments. Include the title and the author so we know what you're reading. Then, if you would like, let us know what your first impressions were based on that first line, and let us know if you liked or did not like the sentence. The link-up will be at A Few More Pages every Friday and will be open for the entire week.

Just yesterday I started a new book: the second installment of George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire series, A Clash of Kings. Here’s the opening handful of sentences to set the mood:

My Book Beginnings: “The comet’s tail spread across the dawn, a red slash that bled above the crags of Dragonstone like a wound in the pink and purple sky. The maester stood on the windswept balcony outside his chambers. It was here the ravens came, after long flight. Their droppings speckled the gargoyles that rose twelve feet on either side of him, a hellhound and a wyvern, two of the thousands that brooded over the walls of the ancient fortress” (1).

My Thoughts: I’ve been hooked on these books since page one of book one, so it’s hard not to have a favorable impression of the opening of A Clash of Kings. I will freely admit that I am devouring this book, and would probably do so even if the opening was less than promising (and this might even be the case in the future if the rumors and rumblings of Books Four and Five I’ve been are true). So, onward I read…

The Friday 56: Silent Lucidity

The Friday 56 is hosted by Freda’s Voice

RULES

1. Grab a book, any book.
2. Turn to page 56.
3. Find a sentence that grabs you.
4. Post it.
5. Post a link with your post to Freda’s Voice (and here on Bryan’s Book Blog).

Again, easing back into the world of book blogging memes, and so here is my Friday 56 which comes from Henry James’ inimitable novella, The Turn of the Screw:

A Treasury of Great Ghost Stories

edited by Ira Peck

(New York: Popular Library, Inc., 1965)

Paperback, 256 Pages, Short Fiction Anthology

ISBN: N/A, US$0.50

My 56: “My lucidity must have seemed awful, but the charming creatures who were victims of it, passing and repassing in their interlocked sweetness, gave my colleague something to hold on by; and I felt how tight she held, as without stirring in the breath of my passion, she covered them still with her eyes” (56).

Friday Finds: August 12, 2011

Friday Finds (hosted by Should Be Reading)

What great books did you hear about/discover this past week?
Share with us your FRIDAY FINDS!

Okay … I’m working to get back in the swing of things. In my heyday, I was posting 12-14 books under my Friday Finds. This time, however, I’m going to be scaling it back and starting with five that have me really excited. Here they are, and yes, some are old but I’m catching up here. Hope you enjoy them too!

The Fallen Sky: An Intimate History of Shooting Stars by Christopher Cokinos
Nerd Do Well: A Small Boy’s Journey to Becoming a Big Kid by Simon Pegg
The Pirates of Somalia: Inside Their Hidden World by Jay Bahadur
The President and the Assassin: McKinley, Terror, and Empire at the Dawn of the American Century by Scott Miller
Shock Value: How a Few Eccentric Outsiders Gave Us Nightmares, Conquered Hollywood, and Invented Modern Horror by Jason Zinoman

And NOW We're Back...

Well, I know I promised I was going to start updating this blog more often, but life (or the lack there of) gets in the way. I have, however, turned over a new leaf and made a promise to myself to be more diligent in posting reviews and book news and book memes and other book-related nonsense. As it is, I’ve got four reviews to write up and post, and I’m going to be starting a new feature: Sample Saturdays, but more on that tomorrow.

For now, to tide you over, here are some fun book-related images:

This art installation was created by design team Linda and John Meyers for the VIA Advertising Agency in Portland, Maine which recently renovated and moved their offices into the old Baxter building, which served as Portland's public library from 1888 until the 1960s. (Photo: Wary Meyers, http://www.warymeyers.com)

(From There I Fixed It)

How awesome is this!?

(Entrance to the Children’s Library, Cerritos Public Library, Cerritos, California)

And finally, Great Book Store, or Greatest Book Store?

(From WIN!)