Archive for November, 2009

CYOA Visually

Thursday, November 12th, 2009

I like reliving my childhood by buy old Choose Your Own Adventures books whenever I visit Powells. I came across this rather in depth analysis of how the books are organized (complete with pictures). If you like CYOA books, you should probably check this out.

Oh that’s right…

Saturday, November 7th, 2009

… I have a blog. I almost forgot. Been so wrapped up in school this term that reading for leisure is a rarity.

There are a few things I felt worth mentioning in this eclectic blog post.

First,

BitemeFINAL1

Christopher Moore has posted the first two chapters of his newest book Bite Me (due out April 1st, 2010). Bite Me is a follow up to Moore’s 1995 Bloodsucking Fiends and 2007′s You Suck. While I am getting tired of all the attentions vampires are getting, You Suck may stand as my favorite Christopher Moore book. Moreover, the protagonist of Bite Me is Abby Normal who was first introduced in A Dirty Job. Aren’t book crossovers fun? Anyway, the first two chapters of Bite Me are basically a summary of events from Bloodsucking Fiends and You Suck. Really though, you should just go read both of those books.

Read the chapters at Moore’s blog here.

I still haven’t read Fool even though I purchased it the week it came out. I feel I may enjoy it more after I complete the Shakespeare class I am taking this term.

Secondly,

Scribner_Cover_Small

I had to read The Scribner Anthology of Contemporary Short Fiction for the Contemporary American Short Story class. It was already. As with all anthologies, some stories I liked while others were not as enjoyable. Now that we are done with this book, we’ve moved on to…

best-american-short-stories-2009

The Best American Short Stories 2009. I recognize ZERO of the authors featured in this anthology. Most of the stories are taken from the New Yorker it seems. I’ve noticed spelling errors in a couple stories which is distracting. Who do I blame for that? Alice Sebold?

Thirdly,

I don’t really have a thirdly, but I believe things are best done in groups of threes. Oh, Augustin Burroughs will have a reading at the Bagdad Theater next week hosted by Powells to promote his latest book You Better Not Cry. That will be fun. I saw him when he was touring for Possible Side Effects. More details here.

General Stuff
Since January 2008 I have been using this blog to write about the books i've read and other book related news that I find interesting. I also find pirates interesting so from time to time I may blog about pirates. I see this as killing two birds with one stone.

Review Policy
Dear Publishers/Authors,

I am always willing to discuss reviewing you book on my blog. Discovering new authors is one of the things I love about book blogging. However, I do not accept all books for review. If it's not in my usual genre chances are I am going to decline the offer.

A couple of genres I dislike are: Self-Help, YA Paranormal, Hardcore Science-Fiction, and Depressing Memoirs.

Some genres I really enjoy: Pirates, Satire, Pulp Fiction, Queer Fiction, YA Fiction (Non-Paranormal and Non-Gossip Girl-esq) and Comical Memoirs.

Here's the thing. If you e-mail me asking me to review a book, I will always respond and let you know if I am interested or not. If you don't hear back from me, feel free to send a follow-up e-mail. No longer will I just ignore your e-mail.

-Colin Matthew
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