I have spent more time then I care to admit watching 'Book Haul' videos on YouTube recently. If you don't know these are videos that almost exclusively feature young women who display recent purchases that focus heavily on YA fiction. Fascinating. I'm not going to do a video because I just don't have that kind of energy.
But I do like talking about books, so here is what I bought at Bouchercon 2014.
Justice Hall - Laurie R. King - Bantam
I lost this book when The Hungry Detective moved Headquarters. The book got inexplicably crushed. This is the first book I have had to repurchase. Let it be the last.... [Editor's Note: Maybe you should wait until the end of this post before you make this claim].
Japantown - Barry Lancet - Simon and Schuster
A book and author I identified for purchase before I went to the show. It is a thriller which gives me a bit of a pause. I've burned out on thrillers over the last couple years. On the plus side, the book was nominated for a Barry Award and is set in San Francisco. I held off the purchase of his next book, Tokyo Kill, in a herculean feat of consumer restraint. The book was signed by the author with a Japanese character stamp. With the second book already out this will be high on the TBR pile.
Rage Against the Dying - Becky Masterman - Minotaur Books
Another book I flagged before the show. I found only one first edition hard cover in the book room. Not surprising I guess as the book debuted almost two years ago. Still I was hopeful. In any case that book was a mess. I picked up the first trade paperback because I wanted a signed book. The book follows a recently retired FBI agent as she confronts the one case that got away. Her second book is imminent, so that is why this is the book I am currently reading. If the great start holds I'll track down a first edition and buy again.....................dang it!!!!
The Life We Bury - Allen Eskens - Seventh Street Books
The cover of this book caught the corner of my eye a number of times as I wandered around the book room. Mr. Eskens was on the 8:30 am Sunday panel with Ms. Masterman. I attended a number of panels with authors unknown to me and he was the one to get the hook in me. I like books about the past which ostensibly set out to prove that the past is never past. The Life We Bury follows a young guy as he interacts with an elderly murderer who has been released from prison.
The Poacher's Son - Paul Doiron - Minotaur Books
First book in this series, and one of the authors I was excited to meet. Although listed, Mr. Doiron was unable to attended which was a disappointment except for my wallet. I would have walked out with at least this and his last two works, Massacre Falls and The Bone Orchard. Mr. Doiron is an author that I would love to add to the stable of authors I read. Having enjoyed his first two books, this will happen soon I think.
Murder in Perspective - Keith Miles - Walker and Co.
First of the 'Edward Marston' purchases. Read this book several years ago and probably would have purchased this book anyway as it has a tie in to another interest of mine, Frank Lloyd Wright. It was a nostalgia buy, but at $20 dollars an easy one.
Five Dead Canaries - Edward Marston - Allison & Busby
This was the first book I saw in the room, more accurately this was the first book I remember seeing in the book room. The striking orange cover jumped out at me. The cover plus the WWI setting meant that the book was coming home with me. And then it disappeared. Scene of the Crimes Books was the only dealer for this book, and suddenly they didn't have it. My body started to vibrate. It was a UK only edition so shipping from Amazon UK it was going to cost a fortune. Why I didn't just ask the nice dealers behind the table where it went speaks volumes about my nature. Thankfully, for my fragile psyche, the book reappeared and went directly into my bag. The enduring mystery of the weekend is how the latest in this series, Deeds of Darkness, also did not end up going home with me.
The Ravens of Blackwater
The Dragons of Archenfield
The Serpents of Harbledown
The Stallions of Woodstock
The Wildcats of Exeter
Respectively these are Books 2,3,5,6,8 in the Doomsday series. This is where I happily fell off the book buying wagon. I had allotted myself $120 for all book purchases for the weekend. I burned that down on Thursday. So early Saturday morning I hit a slot machine in the hotel lobby called the ATM and won $160!!! I was hot. I should have doubled down, but the house got me back as a few book dealers took back the money just minutes later. I'm terrible at gambling... [Editors Note: You don't understanding gambling.] Thursday night in the hotel room I crammed on Edward Marston. Looked at his website, the different series, where I could buy his books. I was in. I shelved and re-shelved the Doomsday books at a couple dealers before I pulled the trigger with two separate purchases on Saturday and Sunday. In all of this I know very little about the books, except that they take place in the 11th century. [Editors Note: I also don't think you understand your own book moratorium, but whatever...]
Comments