Mailbox Monday: Fall Leaves Edition

Is it just me, or has it been a really long week?  I did have a rough week last week, and I'll do you the favor of sparing you the gory details.  In addition to my medical issues, I had a truly squirm-inducing encounter with a Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist.  I'll be blogging about that at some point soon.  It was not the highlight of my week.

On the other hand, I did get to attend quite a few excellent Litquake events, saw many friends, and got to go drinking with a bunch of awesome lady novelists.  Again, there will be follow-up blog posts, video, and more, as soon as I can get around to it.  Penny, was it you who was talking to me about Mira Grant and her alter-ego in the comments recently?  I shot some really great video of her reading from Feed that you can look forward to later this week.  Or perhaps I should save the zombies for Halloween?  I have so much fun stuff to share!  And at some point, I really need to write some book reviews...

Tonight, I have to choose between working really late (henceforth to be known as "what I should do") and going to see Alice Hoffman at the JCC, or Michael Ondaatje in conversation with Michael Chabon at City Arts & Lectures.  Any thoughts?  Tomorrow night is the book group that I run.  And after that I'm not sure what else is up for the coming week.  Oh yeah, I'm flying to Seattle on Thursday, where I will be seeing novelist Boyd Morrison and his lovely wife Randi over the weekend.  So, that's a full enough week.

I want to take a moment to say "hi" to all the nice folks who are visiting this blog because of the Blog Hop.  Already I can see that it's another huge success.  It's nice to see some fresh faces on the blog.  Do come back any time.  :-)

And on that note, an entirely too long and very diverse list of acquisitions this week...

The Night Eternal
by Guillermo Del Toro & Chuck Hogan
Release date: October 25, 2011
Source: Finished hardback from publisher

This was a really pleasant surprise!  The first novel of this trilogy scared the hell out of me, but I couldn't put it down.  I think I've been waiting for the third to come out before reading the second book in the series.  This would make for a fun Halloween treat!

The Time in Between
by Maria Duenas
Release date: November 8, 2011
Source: Finished hardback from publisher

I've already got a couple of galleys of this novel that has been getting some serious promotion from Simon & Schuster.  I haven't heard anything specific about the novel itself yet, but I'm looking forward to giving it a read.  If the house is pushing it that hard, I want to know why.  Count on a galley giveaway soon.

Eat Vegan on $4.00 a Day: A Game Plan for the Budget Conscious Cook
by Ellen Jaffe Jones
Release date: June 15, 2011
Source: Finished paperback from publicist

I'm what you might call a "flexitarian," rather than a vegetarian or vegan, but this looks like a great resource for our times.  I'm looking forward to trying some of the recipes.

The Marriage Plot
by Jeffrey Eugenides
Release date: October 11, 2011
Source: Purchased at awesome indy, Books, Inc.

Hmmm, I wonder what Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Susan had an unpleasant encounter with this week?  All I can say is that the novel is great.

The Invention of Hugo Cabret
by Brian Selznick
Release date: March 1, 2007
Source: library

There's a film coming and he has a new book out.  It was time to finally read this.  Plus, kids books are just what the doctor ordered when you aren't feeling well.

Death Match
by Lincoln Child
Release date: May 4, 2004
Source: library

More comfort reading while laid up.  I've had a galley since forever, but I finally read it on my Kindle.

Lightning Rods
by Helen DeWitt
Release date: October 5, 2011
Source: Kindle purchase

I've been feeling guilty for ages that I haven't got around to reading DeWitt's cult classic, The Last Samurai.  So, now that her second novel has been released more than a decade after the first, I was determined to read it in a timely manner.  OMG, do not buy this book!  I've heard to many good things about her debut to doubt it's the truth.  What happened?

Blindness
by Jose Saramago
Release date: September 28, 1998
Source: $2.99 Kindle sale

I've never read it.  'Nuff said.

The Lost Goddess
by Thom Knox
Release date: February 2, 2012
Source: Electronic galley from publisher

I've never read Mr. Knox.  Have any of you?  This adventure thriller looks like it could be really good or really bad!  I'll totally give it a try.

A Thousand Lives: The Untold Story of Hope, Deception, and Survival at Jonestown
by Julia Scheeres
Release date: October 11, 2011
Source: Electronic galley from publisher

I have always been fascinated with the Jonestown tragedy, in part because of my vague memories from childhood, and in part because it's an amazing, awful story.  Do you know that I live one block from the site of the old temple in San Francisco?  It's a post office now.

The Demi-Monde: Winter
by Rod Rees
Release date: December 27, 2011
Source: Electronic galley from publisher

I'm not sure this will be my cup of tea, but I'm curious.  Becky, if you read it first, please let us know your thoughts!

The Vanishers
by Heidi Julavits
Release date: March 13, 2012
Source: Electronic galley from publisher

I'm more interested in the mother/daughter themes of this novel than the supernatural ones.  We'll see...





Books finished this week:

The Marriage Plot by Jeffrey Eugenides
Lightning Rods by Helen DeWitt
The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick
Death Match by Lincoln Child
The Callahan Chronicles by Spider Robinson


Currently reading:

There but for the by Ali Smith (I'd be done by now if the damn book had punctuation!)


So, what books have you acquired this week?  What have you been reading?  Please let us know in the comments!

Disease personified

The Strain: Book One of The Strain Trilogy
by Chuck Hogan

It would be a significant understatement to say that I am not a vampire fan. I haven't avoided the genre entirely (It's almost impossible to do so these days.), but even a hint of fangs is usually enough to send me running in the opposite direction.

Fortunately, there are no fangs in this first collaboration between filmmaker Guillermo Del Toro and novelist Chuck Hogan. They're not that kind of vampire. Oh, no, these vampires are far worse. These vampires are just the slightest bit... plausible. Enough so that, frankly, this book scared the hell out of me. It didn't help that I read it on a plane.

The novel opens with a 777 landing normally at JFK. Once the plane is safely down, however, all systems go dead. There is no power, no communication, no one opens a door. Nothing. Fearing they've got a hostage situation on their hands, the authorities are called in. What they find is infinitely more disturbing.

I don't want to say much more than that this is a novel about an epidemic. Two of the central characters are CDC epidemiologists who take a very scientific look at the events unfolding in New York. And that is why the book was so effective in frightening me. I don't believe in supernatural boogeymen, but the monsters in this book were presented in an all-too-believable way. Aside from that, it was just plain gross and creepy as hell.

I've read Chuck Hogan's solo work, and he's a fine prose stylist. Guillermo Del Toro, on the other hand, knows how to tell a story and has a fine visual sense. The two of them working together are a truly powerhouse combo. In addition to scaring the heck out of me, they kept me turning the pages at a lightning pace. While The Strain is clearly a horror novel, it is also very much a thriller.

Fortunately, I had the sequel, The Fall, immediately on hand for when I finished The Strain's cliffhanger ending. I dived straight into the second book, but I'll take my time reading it. I've got a year to wait for the third and final book in the trilogy.