A Trip to the Bookstore

A day off work always involves my husband and I going to the bookstore. This time I went to Borders, armed with our digital camera. It occurred to me that I might have looked a tad bit unusual snapping photos of book after book after book. Fortunately, although I got some odd looks, I did not have to explain myself. Then, I decided that I need to get Fantasy Debut business cards. That way, if someone is curious enough to ask what I am doing, I can simply hand them a business card.

I took photos of every debut that I could find. Here they are!

I have not read The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss, but I couldn't resist getting a picture of it. It is one of the few hardcover debuts that I have seen since starting this blog.







Naomi Novik is another author who debuted before I started this blog. I am very interested in her series, however. Since her publisher released her books back to back, like Morgan Howell's, she commands some respectable shelf space!






I found The Princes of the Golden Cage readily enough, right where it was supposed to be, but imagine my surprise when . . .








. . . I also found it in the "Paperback Bestsellers" section as well, very prominently displayed!








The Blade Itself by Joe Abercrombe was another that I expected, for some reason, to be out in hardcover. Probably because it is generating so much buzz. It is also thinner than I expected. This title has wandered on and off my wish list.






The Devil You Know by Mike Carey appeared in the Horror section, cover out. It's shiny cover prevented me from using my flash. It looks like a few copies are missing!

There were three bookshelves in this section. Two were devoted to Stephen King and Dean Koontz. The other shelves were for other horror authors.


Finally, they had You Had Me at Halo, by Amanda Ashby! Longtime readers of this blog will remember that I made three trips to the bookstore looking for this book. And notice that there's a gap, where a copy is missing. The gap is even wider, now.

Male readers will probably groan when I begin to feature this one.



This is the Morgan Howell section, showing copies of King's Property and Clan Daughter. In just a few days, the final book this this series, Royal Destiny, will make the Morgan Howell section even wider.






I announced Winterbirth by Brian Ruckley last week. It is another one that is generating some hardcover-worthy buzz. I plan to read a first chapter on this one sometime in the next week or so.







I might have purchased The Book of Joby by Mark J. Ferrari, but a review copy is supposed to be on its way. Since the review copy is rather overdue, I almost bought it, but knowing my luck, the review copy would have arrived the very next day!

Anyway, this is a nice placement, with the cover out. It stands out too, because of the white cover. I think at least one copy is missing.


Wraith by Phaedra Weldon has been out for a while, but I thought I'd snap a photo of it. It is sort of a dark urban fantasy detective series, mixing my two favorite genres.







Slaves of the Sinar by Justin Allen was another rare debut hardcover. It is still enjoying a prominent cover-out placement in the hardcover section.






Missing from the shelves were Matthew Jarpe's Radio Freefall, Richard Taylor's The Haunting of Cambria and Carole McDonnell's Wind Follower.

That's all I thought of while I was there; I know I missed a few.

Did I purchase all of these books? I wish!

Thwarted!

My efforts to purchase books this weekend were thwarted! I went to two separate bookstores looking for Amanda Ashby's YOU HAD ME AT HALO and Richard Taylor's THE HAUNTING OF CAMBRIA and could not nab either one. I even tried to purchase HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS at Wal-Mart on Sunday, but they were sold out. Already. And it was a HUGE crate of books. (As it happens, I'm glad I didn't purchase it because a friend wants to give me her copy when she's finished.)

Anyway, I may have to break down and buy these two titles online. As you probably figured out, I don't like buying books online. I do buy a lot of nonfiction online, but I like to browse through the fiction as I purchase and see what else looks interesting. I suppose I could always click the "other people purchased title X as well" link, it's just not the same. I don't usually want to purchase similar-sounding books at the same time. After all, how polar opposite can you can than the above titles? What market analyst would have expected me to go purchasing an afterlife romance and a horror novel all in the same shopping trip?

A Trip to the Bookstore

Sigh. Since starting this blog, I don't go to the bookstore like a normal person these days. I go to the bookstore to report on specific titles. For this trip, I went to Barnes and Noble.

For David Anthony Durham's Acacia, I first looked in the front of the store, to see if it appeared in any of the promotional displays or New Books sections. Alas. Very few fantasy books appeared in these sections. So I headed back to the Science Fiction and Fantasy section, where I found it with the New Hardcovers section. It was very close to The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss, which also debuted this year, in March.

I must say, the cover to Acacia is BEAUTIFUL. The graphics available on the Internet do not do it justice. It is mostly a matte finish, but has this shiny oval filigree that is only visible when held at an angle.

Once I had picked out a nice, pristine copy, I headed to the Ws to see how they positioned Wraith by Phaedra Peldon. It is a trade paperback, which always stands out, placed spine-out. Then I went around to the Rs to check out Lane Robin's Maledicte. Its cover was also stunning. As far as trade paperbacks go, it is rather larger than usual. It was also placed spine-out.

Of these two, I may end up featuring Wraith. Maledicte looks fascinating, but I've never read much dark fantasy and I'm afraid that I'll end up doing what I did the few times I tried -- that is to say, fail to finish the book. For that reason, I'll continue to hunt down as many interviews and reviews on it as I can. I would also be thrilled if someone would review it for me here as a guest blogger. To volunteer to guest blog on any of the titles that I've mentioned except Acacia (which I've already purchased), please either leave a comment or send me an email to tia dot nevitt at gmail dot com.