Mortality by Christopher Hitchens

"Time after time, Christopher has the last word," writes Carol Blue, Christopher Hitchens' widow, in her afterword for his book. 104 pages of powerful words from Hitchens and two people who knew him best, that's my description of Mortality – a book composed of, what I'm assuming is, his final essays, written while enduring treatment for esophageal cancer. 

Maybe it's my fascination with death that kept me turning the pages. I knew the end of the story – sorta. Or most likely, it's the way Hitchens wrote. Like so many people can state, Hitchens wrote in a way that makes you feel "as though he was writing to you and to you alone." His writing stays strong, he never falters. A non-believer until the end, amused by his detractors.

Each essay reads like a lecture. I was never "blessed" to hear the man in person, and now the only way to hear his voice is via the Internet. But these words are powerful. They're beautiful. Intelligent. Even cancer could not snuff him completely. Because even though his life has ended, his influence still grows. And if he hasn't won you over yet, this book will.

Mortality is available on Amazon and Barnes and Noble. For Kindle and Nook. Until next time, keep on huntin'.

"Last to Die", Two Children's Books, and More Buys

So, I might an addict. I can't just say no to books, you know? Especially when they're free. But more on that later.

I received the latest Tess Gerritsen novel in the mail yesterday – I pre-ordered it back in March while I was testing out Amazon Prime. I cracked it open and start right away. However, I'm run ragged these days. So I haven't gotten too far into it. I had to read some passages twice because I kept dozing off. Not a commentary on Gerritsen's writing, by the way.

As I have mentioned in the past, my work now involves me reading books in the department. Most of the time I select my reads from the 3rd through 5th grade shelves because their lengthier. However, because I do have an infant son, I'm drawn more and more toward the easy shelf.

In Maxine Trottier’s Migrant, we learn what’s like to be a migrant worker through the eyes of a young girl named Anna. Trottier relates migrant families to a flock of birds, comforts them with a kitten’s warmth, and compares their temporary housing to a jack rabbit’s burrow. The illustrations by Isabelle Arsenault bring Anna’s imagination to life – her transformation to a jack rabbit to comparing the voices of her fellow migrants to crickets before she is whisked away by one upon its back. As a child whose mother traveled across the state and country for work while she was growing up, this book echoes her memories. It’s beautifully written and wonderfully illustrated that all readers will fall in love with it immediately.

Exposure to art is equally important to a child’s development as reading. In his book, Magritte’s Marvelous Hat, D.B. Johnson infuses the joys of art and reading. Not only does Johnson name his character after René Magritte, his illustrations are riddled with references to the Belgian painter’s work. Interaction is also a must, so Johnson added in a few “clear” pages containing images that create new illustrations when they are turned. Johnson created a so much more than just a story about a dog painter and his marvelous hat, one that both parent and child can enjoy.

Of the two books, it's difficult to say which exactly is my favorite. They're both equally beautiful in their own right. So before I attempt some sort of compare and contrast of apples and oranges, I'll continue on to the next and former topic.

My addiction of book has reached an all new high. We have a new librarian – who is amazingly awesome – and she seems a bit miffed with the mess of donations we have in the back. It was a get rid of everything sale. Tons of things were placed in the back to recycling – all textbooks I have little to no interest in. Here's what I've made out with this time:

• Little Women by Lousia May Alcott
• The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett
• Literary Journalism: A Reader edited by Jean Chance and William McKeen
• The Aeneid by Virgil (translation by Patric Dickinson)
• Social Anthropology in Perspective: The Relevance of Social Anthropology, 2nd edition by I.M. Lewis
• Man and His Measure edited by Francis Connolly
• Technical Writing Style by Dan Jones
• A Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses, and Dissertations, 6th edition by Kate L. Turabian
• The Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane
• Style: Ten Lessons in Clarity and Grace, 8th edition by Joseph M. Williams
• Cognitive Psychology, 3rd edition by Robert J. Sternberg

Last to Die by Tess Gerritsen is available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble; for Kindle and Nook. You can pick up Magritte's Marvelous Hat on Amazon or Barnes & Noble. You can pick up a copy of Migrant at Barnes & Noble or Amazon. Until next time, keep on huntin'.

American Gangbang: A Love Story by Sam Benjamin

Sam Benjamin's memoir, American Gangbang: A Love Story, reads like a tour de force of braggery. It's a laugh in the face that he got to live the life several men can only fantasize about. Not only did he get to work with big-breasted porn stars, he got to sleep with them, too. Sort of. Maybe not always in the ways he imagined, but that's more than most men can say, am I right? Still, this confession - can I even call it that? - depicts the darker moments and corners of the adult industry.

The story starts off from Sam packing up and heading west, finding himself in Santa Cruz with an art degree and not a single idea what to do with his life. So one day he buys porn, and decides that he's out to revolutionize the sex world as we know it. His meager beginnings include recording masturbation videos of himself while he gets off with a banana peel to recording a piss video with a man who cannot get an erection without drinking the urine of some makeshift dominatrix. Later, he's on the receiving end of a dildo in a bisexual porn flick. Then he's working for an interracial website dedicated to gangbangs. And that's where his career sets off.

He introduces us to an array of colorful characters and porn stars - names we may recognize, and others we'll wind up Google searching. There's Willie Timberlake, a bipolar ginger from Oakland whose inability to hold down a job destines him to become Sam's porn sidekick. White Liz, Sam's doomed love interest, who works within the porn industry without ever taking off her clothing. And those are the only people worth talking about, sorta.

There are several things that I find annoying(?) with this memoir. Small things that probably don't mean anything, and shouldn't deter a curious reader from reading it. For instance, there are times in the book when Sam Benjamin is adamant that he's done with pornography, but continues to pick up the camera. It's almost feels as if the reader's supposed to pat him on the back and whisper, "There, there. You deeply troubled pornographer. It's not your fault that porn's so degrading to the women you hire. You're only doing what you're told."

The dialogue also comes into question. Most of it feels scripted. Granted that Sam is working on memory, and I'm sure most things are paraphrased, it still robs from the story. In some instances, he'll drop a random one-liner as if he was working on a sitcom script in the process.

However, the book - despite it's bragging - does give the reader a glimpse of the so-called glamour of the porn industry. From the horrendous Honey back story to the poor broke Czech woman who is, figuratively and possibly literally, ripped in half during a sex scene. The way he handles his story - with the exception of the unnecessary epilogue - acts more a cautionary tale than the clueless Jenna Jameson's memoir.

So if you're looking for a pornographic memoir on the subject, pick up the book. It's worth the time taken to read it. You can pick up a copy at Amazon and Barnes and Noble, and it's available for Kindle and Nook, respectively. Until next time, keep on huntin'.

More Porn Memoirs @ Amazon

Love is a Mix Tape by Rob Sheffield

I suppose it's nostalgia. Or maybe it's the fact that my son will never possess a mix tape the way technology is changing the way we listen to music – as I type this, I'm currently using my Pandora One account. Whatever the reason, however, there's something that tugs on the heartstrings between the lines of Rob Sheffield's writing.

Much like Sheffield, I spent the better part of my youth making mix tapes. Mix tapes for the girls I had crushes on. Mix tapes for my friends. Mix tapes for people I was getting to know. Mix tapes for my friends' sexual activities. Mix tapes to play while I was writing bad poetry and shitty short stories. Christmas jams 1999. Summer of Love '97. Songs to Kill Yourself To. Songs to be Reborn To. Life's soundtrack on tiny spools of magnetic tape. When CDRs came about, I segued in that direction. The latest shared playlists I made were on Second Life, back when I DJ'ed as Blaspheme Baxton. Nothing, however, can amount to the sweat and blood poured into the mix cassette tape.

And every mix tape tells a story, or part of one. It maps the path of good times and bad ones. It shows us that everything has its time, everything will pass. And isn't that what Sheffield is telling us? Each song brings him closer to his wife, while aiding him through the world without her.

One can only wish to possess Sheffield's musical insights, and his ability to write about experiences so beautifully. If not for responsibilities, I would have allowed the book to suck me in and not resurface until it was finished with me. If you haven't read it, I suggest you put down that current bestseller and pick up a copy of this baby.

Extra thanks to Angela, who loaned it to me. She's lucky that I'm willing to give it back to her.

Pick up your copy at Amazon, or for your Kindle. Until next time, happy huntin'.

The X-Rated Book Hunt

Now I've never heard of Oriana Small (aka Ashley Blue), but I do know that I like a rare book. And while Girlvert may not be the rarest of books (in fact, it isn't rare at all), the fact alone that the price of a used copy is way more than a new copy - original cover price - I knew that this fine would be the greatest of the year thus far. I snagged this copy for only $15.97 on eBay. Now before you jump on my case and say it's regular cover price at Amazon, you should check out the "usually ships within" part. See that? Yeah, homie don't play that.

Until next time, keep on huntin'.

Best Sex Writing 2012 edited by Rachel Kramer Bussel

It's simple math, isn't it? Start off with Rachel Kramer Bussel, add in Susie Bright, mix in the sex and you have yourself Best Sex Writing 2012. 

Susie Bright selected the best of the best of the year passed, and her ability to read and choose has not waned since her departure from - and the untimely death of - The Best American Erotica. And Rachel Kramer Bussel is equally awesome. 

The collection contains articles, essays, and pieces by Thomas Roche, Amber Dawn, Joan Price, Marty Klein, Susie Bright, and Rachel Kramer Bussel. The wind range of topics extends (no pun intended) the idiocy behind banning circumcision to rape culture to growing up queer in the Meatpacking District. 

In Marty Klein's piece, "Criminalizing Circumcision: Self-Hatred as Public Policy," follows San Francisco's insane idea to outlaw circumcision in infants. It's the first - can I call it pro-circumcision? - positive circumcision piece I've read. It addresses the myths that anti-circumcision "activists" tout, and explains that any "physical" lacking a circumcised man feels is strictly psychological.

In "Losing the Meatpacking District: A Queer History of Leather Culture," Abby Tallmer reminiscences about growing up in the Meatpacking District in the midst of the queer and leather nightclubs, reminding us to never take our presents for granted because they can simply be erased. 

Both Susie Bright and Thomas Roche pieces attack the laughable "news reporting" of major newspapers that fail at fact checking and op-eds how the media fails our sexual society by filling people's minds with the Christian Right-wing agenda.

Greta Christiana, on the other hand, reports how a secular lifestyle might improve your sex life over a religious one. In "Atheists Do It Better: Why Leaving Religion Leads to Better Sex," we learn that secular households tend to do it, well, better. Not only in the bedroom, but with raising children, as well. (You'll have to read the piece.)

"Grief, Resilience, and My 66th Birthday Gift" teaches us the sex life of an older woman and author, Joan Price. From finding someone to spend her life with, to the dynamic of her sex life to the grief she felt when he passed to regaining her sexual self afterward. The piece is possibly the best in the collection - in my humble opinion, anyway. 

All in all, Best Sex Writing 2012 is worth the read and a place on your shelf or e-reader.

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Obligatory First Post of 2012

I have been slacking off, I apologize. Work has me, well, working. And working has made me grow tired. And growing tired fills me with ennui. Filled with ennui, I have dropped all my writing/blogging projects - including my personal blog and my Letters to Shaun blog. However, working at the library hasn't hindered my book hunting habits. If anything, working there is exacerbating it. Worse, because now I'm on a budget - a tighter budget than I was before I became a book hunter, I should add. Jyg and me and baby makes three. Babies, I am told, are expensive and writing "ad" blogs and working part time isn't going to cut it unless I execute Project: No Spend. 

Lucky for me, I started to follow Rachel Kramer Bussel whose book, Best Sex Writing 2012, is currently being read for review. If you'd also note, I reviewed Bussel's Best Bondage Erotica 2012 last month. I love sex, what can I say? It's an interesting topic. Best part of it all, these books were free of charge. All I have to do is write an Amazon review. Presto. Life is still grand.

However, you'll also note that the picture above features a copy of The Living Shakespeare. I bought that lovely piece of work for only $2. Even sweeter. Still, I have to tie up my wallet. 

Along side Best Sex Writing 2012, I'm still working through Breathers by S. G. Browne. It's not a tough read, it's the aforementioned ennui that has me dragging. The only reason I muster up the energy to read Bussel's book is the review (well, the fact that it deals with sex doesn't hurt it, either).

This year, however, I do plan to read my 50 books as per the GoodReads Challenge. Because I started working at the children's department at the local library, I've opted to make this the year of the YA book. Not that I'm going to solely read YA novels, but there will be a stress on them. Hopefully, however, this won't turn out like last year's "year of the religion" theme. Heh. Am I right?

Oh well, until next time, keep on huntin'.

 Now that X-mas has come and gone, it's time to look forward to Valentine's Day.

The Martian Child by David Gerrold

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"Today, I recognize that being human is the greatest adventure of all. And being a parent is the best part of that adventure," David Gerrold writes in the afterward of the Kindle edition of The Martian Child - an autobiographical piece about his adoptive son. "[A]nyone who hasn't experienced that hasn't finished the job of learning how to be human."

I caught the film adaptation Thursday morning, staying up until three to watch it - after baking pies all Wednesday night for Thanksgiving, I needed some quiet time with the TV and my eyes were too heavy for book reading. The film stars John Cusack as science fiction writer David Gordon - the straight version of David Gerrold, the author of the novelette turned novel turned film (not really sure which order that falls in, though). And like with most movies I fall in love with, I instantly wonder whether or not there was a book before hand. Even before the film was rolling its credits, I had downloaded the novelette to my Kindle - one can never be sure if you'll like the writer's style, so I opted for the novelette rather than the novel. The fact that it was under $4 also didn't hurt.

David Gerrold's writer, as I learned, is marvelous. There's a certain wit that most writers lack these days - whatever happened to them, I wonder. The story's a great, short read and I do look forward to purchasing the novel the moment I have placed this story behind me - if it's too familiar, I tend to lose interest in a story. Also, I'd want a hard copy of the book so I can lug it around to show people what I'm reading. 

As a soon-to-be father, I feel that I can relate - sort of. Aren't all children aliens to new parents? And while I hope my little bundle of joy doesn't grow up to think she's a Martian, I do hope she is blessed with such a wonderful imagination, one that puts my childhood antics to shame. 

It's a must read for all parents, new, old and adoptive. And I hope to learn as much from my child as David Gerrold learned from his. Until next time, keep on huntin'.

The Book Hunter Goes Hunting

Please note: I'm a book hunter, not a photographer. Pardon the picture.

Sometime last year, I decided that it'd be a great idea to hold book giveaways rather than just talk about it. Last week, I purchased a copy of A Blue Hand by Deborah Baker and - Bing! - it seemed like the appropriate book for my first giveaway. Sadly, I couldn't find a second copy. However, The Deportees and Other Stories by Roddy Doyle seemed like a great choice, as well. The week before last, a copy of The Journal of Joyce Carol Oates also seemed like a good book giveaway, so I bought another copy of that. Tagging along was My Revolutions by Hari Kunzru. Now I'm struggling with the idea of which book is should be the first placed up for grabs. Perhaps a toss of a three-sided coin or with the help of my three-armed friend, I will find the answer. 

Until next time, keep on huntin'.

Dollar Tree Shopping Spree

A book hunter never gives up a bargain. And one of the most overlooked hunting grounds are dollar stores, more notably the Dollar Tree, where literally everything is only a dollar - Family Dollar and Dollar General only use the name for show.

Quite a few books are Dollar Tree finds. Today, I found three more. Panic!: The Story of Modern Financial Insanity edited by Michael Lewis (Boomerang: Travels in the New Third World, Moneyball), Short Girls by Bich Minh Nguyen (Stealing Buddha's Dinner), and The Journal of Joyce Carol Oates 1973-1982 by Joyce Carol Oates (I Am No One You Know: Stories, The Gravedigger's Daughter: A Novel).

I'd been wanting to read both Stealing Buddha's Dinner and Short Girls by Nguyen, mostly because I've never heard of the writer before and the titles intrigued me. The Journal of Joyce Carol Oates 1973-1982 piqued my interested because I love reading the journals of writers - I own a few already. Panic! stuck out because of Michael Lewis, who did an excellent job with Moneyball, which I'm still slowly digesting. Not only that, but since a lot of these articles were written about ten or so years ago, it might lend in some hindsight to this whole Occupy Wall Street business.

There might have been more fines, but the organization was chaotic. If I had the time and got paid for it, I would've fixed it up nice and neat because I'm on a roll with organizing. Until next time, keep on huntin'.

Random update

Someone was going to tell me about this, right?

Facebook, the other day, decided to drop me an advertisement that finally piqued my attention. The ad was for Story of the Week, a project by The Library of America. Because I'm always finding myself in between books, I decided it was a good idea to subscribe to it since it was free, my favorite word.. Hopefully, I do a better job keeping up with this than I do with Narrative Magazine, also free. 

I started reading The Idea Writers: Copywriting in a New Media and Marketing Era by Teressa Iezzi, which is an Advertising Age book. It's a nice read, but it's making me wonder if I'm even cut out for this sort of market. Several friends seem to think it was a good idea to look into it, but I'm beginning to have my doubts. Me, the book hunter, turned copywriter? And let's not fail to mention the way advertising works in this new era - I mean, just look at the title of the book! Still, it's a good book and worth the read, especially if you're a creative or looking to become a creative.

I figured that reading the book might help me a tad with writing those ads I do from time to time. I aimed for a different angle when I wrote an ad post for a spice rack website for my Tumblr account, incorporating a personal - not to mention, very true - story about growing up in a house with a kitchen kept in complete disarray. I'll experiment with the other two ads I have on queue, one of which is for this blog. We'll see how that turns out. I hear the client is a stickler for correct/proper grammar. Which, if you haven't been able to tell, isn't what this blog is known for.

Oh well, until next time, keep on huntin'.

The Expecting Book Hunter

One of these is not like the other...

Two weeks ago, Jyg announced to me that she might be pregnant. Three tests later - one home pregnancy, another walk in clinic and a final test with an actual doctor present - we now know that it's not just a possibility anymore. So in all good book hunter, I set off to find the books of guidance and wound only  buying one helpful book, a baby name book - which we don't need because we had names picked out since the beginning - a book whose title I didn't read real well when I dropped it into my Amazon shopping cart and a book that has nothing to do at all with the subject of child care. 

I already cracked open Eating Well When You're Expecting by Heidi Murkoff with Sharon Mazel because - not to belittle Jyg's culinary skills - I'm the cook in this family. Besides, it might get me to eat healthy as well if I'm the one responsible for the meals. I do plan on purchasing What to Expect When You're Expecting if Jyg's sister doesn't already have a copy to lend us. Although, several men on Amazon have already stated letting your loved one read that book might be disastrous on our psyche. They suggested reading the Mayo Clinic Guide to a Healthy Pregnancy. I thought I was purchasing the male equivalent to What to Expect When You're Expecting - What To Expect When Your Spouse Is Expecting - when I picked up What to Expect When You're Wife is Expanding, but...well, the title alone tells you my fault.

As usual, I also had a book on queue for my would-be budding writing career - current situations, however, might put that on hold indefinitely). Just to keep me motivated, I picked up The Idea Writers by Teressa Iezzi.  A couple of people have urged me in this direction in the past, so I finally sucked up whatever pride I had and decided to look into it. As for the Cool Names for Babies book, well, that's also for my writing. A writer can only use a certain name a number of times before people get suspicious, you know.

What does all this news mean for the book hunter? Well, at the moment it's hard to tell. I do have over five hundred books in my personal library, plus whatever I have on my Kindle. So for the moment, hunting might be a luxury I can no longer afford. But reviews, my friends. Those are always free. Until next time, keep on huntin'.

The Book Hunter Goes Shopping

Summer buys

I've already mentioned a lot of these books and read most of the ones featured on the bottom there. However, I do like to list what I've purchased.

1. The Bride Collector - Ted Dekker
2. Moment of Vengeance - Elmore Leonard (free)
3. The Zani Murders - Kelly Fero
4. The Mammoth Book of Zombie Apocalypse! - Stephen Jones (editor/creator)
5. American Short Fiction (publication, not a book)
6. The Silent Girl - Tess Gerritsen (currently reading)
7. The Crow - J. O'Barr
8. Son of M - David Hine (writer) and Roy Allan Martinez (artist)
9. Spider-Man: Maximum Carnage - (too many to list)
10. Wanted - Mark Millar
11. Marvel Zombies & Marvel Zombies 2 - Robert Kirkman (writer) and Sean Phillips (artist)

And a busy hunter I have been. As of this week - possibly only this week - I've hunted for and purchased four pairs of shoes. Have I crossed the line? Will the Men's Association come for me in order to expel me out? I doubt it. With all the vanity that comes with being men these days, I'm a sure fit. My new shoes include a pair of chocolate Converse All Star Double Upper Ox, as well as, the classic black-and-white All Star style. Along with this, I bought a cheap pair of LA Gear Terrain (for work) and a pair of Skechers Camaro for no apparent reason at all.

I don't think - in my entire life - that I've ever own four pairs of shoes at the same time. At least I don't have to worry about ruining a pair of shoes meant for an outing. Oh well, until next time, keep on huntin'.

Side note: At the rate I'm going updating this blog, I'll be engage. Wish me luck.

Book(s) to Consider

More and more people are “waking up” spiritually. And for most of them, the question becomes: now what? “Information about life after awakening is usually not made public,” explains Adyashanti. “It’s most often shared only between teachers and their students.” The End of Your World is his response to a growing need for direction on the spiritual path.

Adyashanti begins by describing the “I got it/I lost it” phenomenon that perplexes so many of his students—the fluctuation between what he calls “nonabiding” awakening and the ultimate state of “Abiding” enlightenment. With straight talk and penetrating insight, Adyashanti points out the pitfalls and cul-de-sacs that “unenlighten” us along the journey, including:

• The trap of meaninglessness

• How the ego can “co-opt” realization for its own purposes

• The illusion of superiority that may accompany intense spiritual breakthroughs

• The danger of becoming “drunk on emptiness.”

“Full awakening comes when you sincerely look at yourself, deeper than you’ve imagined, and question everything,” teaches Adyashanti. The End of Your World is your invitation to join Adyashanti for an honest investigation of what you really are—and how to live once you discover it. (source)

I've never heard of or read anything by Adyashanti until a couple of minutes ago, so he's a new writer in my world. He is the author of Emptiness Dancing (2006) and True Meditation (2006), both of which sound really interesting. Hopefully I'll acquire a copy of The End of Your World either in hard copy or on Kindle. Until next time, keep on huntin'.

Most Anticipated Books of 2011 - The Daily Beast

It would seem that the Daily Beast has released it Most Anticipated Books of 2011 list, and I got to say the only book to pique this book hunter's interest is Kenneth Slawenski's biography on the late J.D. Salinger. There are several good ones, no doubt, but I'm not a fan of Ronald Reagan and I don't think I've ever sat through an entire book by Joyce Carol Oates - I know, I know. Some English major I turned out to be. Politically, O: A Presidential Novel has garnered some of my attention, but not enough for me to want to go out and read the book. Besides, I have little respect for anonymous political fiction writers who usually turn out to be some news reporter known for his/her bias. Open City by Teju Cole, on the other hand, just might be the book for me this year. If it's a hunt I want, I'm sure it's a hunt I'll get it. Anyway, check out the list and see what the year holds.

2010 100+ Challenge List

1. The Vampire Lestat - Anne Rice
2. The Hellbound Heart - Clive Barker
3. A Scanner Darkly - Philip K. Dick 
4. 30 Days of Night - Steve Niles (story) & Ben Templesmith (art)  
5. Finding Our Way -  René Saldaña, Jr.
6. Downtown Owl - Chuck Klosterman 
7. Valleysong: An Anthology Echoing the Rhythm and Cadence of Life in the Rio Grande Valley - Texas Rio Writers 
8. Things the Grandchildren Should Know - Mark Oliver Everett 
9. Darkness on the Edge of Town - Brian Keene 
10. Alan Moore's Writing for Comics - Alan Moore 
11. The Crow: Flesh & Blood - James Vance (story) & Alex Maleev (art) 
12. Shortcomings - Adrian Tomine 
13. Batman R.I.P. - Grant Morrison (story) & Tony S. Daniel, Sandu Florea, Lee Garbett and Trevor Scott (art) 
14. Superman Red Son - Mark Millar (story) & Dave Johnson and Kilian Plunkett, with Andrew Robinson and Walden Wong (art)
15. Batman Year One - Frank Miller (story) & David Mazzucchelli (art) 
16. Fall of Cthulhu: The Gathering - Michael Alan Nelson (story) with Greg Scott, Marco Rudy, Tim Hamilton, Michel Rueda & Pablo E. Quiligotti (art) 
17. Clive Barker's Age of Desire - P. Craig Russell (adapted) & Timothy Bradstreet 
18. Kill Two Birds & Get Stoned - Kinky Friedman 
19. The New Dead - Christopher Golden (Editor) 
20. Incest - Marquis de Sade (story), Andrew Brown (translation) 
21. The End of Alice - A.M. Homes 
22. Thirteen - T. Pines 
23. Chronicle of a Death Foretold - Gabriel Garcia Marquez 
24. No One Belongs Here More Than You - Miranda July
25. Yes Man - Danny Wallace
26. Written on the Body - Jeanette Winterson 
27. A Cool Head - Ian Rankin 
28. Hellbound Hearts - Paul Kane & Marie O'Regan (Editors) 
29. The Surgeon - Tess Gerritsen 
30. Flashforward - Robert J. Sawyer 
31. Whip It - Shauna Cross
32. The Apprentice - Tess Gerritsen
33. Franny and Zooey - J.D. Salinger
34. A Gathering of Crows - Brian Keene
35. The Hunger Games - Suzanne Collins
36. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams
37. Catching Fire - Suzanne Collins
38. Mockingjay - Suzanne Collins
39. Batman: The Widening Gyre - Kevin Smith (story) & Walter Flanagan (art)
40. The Bus Driver Who Wanted to be God & Other Stories - Etgar Keret
41. God Hates Us All - Hank Moody
42. The Stand: The Complete and Uncut Edition - Stephen King
43. Questionable Content vol. 1 - Jeph Jacques
44. The Sinner - Tess Gerristen
45. Star Wars: Death Troopers - Joe Schreiber
46. Body Double - Tess Gerritsen
47. Vanish - Tess Gerritsen
48. The Mephisto Club - Tess Gerritsen
49. The Keepsake - Tess Gerritsen
50. Ice Cold - Tess Gerritsen

Live out your adventures on Second Life

Internet Shopping will be the Death of Me

You've got mail books! I ordered a copy of Ice Cold by Tess Gerritsen on eBay about a week ago. It was just released this summer, but already someone was selling it for $2.49 plus shipping and handling - a total price of $5.47. Being the eighth novel in the Jane Rizzoli/Maura Isles series (seventh, if you don't include The Surgeon), it was a must have. I received that in the mail yesterday. 

This morning, I was treated to another book shipping - Michael Chabon's The Mysteries of Pittsburgh. There are two more books on their way from the same seller I purchased this from: On Writing Well by William Zinsser and The Joy of Writing Sex by Elizabeth Benedict. The seller I purchased these latter three was Better World Books, a company known for funding literacy by selling books online. They also happen to be one of my favorite sellers on Amazon. No matter the price, if they happened to list an item I'm looking for, they're the ones I select to purchase from. Even if said item is slightly more than the other sellers - never too much, I think the most I've paid for an item was about fifty cents more.

I don't want to make this post about Better World Books, though. I'll probably make a failed attempt write something that glamorizes them - even though they don't need it. However, X-mas is coming up and I will have to purchase some gifts. And they are having a sale - 3 books for $10 or 4 books for $12.