I’m gonna have to prepare this week’s Stacking the Shelves post (a la Tynga’s Reviews) pretty quickly, as my partner is visiting and she needs looots more sleep than me, and it’s already getting late. But hey, it’s been a good week: my 25th birthday was on Wednesday, and a shopping trip was had with my partner, my sister, and one of my closest friends. Books ensued, as you might’ve guessed if you’re around here often; some bought by me, some by them for me. Plus, the week started with a day at Worldcon, although admittedly I only bought two books — one of which was just so I could get it signed. (That one isn’t included here, but for bragging rights, I now have Jo Walton’s Lifelode and Among Others signed, and Tanya Huff’s The Enchantment Emporium.)
Oh, and re: that month of not-buying-books I had: it was successful, and in more ways than one, really. As well as just stopping me buying books and spending too much money, it seems to have changed my attitude a bit. I’m not (currently) buying books for the sake of it; only books I definitely want and intend to read.
Bought for myself
Lady Lazarus is the only really impulsive purchase on this list; it grabbed my attention because of the setting (Budapest). Stephen Baxter is a new author for me, but his books are part of a list of “best SF” I’m trying to read.
Bought for me by my partner
I’ve enjoyed the Guardians film, so between that and the opening pages where Tony singularly fails to impress Gamora, I decided to continue on with the comic. And the Avengers Assemble ones are by Kelly Sue DeConnick, therefore an inevitable buy for me. One thing about Worldcon that amazed me was that on a panel where the promo picture was Ms. Marvel, and it was supposed to be talking about new and exciting things in comics, it took forty minutes to mention a female character, forty-five to mention something with characters of diverse sexual orientations and ethnic backgrounds, and no female creators were mentioned at all.
Fuck that, I’mma talk about Kelly Sue and Gail Simone ’til I’m blue in the face.
Bought for me by my sister
I felt like reading some more Michael Moorcock, since I read Gloriana… My sis obliged.
Received to review
For the first one, Lies We Tell Ourselves, I’m super-grateful to a friend who works at the publisher who managed to get me an ARC. Re: Amy Lane, I think I’ve read something of hers before, but it still weirds me out slightly since I went to school with someone of that name…
Comics (issue)
I really need to catch up with actually reading this run of Ms. Marvel.
So, what’s everyone else been up to? Any great hauls? Anyone been resisting most amazingly? Comment, link, share!
I’ve found Bendis’ Guardians of the Galaxy totally mediocre. It reminds me of his Avengers run – shallow characterization that’s mostly quip-based, and plots that have good ideas that aren’t really developed well. KSD’s Avengers Assemble, on the other hand, was awesome. She writes the most human characters in comics. Also, she writes the best friendships in comics. The Science Bros of Tony and Bruce are great, but the real highlight is Spider-Woman and the Hulk – a pairing I never knew I needed. Seriously, they’re so good together.
Ms. Marvel’s been outstanding. Just stellar work. You should definitely get caught up.
Yeah, I wasn’t that sold on the first volume, but eh, it’s fun enough and I did appreciate the opening pages of this one, with Gamora soooo unimpressed by Tony. Kelly Sue is awesome, though; I love Captain Marvel, so I’m looking forward to her work on Avengers.
These are all new to me, I hope you enjoy them!
Check out my STS:
http://addictreaders.blogspot.com/2014/08/stacking-shelves-68.html
Thank you!
Love the new blog style! Also, ooh Avengers Assemble, I’ve heard lots of good stuff about it.
It took some choosing! I needed it, though; my old one looked silly on my wiiiiide screen. And yeah, Kelly Sue’s work is great and it looks like her line-up for the Avengers is an interesting one.
Lies We Tell Ourselves looks like an amazing read. I hope you love it!
I’m pretty hopeful about it! Must settle down with it soon. Thanks!
not my typical read but i love the cover of the sun, the moon and the stars. it reminds of some of the old mercedes lackey covers which i wished were in poster size so i can hang them on my wall. happy reading and i hope you can stop by my StS Post.
-michelle @ Michelle & Leslie’s Book Picks
Yeah, it’s one of Thomas Canty’s covers, which are generally preeeetty amazing. Thanks for commenting!
Oh wow, what a haul, Nikki! I hope you’ll enjoy all of your new additions.
Thanks for stopping by earlier. Happy reading.
I was a lucky thing this week! Too bad my birthday can’t come every week… although maybe that’s best for my to read list.
Thanks for stopping by, it looks like you had an awesome birthday, I hope you enjoy all of your gifts 🙂
Thanks!
Wow! That’s a lot of books! These are new to me, but love the covers =)
The joy of birthdays, I guess! Thanks for commenting.
Wow, it looks like you had a pretty good week! Nice haul! Thanks for stopping by!
Michelle @ Michelle’s Minions
Thank you! Yep, very good haul this week, I’m a lucky thing.
Great haul this week, you’ve got a nice mix of books. I enjoyed Guardians of the Galaxy the film, although I didn’t think it was as good as most of the other Marvel films. I have been tempted to try more comic books though, but not sure where to start. I hope you enjoy all of your reads 🙂
I enjoyed the film too, though not as much as Winter Soldier, which I think was amazing (and had a higher level of acting, too: Sebastian Stan is just so brilliant with so few lines). Comics wise, I began with Young Avengers and Kelly Sue DeConnick’s Captain Marvel, really; Brubaker’s run on Captain America was very good too.
Wow, what a haul! Your loved ones are good to you. 🙂 Glad to see you had a good week. Thanks for stopping by my STS, and happy reading!
They are indeed! Thank you.
Is it safe to assume that you are a big SFF junkie based on your haul alone? I must admit that I’ve never heard about any of these books but they really look awesome. I love your sister. My sister is like that too. From time to time, she sends me books but sadly, a lot of them are collecting dust because they do not belong to my preferred genre. T_T I am really horrible.
Pretty safe, yeah! I do read all kinds of genres, but especially SF/F. My sis normally has a pretty good handle on what I’ll read, but this time we just went shopping together and she let me pick, haha.
lovely bunch of sf/fantasy. curious about lady lazurus. And still have to watch the Guardian movie. happy reading.
Thank you! And yes, me too, it’s not something I’d seen around anywhere so I picked it up to find out, y’know? Guardians is good popcorn fun with a great soundtrack (70s music and such).