Category: Books

Jan
12
2018
January 12th, 2018 by Michael Sauers

From Amazon.com:

A Lit Fuse is an unguarded, uncensored, unquiet tour of the life of Harlan Ellison.

In late 2011 Harlan Ellison the multi-award-winning writer of speculative fiction and famously litigious personality did two uncharacteristic things. First, he asked biographer Nat Segaloff if he d be interested in writing his life story. Second, he gave Segaloff full control. The result is the long-anticipated A Lit Fuse: The Provocative Life of Harlan Ellison. The expansive biography, which is the first such project in which Ellison has permitted large portions of his varied works to appear, is published by NESFA Press.

Segaloff conducted exhaustive interviews with Ellison over the course of five years and also spoke with many of his friends and enemies in an effort to get inside the man and pin down the best-known Harlan stories. Their wide-ranging discussions cover his bullied boyhood, his storied marriages, his fabled lawsuits, and his compulsive writing process with more depth and detail than has ever before appeared in print. But it also delves deeply into the man s deeply held principles, his fears, and the demons that have driven him all of his 83 (so far) years. Friends, colleagues, and admirers such as Neil Gaiman, Patton Oswalt, Peter David, Robert Sawyer, Michael Scott, Edward Asner, Leonard Nimoy, Ed Bryant, Alan Brennert, Robert Silverberg, and many other notables add their voices.

Along the way the reader is treated to an analysis of the Connie Willis controversy, the infamous dead gopher story, allegedly pushing a fan down an elevator shaft, and the final word on The Last Dangerous Visions. What emerges is a rich portrait of a man who has spent his life doing battle with his times and himself, always challenging his readers to reach for a higher plane and goading himself to get them there. It s funny, wise, shocking, and well, it’s Harlan.

A Lit Fuse contains a 32-page color photo section.

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Jan
05
2018
January 5th, 2018 by Michael Sauers

From Amazon.com:

The New York Times bestselling author of Better and Complications reveals the surprising power of the ordinary checklist

We live in a world of great and increasing complexity, where even the most expert professionals struggle to master the tasks they face. Longer training, ever more advanced technologies―neither seems to prevent grievous errors. But in a hopeful turn, acclaimed surgeon and writer Atul Gawande finds a remedy in the humblest and simplest of techniques: the checklist. First introduced decades ago by the U.S. Air Force, checklists have enabled pilots to fly aircraft of mind-boggling sophistication. Now innovative checklists are being adopted in hospitals around the world, helping doctors and nurses respond to everything from flu epidemics to avalanches. Even in the immensely complex world of surgery, a simple ninety-second variant has cut the rate of fatalities by more than a third.

In riveting stories, Gawande takes us from Austria, where an emergency checklist saved a drowning victim who had spent half an hour underwater, to Michigan, where a cleanliness checklist in intensive care units virtually eliminated a type of deadly hospital infection. He explains how checklists actually work to prompt striking and immediate improvements. And he follows the checklist revolution into fields well beyond medicine, from disaster response to investment banking, skyscraper construction, and businesses of all kinds.

An intellectual adventure in which lives are lost and saved and one simple idea makes a tremendous difference, The Checklist Manifesto is essential reading for anyone working to get things right.

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Jan
01
2018
January 1st, 2018 by Michael Sauers
Total Compated to 2016
Books read 125 117%
Print pages read 17126 59.00%
Fiction titles 103.9 109.08%
Non-fiction titles 22.1 205.58%
Print books 53 73.61%
Graphic Novels 7 58.33%
eBooks 4 80.00%
Audiobooks & Audio Dramas 66 220.00%
Male authors 166 100.00%
Female authors 43 143.33%

Notes:
I past years I’ve included the “page count” for audiobooks. I did not this year hence the significant reduction in that category.

Starting in 2018 I’ll be logging the length of audiobooks and audio dramas.

Image: Ann Larie Valentine

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Dec
29
2017
December 29th, 2017 by Michael Sauers

From Amazon.com:

New York Times bestselling author Elizabeth Wein (Code Name Verity, Rose Under Fire) journeys to a galaxy far, far away to bring readers the harrowing story of the courageous bomber pilots and technicians of Cobalt Squadron!

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Dec
22
2017
December 22nd, 2017 by Michael Sauers

From Centipede Press:

A new novel by Peter Straub always merits a phone call to your bookseller to leave a reminder that you want a copy. This is necessary as, while Mr. Straub has had a long and productive career, a new novel is something that occurs only once every two and half years on the average. But a new edition of a Peter Straub classic is an event!

We are pleased to present Peter Straub’s Julia in a new, deluxe, slipcased, illustrated edition. Julia, from a historical standpoint, may be one of Straub’s most important novels, as it marked the turning point in his career from writing mainstream novels with Gothic overtones to writing Gothic novels that could be marketed as mainstream novels.

This new edition of Julia features several full-page, full-color illustrations by Rodger Gerberding, a stunning front cover by Colombian artist Marcela Bolívar, a new introduction by T.M. Wright, and an interview with Peter Straub. The book is elegantly typeset in Requiem and is bound in distinctive European cloth, has a rounded back, top-edge stain, ribbon marker, and gorgeous marbled endsheets imported from France.

Over 7 × 10 inches in size, front and rear cover image pastedown, two-color stamping on spine, and a stunning design. Each book is signed by Peter Straub, T.M. Wright, Rodger Gerberding, and Marcela Bolívar.

  • Limited to 200 copies, each signed by Peter Straub, T.M. Wright, Rodger Gerberding, and Marcela Bolívar.
  • Introduction by T.M. Wright.
  • Interview with Peter Straub by Darrell Schweitzer.
  • Luxurious, 7 × 10 inch format.
  • Marbled endsheets imported from France.
  • Ribbon marker, head and tail bands, three-piece cloth construction.
  • Cloth in slipcase: $275 (on sale from $295).

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Dec
15
2017
December 15th, 2017 by Michael Sauers

From Subterranean Press:

Dust jacket illustration by Nate Taylor

Between 2008 and 2017, author John Scalzi wrote fifteen books, became a New York Times bestselling author, and won numerous awards, including the Hugo, the Locus and the Governor’s Award for the Arts in Ohio. He also had book deals crater, lost more awards than he won, worried about his mortgage and health insurance, flubbed a few deadlines, tried to be a decent parent and husband, and got into some arguments on the Internet, because, after all, that’s what the Internet is for.

Scalzi wrote about it all—the highs and lows in the life of a working writer—and gave his readers, and other writers, a glimpse of the day-to-day business of navigating a writing life in today’s world. Sometimes these essays offered advice. Sometimes they commented on the practical business of publishing and selling books. Sometimes they focused on the writing issues, arguments and personalities of the day. And sometimes, Scalzi reflected on his own writing life and career, and what both meant in the larger scheme of things.

Don’t Live for Your Obituary is a curated selection of that decade of advice, commentary and observations on the writing life, from one of the best-known science fiction authors working today. But more than that, it’s a portrait of an era—ten years of drama, controversy and change in writing, speculative fiction and the world in general—from someone who was there when it happened… and who had opinions about it all.

About John Scalzi

John Scalzi is the New York Times bestselling author of the Hugo Award-winning Redshirts, the Old Man’s War series of books, The Dispatcher and many other works. He lives in Ohio with his family.

Limited: 1000 signed numbered hardcover copies

From Publishers Weekly:

“Above all he writes accessibly and so commonsensically that this book should appeal to writers in all disciplines, and even to SF readers who have no ambitions to write themselves.”

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Dec
08
2017
December 8th, 2017 by Michael Sauers

Posted in Books, video Tagged with:

Dec
08
2017
December 8th, 2017 by Michael Sauers

From Amazon.com:

New York Times bestselling author Mira Grant, author of the renowned Newsflesh series, returns with a novel that takes us to a new world of ancient mysteries and mythological dangers come to life.

The ocean is home to many myths,

But some are deadly…

Seven years ago the Atargatis set off on a voyage to the Mariana Trench to film a mockumentary bringing to life ancient sea creatures of legend. It was lost at sea with all hands. Some have called it a hoax; others have called it a tragedy.

Now a new crew has been assembled. But this time they’re not out to entertain. Some seek to validate their life’s work. Some seek the greatest hunt of all. Some seek the truth. But for the ambitious young scientist Victoria Stewart this is a voyage to uncover the fate of the sister she lost.

Whatever the truth may be, it will only be found below the waves.

But the secrets of the deep come with a price.

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Dec
07
2017
December 7th, 2017 by Michael Sauers

Flickr: April 25, 2012

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Dec
01
2017
December 1st, 2017 by Michael Sauers

Featuring Clive Barker, Stewart O’Nan, Frank Darabont, Stephen Spignesi, Richard Chizmar, Justin Brooks, Tony Magistrale, Michael R. Collings, Rocky Wood, Robin Furth, Kevin Quigley, Hans-Ake Lilja, Billy Chizmar, Jack Ketchum, Bev Vincent, Mick Garris, and Jay Franco!

Reading Stephen King
edited by Brian James Freeman

Cover artwork by Ray Russotto

About the Book:
Stephen King has inspired millions of readers with his writing for more than four decades , and this special volume of essays gathers together some of his high-profile fans to discuss why they love reading the works of Stephen King.

Many of these fans are acclaimed authors of fiction in their own right. Some of them have written insightful books about Stephen King’s work, exploring how King’s natural storytelling gift has allowed him to create stories that reach people in every language around the world. A few of them have even written, produced, and directed movie adaptations of King’s most acclaimed works.

In this book you will join Clive Barker, Stewart O’Nan, Richard Chizmar, Frank Darabont, Stephen Spignesi, Justin Brooks, Tony Magistrale, Michael R. Collings, Rocky Wood, Robin Furth, Kevin Quigley, Hans-Ake Lilja, Billy Chizmar, Jack Ketchum, Bev Vincent, Mick Garris, and Jay Franco as they discuss their love of reading Stephen King…

Table of Contents:
“Sometimes You Go Back” by Stewart O’Nan
“Christine” by Richard Chizmar
“The Art of Stephen King” by Frank Darabont
“Spock’s Not The Only One Who Can Mind Meld: Stephen King and the Telepathy of Writing” by Stephen Spignesi
“Disappearing Down That Rabbit Hole” by Justin Brooks
“The Politics of Being Stephen King” by Tony Magistrale
“The Adventure of Reading Stephen King” by Michael R. Collings
“Reading the Lost Works of Stephen King” by Rocky Wood
“Twins and Twining in Stephen King’s Dark Tower Series” by Robin Furth
“King Since Scribner” by Kevin Quigley
“Being a Non-US Stephen King Fan” by Hans-Ake Lilja
“The Role of Religion in Stephen King’s Desperation” by Billy Chizmar
“From A Buick 8” by Jack Ketchum
“Living in a Web of Mystery” by Bev Vincent
“The One That Got Away” by Mick Garris
“My Accidental Obsession” by Jay Franco
“Stephen King Celebration” by Clive Barker

Published as a Hardcover Limited Edition:
• Limited to just 1,000 signed copies
• Personally signed by the editor and most of the authors on a full-color signature page
• Printed on 60# acid-free paper
• Bound in full-cloth with colored head and tail bands
• Featuring hot foil stamping on the front boards and spine
• Printed and bound with stylish endpapers
• Smyth sewn to create a more durable binding
• Limited ONE TIME printing of this special edition
• Retail price $50

Published as a Deluxe Hardcover Lettered Edition:
• Limited to just 52 signed and hand-lettered copies bound in leather
• Personally signed by the editor and most of the authors on a unique signature page
• Printed on 60# acid-free paper
• Bound in leather with colored head and tail bands
• Custom gilded page edges dipped by hand
• Raised hubs on the spine
• Featuring hot foil stamping on the front boards and spine
• Bound with stylish endpapers and a sewn-in satin ribbon page marker
• Smyth sewn to create a more durable binding
• Limited ONE TIME printing of this special edition
• Retail price $200

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