(Wallpaper found here)

Though the temptation is great to wax poetic about the speed with which time is passing, I will save those comments for the Year in Review post near the end of the month. Suffice it to say that even as I type this I can visualize all of you nodding in agreement. The purpose of this post, and its somewhat tongue in cheek reference to the blues, is to make a simple request:

Please, oh pretty please, can this be a long December?!?!

And what, pray tell, would be my reason for wishing that this month would take an extra long time to pass? I have almost all of my Christmas shopping done and the gifts are wrapped and waiting in anticipation under the tree. The house is dressed in all its Christmas finery both inside and out. I am two weeks away from a two week vacation. I have lots of plans to spend holiday time with family and friends. So I don’t need more time to prepare for the festivities.

No, my request is much more selfish than that.

Continue reading December Blues, or a plea for longer days →

Photo Credit: Magius and David)

Time for my Monday morning confessional, the place where I admit that yes, doctor, I do have a problem. My name is Carl. And I love to acquire books.

Recent too-good-to-pass-up coupons and online sales and a post-dentist visit to to a tiny used bookstore in town means that the recently cleared shelf space in my basement is about to be filled again.

My comfort comes from the fact that I am not alone.

Okay, lets be honest, my comfort comes from the fact that I do so enjoy adding books to my collection.

Continue reading More Books? Why, certainly! →

Over the past three weeks I have had the distinct pleasure of discussing an engaging new contemporary gothic novel with a group of astute and passionate readers. That novel is The Lantern by Deborah Lawrenson and it has generated a wide variety of opinions not just about the overall book but about various elements within the story. The fun thing about putting your thoughts out there on the World Wide Web is that you never know who is watching. In this case, it was the author herself.

Deborah Lawrenson sent a very nice, insightful email to me the other day and in the ensuing discussion I asked if I could share that email with all of you. With a great deal of courtesy Ms. Lawrenson wished to see if she could have the opportunity to share thoughts that were inspired by all of our commentary regarding her novel. And since I really enjoyed what she had to say in the email there was no way I wanted to just keep it to myself.

So I would like to invite those of you who participated in the group read of The Lantern, those who did not but have already read the book, and then of course all of the rest of you, to take part in some further discussion of the novel with the author herself.

I have asked Deborah Lawrenson to feel free to respond to comments, questions, etc. I hope you’ll join in.

Continue reading A Letter From Author Deborah Lawrenson →

(Photo Credit, image by Vincent di Fate)

Though it is mid-October and I am thick in the process of immersing myself in gothic fiction and my journey with the Hobbits, events have come together of late that have me looking towards January with anticipation. What with the Classic Science Fiction Book Club voting on books for the first half of 2012 and Andrea recently posting about her science fiction treasures from a trip to the local used bookstore I find myself jonesing for a little science fiction. And so to help feed the SF monkey so he’ll leave me in peace I found myself shopping online, in my local Barnes and Noble, and then in a small town used bookstore this past week, gathering science fiction to myself to add to my already enormous pile of unread books.

As you will see as this post progresses, I am laying blame at the feet of Richard, the gang at the Classic Science Fiction Book Club (new members welcome) and Andrea for this surge of science fictional purchasing.

Before I reveal my newest acquistions, allow me to give an early plug to two science fiction related events that begin in January. The first is my annual NON-CHALLENGE, the Science Fiction Experience 2012, which runs from January through February. The second, which ties in nicely with the first, is Little Red Reviewer’s declaration of January being Vintage Month

Continue reading Trip to the Outer Rim →