Romance isn't dead!

Just in case you were worried, I'm here to tell you that there are still lots of romance books being written. Here's a recent Mills & Boon title that caught my eye and made me feel all gooey inside: Accidentally pregnant! Yes, you get a bonus exclamation mark at the end. That conveys the excitement of having an unplanned child.



Doesn't it just warm your heart?
Mmm... nothing makes you feel loved like getting accidentally pregnant.




Anyway, my next post will about the new Patrick Rothfuss book "The wise man's fear". I've been waiting for this for ages! I'm so excited. I think it'll be one of the heaviest books I've ever bought!

Factotum (no, not that one, the DM Cornish one)

I'm not talking about the book Factotum by Bukowski here. It's one by D. M. Cornish instead.


It's the 3rd book in the Monster Blood Tattoo series. Ostensibly for young adults, it really is the second closest thing to Tolkien I've found in ages. (Pat Rothfuss' Name of the Wind being the top contender).


The series follows a young orphan (no, in a fantasy series?!?) who takes up with a teratologist (monster-slayer) in a world where humans and monsters vie for territory and survival. Gradually the protagonist learns something rather unusual about himself. It may sound very formulaic but the writing is excellent and the atmosphere is absorbing.
Cornish has a fully-realised world waiting for you, complete with some very realistic maps, some great drawings of various characters, and one of my favourite things, an excellent glossary.
It's a good sturdy hardback, but not a massive thing. The US version is 1.8 pounds, according to Amazon.com. I think that's about 800 grams. I have the UK/Australia/NZ cover and I just like it better. I'm guessing it's about the same weight though.

Theo's Odyssey

It's only 425g but it's packed with weighty theosophical ideas! Theo's Odyssey by Catherine Clement is a book that's aimed at young readers but is a really good way for readers of any age to get a feel for many different belief systems. And it's not so heavy you can't read it in bed. Bonus.

TS Spivet

Awesome! Another book with footnotes and maps and stuff!
My copy of "The Selected Works of T. S. Spivet" by Reif Larsen is ISBN 9781846552786, weighing in at 0.975kg.
Because it's quite large format and paperback, it's not really a "read on the bus" kind of thing. More of a "savour at home" arrangement.
Impress your partner and cat. Grunt each time you pick it up and go "phew - just gonna read this awesome book again!"
The story is actually pretty cool, and slightly reminiscent of "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time".

Jordan/Sanderson

Crikey the new Robert Jordan ghost-written Gathering Storm is a mighty beast! Brandon Sanderson has obviously studied Jordan's previous work well, and no doubt there are about six hundred separate references to an Aes Sedai twitching her shawl. Why did I ever stop reading that series..? Anyway, I promise to get my scales set up very soon so you get some accurate weight information. This crucial research can be delayed no longer.

Inaugural, unscientific posting

I don't have my precision book-weighing scales set up just yet, so I'll start by just saying that I read Neal Stephenson's Anathem in Trade Paperback (TP) format (ISBN 9781843549154) a while ago and it was pretty hefty. Imagine if I'd bought the Hardback (HB) version! It was 800 pages of creative intelligence that I felt just on the verge of understanding. See http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/s/neal-stephenson/anathem.htm
 I also loved Stephenson's Baroque Cycle books because I enjoy footnotes in fiction works.