RhymePhile's Rat Race

I just finished reading Cormac McCarthy's Pulitzer prize-winning novel The Road, which is also coming soon in movie version starring Viggo Mortensen.

I don't think I've ever read a Pulitzer prize-winning book before. I was probably too busy with true crime and non-fiction or something.

Anyway. The novel is about a father and young son traveling across a post-apocalyptic landscape, heading for the ocean. We never learn exactly why the world has turned to ash, the trees have been burnt to a crisp, and the remaining humans scavenge whatever they can find, including other humans.

It was a really quick read, because McCarthy's writing is like one long run-on sentence sometimes interrupted with punctuation. It's a little off-putting at first, but you get used to the way the words sort of bump into each other to form the novel. I also dont understand why he doesnt like to use apostrophes in contractions.

It's not a horror novel, but it's still frightening because the possibility of some sort of global destruction is more real than we'd like to admit.

The novel was kinda depressing. You can't expect a post-apocalyptic story to be filled with sunshine. This one isn't, in case you were wondering. The entire book is one big swath of gray, and cold, and wet.

Still; recommended. I have a feeling I'm going to wait for the movie to come to DVD though, and watch it on a bright shiny day with some soup and a sandwich, pausing every few moments to scritch my cat underneath her chin.

Is everyone freaking out about Tales of Beedle the Bard? It's on Amazon right now for pre-order.

The collector's edition is marvelous...hardcover, a reproduction of JK Rowling's original handcrafted work. It's also $100, so keep that in mind, but according to Amazon it's "available in limited quantities." It comes out December 4 (two days after my birfday!) so you have plenty of time to save up!

YAYZ! I can read everything again! I finally finished Deathly Hallows.

( Not too much to say, just a few thoughts )

NO POTTER SPOILERS IN THIS POST

Every hour that goes by that I am not reading the seventh book makes me, well, nervous. I feel like any moment I'm going to walk around a corner and see a giant billboard telling me what's going to happen. I've decided, however, to re-read the sixth book because too much is happening and I need to pay attention.

Case in point: yesterday I was on Long Beach Island, a Jersey Shore resort town not too far away from where my brother, sister-in-law, niece, and nephew-coming-in-November live. We went out to lunch near the beach, and two 15-year-old-ish kids were riding by on bikes. They were talking about the book, AND I HEARD A SPOILER!! Sheesh!

I can't get away from the spoilerage!!!

NO POTTER SPOILERS IN THIS POST

I am a complete and utter spoilerphobe, don't worry. I hope the rest of my Flist will be so kind as to put anything discussing the last book behind a cut with non-spoiler specific linking tags for the immediate future. Thanks!

( The dilemma when working for a company that will be selling the Potter book and has co-workers here in the office reviewing said book )

People, guess who is gonna be at the New York City ComicCon next weekend, February 23-25?

SO MANY PEOPLE RHYME MUST FANGIRL OVER WITH COPIOUS AMOUNTS OF SQUEE, including:

James Callis!!! <-- Gaius Baltar!!!! from BSG!!!! Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!
Tricia Helfer!!! <-- Six!! also from BSG. I may die from her blinding prettiness, the bitch. *sigh* Why can't I be 8 feet tall, blonde, and Canadian?
Stan Lee!!!! <-- Excelsior! Don't even tell me you don't know who he is.

Squeeage to a lesser extent but still:

Nicholas Brendon!!! <-- Xander Harris from Buffy
Juliet Landau <-- Spike's girlfriend Drusilla from Buffy
Hayden Panettiere <-- Claire Bennet from the fantastic new series Heroes
Jonathan Woodward <-- the actor dude Joss Whedon loves and has been in all three of his series
Kevin Smith <-- hometown (NJ) boy and supahfamous director and shit
Paul Dini <-- who created the 1992 series Batman the Animated Series
Brian Bolland <-- artist for Rhyme's most favorite comic book ever, Judge Dredd
Peter David <-- author of one of the best Star Trek: TNG novels ever, "Imzadi"
Peter Mayhew <-- it's Chewbacca, y'all!!!
Vic Mignogna <-- voice of Edward Elric from one of my favorite anime series, Fullmetal Alchemist
Ray Park <-- Darth Maul. Dudes. It's the kung fu Sith Lord.
Jhonen Vasquez <-- creator of the comic Johnny the Homicidal Maniac and creator of one of the most bizarre animated shows ever to be seen on Nickelodeon, Invader ZIM
Timothy Zahn <-- author of Star Wars novels that IMO repopularized the series

Saturday tickets are sold out, but Friday and Sunday is still available. Of course I waited until the last minute, but I forgot all about it! Next year I'll get a professional pass through work. If I go (which is still a bit up in the air), expect lots of photos.

Here at the dot-com in which I work, we have this little niche where those people who write reviews for books can give away reviewer copies. This is opposed to the locked desk where I keep my reviewer copies, which are DVD box sets of TV shows. I think I get the better deal.

Anywho, I stumbled across this book today, "Forbidden Colors," which was written by Yukio Mishima in 1968 and reprinted recently. I swear, Mishima-sama wrote this book just for me.

( Read the dust jacket description, which caused Rhyme to scoop this book up and hug it, and go Oooooh! )

drinteot's Friend nagasvoice commented in my journal and was nice enough to provide a link to a whole web page devoted to slashy book recs. And thus, I pass it on to my Flist.

http://www.trinityslash.com/proslash.html

I've printed the list out, in case I find myself in any used book stores.

In my quest to read some scifi/fantasy gay books, I just finished Lynn Flewelling's Luck in the Shadows last night, and I thought it was pretty good. However...

Bilairy's Balls I wanted more! (You'll have to read the book to understand that). I mean, aside from a few heated looks, the one moment where Alec looked at Seregil and felt warmth in his belly, and the whole prophecy from the Oracle about Seregil being father, brother, friend and lover to Alec, there was nothing else! I wanted Alec to ask Seregil about his past with Micum! (Hee, Seregil likes bears) I wanted...y'know, touching and brushes of hands and even rubbing maybe! Even a kiss on the forehead!! Something! It doesn't have to be sex; touching is often more sensuous. Hugs would be good, too!

Of course this just makes me eager to continue on to the second book, which I have with me for my ride home tonight on the bus. Can I at least expect more to come of their relationship? Or at least another one of Alec's and Seregil's long chats about each of their pasts? By the Four, I want more!

ETA: drinteot, do you have any other gay read recs for Tanya Huff? My library doesn't carry The Fire's Stone. Sigh. I've been down your list and have been striking out...I'm going to have to Interlibrary Loan the third book of Flewelling as it is!

The other day I posted a request asking people if they had heard of a specific book I had read a while ago, because I couldn't remember the damn title. Thankfully, my Flist came through and reminded me it was Mercedes Lackey's The Last Herald Mage Trilogy, which focused on a boy named Vanyel who, along with becoming a powerful mage, also finds a male lover. My only regret is that the series wasn't longer.

Then I was reading drinteot 's journal, (*waves*) and she mentioned two books by Heather Gladney, Teot's War and Bloodstorm. The books focus on the relationship between two men, and drinteot says: "If this were fanfic the slash community would describe it as UST. The relationship between the men is so profoundly deep. It is love. It doesn't progress to actual physical love in these books."

I was wondering if anyone else has recs (or a link to recs) that feature books of a slashy/homoerotic nature? I'd be interested to see what "mainstream" authors have to offer in this genre.

ETA: A few people have lists over at Amazon, and I found: Luck in the Shadows and Stalking Darkness by Lynn Flewelling, and one that was mentioned in drinteot's journal, Swordspoint by Ellen Kushner.