On My Wishlist – WorldCon 2013 Edition

LoneStarCon 3 Logo

As you read this, we’re at WorldCon. I haven’t gotten tired of saying, or typing, that yet. And probably won’t. Last year, we were in Atlanta at Dragon*Con wishing we’d gone to WorldCon in Chicago.

We did have attending memberships in Chicon, but we lived in Atlanta. A con that didn’t require airline tickets trumped a con that did. C’est la vie.

This year, we’re in San Antonio, but back home in Seattle, we’re missing our first Bumbershoot. If we get to Loncon3 next year, we might manage both. For some reason, the Brits don’t share our fascination with Labor Day weekend.

There are, of course, a few books that I’ll be unable to resist while I’m in San Antonio. In some cases it’s not that I don’t already have them, it’s that I have a chance to tell some of my favorite authors how much I love their work, and get signed copies.

But we’re only bringing one suitcase with. I wonder if there’s a shipping place near the convention center? (Especially since the list below does not include Galen’s list!)

Among Others by Jo WaltonThe Incrementalists by Steven Brust and Skyler WhiteJean Johnson – Hellfire (Theirs Not to Reason Why #3)
Gail Carriger – Curtsies & Conspiracies (Finishing School #2)
Michelle Sagara – Cast in Sorrow (Chronicles of Elantra #9)
Tanya Huff – The Silvered
Elizabeth Bear –One-Eyed Jack (Promethean Age #5)
Jo Walton – Among Others
Steve Brust – The Incrementalists

Hellfire by Jean Johnson

Curtsies and conspiracies by Gail CarrigerCast in Sorrow by Michele Sagara

 

 

 

 

 

one eyed jack

The Silvered by Tanya Huff

 

 

 

 

 

Tor, Baen, Pyr, Angry Robot, and 47North all have presentations of their upcoming publications. I’ll try to be there for as many as possible, especially since some smart cookie scheduled the Tor, Baen and Pyr shows back-to-back in the same room!

Who would you stand in line for? Which authors are your favorites?

On My Wishlist-Waiting on Wednesday-Desperately Wanting Wednesday-On the Weekend (7)

More than anything else, right this minute, I want more time. I desperately want (yes, I’m deliberately making the pun) another week between now and when my new job starts.

The hurrieder I go, the behindeder I get (my spell-checker just curled up and died on that sentence. And I don’t care. It sums things up all too well.)

Next week’s stacking the shelves is going to mammoth, if I’m home to do it. Or if we’re still on the road and I borrow Galen’s computer to use as the second screen. I’m addicted to having two. Awkward.

And it doesn’t matter how big the virtual shelf-stack gets, I still see new books that I want. Speaking of which, let’s take a look at one on my wishlist.

This one grabbed me when I saw the pre-pub alert at Library Journal. It turns out it’s only sort of pre-pub at this point–the book has already been released in the U.K., but it won’t be out in the U.S. until late January, 2013.

I love the sound of this. It’s both alternate history and yet another theory of “who wrote Shakespeare’s plays?” Count me in.

The Marlowe Papers by Ros Barber

Formats available: Hardcover, ebook
Genre: historical fiction
Length: 464 papers
Publisher: St. Martin’s Press
Date Released: January 29, 2013
Purchasing Info: Author’s Website, Publisher’s Website, Goodreads, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Book Depository

You’re the author of the greatest plays of all time.
But nobody knows.
And if it gets out, you’re dead.

On May 30, 1593, a celebrated young playwright was killed in a tavern brawl in London. That, at least, was the official version. Now Christopher Marlowe reveals the truth: that his “death” was an elaborate ruse to avoid a conviction of heresy; that he was spirited across the English Channel to live on in lonely exile; that he continued to write plays and poetry, hiding behind the name of a colorless man from Stratford—one William Shakespeare.
With the grip of a thriller and the emotional force of a sonnet, this remarkable novel in verse gives voice to a man who was brilliant, passionate, and mercurial. A cobbler’s son who counted nobles among his friends, a spy in the Queen’s service, a fickle lover and a declared religious skeptic, Christopher Marlowe always courted trouble. Memoir, love letter, confession, and settling of accounts, The Marlowe Papers brings Christopher Marlowe and his era to vivid life.

On My Wishlist-Waiting on Wednesday-Desperately Wanting Wednesday-On the Weekend (6)

I can’t believe I’m wishing for anything remotely called “cold days”. But there’s one (and only one) context where that makes sense.

I miss Harry Dresden. I miss his line of snark. A lot. Having just finished Jim Butcher’s First Lord’s Fury not too long ago, I got teased by Tavi. He was sort of Harry-lite.

I want the real thing. Send me Cold Days. Appropriately scheduled for the end of November.

Harry never can catch a break. Unless it’s a bad one.

Formats available: Hardcover, ebook, audiobook
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Series: Dresden Files #14
Length: 528 pages
Publisher: Roc Books
Date Released: November 27, 2012
Purchasing Info:Author’s Website, Publisher’s Website, Goodreads, Amazon, Barnes & Noble

HARRY DRESDEN LIVES!!!

After being murdered by a mystery assailant, navigating his way through the realm between life and death, and being brought back to the mortal world, Harry realizes that maybe death wasn’t all that bad. Because he is no longer Harry Dresden, Chicago’s only professional wizard.

He is now Harry Dresden, Winter Knight to Mab, the Queen of Air and Darkness. After Harry had no choice but to swear his fealty, Mab wasn’t about to let something as petty as death steal away the prize she had sought for so long. And now, her word is his command, no matter what she wants him to do, no matter where she wants him to go, and no matter who she wants him to kill.

Guess which Mab wants first?

Of course, it won’t be an ordinary, everyday assassination. Mab wants her newest minion to pull off the impossible: kill an immortal. No problem there, right? And to make matters worse, there exists a growing threat to an unfathomable source of magic that could land Harry in the sort of trouble that will make death look like a holiday.

Beset by enemies new and old, Harry must gather his friends and allies, prevent the annihilation of countless innocents, and find a way out of his eternal subservience before his newfound powers claim the only thing he has left to call his own…

His soul.

On My Wishlist-Waiting on Wednesday-Desperately Wanting Wednesday-On the Weekend (5)

I want my very own dust bunny.

Admittedly, my housekeeping skills are such that there are probably LOTS of them under the bed…but I don’t mean that kind of dust bunny.

I’m referring to the psychic kind. The occasionally predatory kind.

And if you’re a fan of Jayne Castle’s science fiction romance series, set on the planet Harmony, you know exactly what type of dust bunny I’m referring to.

The next (the ninth!) book in Castle’s Harmony series is coming out in September. If you’re as eager to read The Lost Night as I am, here’s the description from Goodreads to whet your appetite.

With the ability to detect the auras of dangerous psychic criminals, Rachel Bonner has found peace and quiet on Rainshadow Island with her dust bunny companion. Then Harry Sebastian, the descendant of a notorious pirate, arrives to investigate strange developments in the privately owned woods known as the Preserve. Rachel can sense the heart of darkness within him— and the stirrings of desire within her own soul…

September 4. After the Labor Day weekend for those of us in the States. Why are the good books coming out after the long weekend is over? Where’s the justice in that?

On My Wishlist-Waiting on Wednesday-Desperately Wanting Wednesday-On the Weekend (4)

I shouldn’t want anything. Really, truly.

I have lots. But if I didn’t love books, I wouldn’t be doing this, now would I?

You understand, don’t you? You’re a book addict too, aren’t you? (I think we’ve had this little talk before…)

Last July, I picked up a copy of the first book in Jean Johnson’s military science fiction series, Theirs Not To Reason Why. I love SF, and I have a particular fondness for military SF with female protagonists. If those kind of stories intrigue you, I highly recommend Tanya Huff’s Valor Confederation series and Elizabeth Moon’s Vatta’s War series. (The Honor Harrington series by David Weber isn’t half bad, but I’ll debate with you whether Honor is really a woman. She just doesn’t “feel right” to me. YMMV) I digress.

Back to Ms. Johnson. Her fantasy romance series, The Sons of Destiny, was oodles of fun. But A Soldier’s Duty, the first book of her military SF series, now that was awesome. Full the complete details on just how awesome, take a look at my review. At the end of the review, I said I couldn’t wait for the next book in the series, An Officer’s Duty.

My wait is nearly over. An Officer’s Duty will be out on July 31. Finally!

What’s on your wishlist this week?

 

 

 

On My Wishlist-Waiting On Wednesday-Desperately Wanting Wednesday-On the Weekend (3)

As usual, I’m writing this post on the weekend. And mostly, tonight, I’m wishing we’d figured out how to get the grill to work.

We’ve never grilled out before. Not us. Not very domestic. But it’s summer. And it always tastes good. We decided to buy a grill and cook some steaks. Three hours later…

We finished them off on the stovetop. We were STARVING.

But they still tasted awesome. We’ll do better next time.

Oh, you were wondering about my wishlist books…

I am wishing that Julie Kagawa’s The Lost Prince will be as good as The Iron Fey series was. Here’s the blurb that’s teasing us all:

Don’t look at Them. Never let Them know you can see Them.

That is Ethan Chase’s unbreakable rule. Until the fey he avoids at all costs—including his reputation—begin to disappear, and Ethan is attacked. Now he must change the rules to protect his family. To save a girl he never thought he’s dare to fall for.

Ethan thought he had protected himself from his older sister’s world—the land of Faery. His previous time in the Iron Realm left him with nothing but fear and disgust for the world Meghan Chase has made her home, a land of myths and talking cats, of magic and seductive enemies. But when destiny comes for Ethan, there is no escape from a danger long, long forgotten.

My name is Ethan Chase. And I may not live to see my eighteenth birthday.

Until The Lost Prince appears in October, we’ll have a teaser e-novella to tide us over.  Iron’s Prophecy comes out September 1.

I’d love to know what books you’re wishing for. What books would you just be lost without?

On My Wishlist-Waiting on Wednesday-Desperately Wanting Wednesday-On the Weekend (2)

It’s still not Wednesday. But it might be when you read this. Or it might be Sunday, which is when I happened to get around to it this weekend.

Or a “round tuit”. I actually used to keep one of those in my desk.

This Sunday I have one each. One book not yet out that I want, and one already out that I just heard about. A little story before, first.

I haven’t read the latest Stephanie Plum book, Explosive Eighteen. I probably will. Or I might listen to it on audio. I’ve discovered that audiobooks make working on Ebook Review Central go faster. And I discovered Stephanie on audio, so that might work better all the way around.

But the Lizzy and Diesel books, the slightly paranormal spin-off series, is only on book 2. It hasn’t yet descended into the endess “Ranger or Morelli” triangle thing Stephanie has been doing for ages. I’m still interested in Lizzy and Diesel’s story. If you’re trying to figure out where Diesel fits in, Diesel appears in the seasonal “Between the Plums” novellas of the regular series, so he’s been around. Wicked Appetite was the first of the Lizzy and Diesel series, if you want to start at the beginning. Here’s the blurb for the second:

Whether it’s monkey business, funny business, or getting down to business, Janet Evanovich’s Lizzy and Diesel series proves that there’s no business like Wicked Business.
 
Lizzy Tucker’s once normal life as a pastry chef in Salem, Massachusetts, turns upside down as she battles both sinister forces and an inconvenient attraction to her unnaturally talented but off-limits partner, Diesel.

When Harvard University English professor and dyed-in-the-wool romantic Gilbert Reedy is mysteriously murdered and thrown off his fourth-floor balcony, Lizzy and Diesel take up his twenty-year quest for the Luxuria Stone, an ancient relic believed by some to be infused with the power of lust. Following clues contained in a cryptic nineteenth-century book of sonnets, Lizzy and Diesel tear through Boston catacombs, government buildings, and multimillion-dollar residences. On their way they’ll leave behind a trail of robbed graves, public disturbances, and general mayhem.

Diesel’s black sheep cousin, Gerwulf Grimoire, also wants the Stone. His motives are far from pure, and what he plans on doing with the treasure, no one knows . . . but Lizzy Tucker fears she’s in his crosshairs. Never far and always watching, Grimoire has a growing, vested interest in the cupcake-baker-turned-finder-of-lost-things. As does another dangerous and dark opponent in the hunt—a devotee of lawlessness and chaos, known only as Anarchy.

Treasures will be sought, and the power of lust will be unmistakable as Lizzy and Diesel attempt to stay ahead of Anarchy, Grimoire, and his medieval minion, Hatchet, in this ancient game of twisted riddles and high-stakes hide-and-seek.

There’s a book already out that I also want. I’m a fan of Sherlock Holmes. (This comes under the heading of “well, duh” for any long-time reader of this blog). Recently, Sir Arthur  Conan Doyle’s home, Undershaw, was under threat of being torn down. Among other efforts, a book of short stories in honor of Sherlock Holmes was written to help fund the campaign to underwrite the Undershaw Preservation Trust.

The book is Sherlock’s Home: The Empty House.

This is one I would want just for the cover, but of course I’m interested in the stories and the cause it supports. Housing developments don’t last. Holmes is forever.

On My Wishlist-Waiting on Wednesday-Desperately Wanting Wednesday-On Saturday (1)

Yes, I know it’s not Wednesday. On Wednesday, what I mostly want is a clone. I have too many things to do and too little time to do them in.

Which is why I was using On My Wishlist in the first place. It ran on the weekends back in the good old days of March. But when it moved on to new management, it stopped.

So I’m Waiting on Wednesday at Breaking the Spine. Or Desperately Wanting Wednesday with Parajunkee. On Saturday. Mr. Linky will still love me on Wednesday. And I always want books.

If I didn’t well, I’d be somebody else. That person is down an entirely different leg of the trousers of time. I wonder who she is?

And there one book I’m stalking NetGalley for. (Isn’t there always?)

The next Chief Inspector Gamache book by Louise Penny has been announced! The title is oh so appropriate. It’s The Beautiful Mystery. No, really, the title of the book is The Beautiful Mystery.  

Here’s the blurb from Goodreads:

The brilliant new novel in the New York Times bestselling series by Louise Penny, one of the most acclaimed crime writers of our time

No outsiders are ever admitted to the monastery of Saint-Gilbert-Entre-les-Loups, hidden deep in the wilderness of Quebec, where two dozen cloistered monks live in peace and prayer. They grow vegetables, they tend chickens, they make chocolate. And they sing. Ironically, for a community that has taken a vow of silence, the monks have become world-famous for their glorious voices, raised in ancient chants whose effect on both singer and listener is so profound it is known as “the beautiful mystery.” But when the renowned choir director is murdered, the lock on the monastery’s massive wooden door is drawn back to admit Chief Inspector Armand Gamache and Jean-Guy Beauvoir of the Sûreté du Québec. There they discover disquiet beneath the silence, discord in the apparent harmony. One of the brothers, in this life of  prayer and contemplation, has been contemplating murder. As the peace of the monastery crumbles, Gamache is forced to confront some of his own demons, as well as those roaming the remote corridors. Before finding the killer, before restoring peace, the Chief must first consider the divine, the human, and the cracks in between.

If you have not yet had the pleasure of making the Chief Inspector’s acquaintance, you have plenty of time to read the series before August 28th. They are marvelous, like no other mystery series. Start with Still Life. But start now.

 

On My Wishlist #11

What’s on my wishlist this week?

Okay, I’ll confess, the number one thing on my wishlist is to figure out what’s going on with the “On My Wishlist” meme.

It used to be hosted by Book Chick City and they did a fantastic job with it. At the end of March, they passed the torch to Cosy Books. And everything seemed to be going, well, quite cosily all through April.

But May 3 was the last On My Wishlist post that the new host posted. This is such a terrific meme, I hope that it continues. Or that the torch gets passed.

There are still books On My Wishlist. There are ALWAYS books on my wishlist!

I found out this week that the third book in Kendra Leigh Castle’s Dark Dynasties series, Shadow Rising, will be coming out on July 31. I loved the first two books, Dark Awakening  (review) and Midnight Reckoning (review). They’re paranormal romances, but with some interesting twists. And I always adore the interesting twists. For one thing, it’s about the resurrection of a dynasty, the Cait Sith. She had me right there, it’s the cat shifters. But the politics are convoluted and cool, too. I hope Shadow Rising pops up on NetGalley soon.

Nalini Singh’s new Psy-Changeling book, Tangle of Need (UK cover at right), releases on Tuesday. I’ll probably be waiting for it at midnight-oh0one to download. Almost certainly. And yes, I know I’ve said that before. This is my wishlist. (So there!)

And did anyone else notice how huge the list of Tuesday new releases is? And how wonderfully full of paranormal romance? Take a look at the Sunday Cravings post tomorrow at Book Lovers Inc. for the very full list.

I’d love to know what’s on your wishlist this week. Maybe we can make each other’s TBR stacks get taller? What do you think?

On My Wishlist #10

On My Wishlist is a way for us book bloggers to showcase books that we haven’t read, bought, or borrowed. Or at least, we haven’t, yet. But that we really, really want to.

They might be books that we’ve just found out about, or, as in the case of the two on my list for this week, they might be new books that haven’t come out yet.

The “On My Wishlist” meme was started by Book Chick City, but a little bit ago they passed the baton to Cosy Books.

L. E. Modesitt Jr. is famous (or infamous) for his long fantasy series, The Saga of Recluce. And as much as I love fantasy, and as much as a very good friend has recommended it to me, I’ve never read it. By the time I received that recommendation, I think the series was probably on book 10-plus, and I just wasn’t in the mood. I have The Magic of Recluce, (book 1) and I swear I’m going to read it. Someday.

But the recommendation stuck. So when Modesitt started a new series not long ago, I was more than willing to start it with him. That was Imager. And I’m so glad I did. Imager is not a typical high-fantasy coming-of-age magic series. Oh, it’s a magic series. But the hero doesn’t come-of-age when he learns his magic. He’s an adult. He thinks he’s going to be doing something else with his life entirely.

Then it turns out he’s a magic-user. In the case of the Imager Portfolio, an Imager. And an adult learning magic in a system meant to teach children makes for a very different perspective on the system and the story.

To make a long story not so short. The first three books in the Imager Portfolio, Imager, Imager’s Challenge and Imager’s Intrigue, were all marvelous. And yes, the author absolutely committed trilogy.

Scholar starts a new story, or I think it does. It’s in my TBR pile. Princeps, the book after Scholar, comes out this Tuesday. I want it. It’s on my wishlist.

The other book on my wishlist this week is also a new story in a continuing series. Diana Gabaldon is releasing the latest story in her Lord John Grey series on May 21. At least The Custom of the Army is only a novella, so it’s short! Lord John Grey was a character in Ms. Gabaldon’s Outlander series who took on a life and series of his own. In Outlander he sometimes seems to be a villain, but as we examine the world through his eyes, he is much more sympathetic, and of course, not a villain at all.

Lord John provides the perspective of an upper-class British officer on the political conflicts and military campaigns that Jamie (and later Claire) must face and survive. In addition to the ties to the Outlander series, the Lord John books are always terrific historical mystery/thrillers.

And just as with the Modesitt book, the most recent book in the Lord John series, The Scottish Prisoner, is also on my TBR pile.

I fall in love with many too many books!

What about you? What’s on your wishlist this week?