My Recent Music Obsession

Books 4 Me, Books 4 U. . . . Wait, nope, just 4 me. Unless you have purchased some for yourself; in that case, you’re welcome to join the cool kids club with me.

I’ve been stimulating the economy. What have you been up to?

Actually, I’ve been purchasing an obscene amount of books lately. I’m not sure why. Perhaps it’s because it’s been a while since I put out a few bucks for a book. Or maybe it’s because I don’t get books for free anymore as a side perk of my job. I do get to read all the books I want at work, of course, and I get the ones we publish for something like half off but no freebies. *sigh*

Anyway, I’ve been hitting up the Barnes & Noble and Borders nearby (and the Target and Vault of Midnight in Ann Arbor), and Amazon is always my steadfast friend, too. I did learn, though, that purchasing from B&N and Borders (and local bookstores, if you have any!) actually benefits publishers and authors more–they receive more money from those purchases than those bought online from Amazon, Half.com, etc. I try to keep that in mind when I spend $17.99 for a hardcover YA book. Plus tax. Yikes. And it’s even worse now that I can easily gauge how much that book cost them to print (side effect of being in charge of getting printers for journals [i.e., paperback books]). Especially when the book was printed in China or somewhere else overseas. It kills me to see that because the publisher I work for has it written into their mission statement that we will print in the U.S. And I have a great deal of respect for that and agree in its ideal wholeheartedly. And I know the cost difference. (P.S. It’s not that much and worth every penny.) OK, I’m getting off my soapbox now.

Anyway, here’s a rundown of the books I now possess (or are coming) and will be reading soon:

• My Fair Godmother by Janette Rallison (currently reading)
• I Am the Messenger by Markus Zusak (currently reading, and seriously, could this guy be any cuter? I think not)
• Blue Bloods by Melissa de la Cruz
• The Looking Glass Wars by Frank Beddor
• Seeing Red (sequel to The Looking Glass Wars) by Frank Beddor
• The Monsters of Templeton by Lauren Groff
• The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman (recent winner of the Newbery Medal)
• The Complete Maus by Art Spiegelman (the only comic book [so far] to win a Pulitzer Prize)
• Oh. My. Gods. by Tera Lynn Childs
• A Hat Full of Sky by Sir Terry Pratchett (because I must own every single book written by this brilliant author, and if you want to read this one, read The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents [which is freakin' amazing] first)

Even though everyone is going to be reading The Graveyard Book because of its recent award, I had to pick it up while shopping my darling friend Laura, as we both agreed that we love Neil Gaiman because he’s eccentric, knows it, and doesn’t give a crap. And he’s so damn talented. This guy writes best-selling, award-winning graphic novels (ex: The Sandman series–these are “holy-sh*t!” good, seriously), amazingly popular adult fiction (ex: American Gods), and stunning (I’m not even exaggerating here) YA and middle-reader fiction. His stuff gets turned into films (ex: Coraline), and the dude writes films, as well. He has a huge, dedicated fan base and is considered a rockstar in the literary world. And you know what has launched him into the “super cool” bracket in my mind? He has chosen to live near Minneapolis, Minnesota. Yup. I love the guy without even knowing him. And I’ve decided he’s someone I would love to be friends with, eccentricities and all. Then again, most of my friends are ridiculously eccentric. As am I.