Poolside #1

I'm about half-way through The Mullah's Storm, not as gung ho as I thought it would be. It's difficult to achieve the balance of page-turner, bone chilling cold and giving both sides a fair hearing especially when lying outside in 100 degree heat. I'm also trying to get hold of Bullet Magnet by Mick Flynn, I read an article on him in yesterday's Daily Mail and I finally caved and bought the new Torchwood books - still my guilty pleasure.

Mullah's Storm and Myth - busted

The arc of "The Mullah's Storm" was waiting in my box at work yesterday. I already had my eye on it but it's good to know that the keeper of the arcs knows my taste in thrillers.

Oh and just to clear things up the mythical idea of our staff sleeping in the store - isn't true. But we don't just turn the key and go home either. We have to leave the place, neat, tidy and ready for the next day's morning shift and that takes balance, concentration and a heck of a lot of paper work.

Blind Descent

I watched John Stewart's interview with James M Tabor yesterday - he's the author of Blind Descent - and made a note to check and see if we had any copies at the store. He's going to be here next weekend (so we have tons) and I'm away! But I did manage to get hold of the arc - a small consolation.

Update : I'm only a few chapters in. Wow this is intense, in the first few pages it lists how many ways you could lose your life underground and shows you what happens to the reckless and unprepared. Cave exploration - another thing I won't be trying in the near future...

New Look

Every couple of years I change the look of the blog, but while I tweaked the colours Chris found the background. It's a little busier than I'm used to, it's on trial for the next month. Finished and blurbed Moscow Sting will have to raid the arcs cupboard tonight for more.

How violent is violence?

Yeah that's an unusual question but it came up on Friday when customer A talked customer B out of buying a book because she (customer A) had heard that it was pretty violent - she hadn't read it mind you - she'd just heard. If I had been customer B I would've listened to her and bought the book anyway because I like to make up my own mind and I know my tolerance is pretty high. Having said that violence against people in fiction I can read but against animals - that's where I stop reading. You kill an animal you lose me as a reader - I'm just saying.

I can count on the fingers of one hand the times I've gone past something like that. Of course customer B didn't buy the book but the thing that really got to me was that she'd specifically come in looking for that book but negative female peer pressure put her off. So my question again - how much violence can you take before you say 'ok that's going too far' I look forward to chatting with you at the counter.

Stings, Authonomites and Indie next list

Loving Moscow Sting by Alex Dryden - an up-to-the minute spy thriller with an almost cold war feel to it. I also wish to rave about Authonomy - but I can't go into details. There are some cracking reads on that site but they are the intellectual property of those unpublished authors and it isn't my place to air their plot ideas.

And - how cool is this? last Friday I learned that my review of Crashers made it into July's Indie next list! Click the title link, then scroll down to see the entire list.

If you're ever in SLC for 36 hours...

Click the title for a link to the NYT article or paste the following into your browser.

http://travel.nytimes.com/2010/06/06/travel/06hours.html

6/9 last night had a very interesting chat with a chap who read the NYT article and came to find us.

Midweek and not much madness

Started reading Black Rain by Graham Brown yesterday, a thriller set in and around the Amazon. Black Sun, the follow-up comes out in August and I want to be caught up ready to read it. Fans of Matt Reilly or Andy McDermott will love this. I also have the arc of Elizabeth Brundage's A Stranger Like You to blurb.