Catching Up

My apologies for the extended silence this last week.  I was struck down with the creeping-crud which quickly transformed into the knock-you-down-and-sit-on-your-chest wretchedness you wouldn’t wish upon your worst enemy’s dog.

Recovery is not complete but progressing so here, to kick things off again are a few items of note and a random thought.

  • Confessions of a Bookplate Junkie has a growing collection of great SF art by stellar artists, many on plates used by notable authors.  See his Feb. 3 & 07 entries.  Looking forward to more, Lewis!

  • Currency of Souls by Kealan Patrick Burke got the nod from Publisher’s Weekly saying, “…a gripping horror novel whose motley cast of characters drink the evening away in a seedy bar, Eddie’s Tavern, in a dying town called Milestone. Each is stained by–and may even have caused–an ugly death that still haunts him or her… At the haunting conclusion, escape proves only a brief respite from damnation.” Subterranean Press is offering the limited edition at $40.00 and the lettered edition at $250.00.
  • Matthew Cheney reports that finishing touches are being completed on the first Best American Fantasy, edited by Jeff and Ann VanderMeer.  Pre-orders are available from Amazon† and Clarkesworld Books.
  • Locus Online has posted its Recommended Reading List for 2006.  Oddly, they included Tim Power’s superb Three Days to Never as a fantasy title.  At least it made it on the list.

Now riddle me this, Batman: Shelf Awareness reports that a bookshop in Hudson, Ohio is offering free food to anyone who comes in and reads for half an hour as part of a county wide program to get people to read for 30 minutes this Valentine’s Day.  It’s bad enough that there has to be a city, county or state sponsored “special event” to get people to read (and 30 minutes one day a year is hardly what I call reading), but now the offer of free food has to be proffered to entice people to participate.  Is reading that much of a lost pastime? Sometimes I despair.

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