Coming 9/9

Some of the titles hitting shelves this week are:

Anathem by Neil Stephenson 

Keepsake by Tess Gerritsen - latest in the Rizzoli series (I want it!) 

Hot, Flat, and Crowded by Thomas Friedman

Wow is this a dead week or what? I can't even find any DVD releases this week (except the latest CSI Miami season).

New reviews up at Bookbitch.com:

Duma Key by Stephen King

Ghostgirl by Tonya Hurley

The Lost Diary of Don Juan by Douglas Carlton Abrams

Heretic's Daughter by Kathleen Kent

Movies hitting screens on Friday:

Burn After Reading

Righteous Kill

The Women

I wish I had HBO

I wish that I could be one of those viewers tuning in this Sunday to the premier of HBO's newest original series, but I won't be. No, I'll have to wait until the show comes out on dvd and until then will have to satisfy myself by reading the books. 

I've not read Charlaine Harris's series at all just yet. I decided that now was the best time to start so that I would feel like I wasn't missing out too much. And, until the dvd does hit shelves roughly one year from now, I'll be incredibly jealous of all of you who do get to watch it (mom!).

If you're like me and you still haven't read these books, and want to read along, here's a little bit about the series:

Sookie Stackhouse lives in Bon Temps, Louisiana, where she works as a waitress at Merlotte's, the local dive. She's also psychic. Vamps have been out and socially about for four years, but Sookie has yet to meet one of her very own, until now. Bob walks into her bar and Sookie realizes that unlike everyone else, she can't hear his thoughts at all. And then she has to save him from people looking to drain him for his blood - the next big thing in mind blowing drugs for humans. Add to that a series of murders in town that may or may not be the result of the vic's vamp "relationships" and you've got one of the first series of this kind.

Sure they're all over these days, but Dead Until Dark first hit shelves in 2001, Laurel K. Hamilton's debut Anita Blake title, Guilty Pleasures, came out in 1993, and Jim Butcher's first Harry Dresden title, Storm Front, came out in 2000. By contrast, Kim Harrison's Dead Witch Walking didn't hit shelves until 2004. These are, in my opinion, the beginning of today's booming urban fantasy genre. The Sookie Stackhouse books go in my stack of "I can't believe it's taken me this long to read this!" stack. 

I've got the first three here and over a year to catch up on all 8 books in the series thus far. 

Add it to your list, you know you wanna!

Gordon Dahlquist's debut hit shelves in August of 2006 after huge buzz. Unfortunately, the buzz didn't hit the right people. Underground murmurings and devoted fans are what will make this a lasting cult classic, but I wish that it had maintained the expected momentum right out of the gates. I can tell you this, I picked the book up I can't tell you how many times before I finally purchased it. I was sorry I had waited even that long. 

It's tough in the book business for people to figure out how to market something that is unique. I've said it before, and I believe it wholeheartedly, there is great potential for exposing readers to a slew of new authors simply because you can usually make a recommendation using a familiar work. Glass Books of the Dream Eaters is one that unfortunately slips through the cracks, though. 

For me, it was completely different from everything that I had ever read. How then, do you market something that is unlike anything out there? It's a problem faced industry wide and that's why they beat trends to death. That's another post, though. This is meant to expose you to one of the most phenomenal books that you have never read!

Here's my review from Bookbitch.com - it's cryptic and vague for such a complex read, but hopefully your curiosity will be piqued: 

When Roger Bascombe abruptly breaks off their engagement, Celeste Temple is determined to discover why. She follows him to a strange mansion in the countryside where glamorous masked guests view a strange demonstration. From that moment on, Miss Temple’s life is forever changed. Cardinal Chang, known for his scarlet colored coat and the violent scars that cover his face, has been hired to kill a certain soldier. Chang finds the soldier, already dead by someone else’s hand. Doctor Abelard Svenson has been charged with the safety and well being of the Prince of Macklenburg, until he loses his prince. These three unlikely allies will soon find themselves fighting together against an evil cabal and the invention that would allow them to rule the world. Dahlquist’s grand and ambitious novel is an intricate work of art and a perfect debut.

In the time since, I have learned that this book most likely fits best in the steampunk genre. Wikipedia says "Steampunk is a subgenre of fantasy and speculative fiction that came into prominence in the 1980s and early 1990s. The term denotes works set in an era or world where steam power is still widely used—usually the 19th century, and often set in Victorian era England—but with prominent elements of either science fiction or fantasy, such as fictional technological inventions like those found in the works of H.G. Wells and Jules Verne, or real technological developments like the computer occurring at an earlier date." More specifically, it's classified as quasi-Victorian. Don't let the terms scare you, though, readers who enjoyed Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell will probably love this one as much as I did.  

I read this book, sick as a dog, in just a few days and fell in love. It was strange and fascinating and utterly engaging. I was drawn into Dahlquist's world and was sad to see it end. I loaned it to a friend and she was surprised, it was not what she had expected, especially coming as a recommendation from me. She called me this evening and told me that Dahlquist's new book is now showing up in the bookstore system, slated for release in March. I'll be one of the first to order my copy, but you'll have plenty of time to be captivated by Glass Books, too. The paperback hits shelves in January so add it to your must buy list and don't forget! 

Until then, I'll be holding my breath and hoping I can snag an early copy of The Dark Volume. 

How I Spent my Labor Day Vacation

So as you all know, I spent my weekend squeezing in some King time around my reviews books. It had to be done and I'm not sure why I allowed myself to wait this long. It was fantastic. Shot straight to the top of my favorite books ever list! It shares company with some well deserved titles, I think. 

Duma Key is the story of one Edgar Freemantle. Eddie made his mark as a big wig in the building biz in Minnesota. Life is good for the Freemantle clan until Eddie's truck, and Eddie, are smashed by a reversing crane. Eddie suffers multiple injuries, the worst of which include having his right arm amputated and the severe head trauma that he suffers. He's left with short term memory problems, a temper like no other, and months of physical therapy. Then his wife announces that she is leaving him. Edgar's docs suggest two things: 1. that he find something that he loves, and 2. a change of scenery. Edgar decides Duma Key is the place for him. He rents a home on the nearly secluded beach and begins to heal. Unfortunately, Duma Key is not quite the paradise that it seems. There is something evil lurking on the island. Something niggling at Edgar's brain, something that hasn't fully made itself known just yet. 

Agh! I am now suffering from the dreaded Stephen King withdrawal! It happens to me every time. I read one and I get totally sucked in and then it's all I want to read and nothing else quite compares. It dissipates after a while if I don't feed the urge that is. Trust me, I am sorely tempted to snatch up one of the few books I've been hoarding for moments like this. I'd like to reread Salems Lot or some of the short stories that I've not read yet. Ah, I may just have to wait it out, though. Just After Sunset is hitting shelves November 11. I think I can survive until then, and if not, I have the resources to keep me going. 

Until then, if you haven't read Duma, you need to. I just wish that I could visit Duma Key myself!

Babylon A.D.

Ok, I have to stray from my strictly good reviews policy to talk about Babylon A.D. and yes, it was a big disappointment. 

First off, I had pretty high expectations of this film. I personally really like Vin Diesel and director Mathieu Kassovitz is one that I plan to stick by even after this film. Kassovitz is a French actor (Amelie, Munich) and director (Crimson Rivers, Gothika). I wanted this movie to be great and was pretty disappointed to see that it came in at only 90 minutes. Seeing as how even an avid movie buff like me feels the pinch when buying movie tickets, I decided to see a matinee and save a few bucks, for an hour and a half, I didn't want to pay night time prices. 

I bought my popcorn, found my seat front and center, and sat back expecting some sort of greatness. I didn't get it. In the movie, Vin Diesel plays Toorop, a mercenary hired to transport a girl from Mongolia to the United States. The movie is based on the book Babylon Babies by Maurice Dantec. At 544 pages you might be scratching your head like I did wondering how they could cut it down so much. Well, I was right. The movie makes no sense. It's way too complex of a story to be told in 90 minutes and I left feeling totally lost. To make matters worse, it was obvious in viewing the movie that they were trying for a PG-13 rating on what should have been a rated R film. 

I had not intended to post here about it, and instead only posted on MySpace in regards to my thoughts on the film. I feel less guilty about it after reading this and the link imbedded in the article. In the SciFi Scanner article that Yahoo links to, you can see that Kassovitz's complaints mirror my own. 

I was hoping that there would be a possibility of an unrated director's cut dvd hitting shelves later on. We'll see if that happens. Like I said, I'll be sticking by Kassovitz and Diesel considering the fact that my complaints have little to do with either of them. I guess I'll just have to read the book that so inspired Kassovitz in order to find out what was really supposed to be going on.

Fall TV Lineup

I'm a tv person. I read, I watch movies, and I still watch network television. Yep, I have my TV schedule and my shows that I HAVE to watch (because I'm too impatient to wait for DVD for most!). So I get all excited when the new TV schedules for Fall come out. Here's what I'll be watching (new shows and old):

Mondays: Chuck and Samantha Who? Both returning from last season. 

Chuck is a fun and goofy spy show. 

I adore Samantha Who? Christina Applegate plays Sam Newly who suffers from amnesia thanks to getting hit by a car. Turns out Sam wasn't very nice before the accident. As she learns who she was and who she wants to be hilarity ensues. Normally I don't really watch the 30 min sitcoms. I feel like they're just too short. In all honesty, I wish this one were an hour long. I crack up each episode. 

Tuesdays: Fringe and The Mentalist 

JJ Abrams new show, Fringe, tops my list of newbies to check out. Looks a bit like X-Files and I was a big fan of that one.

The Mentalist is one that I'm curious about. I haven't heard much about it, but it looks like a detective show of sorts and stars Simon Baker and Robin Tunney (among others).

Wednesdays: The return of Pushing Daisies, Bones, and CSI NY

Now that I'm caught up on NY and almost caught up on Bones, I'm looking forward to watching them when they actually air.

Daisies was one of my faves from last season and I am very glad to see it return (mad crush on Lee Pace!). 

Thursdays: Ugly Betty, Grey's, and CSI are back (Grey's and CSI are my two fave shows and they do conflict, but thank GOD for ONDemand!). New ones to watch are the US remakes of Eleventh Hour and Life on Mars.

Fridays: New shows Crusoe and The Ex-List look interesting. I don't usually watch tv on Fridays, not sure why.

Saturdays: Another no TV night for me.

Sundays: Desperate Housewives

So of the new ones, there are a few on my list. I try not to get too excited about them anymore, though. The networks (FOX especially) are notorious for canceling before the first season is even up. Joss Whedon's The Dollhouse is also up soon, but not sure when. HBO has TruBlood, which I will have to wait for. And of course there's my reality show lineup with Top Chef and Iron Chef America. New seasons to come.

So now you know just how much of a TV dork I am. No doubt some of these will be recorded and caught up on on boring weekend afternoons when I want to nap! : )

DVD Watch

Friday night, I finally sat down to watch Charlie Bartlett. I was rolling around laughing! If you haven't seen it, add it to your rental queues, it's totally worth it.

Charlie Bartlett (played by Anton Yelchin) is a bit of a troublemaker. First off, he's a pretty damn brilliant kid. His problem is that he wants to be liked. He's willing to do just about anything to get his fellow classmates to be his friends. When his exploits get him kicked out of yet another private school, mom (Hope Davis) decides it's time to try the local public high. Mom's a bit dependent on the help of a prescription happy psychiatrist and after Charlie is beaten up, sends him to ole doc for a talk, which ends in an Rx for Ritalin. Charlie discovers that he really doesn't need the stuff, but in doing so also discovers what ritalin will do to a kid without ADD. He teams up with bully Murphey Bivens (Tyler Hilton) and starts his own little psych business in the boys' bathroom. Of course there's a love interest, Susan Gardner (Kat Dennings), who just happens to be the daughter of over-stressed and under-appreciated Principle Nathan Gardner (played by Robert Downey Jr.) 

Anton Yelchin is fantastic. He starred in the super talked about Alpha Dog (in my rental queue) and the film based on King's Hearts in Atlantis. He can also be seen in the upcoming Star Trek and Terminator movies, as well as director John Stockwell's upcoming Middle of Nowhere. He is cute as can be, even if he is more age appropriate for my sisters, and he's just a great actor. Kat Dennings is another one to watch, she'll be starring in Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist due out later this year. Hope Davis, Charlie's charming mother, is one you should recognize. She also stars in Hearts as well as a little indy film that I particularly liked, The Nines. 

And of course there's Robert Downey, Jr. I'm a convert. Growing up when I did, much of what I had heard about him involved his many battles with addiction and recurring trips to rehab. I have to say that in recent years he seems to have gotten himself back together. I absolutely loved him in Iron Man, and thought he was great as the very overly stressed dad and high school principle in this film. Interestingly enough, he's rumored to be playing Sherlock Holmes in an upcoming Guy Ritchie film based on an also upcoming comic written by one Lionel Wigram.

So, an astoundingly amazing cast, a witty and sarcastically humorous film, over all Charlie Bartlett is a great one to watch!