SBD: a mish mash of things

Beth hasn't said it's time for SBD, but I'm going to share anyway.

First, on cover art.  While browsing at the bookstore over the weekend, two covers struck me but for entirely different reasons.  Kevin J. Anderson's book, The Edge of the World, was face out in the SF/F section, and it caught my eye because the cover art reminded me of the covers used for Naomi Novik's Temeraire series.  The blurb reads entirely as fantasy, with no sort of AU mix of dragons with "real" history like Temeraire, but I'm kind of curious now.  Is the Temeraire artwork derivative of the cover art of earlier fantasy books?  Or has the popularity of that series now seen as a hook for other series?

And the other cover that caught my eye?  A paperback edition of Kelley Armstrong's Industrial Magic; I'm not sure when this cover art surfaced, but it's definitely not the original.  Frankly, the black and white checkerboard effect made it hard for me to focus and would NOT have moved me to buy a copy.  (Although, to be honest, I wasn't in the market for this particular book since I have a copy with the original cover art, purchased back in 2004 when the book was first released.)

Second, on two books that failed the bookstore skim.  You know, reading a chapter or two to see if the book is worth the cover price before you get it home and realize its a clunker.  Shadows at Midnight by Elizabeth Jennings seemed promising:  romantic suspense but with a heroine who seemed to have it together in the back blurb.  Did she?  I'll never know.  The prologue was in the hero's POV and he came across like a misogynist ass:  he had a very low opinion of women, generally, based on military bar groupies and presumably something that prompted an internal monologue about military wives cheating on their men who are away defending their country.  Because military men don't cheat?  Whatever.  Next.

Sebastian Junger's War...okay, I get that when a journalist is embedded with a platoon, journalistic impartiality usually disappears based on familiarity and all. The first couple of chapters read like an explanation or justification for American blunders and/or failures in Afghanistan, and as I read them, I wondered if Junger (or anyone in the upper ranks of the platoon) had done even the smallest amount of research on the history, sociology and geography of the Korengal valley before, you know, deploying there.  (In the interest of full disclosure, I thought the documentary, Restrepo, which was filmed during the embedding, was much more interesting and nuanced than the book or what little I read of it.)

Thirdly, I really enjoyed Josh Lanyon's Fair Game and K.A. Mitchell's Life, Over Easy.  

And lastly, J.A. Konrath seems to label drop in his Jack Daniels series as much as J.R. Ward does in her Black Dagger Brotherhood series.  Did it really matter what kind of pants Jack wore?  They were a bit of a surprise in comparison to her 1986 Nova, but maybe the point is to demonstrate her quirks and individuality?  I enjoyed Rusty Nail, the third book of the series, and think it stands well on its own since I read it after only reading the first book, skipping the second.  Why skip the second? Convenience only:  a hardback edition of Rusty Nail happened to be remaindered and I got a copy a few weeks ago for $2. I can't resist a book bargain like that.

Let's see, what else is new on the reading front?  Um, not sure.  I'm still contemplating Ilona Andrews' Magic Bleeds and do mean to write about it sooner or later, probably later.

Blah blah blah

Today was my last visit to the orthodontist.  Teeth are in good alignment, no need to go back unless I lose my retainer, which (as usual) I'll have to wear perpetually.

After running errands today, I stopped at Chick-Fil-A -- it's my usual reward, sweet tea and waffle fries, after getting all my errands run.  The restaurant was PACKED.  Were they giving away food, I wondered?  Essentially.  Bring your receipt in next week and make a purchase and get the same meal on your old receipt for free.

Organized two packages to take to the post office.  Photos, gifts, etc., to The Biochemist and The Chemist.  A couple books for jperceval .  I missed my local post office's hours, so they'll be mailed tomorrow, along with my bar dues and payment for the beach house next month. \o/

The Boy Uncle stopped by on Sunday on the way to pick up Young Aunt at the airport.  He wanted to talk to me about the house and make sure I didn't feel forced to be interested.  No.  And I have a checklist and benchmarks, so I won't made a bad decision based on sentiment.  But my timetable has been accelerated because Flaky Aunt has made noises about squatting there as she breaks up with yet another guy who won't support her in the manner in which she believes she's entitled.  Flaky Aunt is the equivalent of Blanche Dubois in many, many ways.

( Tennis ogling last week )