daydreaming about books
Well, April was basically my “hiatus” month. I really hadn’t intended it. I thought I would be back a week after the “semi-hiatus,” but nope. Certain circumstances prevented me from having regular access to internet. I honestly was not productive on my time away from it.
Ajax Penumbra 1969 by Robin Sloan
September 1, 2013
Picador
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Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo
From Robin Sloan, author of Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore, the story of Mr. Penumbra’s first trip to San Francisco—and of how he got entangled with the city’s most unusual always-open enterprise…
It is August 1969. The Summer of Love is a fading memory. The streets of San Francisco pulse to the sounds of Led Zeppelin and Marvin Gaye. And of jackhammers: A futuristic pyramid of a skyscraper is rising a few blocks from City Lights bookstore and an unprecedented subway tunnel is being built under the bay. Meanwhile, south of the city, orchards are quickly giving way to a brand-new industry built on silicon.
But young Ajax Penumbra has not arrived in San Francisco looking for free love or a glimpse of the technological future. He is seeking a book—the single surviving copy of the Techne Tycheon, a mysterious volume that has brought and lost great fortune for anyone who has owned it. The last record of the book locates it in the San Francisco of more than a century earlier, and on that scant bit of evidence, Penumbra’s university has dispatched him west to acquire it for their library. After a few weeks of rigorous hunting, Penumbra feels no closer to his goal than when he started. But late one night, after another day of dispiriting dead ends, he stumbles across a 24-hour bookstore, and the possibilities before him expand exponentially . . .
First sentence: “A visitor walks the city, searching.”
Who doesn’t enjoy a story about a book? Ajax Penumbra 1969 is a novella about a man looking for a very specific (and long-lost) book in 1969 San Francisco, where it had last been heard of. This introduces Penumbra, the 24 Hour Bookstore, and the reason Penumbra arrives in SF. I am super pumped up for what is to come in Mr. Penumbra’s 24 Hour Bookstore. It has everything I love — books, history, and sleuthing. Just give me all of it!
I’m sure you’ve seen the state of my blog this month—not a lot there. I haven’t posted things as often as I have like in previous months and I haven’t commented on other people’s blog very much either. You can say I’m having a major blogging and reading slump. Why?
If you don’t see me post in the next week or so, that means I’m in the process of moving and I won’t have internet access for a couple of days until April 22nd (or so).
*tears out hair*
It’s gonna be the worst, but hopefully, unpacking and books will take my mind off the withdrawal symptoms I will exhibit from the lack of internet. I don’t know. It’s not going to go well for me. I can feel it.
While I am gone, look at the two faces I’ve been obsessed over for the past two and a half weeks.
So I bid you adieu for just a few days. To all my friends—
Waiting On is a weekly event, hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we’re eagerly anticipating.
Hexed by Michelle Krys
June 10, 2014
Delacorte Press
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Pre-order: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | The Book Depository
If high school is all about social status, Indigo Blackwood has it made. Sure, her quirky mom owns an occult shop, and a nerd just won’t stop trying to be her friend, but Indie is a popular cheerleader with a football-star boyfriend and a social circle powerful enough to ruin everyone at school. Who wouldn’t want to be her?
Then a guy dies right before her eyes. And the dusty old family Bible her mom is freakishly possessive of is stolen. But it’s when a frustratingly sexy stranger named Bishop enters Indie’s world that she learns her destiny involves a lot more than pom-poms and parties. If she doesn’t get the Bible back, every witch on the planet will die. And that’s seriously bad news for Indie, because according to Bishop, she’s a witch too.
Suddenly forced into a centuries-old war between witches and sorcerers, Indie’s about to uncover the many dark truths about her life—and a future unlike any she ever imagined on top of the cheer pyramid.
Why I’m waiting?
Another witch book! Gimmmmmeeeeeeee.
I love the aspect a “centuries-old war between witches and sorcerers.” I bet the relationship between these two groups is so rich with history. It makes me wonder what’s the cause of the war and the source of their hatred for each other. The bible kind of makes me think of the Book of Shadows and that gets me more pumped for Hexed.
What books are you waiting on?
I love fonts. You can say I’m obsessed with collecting them all. It’s no secret to those who know me. You’re Just My Type is a new feature where I showcase the fonts I absolutely adore and use. And hopefully, you will love the fonts I pick. Add all of them to your font collection! Let it grow!
I don’t think this week’s font post can compare to the epicness of last week’s incredibly beautiful one. Let’s see if I can top that one, yeah?
Designed by Dieter Steffmann
I have a strong affection for gothic-type fonts. I actually wrote a paper about the different kinds of gothic scripts (also known as Blackletter) and its evolution since its first creation. Ever since then, I’ve been utterly fascinated by it. So, gothic letters ftw!
I love the shading of Deutsche Zierschrift. It gives the font a distinctive look. It’s like a modern twist to the old classic gothic letters.
