Bookstore splurges

So, while I was in Ontario last month (you remember the 10-day blog blackout?) I did get a chance to take a run into Toronto and visit a couple of my favourite specialty bookstores.

The trip started with a visit to Canada’s leading mystery bookstore, The Sleuth of Baker Street, where I primarily was looking for new authors. I then went on to Bakka-Phoenix, the storied Toronto F/SF shop (which has come back from the dead enough times now to really justify the name), and actually scared the clerk a little bit with the pile I built up.

Most of what I bought was MMPB or trade, since my dedication to independent stores doesn’t extend to ignoring the 30-40% discounts that Amazon.ca will give me off of new hardcovers. For interest’s sake I also include the details of my latest Amazon shipment, which is almost entirely made up of those new HCs at the big discount.

These aren’t lists I’ve designed to show you how clever or trendy I am–they’re the actual lists of three purchases, and they include both Really, Really Good ™ books, and books that I read in between Really, Really Good ™ books. Don’t judge me too harshly.

And now… the details

Sleuth of Baker Street

Boiling A Frog – Christopher Brookmyre

I had earlier accidentally run into both Sacred Art of Stealing and A Big Boy Did It and Ran Away, and enjoyed both of them. Violent mayhem and sharp satire–the books struck me in some senses as very British, but not in any kind of stuffy country house way. Consequently, I am now on the lookout for earlier books to fill in the collection. When I saw this one, which I have heard is the most cuttingly satiric of all, I had to pick it up.

Chemical Prison – Barbara Nadel

One broad category of mystery that I generally enjoy is the “exotic”–the mystery where much of the appeal comes from the setting; the most distant from our day-to-day existence the better, the more evocatively rendered the better. For some people, if the setting is painted lushly enough that can satisfy them even without anything else in the book–me, I need there to also be characters that interest me, but I can forgive a lot of plot failings if the setting and characters are both there.

I’m told that Nadel is an excellent example of the exotic, taking readers into modern Istanbul (not Constantinople!), with compelling characters and at least decent plots. Apparently this one is actually the second in a series featuring the same Turkish policeman, and they didn’t have the first in stock, but I figured I would pick it up anyway since I’ve rarely seen it on the shelf. I’ll probably have to order and read the first one before I get to this.

Drama City – George Pelecanos

I was introduced to Pelecanos when he was cited by Dennis Lehane as the best American mystery writer. On the basis of that comment, I tracked down some Pelecanos books and I have loved every one of them. Apparently this one is the start of a new series, although I suspect there will be some familiar characters lurking around the edges.

Immoral – Brian Freeman

I admit to knowing nothing about this one except that it is set in Duluth, which appeals to me for some reason, and that it was on the STAFF RECOMMENDS table at the Sleuth. (There’s that whole “find some new authors” experiment at work.)

The Iron Hand of Mars, Poseidon’s Gold – Lindsey Davis

One subcategory of the “exotic” that I seem to particularly enjoy for some reason is that of the mystery set in Classical Rome. In this area, Davis comes third after both Saylor and Roberts (who is #1 and who is #2 changes depending on my mood), but since I’ve run out of books by both of them, I’m working my way through the Davis now.

The big chains only seem to stock the first couple, and the latest couple, which makes running into some mid-series volumes actually on the shelf a nice bonus. Yay for niche stores!

The Last Kashmiri Rose – Barbara Cleverly

This is another exotic, set in India towards the end of the Raj. It was also on the recommended shelf, and was a prize winning debut novel. I actually read this one in the hotel on the way home–it was not terribly well-written, but the local colour stuff was interesting. I don’t see myself picking up the other two books in the series.

A Small Death In Lisbon – Robert Wilson

I quite like Wilson, and actually had this book in mass market paperback. This was just a trade up on something I wanted to have in hard cover.

Tainted Blood – Arnaldur Indridason

Another exotic from the recommended shelf. I hoping for something as good as Hoeg.

To Kingdom Come – Will Thomas

I had read Thomas’ earlier Some Danger Involved and dug that, so I decided to spring for his latest.

The Touch Of Ghosts – John Rickards

Another blind leap of faith from the recommended shelf.

Trial Of Passion – William Deverell

Recommended shelf. Canadian courtroom drama by author who has history as both lawyer and journalist. Seemed worth a shot.

Bakka-Phoenix

Use of Weapons, State of the Art – Iain Banks

I love Iain Banks, and am slowly making my way through the Culture novels. These two were next on my list.

Agent of the Terran Empire, Flandry Of Terra – Poul Anderson

I actually got all three of the iBooks Flandry trade paperbacks, but Amazon isn’t being helpful in showing them all to me. I always liked Anderson‘s Flandry stories (and the van Rijn ones too), and these are nice editions.

The Emperor of Gondwanaland: And Other Stories – Paul Di Filippo

I’ve always liked Di Filippo‘s short fiction. Screw you comic book geeks who are complaining that he’s not Alan Moore. No one is Alan Moore, possibly not even Alan Moore. Get over it.

Carpe Demon: Adventures of a Demon-Hunting Soccer Mom – Julie Kenner

I have no idea why I was compelled to buy this. I suspect it’s because I want to mock it later, but maybe it will surprise me and actually be good.

Night Watch: a Long-Lost Adventure in Which Sherlock Holmes Meets Father Brown – Stephen Kendrick

I have read a lot of post-Doyle Holmes stuff, including the ones where he takes on Dracula, and generally they’re kind of fun. I haven’t seen any other post-Chesterton Father Brown, though, so that should be interesting.

A Hunger in the Soul – Mike Resnick

Resnick drops all pretense and writes an actual safari SF novel? Sure, I’ll read that.

Looking for Jake – China Mieville

I’ve been a Mieville fan since Perdido Street Station (King Rat didn’t convince me, it was OK, but the deal wasn’t sealed until Perdido Street. Now we’ll see if I like his short stuff as much as his novel-length work.

Country of the Blind – Christopher Brookmyre

See the comment on my Brookmyre purchase at the Sleuth.

Crash Deluxe – Marianne De Pierres

You don’t often see Australian SF on the shelf, and when you do it doesn’t often look like Modesty Blaise crashed into the future. I had to know. Apparently this is #3 in a series, so if it’s fun I can backtrack.

Permutation City – Greg Egan

I like Egan. His writing includes science and ideas that both make my head hurt in the good way.

Paths Not Taken – Simon Green

I’ve been reading this series (the “Nightside” books) as airplane and hotel books, and enjoying them in that capacity. It’s kind of like Hellblazer meets Cabal thing. And any one of the books is just about the right size for a short haul flight.

Amazon.ca

Flashman on the March – George MacDonald Fraser

I’ve been a fan of Flash Harry for years, and while I had a little problem with the fiction versus history thing in the last book, I’m still here for the new one.

Crossing the Line – Karen Traviss

After enjoying City of Pearl, I thought I better pick the new book up. Oddly this paperback doesn’t seem to be carried by Chapters, at least not any of the ones in the Halifax area–but they all have City of Pearl. Oh well, Amazon delivered it easily enough.

Tumbling After – Paul Witcover

This one I bought on the strength of Witcover‘s previous Waking Beauty. If the previous one is Snow White, then I guess this one is Jack and Jill, but that’s kind of like saying MacBeth is play about a soldier with ambition. I’m pretty excited to read this one, and I’m quite taken by the cover.

Also, check out this interview between Witcover and brilliant writer Jeffrey Ford.

The Power of the Dog – Don Winslow

This is another book purchased on the stength of previous books that I’ve enjoyed. In Winslow’s case it was California Fire and Life most recently, but also the 5 Neal Carey mysteries (A Cool Breeze on the Underground, The Trail to Buddha’s Mirror, Way Down on the High Lonely, A Long Walk Up the Water Slide, While Drowning in the Desert), and to a lesser extent the Death and Life of Bobby Z: a Novel. If you Google ‘Don Winslow’, by the way, you may find a different author entirely.

Dead Run – P. J. Tracy

Again, this is a book purchased on the strength of previous works. In this case it was the software company murder mystery Monkeewrench and the followup Live Bait. I’m a sucker for mysteries that involve software-types, and for thrillers set in Minnesota, so…

Coyote Rising – Allen Steele

The third Coyote book. I’ve been following Steele since he was writing about Orbital Decayblue collar, Grateful Dead-listening, construction workers in orbit.

Academ’s Fury – Jim Butcher

Author of the Harry Dresden novels, which nicely fill in the wait between Garrett books from Glen Cook, is trying his hand at some more ‘high fantasy’ fantasy. I figure I’ll give it a try–the Dresden books usually amuse me.

Accelerando – Charles Stross

You have to have read this to be part of the discussion amongst the SFnal. I like the ideas, but as is usual for me and Stross, find the characters flat. Also, the sex fetish future stuff feels oddly tacked on to me.

Dead Beat – Jim Butcher

You know those Dresden books I was talking about a paragraph or two ago. Here’s the latest one.

The Right Madness – James Crumley

Crumley is one of my favorite noir writers, and he’s one of the few who can write modern noir that is also funny, without losing the noir edge. Start with The Wrong Case, and if you don’t really love it then you have no sense.

It’s been a long time since he had a new book, and I am jonesing to read this.

The Limits of Enchantment – Graham Joyce

I have read everything Graham Joyce has ever published, and none of them have been less than excellent. He’s a great reader too, but don’t confuse his accent–Midlands–with an Aussie or Kiwi accent; he hates that.

Migration – Julie Czerneda

Second book in the third series I’ve read of Czerneda‘s. All have been pretty good SF, and of course I need to support Czerneda as a Canadian genre author.

Smoke and Mirrors – Tanya Huff

This is Huff’s sixth vampire book, and since the rest of them were decent reads, I through I should get this one. They’re all set in Canada (four in Toronto, two in B.C.), and this one kind of makes fun of Forever Knight, and Huff is a Canadian writer, all pluses. I probably should have bought this one at Bakka, since Huff used to work there.

Now I would like a third book in Huff’s military SF series. I am always a fan of well-written non-com viewpoint military fiction, and having it set in a well-developed SF milieu is even better.

Dragon and Slave – Timothy Zahn

You have no idea how sad it makes me that the number of people who know Zahn as a Star Wars writer is a couple of orders of magnitude bigger than the number of people who know his original work. I first encountered him reading Spinneret in serialized form in Analog, and I’ve read at least a dozen of his books since then (all original, no media tie-ins), and enjoyed them all.

This one is the third in a YA series that’s pretty fun. Not top tier YA like Stroud or Westerfeld, but pretty good.

The Tyranny of the Night – Glen Cook

With the exception of that one Garrett book with the aliens, I’ve enjoyed everything I’ve read by Cook, and this one promises to be interesting.

Someone Comes to Town, Someone Leaves Town – Cory Doctorow

Both of Cory’s preceding books were decent reads–again, not as great as all the hype, but decent, and the synopsis stuff I’ve heard about this one makes me think it will be more to my tastes.

Besides, I’ve got to support Canadian writers. I probably should have bought this one at Bakka since Cory used to work there.

The Hidden Family – Charles Stross

This one I’ve already read, since it’s really just the second half of the earlier book–a practice that really annoys me, although I understand why Tor did it. As I said higher up–decent ideas (in this case it’s Amber with more focus on some rudimentary economics) but the characters are pretty flat. I’m stunned to read people who think that the lead character here is a fully realized, and powerful female since I read her as a collection of nerd/tech tics.

I’ll still buy the next one, though, since the plot is keeping me interested and I really did fully enjoy The Atrocity Archives.

Bangkok Tattoo – John Burdett

Another “exotic”. I got a lot of pleasure out of the previous book, Bangkok 8, (here’s a good review) which managed to combine a decent mystery with the exotic setting, and some real alien culture stuff. (Burdett does a better job showing me someone who really thinks from different bases than I do than most SF writers do writing non-humans.)

Also, the reviews of this one were good, and he sounds good in interviews.

Two Trains Running – Andrew Vachss

I like Vachss’ Burke books–the early ones more than the later ones, as they get kind of cartoony later on. This one sounds pretty cool though, and I put a lot of weight in Kleffel’s opinion. (Rick also has a great interview with Vachss.)

I recently heard this anecdote in the course of an argument about whether Vachss or Ellroy was “harder”. (I don’t think it’s a question personally–Ellroy may be more twisted, but Vachss could destroy him with one eye shut, as ’twere):

“Vacchs and Ellroy are mates, and years ago, Vacchs arranged for Ellroy to interview a convict for some research.

Ellroy came out of it totally white-faced and freaked.

‘Poor James,’ laughed Vacchs. ‘He just met his first real psychopath.'”

Godplayers – Damien Broderick

This one is a purchase made entirely on the basis of how much I liked Transcension. If I like this one as well, I’ll be buying up a whole passel of other Broderick books.