New Author Challenge

I've decided to participate in the New Author Challenge at Literary Escapism. I tend to get so wrapped up in the series that I love so much that I may be missing out on a lot of great books and authors that are new to me. I'm challenging myself by going for 50 new authors in 2010. I'm not going to include new authors I've read only in anthologies; those are just teasers to me, intended to get me to read the author's novels. Plus it's too confusing for me to keep track of on Goodreads, since I'm not planning to start posting reviews on this site. I'm looking forward to seeing how I do! Check my shelf for this challenge on Goodreads to see how I'm doing.

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Library Loot from February 6, 2010

An excellent haul! I finally got book 30 of the Magic Tree House, but I got so many other great books too. I'm really excited to read Thirteen Orphans by Jane Lindskold. I'm so glad one of my Goodgreads groups chose it; it was on my to-read list for a while and that brought it right to the top.

In addition to the books I'd reserved, I finally was able to consult my favorite librarian about suggestions for my little guy to follow-up on his Magic Tree House obsession. Turns out the childrens' room is dangerous for me, I picked up a ton of books for the kids to try and for myself! It was a good thing I'd taken my large library bag. There were several more books in the pile that aren't represented above because I left them with the kids to try.

It was a manga/graphic novel week, with Buffy Season 8, volume 5 arriving, in addtion to to a few of the Fullmetal Alchemist books recommended by several friends. In addition, I got the first book of the manga version of the Warriors books. I've been wanting to try the series for a long time and it will be interesting to compare the two versions.

All that, plus a book of short stories including a new one from Angela Knight! Add in the new books already on my nook, and I'm facing major "what to read next" stress, my favorite problem to have.

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Library Loot from January 30

 

It was a mixed bag this week. On the one hand, I was very disappointed not to get book 30 of The Magic Tree House series. I've been waiting for weeks and have received books 31-42, but still no 30! It's extra frustrating because book 29, the first Merlin Mission, was really good. The series took a turn from very accurate historical experiences to a story with traditional fantasy elements and adventure. I don't know if the trend will continue, but I want to find out. And "my" little guy is being smug about being so far ahead of me.

On the other hand, I discovered that Timothy Zahn wrote 2 more books in his Quadrail series! My little branch library had a feature wall with current sci-fi and fantasy books and I got both The Magicians and The Domino Pattern off the wall. I was able to buy the 3rd Zahn Quadrail ebook for a reasonable price, but Domino is still $25, so I'm thrilled to have it from the library. Plus I haven't read any sci-fi yet this year, so it will be a nice change of pace.

I was also glad to FINALLY get David Pogue's Twitter book. That was one of the longest waits I've had, which I find pretty interesting in and of itself. So far the book is hilarious; there are some terrifically witty people on Twitter. I was wondering how the book would work, but it's really quite fun to see the often hilarous answers people Tweeted to Pogue's questions. The book is very well done and would be a great gift, even for non-Twitter users.

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