bookshelf

Because of the little girl, I've been spending more and more bookstore time in the young readers' section, and without doubt it is best section of the store. I spend my time fondly looking at Le Guin's Earthsea, Lewis' Narnia stories, plus all the classics and fairy tales, and I'm happy. When Sage learns to read, I doubt she'll ever lack for a book.

One of new treasured finds is The Bears' Famous Invasion of Sicily
by Dino Buzzati, with an introduction by Lemony Snicket (Daniel Handler).

"One terrible winter, King Leander leads his troop of bears down the mountains of Sicily in search of food. Along their treacherous and sometimes heartbreaking journey, the bears encounter an army of wild boars, a wily professor who may or may not be a magician, ghosts, snarling Marmoset the Cat, and, worst of all, treachery within their own ranks."

How can I resist? Vin got one too. I wish I had all the money to buy all the books I want, but it just isn't possible. Damn you, cash flow!

Thanks to Charles, I've added Lucius Shepard's Barnacle Bill the Spacer and Other Stories to my reading list. Nikki saw the volume of short stories and asked me if I really liked Shepard that much, because I haven't even finished my other Shepard collection.

"Well, honestly, so far it's more like a Brussel Sprouts experience," I told her. I know he's good for me, but so far I need to force feed myself, which will sound heretical to some of his devoted readers (wink, wink). I don't know. Maybe I'm just not in the right frame of mind or I'm not reading the right stories. Or something.

Comic book trades were aplenty last week - Blue Monday: Painted Moon; Batman: War Games, Act Two; my missing Essential X-Men Volume 2 (including the seminal Dark Phoenix Saga, Days of Future Past story and Kitty Pride's intro - yes, I'm a hardcore Claremont/Byrne reader); but the best read was Grant Morrison's We3, starring a cybernetic trio comprising of a dog, a cat and a rabbit. Among the pamphlets, Gail Simone's Villains United was a bit of a thrill.