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[va-vacious]

I devoured Devil in the White City, but could not get into In the Garden of Beasts. :/ However, I bet Larson would be good to hear speak.

[Jen]

I devoured Devil in the White City, but could not get into In the Garden of Beasts. :/ However, I bet Larson would be good to hear speak.

Good to know. So I won't spend the extra couple of bucks to buy it on Kindle vs physical book. I'll try to see if I can find it at HPB.

[MissKitty]

I devoured Devil in the White City, but could not get into In the Garden of Beasts. :/ However, I bet Larson would be good to hear speak.

Good to know. So I won't spend the extra couple of bucks to buy it on Kindle vs physical book. I'll try to see if I can find it at HPB.

It's available for download from the Cincinnati library. That's how I read it - but I think there's quite a wait list.

[trixi]

There are also many available copies of the book sitting on shelves at the various branches :-D

[Bubba McBubba]

Went to the Erik Larson talk at the Hamilton County Public Library yesterday.  There was a quite a turnout--I estimate 200-300 people.  

Larson gave a very entertaining talk.  He probably gives roughly the same talk at each stop on this promotional tour, but he made his presentation feel as if he was talking extemporaneously.  There was also Q&A with the audience, and he allowed far more people to approach the mic than I would have (or that I preferred just as an attendee).

Then there was the book signing, which was well-managed by library personnel.  One person took down your name in advance and wrote it on a post-it so that the spelling would be correct.  She even had the courtesy to laugh when I said to make it out to "eBay buyer".

Larson's generosity even extended to the book signing.  The people immediately before us in line asked him to sign their copy of "Thunderstruck", and I watched as he adorned the title page with helpless stick figures being swept out to sea.  He even added this nice little touch when he signed my copy of "Devil in the White City":




It made for a great event, and he made an incredible impression.  He probably doesn't even have to do a promotional tour like this anymore and yet he went to all this effort to make his fans happy.  I have met a lot of people who were far less famous than Larson and who were extremely rude.  Seems such people should be taking notes from him.

[Ella Minnow Pea]

I wonder if Jasper Fforde is getting any new readers who were expecting something a bit more "adult".

[Bubba McBubba]

Earlier this year, Bloomsbury sent out an open call for proposals for new titles in the 33 1/3 series of books.  My proposal failed to make the first round of cuts announced this past Friday.  Curious if anybody else submitted a proposal (and what it was).

If anybody is interested in what I submitted, click the pic:

[cyclone]

That's awesome that you submitted one, Bubba.  I would have read it.

I also love a few on that list that I wouldn't have expected to see, notably Donuts, Tago Mago and The Meadowlands, which I think would all have an outstanding narrative for the series. I would not, however, be very interested in those repeat artists.  Maybe I'm biased since Low is my favorite Bowie record and the book was so excellent, but seriously, Diamond Dogs?  Same with SMiLE ... even though I guess it could redeem the fact that I didn't think the 33 1/3 Pet Sounds book was very good, I'd rather just have someone pick up Catch a Wave and leave the series to records where the information isn't so readily available.

[lutz]

One intrepid blogger has dismantled 50 Shades of Grey chapter-by-chapter, and it is hilariously brutal.

[c-lando]

Another reason why Tina Fey is my spirit animal...

Entertainment Weekly: Have you looked at Fifty Shades of Grey?
Tina Fey: I picked it up. We were in a bookstore for this movie I'm shooting right now. And I was like, "This is like... no. Not my jam."

[yoshomon]

The Great Second-Half of 2012 Book Preview: http://www.themillions.com/2012/07/most-anticipated-the-great-second-half-2012-book-preview.html/

[Poolio]

One the funniest reviews of Fifty shades of Grey. The use of animated GIFs is inspired.

[Ella Minnow Pea]

Somehow I'd missed (or knew and then forgot), that Fifty Shades started off as Twilight fan fic. Poorly written Twilight fan fic. I still don't know how it was published, much less become a best seller. There are much, much better romance  novels out there.

[Poolio]

Somehow I'd missed (or knew and then forgot), that Fifty Shades started off as Twilight fan fic. Poorly written Twilight fan fic. I still don't know how it was published, much less become a best seller. There are much, much better romance  novels out there.

It was originally published online and sold so well that a legit publisher bought the rights and is making a buttload of cash off of it. Apparently, people are too shy to look up the erotic fiction openly hiding in their public library... the worst of that lot is better written than this trash.

[luisterpaul]

I hadn't been reading that much fiction lately, except at night when I was trying to fall asleep. I just hadn't been all that excited by what I was finding.

But then a friend introduced me to Revelation Space by Alastair Reynolds.

It's fecking awesome. He's created a large-scale, highly inventive saga that is thoroughly engrossing. After finishing it I immediately picked up book two. There are five total, plus a bunch of short stories. I haven't been this excited about a book series in years.