This week’s theme is apparently “Books I Do Not Know Anything About.” But that’s okay, because sometimes it’s the books I go into blindly that end up being the awesomest! (She said, optimistically.)

Shadow Show, ed. by Sam Weller. Well, so, first of all, who can resist that cover? Very cool. Second of all, who can resist the call of Ray Bradbury? Not these authors, apparently, and since I love me some Atwood, Gaiman, and Niffenegger, I can’t imagine I’m not going to have a fun time with this collection. And it’s a perfect read for RIP! Isn’t serendipity wonderful?

Cloud Atlas, by David Mitchell. I think I had vaguely heard of this novel when it came out, but I had no interest in it at the time. Then I saw a blurb about the upcoming movie in an Entertainment Weekly I had bought to stave of airport boredom, and the movie looked kind of weird and not like something I would really want to see. But then I saw that the book apparently goes back and forth between time and narrator and I was like, oh, reeeaally? I am such a sucker for that, and I’m more willing to put up with weird in books than movies, so I guess I can give this one a try!

The Prisoner of Heaven, by Carlos Ruiz Zafón. Okay, seriously, I can’t tell you anything about this one, except that I loved Ruiz Zafón’s The Shadow of the Wind and thought The Angel’s Game was pretty okay, and so therefore I am reading this one. Okay, let me cheat and go look up a summary… aha! Our friend Daniel from the first novel is back in his rightful spot as protagonist, and I am promised a “mysterious stranger” and a “dangerous adventure.” Well, that settles that.

What are you guys waiting for this week?

Wow, I feel like I haven’t been around here in ages! I just got back from a fantastic tiny-cruise-ship vacation to Glacier Bay in Alaska, which I must say I highly recommend, largely because I was too busy having fun to get any reading done. Weeeellllll, okay, I did read quite a bit, but it was in The Stand, so even though I read like 500 pages I am far from finishing that one. 🙂

But mostly I was doing this:

No big.

Anyway, my point is that when I got back to the library there were tons of new books to put on hold, and so I did just that! Here is a sampling of interesting things:

The Investigation, by Philippe Claudel. Well, so, first, that cover! So cool. And then there was the description, which sounds incredibly boring: “The Investigator is a man quite like any other. He is balding, of medium build, dresses conservatively—in short, he is unremarkable in every way. … The Investigator’s train is delayed, and when he finally arrives, there’s no one to pick him up at the station. It is alternating rain and snow, it’s getting late, and there are no taxis to be seen.” Are you yawning yet? But the book jacket also promises me something akin to Kafka, Beckett, and Huxley, so I’m pretty sure that tedium is going to lead to something quite intriguing.

The Other Woman’s House, by Sophie Hannah. I feel like I’ve heard of Sophie Hannah before, and I feel like whatever I heard of her made me not want to read her stuff. If that’s the case, don’t tell me, because this book sounds really interesting and I’d like to give it a fair shot. In this one, some lady is browsing real estate listings when she comes across an image of a horribly dead person in one of the houses. But when she tries to show someone else the picture, it’s mysteriously devoid of dead body. What the what?? Tell me more!

Other Worlds Than These, by John Joseph Adams. I love me some parallel world stories, and someday I am going to read another short story collection — hey, maybe it’ll be this one! I love the theme, and I am intrigued to see what these authors have to offer. I obviously enjoy me some Stephen King, but I’m more excited about the authors I’ve been meaning to get around to reading but haven’t: George R.R. Martin, Ursula K. LeGuin, Catherynne M. Valente.

What books or kayaking adventures are you looking forward to this week?

Okay, none of these are technically from this week, because there haven’t been a lot of books coming through cataloging lately and also I’ve been busy reading actual books, what? Craziness.

Redshirts, by John Scalzi. This is one from a while ago that I thought I’d have devoured by now, but it hasn’t even been delivered to my library yet so who knows. I actually had a dream the other night that I bought the book when I found it unexpectedly in paperback (I love me some trade paperbacks), and was a little disappointed when I woke up! Why do I want this one? Well, it’s John Scalzi, whom I love for Zoe’s Tale and the rest of the Old Man’s War series, doing a parody of Star Trek and its friends. Red shirts, people, what could possibly go wrong?

Blackbirds, by Chuck Wendig. Just look at that cover! It’s so pretty! Also, the plot — there’s a girl who can see how people die, and she meets a dude whose death is gruesome and murder-ful and while he’s dying he’s calling her name. She’s all whatever about other people dying, but when she might be the next victim, she starts to care a bit.

Gone Girl, by Gillian Flynn. So I read Flynn’s first novel, Sharp Objects, a couple years back, and it was icky and gross and weird and I didn’t particularly like it. But I did like the writing, and I was willing to give her another chance (though I never did), and I’ve heard so many good things about this book from people I trust that I guess it’s time to hang out with Flynn again.

What are you guys waiting on?

I have this pile of books in my house and I don’t even want to read anything out of it. I mean, I do, but not enough to actually pick up a book and open it. I need an exciting book in my life… perhaps one of these will do?

Broken Harbor, by Tana French. Seriously, is it the end of June yet? I absolutely loved French’s books, and though I was underwhelmed by the third because of its different tone, I am more than willing to give French another chance. If you haven’t read any of French’s previous books, you’re in luck, as this “series” is more a collection of standalone books with common characters, so you’ll be coming into the book with about as much knowledge as anyone else.

The Man from Primrose Lane, by James Renner. I actually put this on hold a while ago, but apparently I never mentioned it! I saw this cover and I was like, hmmm, interesting, okay, but then I saw that this book is set in my beloved Northeast Ohio and it was over, I was sold. Well, okay, it also helped that it’s a mystery and apparently a bit sci-fi as well, and that the title character is apparently a man who wears mittens all the time. You know I like a weirdo.

This Is How, by Augusten Burroughs. I know next to nothing about Augusten Burroughs, but Amazon’s Omnivoracious blog had a few “Ask Augusten” columns by him last month and the answers he gave were highly amusing and useful. So when This is How ended up in my hands for cataloging, I was like, fine, universe, I’ll read this book. Eventually.

What are you guys waiting on?

I say this week, but I really mean “at some point since the last time I did this.” You know how it goes. 🙂

Dead Harvest, by Chris Holm. I absolutely loved the cover on this one, which is all fancy and retro and cool. And then it had an awesome back-cover description about a guy what collects souls and takes them to Hell, except for this one time when he’s like, how about not this girl? The jacket doesn’t say, but I’m guessing this involves a little bit of running and adventure and badassery. We shall see!

Imagine, by Jonah Lehrer. I read another one of Lehrer’s books a couple years ago, and I found it pretty interesting if repetitive. I imagine (ha!) this book will go the same way, but I’m intrigued to learn more about creativity and imagination and chemist bartenders and autistic surfers.

Let’s Pretend This Never Happened, by Jenny Lawson. I probably could have read this book already if I hadn’t put myself on the audiobook list, but like many humorous memoirs before it, I feel the need to hold out for the author-read version. I am continually amused by Lawson’s blog, The Bloggess, so I’m pretty sure I’m going to adore this.

What are you guys waiting on this week?

I have too many things on hold. I’ve had to actually wait for books to come in so that I can free up space on my holds list! (I definitely didn’t add a few things surreptitiously using my override code…) This is good, though, since I was running out of things to read at home. Well, where “running out of” means “only having several.” Look, I’m just going to stop contradicting myself and tell you what cool books I’ve found recently.

Wild Thing, by Josh Bazell. Well, I mean, really, I had to. I rather enjoyed his first novel, Beat the Reaper, and this second novel once again follows the erstwhile Pietro Brnwa and I have got to see what happens to him next. This one promises a “sexy paleontologist,” which, blech, but with any luck we’ll see her tearing out someone’s, um, lower-leg bone (tibia? fibula? I never took A&P shutup). And if you don’t know what I’m talking about go read Beat the Reaper right now. You probably won’t be disappointed.

Girlchild, by Tupelo Hassman. I may have been ready to sneak this one onto the order list for my academic library if my public library didn’t hurry up and add it to theirs. We’ll never know, because they did and now it’s on my holds list. I have basically no idea what this book is about, but I do know that the protagonist is a girl who keeps checking the Girl Scout handbook out of the library and as a lifetime member of that wonderful organization you know I’m intrigued. It’s also apparently about class and overcoming adversity but blah blah whatever Girl Scouts rule!

The Gone-Away World, by Nick Harkaway. This is another book I don’t know much about, but I have heard so many good things about Harkaway’s new book that’s coming out, Angelmaker, and even though I’m pretty sure they have nothing to do with one another I’m still compelled to read the first book first. It’s a disease, I know. Besides, I just looked it up and The Gone-Away World promises “love, pirates, mimes, greed, and ninjas.” I’m in.