Books For Christmas--A Few Suggestions
December 13, 2011
I've decided, due to a lack of imagination and inspiration, that I'm going to take a break until sometime after Christmas. And after all, the best post for the Holidays is this one, recommending some books to my reader friends. So, I hope you have a terrific Christmas, if that's the holiday of your choice, and I'll get back with you sometime after December 25th. Of course, if you really miss me, I'm always (always) on Facebook, just filling the bandwidth with my pithy observations and trenchant whines.
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!
December 10, 2011
December 10, 2011
Yes, dear friends, I've heard there's a gift-giving extravaganza coming up shortly and because I'm a huge fan of books, and I have some friends who are authors, I'm here to remind you of a few excellent books by friends of mine that I think should be on your Christmas list.
For kids!
What, you say? Isn't this Book 2 in a series? Yes, it is indeed, so perhaps you should buy your middle grader the first book as well, Magickeepers: The Eternal Hourglass. (And yeah, the third book, Magickeepers: The Chalice of Immortality, is available for pre-order).
For Adults!
An Amish cartographer, fabulous treasure, maps, treasure hunt! What more could you ask for? How about international travel?
A couple years old, but you can't go wrong with an Apocalyptic thriller, because nothing says "Happy Holidays!, your relatives are coming over!" like the end of the world! They have a new book coming out in June, The Phoenix Apostles, which, interestingly enough, can be pre-ordered! And isn't that cover cool?
Pocket-47 by Jude Hardin. I've read this one and alas, it's not available until May 2011. But it's awesome and available for pre-order and really, it gets the Mark Terry I'm-Really-Quite-Envious-Of-Your-Book-Cover Award 2010 (For reasons that elude me I couldn't download it, so you're just going to have to click on the link, see for yourself, and while you're there, click on the Pre-Order Button).
And, for the fantasy lover (hmmm, lot of ways to interpret that, I guess), may I humbly recommend the novels of my friend and fellow sanchinka Jim Hines: Globlin Quest, Goblin Hero, Goblin War, The Stepsister Scheme, Red Hood's Revenge, and The Mermaid's Madness.Wickedly subversive.
And under the Not Quite Friends Necessarily But I Recommend These Books Anyway Category (books I read this year that I particularly liked, and in some cases know the writers, at least in passing):
Asteroids off the coast of Maine. Gems. Jungle adventure. International intrigue. A little adventure, a little SF. Highly recommended.
Renamed The Ghost Writer after the film came out (book is better, although the film is surprisingly faithful to the book). Quirky, murky, thought-provoking. This is a political thriller that focuses more on paranoia than action. I loved it.
I'm a fan of Randy Wayne White's Doc Ford novels anyway, but I thought this one was a particularly well-focused and heart-pounding thriller and I ripped through it.
Maybe I just like books about jungle explorers, but this is fascinating, a look back at famed explorer Fawcett, while Grann attempts to follow in his footsteps. Compulsively readable!
I really like Mike Lawson's political thrillers about Joe DeMarco, a gopher/bagman/troubleshooter for the Speaker of the House. Any of his books are good, but this is the latest. Check 'em out!
What can I say, but "Wow!" I'd heard of Gilstrap, but never read anything by him, so I downloaded No Mercy to the Kindle and devoured it on my summer vacation in about two days. Totally action-packed, exciting, and wonderful. I promptly bought his follow-up, Hostage Zero, but haven't read it yet, although I will, I will...
This one totally caught me off guard. A thriller about a team of NTSB plane crash investigators. Rather stomach-churning and I sure as hell wouldn't want to read it just before or during a plane trip, but I loved it. Fascinating and exciting.
The Lost Hero by Rick Riordan (for kids, mostly, although I enjoyed it a lot).
Rick continues the adventures of demigods and Camp Half-Blood with this start of a new series. I'm probably a little bigger fan of his Percy Jackson novels, which are a bit lighter and Percy's first-person narrative is more fun, but this was terrific and it sets up what looks to be a series of really cool novels.
posted by Mark Terry at 6:31 AM
7 Comments:
I offer a hearty 2nd to this list. haven't read them all but the ones I have I agree and I trust your opinion on the others Mark.
Thanks for the mention, Mark. OK, so now I'll pay you all that money I owe you. Happy Holidays!
Yeah, Joe, the check's in the mail. Think I've heard that one before. :)
Thanks, Mark! The Fallen should also be on everyone's Christmas list.
Why yes, yes it should. EVERYONE'S!!!!! I want every man, woman and child on the planet to order a copy of THE FALLEN in the next 2 weeks. Then I can get a sign over my house like McDonald's: 6,000,000,000 Sold!
Ah, some more book suggestions. Thanks. Had you mentioned Impact earlier? I read it earlier this year and can't recall what had brought it to my attention. I know I've read & enjoyed other books you've mentioned (Gilstrap's No Mercy comes to mind, but there have been others).
I'm not sure if having Amazon Prime is a feature or a bug. It certainly makes it easier to order books that pique my curiosity, but it also means I have several (okay, probably closer to ten than five) books around the house that I have yet to find time for.
Mark, I can't recall if you have mentioned Steven Pressfield (author of The Legend of Bagger Vance, Gates of Fire, Tides of War, etc.) or not but I can across his blog this morning and thought you might be interested since many of his entries deal with some of the same topics of marketing books in the current confused market place.
http://www.stevenpressfield.com/2010/12/horror-stories/
Post a Comment
<< Home