Bookseller Chick

Me in OZ

2009-09-09T17:55:00.001-07:00

A new comic (featuring my very windblown hair) is up at Skidmore Bluffs. The U-Store place, next to 84, definitely has some interesting photo opportunities.

Sony PRS-700 Review: El Segundo

2009-09-05T06:00:00.000-07:00

I’ve had my Sony PRS-700 for over a month now, and in that time I’ve downloaded over 40 plus ebooks. In the same time, I’ve bought around eight paper books. Of those paperback books I bought, almost all were mass market and purchased for the following reasons:

I will want to read them again and again (away from an electronic device that I may not have in the future).
I will want to loan them to friends.
The print version was cheaper than the e version. (Never discount the power of a coupon to push a book browser over the edge to become a book buyer, bookstores.)

Of the 40 some-odd books on my Sony, I’ve read about 46. These 46 books range from the free Harlequin downloads (60^th anniversary love,) to excerpts on authors sites (Courtney Milan,) to books that I picked up due to web discussion (Delilah Marvelle,) to authors I’ve just been interested in reading for quite some time (Naomi Novik.) As a reader I’m much more likely to give an author a chance in ebook form because if I don’t like it, well hey, I can just hit delete.

Unlike other readers I really haven’t had any compatibility issues beyond my basic ignorance of the Sony’s formats. This may be because I’ve got a PC and the Mac peeps have been getting the Sony cold shoulder until recently, or it may be because I refused to read the directions. If you don’t know what you are supposed to do, then you can’t misinterpret right?

My test download was the free pdf of Bettie Sharpe’s Ember. Originally posted in a serialized format, Ember was my first taste of Sharpe’s writing and it was why I eventually picked up her first novel from Samhain to read on my laptop oh so long ago. The pdf format transferred to my Sony no problem, but the font was incredibly tiny upon viewing. Unfortunately increasing the size only destroyed the paragraph formation. Still readable, sure, but also still hard on the eyes. It wasn’t until I downloaded a novel in Adobe ePub that I realized that this was a result of the file format, not the Sony. With the fluidity of ePub format, I was able to use the Sony’s ability to increase text size for my poor eyes without losing the formatting that makes it possible to actually read the story.

From the looks of Sony’s latest press release, it seems I’m not the only one who likes ePub. Sony announced that it will default to ePub as the format of choice for the Sony bookstore and the Sony readers. In an effort to increase market awareness they have also partnered with Independent bookstores, Booksonboard, Net Galley, Powells.com and created a program called Library Finder to hook you up with ebooks from your local library.

Of these partnerships, the ones with Library Finder and Net Galley have me the most excited. One of the worst issues I had with writing book reviews was not the actual writing the review itself, but finding the time to review a book from a publisher when I might have had other books I want to read more. With the Sony the “I don’t have it with me” excuse is gone, and I’m (at least) much more likely to flip it open and start reading when the mood strikes. As for the library partnership? Well, what better way to test drive an author before buying. In this economy I like having some idea about the person’s style before I put money down for paper or a file (…and this is why you should have excerpts on your website.)

As I mentioned in my earlier review, I’ve continued to have issues with the contrast, but I’ve compromised by either turning on more lights in my room, or just reading something in print (if I must read) before going to bed. In rare—stubborn—cases I’ve also increased the font size. I hear that the contrast improves in the 600 (and also possibly in the web connected Reader Daily Edition,) but still suffers due to the touch screen technology.

Which brings me to the reason this test drive has taken place: having tried it, would I buy a Sony?

The answer: I still don’t know. I love the convenience. I love always having a library of books with me without adding more to my already overflowing bookshelves. I love all the new and exciting things Sony is doing. That said, in this last week I maybe picked up the Sony once or twice. Since I’m currently not commuting or running a lot of errands where I’ve got sitting around time, the Sony has been relegated to a break-time or home-time device. Also a lot of books that I’ve been waiting for finally hit the bookstore shelves (in many cases, before the ebook was available.) Since I knew that I would read them again and again, I didn’t mind buying those books in paper. It should be noted that not a single book belonged in the new-to-me-author category. All were discovered via previous books and some, like G.A. Aiken, were authors whose previous books were only available online.

With so many changes going on with Sony—three new ereaders and multiple new partnerships—part of me feels like I should sit back and see how it all goes. What if I buy a 600 and next year its obsolete like the 700 is now? What if I get the Daily Edition despite its high price point only to have its price drop (see: the iPhone) or for its internet access to get restricted or costly (a la Amazon?) And despite all of these great updates, the Sony store remains long to load and odd when it comes to navigation. More and more often I’ve just bypassed it completely and bought from BooksonBoard.

That said, we’ll have to see what happens after I send the Sony back to SB Sarah. I’m sure there will be horrible withdrawals because even if I’m not reading something on it, it doesn’t mean that it’s not available. It’s entirely possible that the absence will not only make my heart grow fonder, but also make me take a good, long look at my checking account balance (or at least my Christmas List.)

Friday Night Links

2009-09-04T17:23:00.000-07:00

For Art History fans, Christopher Moore has been touring the French Art World and giving his interpretation of famous pieces. That and his other french adventures are being covered on his blog. Check it out.

The Social Media for Writers Blog has great advice on how to use Social Media for writers and for publishers (check out the story regarding Chelsea Green and twitter).
Thanks to Midge Raymond for the link.

The Story Siren has a post up regarding Blogging Etiquette. This goes well with the Dear Author column on how to get into book blogging.

Rock Reads, as Flavorwire calls them, were quite popular in our store since we had two booksellers who hand sell the hell out of them. They were all nonfiction though, so it would have been interesting to see how these went over: From Great Jones Street to Garden State: Six Essential Rock Fiction Reads

This makes me smile. I tried taking inventory of what people were reading back when I was on a MAX route, but it mostly consisted of me trying to discern some sort of pattern (a la, the next reading theme will be Asian) or whether or not the books were from my store. This takes it to a whole new (sub) level.

Eric from Pimp My Novel asks "Self-Publishing: Great Idea... or Worst Idea Ever?" I'm not sure I agree with his conclusion because I've seen people who have really made the self publishing model work. It's interesting to note that all of those people have now been picked up by major publishers, but they were also (for the most part) niche books that turned out to have a wider audience than first believed.

Sony PRS-700 Review: The first

2009-09-01T05:00:00.000-07:00

Back in June, I got the wonderful chance to test drive a Sony PRS-700 from the lovely ladies of Smart Bitches, Trashy Books. By partnering with Sony, SB Sarah was able to put 30 refurbished Sonys (both 700s and 505s) into the hands of people who might not have otherwise ~~dropped E~~ picked up an ebook. You can follow all of the Sony adventures and discussions here, the reviews (and the comics) are worth a read through for anyone considering an ebook reader. Below you can find my first Sony review as well as a picture of my Sony getting the harem treatment (Loretta Chase's Don't Tempt Me deals with a former harem girl, don't you know). My follow up post will be coming next week.

* * *

I was waiting for the bus, reading The Virgin Secretary’s Impossible Boss on my Sony 700—finally HPs and I could once again indulge in our secret love!—when the guy next to me leaned over.

“Hey, is that a Kindle?”

Sadly this was not the first time I’ve been asked this question during the test drive, and it wouldn’t be the last. Oh, Sony marketing fail.

“Nope,” I explained, “it’s a Sony PRS-700 ebook reader.”

I showed him the touch screen with its iPod like icons, and I showed him the catalog function. I even did a little demo to illustrate how the touch screen could be used to flip pages with a swipe of the finger.

“Best of all,” I ended my little sales pitch, “it has the ability to operate outside of Amazon!”

“Nice,” he agreed. “Where do you get one?”

Ah, yes, about that. They’re extinct, and it’s pretty hard to convince someone to go Sony when your model is already obsolete. Even as I write this review the 700 is nowhere to be found on the Sony website and the only 505s remaining are the specialized versions. According to reports, in the next several months we’ll see two new Sony models: the 300 and the 600. Both sound like they have advantages over their predecessors—which is good. Although I like the ability to catalogue my books, shop where I want, and the fact that no one can take my books away from me with a click of a button, there are features I hope they improve.

While I’m a fan of the 700’s touch screen, the e-ink technology being used makes the screen far too dark to read on in anything other than direct light. I find myself using the backlight more often than not, just so I can provide enough contrast between the screen and the text to read.

When I first discovered this issue, I got online to see if there was any quick work around, only to find that the best suggestion involved taking the Sony apart. I’m pretty sure that would void my warranty.

Constant use of the backlight in turn wears down my battery so quickly that I find myself taking the 700 to work in order to charge it daily. Why take it to work, you ask? Because the 700 needs between two to four hours to charge. I’m not on my laptop that long on my off work hours, and the 700 cannot receive a charge from the USB port when the computer is asleep.* If I had actually purchased the Sony, instead of just test driving it, I definitely would have broken down and bought an a/c outlet cable. As it is now, I ration** my weekend reading so that the battery will last until my next work day.

With these issues, along with the store’s slow connectivity issues and the basic evil that is DRM, it’s hard to say if the Sony ebook reader is right for me. I’m glad that I got to try out the 700 instead of just buying it, but there is still a great deal of room for improvement. Hopefully the 600 will go a long way towards addressing those concerns, but until I see some reviews I’m not adding it to my Christmas list.

It’s interesting to note, that right after my talk with bus stop boy, my 75 bus showed up. The bus was full of people reading books—paper books—some definitely from the library, others rereads, and some clearly new. The kid I ended up sitting next to though was reading on his iPhone. While he didn’t even glance my Sony’s way, I was tempted to ask him several times what he was reading, and how he liked it.

And I definitely did not mistake his iPhone for a Kindle.

* If only I had realized that right away on the day it arrived. I could have avoided a lot of “Hey, it’s done!” “Oh wait, no.” “But yes!” “But no?” Yes, the Sony and I enacted our own scene of forced seduction. Come to think of it, the USB thingie is kind of phallic looking.

**Rationing, otherwise known as reading books made of dead trees. When participating in said rationing, I highly suggest printing off one of the many, many Borders coupons going around out there and checking out Meredith Duran’s newest.

The Magic of Music

2009-08-31T18:00:00.000-07:00

If you wrote Bobby McFerrin off for "Don't Worry, Be Happy," here's something to change your mind:

And by the by, how cool would it have been to go to this?

Links for Later

2009-08-18T04:00:00.000-07:00

Because god forbid I actually post links when I come across them:

Oh so long ago Flavorwire posted links to book trailers of the artsy variety. Flavorwire is fast becoming one of my favorite daily reads with offbeat reviews. I still need to check out Britten & Brülightly (samples of the illustrations can be found here).

As a follow up to the BSU Tweet Camp, check out these examples of Publishing Professionals using Twitter.

The Greenlight Bookstore is almost on its way, and they're looking for a few good volunteers. If you're in the greater Brooklyn area, you should check them out.

Tales from Tweet Camp

2009-07-08T21:05:00.000-07:00

I believe that Kirk Biglione may well be the Bob Ross of Twitter.* Not only does he have a soothing voice and easy-to-follow style that would make him perfectly suited to Scott Brick’s Share the Experience audiobook contest, but in just an hour’s worth of sessions (spread conveniently over five days) he manages to explain the ins and outs of the Twitter experience in a way that even the newest online member could follow. A good thing, too, because before participating in the beta version Booksquare University’s Tweet camp the only thing I knew about Twitter was that it had a character limit.

Oh, and that people who Twitter were not called twits (apparently some even actually find that insulting).

Broken out into short videos (averaging ten minutes), the BSU Tweet camp explains how to set up your Twitter account, the vocabulary of twitter (hashtags, retweets, and followers), and how to use your Twitter account to promote yourself. Each video, narrated by Kirk, is accompanied by various articles (often written by Booksquare herself, Kassia Krozser) with links to other helpful Twitter related sites. Despite the short length, the videos do everything but tell you when to breathe and the articles follow-up and enlarge upon the concepts related in the videos.

After completing the course, you should be a perfectly proficient tweeter, capable of following conversations and enticing followers of your own. Use it to promote you next book, your website or your business. Use it just to join the conversation. Hell, you’ll use it just to follow the conversation (although that has gotten easier now that Twitter has hyperlinked the hashtags—try #sbtd #sbtd#amazonfail).

Additionally, upon completion, you might learn that tweeting is not your thing; something that I think is just as important. It was after BSU Tweet camp I realized something that has been plaguing me for a long time—I’ve been suffering from computer fatigue. I get home from work and I don’t want to type. I don’t spend as much time on the computer as I used to, and when I am on, it’s usually to read a book. This fatigue transfers to Twitter as well, despite its short character requirements, which is not surprising as I also don’t text. I’m following some very interesting people, and I’ve definitely used my page to follow lit flair ups (Alice Hoffman et al), but beyond posting a few links I don’t have much to add at the moment. That may change now that I’ve started my Sony adventure as part of the Smart Bitches Sony test drive #sbtd

*I believe this to be a compliment, by the way, as I have very pleasant memories from my childhood of Bob teaching me to paint happy little trees.

For you Zombie Vamp lovers: The Strain (book trailer)

2009-06-03T18:08:00.000-07:00

I knew that The Strain by Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan had come out, but I hadn't seen the book trailer.

Nice.

I expect this will transition well to the big screen when they get around to it.

Please (sort of) Steal This Book

2009-03-12T18:37:00.000-07:00

Every time I run across commentary on DRM and ebooks I'm reminded of the xkcd comic on DRM and music. This time it was Smart Bitches column DRM-free publishers that triggered my quick search of the xkcd archives. The idea that readers would want to read something on whatever device the own? Absurd!

Everyone knows those computer thingies will never catch on!

The quote from Elizabeth of Dreamspinner press as it gets to heart of books and readers:

Ultimately happy customers buy more books and the type of reader that seeks out free pirated titles isn’t going to buy them in the first place.

So true. Although the key words here are "free pirated titles." As the SB column goes on to drive home (in both the column and the comments) it's that a lot of people stripping DRM from ebooks are doing so because they've already bought the content but want/have to--for whatever reason--switch it to another device. It's not because they want to send it to everyone in their family or give it to the population of China, they just want to put it on their Sony reader from their Kindle.

Or download it onto their new laptop.

God forbid we would want to reread the book.

It lives...at the library

2009-03-11T18:51:00.001-07:00

Since the move I've been visiting the library a great deal more than I used to and I've been reminded of what a great catalog we have here in Portland. My reasons for library-ing it instead of buying are many-- the proximity, the economy, the fact that I no longer receive free books--but the result is the same:

I'm wait-listed, like everyone else.

It seems the world has rediscovered free:

Check out all the coolness of the most wonderful library comic of all at Unshelved.com.

Too bad a crappy economy means that while circulation is up, the money for library budgets is probably in the tank.

Happy Holidays

2008-12-24T11:15:00.000-08:00

Merry Holidays everyone. We've been in the new house a few weeks, but we just got the kitchen up and there are still no bookshelves (so it feels really, really naked). I'll be back after New Years!

Happy Belated Thanksgiving

2008-11-29T10:31:00.001-08:00

I've been in the process of moving for the last few days so I apologize for the belated Thanksgiving (to all those in the United States, a very, very belated Thanksgiving to all you Canadians, and to everyone else, happy weekend). Between getting the house ready to move into and trying to weed through four years of accumulated stuff, blogging has been the last thing I've had energy for. Once we get internet at the new place though we should be back up and running.

Can’t see the Books for the Trees: A bookstore experience

2008-11-12T17:08:00.000-08:00

I’m hanging out in a bookstore the other day, waiting on a car swap when I happened to overhear a cell phone conversation going on a couple sections over. A woman with serious cell phone voice* was talking to her daughter.

“What table was it on?”

She asked this about three times as she circled some display tables.

“I don’t see it, what was it called again?”

More circling of the tables before wandering into the children’s section.

“Honey, I don’t see any book by that title.”

Back when I was bookselling this would have been my cue to pop over and ask if she needed help finding anything, but as I was no longer bookselling I just continued to eavesdrop as it was obvious that the daughter WANTED THIS BOOK (yes, the caps were necessary).

“Honey, I just don’t see a book called Twilight anywhere. Are you sure that’s the title?”

Suddenly it was all becoming clear—but even clearer then the daughter’s need to read the book all of her friends had was the huge display of Stephanie Meyer’s books on one of the tables the woman had looked at. I’m talking gigantic, with the books in a water fall display down over the side of the table to the floor with Twilight in both paperback editions playing a central part.

“I just don’t see it. You’re going to have to come to the store with me next time and we’ll look then.”

Call it latent bookselling syndrome or whatever, but I couldn’t take it anymore. I grabbed a copy of the trade sized Twilight** off the table and walked over to where the woman was still talking.

“I’m sorry, I don’t mean to interrupt, but I think you’re looking for this.” I held it out to her in a manner—now that I think of it—reminiscent of the book’s cover with its apple. As I walked away I heard her tell her daughter:

“Some girl heard us talking and just found it for me.”

She also handed you the more expensive copy, lady, but bookstores can use all the up-sells they can get right now.

*Cell Phone Voice: the phenomenon where cell phones users voice automatically becomes three decibels louder when they are having a conversation on their phone. Note: Studies have shown that Cell Phone Voice is not necessarily a reflection of the quality of reception the user is experiencing.

**I’m anti Movie Tie in (MTI) covers as for the most part they are ugly. The Twilight MTI cover makes me think that Robert Pattinson is contemplating eating my face.

Happy Halloween: The Great Pumpkin Link edition

2008-10-31T16:30:00.000-07:00

I know that it has been (the living) dead around here lately, for which I apologize for the shallowness of another link post, but in honor of the holiday I wanted to post these links:

In case you were on the fence about buying it, the SF Signal reviews the zombie anthology The Living Dead as well as several other Halloween appropriate books. Somehow I don't think my mustket will protect me...Note to self: Buy crowbar.

In honor of Zombies, how about a little Yuppie Brain Juice from i09. Yum!

While you're having a drink, you can check out Bookgasm's review of Zombie Movies: The Ultimate Guide to plan your movie viewing during los dias de los muertes (which I believe is the name of a very bad zombie movie I saw on the scifi channel not too long ago, but I could be wrong).

Lynda Hilburn investigates "Why do Women love Vampires."

And finally, here's a little treat from the man made for Halloween--Christopher Walken interprets Poe's "The Raven" (via Bookshelves of Doom)

Happy Halloween everyone!

Google me this: Weighing in on the Google Book Search Settlement

2008-10-28T15:32:00.000-07:00

I've been in painting lala land the last several days (someday we will be able to move into the house, I know we will), but this had to be posted. An agreement has been reached in the Google Book Search dispute and you can read the actual settlement here.

The O'Reilly Tools of Change for Publishing blog has a round-up of blogging reactions to the the settlement. If you've got the time, it's worth reading how people are taking the news, and how they think it will impact the future of how we read.

Personanondata, Michael Cairns, has posted his own thoughts as well.

Brave New World refers to it as the Great Book Bank Robbery?

The digitalist coins the word Googlezon in Googlezon: Good or Bad?

Book stripping

2008-10-24T13:27:00.000-07:00

Colleen Lindsay of the Swivet has a link to J. Steven York article (on a bookstore who loved their books so much that they wouldn't strip them for returns) as well as an explanation of the book-stripping.

My own explanation on stripped books (from 2005, yikes!) can be found here.

Entering the SciFi Zone

2008-10-22T10:30:00.000-07:00

The Science Fiction Genre has been a hot topic on the interwebs these last few days. To catch you up:

First we have io9s Why Science Fiction Still Hates Itself--a look at science fiction shows on tv and their attempts to distance themselves from their genre.

Next we have a the SF Signal's response in Fear and Loathing in Science Fiction.

SF Signal follows up with a round up of links and an overview on the Borders' decision not to stock as many Scifi authors and titles in Do You Care if Borders Doesn't Stock All Science Fiction Books?.

Here is my take on the Borders decision: SciFi probably isn't the only section affected. Their new concept stores are based on the idea of fewer titles to allow for more face outs. More face outs means a better chance at that title catching a browser's eye, but it also means there is not as much shelf space for other titles and authors, especially stock that may run one or two books per store.

This doesn't stop people from special ordering a book for in store pick up. I've read that booksellers are saying they can't order the books in, but personally, I read that as booksellers can't order books in to put on the shelves. If you want a Tobias Buckell title, they can special order it for you in the store or you can set it up via their website. If they show a high number of special orders then they might change their mind about a particular title. I could be wrong--I have been before and will be again--and these titles might not show up even on the website, but it is worth a try.

And is there a moratorium against ordering SciFi on all the stores? That depends on the management. If you've got a bookseller who thinks they can really hand-sell a title, it’s up to the manager whether or not they order in the book be it from the warehouse or from Partners West, etc. While big box stores don't specialize to the level of the independents you do have to know your customer base. We were crazy about ordering specifically for our clientele at my old store, and we had the sales numbers to back it up.

Borders is making a business decision, but if a particular store can prove the stock is necessary to not miss out on the business (e.g. you are the Borders in Gregory Frost's home town), then an argument could be made to stock a title or author on a case by case basis. Lord Tophet, for example, is available on the Borders website.

This is not a defense of the Borders decision, so much as a perspective. Do I agree with the decision? Not in the way it has been phrased, a bookstore is there to sell books, and the best bookstores know their customers. As a company Borders has a tendency to forget that by simplifying everything down to price per item, upselling at the register, and other numbers that forget about the very human aspect of bookselling. The best booksellers are people who love books and know how to talk books to other people. The best booksellers have titles that they would walk across hot coals to hand-sell--to convert the non-reader to whatever the bookseller loves.

Measuring the Immeasurable: The Who, What, Why Edition

2008-10-21T12:00:00.000-07:00

more music charts

When I first heard about Internet Explorer's new Incognito Mode, I reaked out. Immediately I emailed all my techie friends with questions like "What does this mean?" and more importantly, "How will I ever get an accurate viewer number from my Google Analytics program now?"

Reactionary? Very much so. Not only was I not posting with any regularity at this moment (nor had I been for some time), but I wasn't looking at the big reader picture. Why should I care whether or not someone is using a version of the Incognito mode to read my blog when there are already many other possible readers I can't quantify?

Google Analytics, as well as any other analytics programs, can only measure hits to my actual web page and therefore cannot measure any syndicated content or people reading via RSS feeds. This means that not only can I not measure any possible readers on JacketFlap or LiveJournal (where this site is syndicated), but I can't "see" anyone using bloglines, Feed Burner, Google Reader or another program. Since I've authorized a full content feed the only reason someone would need to visit my actual URL would be to comment or to view content that doesn't transfer (e.g. Flash content like Sprout is not viewable in Google Reader), and even then the information I receive is negligable as you can see below.

So is there anyway to measure your RSS feed readers?

You can always look on the blog reader sites. A quick search of Google Reader the following information regarding my blog and others.

But whether people are actually reading the content, skimming, or even using the Google Reader account anymore remains to be seen.

You can set up a web bug (a concept I don't really understand in practice) or a bounce page to measure anyone who signs up for you blog through a certain reading device. Still this tells you nothing about who is reading your content and what they would be interested in reading next. Are they readers? Your family? That creepy person who won't leave you alone on Facebook?

In the end, unless you are really looking to make money from your blog (via click throughs on ad content, etc) numbers won't matter as much to you. Instead you should keep the following in mind:

If you are referencing something in the side bar, that side bar will not be visible to anyone using sydicated content, so you'll need to be specific so readers can decide if they want to click though to see it.

If you're just posting flash widgets, let people know, as with Google Reader at least, no one will see it.

If you're using a blog reading device yourself, I would suggest you sign up to follow your own RSS feed. This way you can see how long it takes scheduled content to actually hit your reader* and also to see what (if anything) does not transmit (that's how I found out about flash).

Analytics programs can be addicting if only for the randomness of why someone clicks on your blog,** I know I'm a recovering addict, but as an author don't let your readership drive your content unless it is something you are interested in writing about. Blogging shouldn't be something you dread.

*Edited to add: for example, this post didn't hit my Google Reader until three hours after its scheduled post:

** For the person who keeps searching with the term "the sale of this book without its cover" I can tell you that means the book was stripped and therefore cannot be sold legally.

Hodge Podge Links

2008-10-16T17:00:00.000-07:00

Stephen King talks about what makes "Manfiction," although I know a lot of women who read these books as well.

readergirlz has been celebrating YALSA Teen Read week all week with Night Bites, and tonight they are hosting a fit of fantasy. Go chat with Holly Black, Ted Naifeh, Dia Calhoun and Tamora Pierce at the readergirlz Forum on MySpace.

Wendy the SuperLibrarian has an interesting post up on publishing, the economic crisis and how it is affecting librarians.

For those of you writers who feel that despite being successful you've never done your best, apparently that is a good thing.

Please Pass the Brains

2008-10-16T03:00:00.000-07:00

You may have noticed that the recommendations leading up to this Halloween have been a little Zombified. This is not due to any great love I have for the horror genre in general, but due to a very personal fear I have of zombies specifically.

You see, right up there in the top five things that I fear above else—ranking higher than spiders and abandonment even—resides zombies.

Of all the mythical out-to-get-me creatures, I find zombies to be the most horrifying. Vampires seem like someone you might be able to reason with (or perhaps he’ll spare me due to realizing that I’m the other half of his tortured soul), werewolves can be stopped with bullets (if you shoot them, do they not yelp in pain?), but Zombies are unstoppable unless you whack off their heads and even then its questionable. With no pain censors or thought process to convince them of possible failure they just keep mwaaaaahing along, eventually knocking through walls, crashing through fences or otherwise compromising your safety zone.

Yes, I know they are not real. Fast zombies from 28 Days Later are not going to get me, I should not worry about the possible creation of a Monster Island.

Yes, I know I should worry more about the economy being in the crapper and the possibility of going broke. Even someone breaking into my apartment is a much more likely scenario, but that is not what haunts my Benadryl-fueled nightmares. That is not what lurks in the shadows and follows me down dark streets at night.

Zombies scare the hell out of me, and because they do, I’ve found myself oddly fascinated and unable to turn away from Zombie related literature. I swear, it knows my neuroses and calls to them.

At the store I became the defacto zombie expert because we didn’t have a horror fan working for us at the time, and through this I found David Wellington and Max Brooks before they became the Zombie lit go to guys they are today. And while I don’t sell books any longer, I still seem to be subconsciously on the lookout for Zombie related stuff which may very well tie in to my constant vigilance for actual Zombies.

Part of my sick fascination/fear dichotomy with Zombies has to do with a need to understand the science behind them. If you buy into the idea that they are, in fact, out to eat your brains as opposed to your flesh, then how do they create more Zombies? If the brain has been devoured what’s sending out signals to those jittery body parts to keep them moving in the drive for replacement brain sustenance? If in fact Zombie actually just crave flesh, why do they stop eating the body so that new Zombies arise? Why don’t they eat it all?

Is it like the fact that we don’t the whole pig/chicken/cow?*

And then the little part of me that contains the remnants of my biology degree starts thinking about Zombieism and how it would relate to Creutzfeldt-Jakob, Kuru, and other spongiform encephalopathic diseases. What if the need to eat brain is due to the disease’s need to replace the misfolded prions with untainted nerve matter? If so, wouldn’t that make Zombies much more likely to attack children as nerves cells continue to grow and produce up until a human is seven years old (at least I think that is the age)? And if that is the case, could you treat zombieism as a disease by injecting the infected with nerve cells grown in a lab environment?

Which makes me want to know if this would lead to Republicans finally backing stem cell research as a way to keep their kids from becoming Zombie snacks?

Welcome to my brain. Could I overthink this anymore?

Why, yes, yes I could.

But I’ll keep it to myself and instead provided some more zombie related books and merchandise that will have you craving raw brain (with or without the Chianti and fava beans):

Combine your love of zombies with that of 1950s pin up girls in: The Zombie Pin up Calendar 2009.

Canvas a zombie crime scene with the Zombie CSU.

Check out a youtube video of Max Brooks talking about Zombie Survival.

If you buy into the whole zombieism as a rage disease, then you should browse Scott Sigler's new novel Infected.

Please feel free to add your zombie recommendations and add to my related neuroses below.

*And were we to do a zombie survey, would we discover that humans taste like any or all of the above? Does it matter whether or not the person ate meat?

Thoughts on Site Connectivity...

2008-10-15T06:00:00.000-07:00

Which, if you're interested, you can check out on my guest blog over at Romancing the Blog.

Free Online Young Adult Novel

2008-10-14T17:00:00.000-07:00

John Green's cohort Alan Gratz has posted a free online version of his Young Adult mystery novel, Something Rotten, on his website. This freebie is brought to you by its sequel--the forthcoming Something Wicked--Hamlet and the letters W and S.

More Zombie fun...For Free!

2008-10-13T17:00:00.000-07:00

If you're looking for something a little gory and different check out this very cool looking photo novel called Night Zero (thanks to Skidmore Bluffs for recommendation). I don't know how often the artist/writer posts, but Zombie-esque disease taking out most of Seattle and the rest of the world looks to be keeping with the Halloween spirit.

Just in time for Halloween

2008-10-07T12:00:00.000-07:00

Available through PartnersWest.

In Honor of Halloween: Zombies and links

The Zombie Apocalpyse...in Legos because Lego Zombies really were the final frontier. While you're hanging at i09 you can also figure out if you'll survive a real zombie apocalpse (because while you definitely be able to out run the legos, books and movies in recent years have let me to believe that the real things are a bit faster.

Free books, Books for the presidential campaign and more

2008-10-07T11:28:00.000-07:00

Huh, I thought I had posted this a long time ago (read: a week), but just discovered it my drafts folder. Ah, well, here you go:

In honor of the election season, any indecision you may have can be laid to rest by checking out "6 Schience Fiction Classics to Help You Choose the Next President"

For book lovers everywhere, you can check out "Interesting Inscriptions" from famous writers at Abe Books.

Cory Doctorow is offering up his newest book Content for free. Unlike his other works, this is filled with the nonficiton pieces he's written over the years. What's even better is that readers have created different formats of the book which are all available at his site. Go,Read!