Reviews - Fiction

Book Finds - July 2024 /  by Todd Henson

Book finds in July 2024

The last Saturday of July my father and I went for a drive and one of our stops was the Green Valley Book Fair in Mount Crawford, Virginia. We usually stop there several times a year and have been for many, many years. Given that it’s been almost a year since I shared any book finds, I figured it was as good a time as any.

On that particular day they were also hosting a craft fair with many local vendors set up in the field beside their building and it was interesting seeing all they had for sale. Regarding books, I’d expected to pick up one or two but, as you can see from the photo, I ended up finding more than I’d expected. Granted, I picked up a couple of the books elsewhere but I don’t think I’ve mentioned them so decided to include them here.

Go Set a Watchman by Harper Lee

I picked this up earlier in the year during a previous visit to the book fair. To Kill a Mockingbird had such an impact on me that I very much want to try the only other book by this author. Very interestingly, To Kill a Mockingbird was first published in 1960 and Go Set a Watchman wasn’t published until 2015, approximately seven months before the death of the author. It seems to have been marketed as a sequel to the first book because it takes place two decades later, and yet it was written before the first book, reportedly as the first draft for what would become To Kill a Mockingbird.

Antimatter Blues by Edward Ashton

I read Mickey7, a sci-fi novel about clones and colonization, back in 2022 and had a great time with it. I look forward to trying this sequel. And I love the cover art.

Starling House by Alix E. Harrow

Here’s another book I purchased because of a previous read. I absolutely loved the author’s The Ten Thousand Doors of January, and I’ve been hoping to try Starling House since it was published last year. Now I can do so with a physical copy.

The Mantis by Kotaro Isaka

I enjoy trying translated novels so I decided to pick up a copy of The Mantis. I’m a little concerned because it’s the third book of a trilogy, but it’s described as a loose trilogy so I’m hopeful it’ll work. The book is described as a thriller set in Tokyo’s criminal underground and is about a family man trying to hide his secret life as a hitman.

The Three-Body Problem by Cixin Liu

So many folks have praised this science fiction book and series that I’ve been hoping to try it since it was first translated to English by Ken Liu, another well know author. I’ve already collected the series as ebooks but it’s always nice to read a physical copy.

Imperium by Ryszard Kapuściński

I found Imperium in one of the many little free libraries scattered around, where folks can take a book for free and are encouraged to leave a book, as well. This is non-fiction, a bit of history, written by a Polish author, it tells of the life and death of the Soviet Union, detailing his experiences and observations from his travels through that part of the world. I’d been unfamiliar with the author but the topic sounded fascinating.

Bookshops & Bonedust by Travis Baldree

This one is a prequel to Legends & Lattes, a fantasy that fits into the growing sub-genre sometimes called cozy fantasy. I thoroughly enjoyed Legends & Lattes, such an unusual concept for a fantasy novel, with a retired adventurer just trying to settle down and open a coffee shop. This one seems to involve bookshops and that sounds good to me.

The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires by Grady Hendrix

This came out back in 2020 and I loved the title. This author has created some great titles based on some very interesting concepts, but I’ve yet to try any of his novels. I’m hoping having a physical copy sitting around will encourage me to get off my duff and read it.

Heart of Darkness and Tales of Unrest by Joseph Conrad

A classic I recall being mentioned in school but one I never ended up reading. I’ve been trying to add more classics to my reading and I keep picking up new ones from the book fair. This is a fairly short one so it should be easy enough to fit in with my other reads.

Gilgamesh by Stephen Mitchell

Another classic, from even further back in time, and another I’ve yet to read. This one is also fairly short so I’m hoping I can fit it in.

The Galaxy, and the Ground Within by Becky Chambers

I have a bad habit of purchasing an entire series before even starting it, but thankfully in this case I have at least read the first book in the series, a found family science fiction sort of story, and loved it. I’m hopeful I’ll continue loving this series as I slowly work my way through it.

Have you read any of these books, and if so what did you think of them? If you haven’t, do you hope to?

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Book Finds - August 2023 /  by Todd Henson

Book finds in August, 2023

This past weekend my father and I went on a day trip to visit some old family friends we’d not seen in a while. On the way there we stopped by the Greene Farmers Market at Greene Commons in Standardsville, Virginia, which usually has a bench set up with free books, and on the way back we stopped by the Green Valley Book Fair in Mount Crawford, something we used to enjoy doing with my mother. And as most often happens, I did find some new books to add to my collection.

Cat’s Eye by Margaret Atwood

I’ve read and enjoyed The Handmaid’s Tale and I keep thinking I’d like to try more by Atwood. So when I saw this one, with a cover that reminds me of some Michael Whelan paintings, I grabbed it.

Sweet Tooth: Book One by Jeff Lemire

I remembered reading reviews of Sweet Tooth and other comics by Jeff Lemire over at Roars and Echoes, and the cover of the kid with antlers stood out. Granted, it’s an image of the live action series, but I remembered the kid and the antlers from Lashaan’s reviews. Needless to say, I decided to pick it up and give it a try.

The Woman in Cabin 10 by Ruth Ware

I’ve only read one book by Ruth Ware but I’ve been wanting to dive back into her work ever since, and though I’ve already collected several others I’ve yet to try, I couldn’t help adding this one to the list when I saw it sitting there on the shelves.

Seventh Son and Red Prophet by Orson Scott Card

I’ve read and enjoyed the beginning volumes of Card’s Ender’s Game series, and I remembered my mother reading and enjoying the Seventh Son series, so when I saw the first two books of that series collected together, you guessed it, I had to pick up a copy.

Life of Pi by Yann Martel

I enjoyed the movie some time ago, but what caused me to pick up a copy of the book was another book that I’m currently reading called The Reading List by Sara Nisha Adams, about a group of people and how their lives are changed when each finds a copy of the same reading list created and left behind anonymously at a local public library. One of the books on that list is Life of Pi.

The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, May/June 2023

I subscribed to this magazine for many decades and loved it, so when I saw a copy of a recent issue sitting on the bench of the farmer’s market I decided to take it home, especially given the cover story is by Matthew Hughes, who was always one of my favorite authors from the magazine.

The focus and highlight of the trip was the visit with family friends, but it was also nice to include a little bit of book finding, especially by visiting some of the places we used to visit with Mom.

Have you read any of these books, and if so what did you think?

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A Day at the Green Valley Book Fair - February 2023 /  by Todd Henson

And now for something a little different. My father and I didn’t go hiking this past weekend so I didn’t create any new nature photographs. But what we did do was take a day trip to the Green Valley Book Fair in Mount Crawford, Virginia. My family and I have visited the book fair several times a year almost every year for a decade or more. Even if I don’t have any need for new books I still enjoy the trip there and back and the time walking amongst all the books.

This isn’t the sort of book fair where you find rare or hard to find antiquarian gems. Instead, it’s an outlet store where overstock or extra books are gathered together and sold at a discount. It’s not the sort of place to go with a shopping list as you just never know what you’ll find (though you can check their website for recent additions). And that’s part of what I enjoy, stumbling across books I didn’t know I needed. 😀

So what did I stumble upon this time around?

My book haul from the Green Valley Book Fair in February, 2023

I visited the classics section first and found a copy of Homer’s The Iliad and The Odyssey in a single volume. I’ve wanted to read these for a long while so I picked up a copy.

Then I found a single-volume collection of Fyodor Dostoevsky’s work, one of those well known classic authors I’ve never read. The collection included Crime and Punishment, The Gambler, and Notes from Underground.

Right Ho, Jeeves by P.G. Wodehouse jumped out at me. Not that long ago I read Wodehouse for the first time and I loved his sense of humor, so I’m hoping I laugh my way through this one.

The last book I found in the classics section was a collection of The Seven Military Classics of Ancient China including The Art of War, Wuzi, Wei Liaozi, Taigong’s Six Secret Teachings, Methods of the Sima, Three Strategies of Huang Shigong, and Questions and Replies between Emperor Taizong of Tang and General Li Jing. The only one of these I’d heard of before was The Art of War so I’m curious to learn more about the rest.

On one of the displays I found Fredrik Backman’s Things My Son Needs to Know about the World. I just finished My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She’s Sorry and it was the best book I’ve read in a very long time. Little did I know when I bought this one that it’s non-fiction. But if his writing style and humor are at all similar to what I read then I’m sure I’ll enjoy it.

In the general fiction section I found Gorky Park by Martin Cruz Smith. I watched the movie when it came out long ago and recall thoroughly enjoying it. Recently I checked and couldn’t find the movie to rent so when I found the book I picked it up. I almost always enjoy books more than movies so I’m hopeful I’ll enjoy this.

I also found a copy of Bel Canto by Ann Patchett. I remember Tammy over at Books, Bones & Buffy highly recommending this one so I look forward to giving it a try.

There was an entire section of Stephen King books over in the horror, fantasy and science fiction section and a few of them caught my eye. I picked up Firestarter, a classic I never got around to reading though I have seen the movie. The Eyes of the Dragon sounded interesting, more of a fantasy tale if I understood correctly. And Later, which seems to combine speculative with detective fiction, a combo I’m very open to.

Last year I read the first two books of Rebecca Roanhorse’s series, Between Earth and Sky, which included Black Sun and Fevered Star. I absolutely loved them both, so when I saw Trail of Lightning I picked up a copy. I think it’s an earlier young adult novel of her’s.

All the above books were in one of the two upstairs areas. Downstairs is where we usually find any photography-related books, as well as history, science, travel and lots of other topics. It’s been a while since I found anything new and interesting down there, but I was in luck this day.

First off I saw the large box that contained The Last Place on Earth: Photographs by Michael Nichols. It’s a large format book and includes as an extra Mike Fay’s Megatransect Journals. The photography appears to be stunning and I look forward to spending more time with this one. This book, alone, made the trip well worth while from a monetary perspective. I think the book retails for about $150 and online stores appear to have it priced around $112 right now. At the book fair I paid $29.99 for this monster of a photography book.

The last book I found was a large copy of Reza War + Peace: A Photographer’s Journey. I first learned about Reza some time ago when I watched a documentary or two featuring him and his work, both his photography and humanitarian work. I was very pleased to find this book shelved with the other photography books.

It was difficult to stop here, but my basket was full and very, very heavy, so we trudged back to the checkout where I ran into someone from work. I’m always surprised when I run into folks I know.

After we checked out we headed over to the Shenandoah Heritage Market, another location we usually visit when in the area. It’s a great mix of stores, from fabric and quilting to kitchen supplies, toys, memorabilia and antiques, furniture, canned goods, and bulk food and candy of all sorts. There’s also a great kettle corn vendor out front.

Our last stop of the day was for a bite to eat. There’ve been a group of restaurants in the area we’ve enjoyed visiting but over the years many have closed. Thankfully, Vietopia, a small Vietnamese restaurant in Harrisonburg was still around and just as good as always. I had a pork vermicelli noodle dish (Bún Thịt Nướng Chả Giò) and my father had a bowl of pho. This was a great way to end the day.

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