I have just arrived home from another comic convention.  I got to see my friend Stuart Sayger and purchase another piece of wonderful art from him.  I wanted to purcahse more art from him, but alas I only bring a small budget with me.

This go around my purchases took a more literary turn.  I also brought my list with me but, was unable to find what I was looking for.  I did get some major scores though.  I found the Marvel Comics graphic novel of "The Picture of Dorian Gray.". The art work was drawn by Sebastian Fiumara.  The next item of intrest that I found was a hardcover edition of the Marvel Comics trade book of "Pride and Prejudice." This book was illustrated by Hugo Petrus.  

Now onto the more obscure/rare pieces I was able to find.  The first item was "Tales From The Brothers Grimm Volume One, Little Red Ridding Hood." This was illustrated by the very talented Charles Vess.  It is also signed by the artist.  And, the most exciting piece on the list is "Frankenstein" illustrated and signed by Berni Wrightson.This book is considered to be one of Wrightson's matesterpieces.

So, I have a huge stack of very pleasurable reading in front of me.  My reading queue just keeps getting bigger and bigger.

Now onto other things that I am reading.  

My students are currently reading "Hachet" by Gary Paulsen.  I finished it earlier this week.  After doing so I started to read "Brian's Winter." After that will be "Brian's Return." I hope to finish both of those books today.  As today is Sunday and my Sundays are spent doing literature and book related things.

Also I am currently reading "Vera: Mrs. Vladimir Nabokov" by Stacy Schiff and  the current ebook that I'm reading is "A Voyage To Arcturus" by David Lindsay.  A rare literary feast is before me.

One again I'm typing this on my tablet.  So it is sans photos yet again.

Keep on reading everybody.  And, you can follow my reading progress on goodreads.com. Just look for Quirkyreader.

I received this fascinating book yesterday.  Usually I don't go in for books of lists.  I did purchase this book with a purpose in mind though.

During one of my moves I lost the list of books that I had read.  I had been keeping that list from my teens into my late twenties.  

Being a member of goodreads.com I am able to virtually track every single book I have ever read.  With my personal list being gone, I have been using other lists to help stimulate my memory.  

The 1001 Series, The Essential Series, and The Rough Guides have been very helpful in this aspect.

Next list book to aquire is "1001 Children's Books You Must Read Before You Grow Up."

For those asking the question "Why doesn't Quirky just check the books out from the library?". The answer is that I annotate these volumes. 

Yesterday I also received "The Rough Guide To Cult Fiction."

I am greatly looking forward to annotating that.

For all of you who have been wondering why I haven't been posting covers as of late I am sorry to disappoint.  When I post on my P.C.  I am able to put up covers.  When I post on my ereader/tablet I am unable to. This post is being made on my tablet.  On my next P.C.  post I will try to catch up on the covers.

Keep on reading everybody.  And as always you can see my reading list on goodreads.com

I went to a convention today with particular books in mind.  But did I get them? No.  I did find one of the books I was looking for, but by that time I spent my budget.  Yes I only bring a certain amount of money to these things and when the dosh is gone it's time for me to vamoose. 

Now onto the spoils.

An artist that I'm acquainted with, Stuart Sayger, was there defacing(singing) his books.  I always try to get something from his table.  Today I got something really brilliant.  It's called "Bram Stoker's Death Ship."It is a what if story.  Is is about the sea voyage that Dracula took from Transylvania to England.  

My next big score was "The Sandman King Of Dreams" by Alisa Kwitney.  I can't wait to read this one.

I got a free copy of issue 9 of "The Great And Secret Show" by Clive Barker.

And, the icing on the cake was two Doctor Who books.  I purchased "Companions And Allies" and "The Ultimate Monster Guide."

Yes I am a fan of science fiction and comics.  I have been one since I was a child.  My father got me into "Star Trek" when it first started airing in syndication and the first film I ever remember watching with him was "The Curse Of The Crimson Cult."

So, everyone thank your parents everyday for your introduction to reading.

I finished" Wuthering Heights" for the second time.  The first time I read it I was in middle school.  

In reading it the second go around many themes stood out for me.  The main one of course is revenge.  The next one that stood out was one of the characters who deemed himself virtuous , but wasn't.  One of the final themes was finding someone to love eventhough the odds against it were rather high.

I'm glad that I re-read this story along with my study of the Brontes.  

Up next,  "Agnes Grey."

I'm still face first in 19th century literature.  I just picked up "Wuthering Heights" to read again.  I am also currently reading a book by C. K. Shorter called "Charlotte Bronte And Her Circle.". The ebook tome is over 800 pages.  So let's see how long it takes me to finish.

As always my progress can be followed on goodreads.com

Keep on reading everybody.

Today I went birthday book shopping.  Which is kind of slim pickings considering book shops stock has been depleted by the holiday.  But, I did find a few good volumes.

First I went to my local comic shop and found a copy of "Black Hole" by Charles Burns.  Yes it is finally out in trade paperback.  For the longest time is was only available in hardcover and it was rather pricy.  This is a book that I had been hoping to acquire for a while.

Then it was off to a chain called Half Price Books.  It was major slim pickings there.  While I was there the place was filled and there was only so much room to move.  I only found two things there, "The Club Dumas" by Arturo Perez-Reverte and "Below Suspicion" by John Dickson Carr.  The Carr book has a very cool lurid 1970's cover.  I found the book in the nostalgia section, otherwise know as the section of really cool old books found in people's basements and attics that belonged to family members that have passed away.  I know that's a run on sentence, but that's what the section is.

Finally I went to a local charity shop/thrift store and found some very neat epherema and a more recent novel.  The recent novel was "The Thief Lord" by Cornelia Funke.  The epherema was"Excalibur!" Gil Kane and John Jakes,  as well as "The Once And Future King" by T. H. White from 1964.  

Aiside from what I found the shelves were picked over from holiday shopping as well.  Surprisingly enough though someone had just donated a big pile of "Star Wars" novelizations. 

So head on over to your local charity shop/thrift store and see what you can find.  You might find a treasure and you will be helping out some good causes as well.

Keep on reading everybody.

Follow my progress on Goodreads.com

 

During the end of the year I read some rather interesting tittles. Also, on my Goodreads reading challenge for 2011 I read 160+ books.  I have currently set my 2012 challenge at 100 books.  Let's see if I can accomplish it.

The first book of note is "Jane Austen's Sailor Brothers" by J. H. Hubback and Edith C. Hubback.  I downloaded it as an ebook from the wonderful people at Openlibrary.org.  This interesting piece of ephemera was written by descendents of one of Jane's brothers.  This book has mentions of Jane, but it mostly focuses on her brothers Charles and Francis aka Frank.  

The bulk of the letters in this volume comprise of ones written during the Napoleonic wars and the American war of 1812.  If one is a big naval history buff or one of the Napoleonic wars this book proves to be a very infromative and fascinating read.  I learned things about the Royal Navy that I had no knowledge of before. 

The next book I read was "The Mother Tongue, English and How It Got That Way"  by Bill Bryson.  Even though it is copyrighted 1990, the etymologist is all of us can rejoice and have a great laugh while reading it.  We can thank the Angles, Saxons, Normans, and a whole slew of other conquerors for their contributions in forming the English language.  Bryson also contends that the language is constantly changing, which it is. 

I plan on using parts of this book in my class.  I hope to get some of my students interested in etymology and show them how fun words can actually be. 

The final book I read was "The Greenhaven Press Literary Companion To British Literature Readings On Jane Eyre."  I had recently re-read Jane Eyre for a third time, and I wanted to read some pieces of literary criticism while I was reading it.  This volume contains essays by Elizabeth Gaskell, Erica Jong, Elizabeth Rigby and many others.  I would suggest this book as a good companion volume for students and readers unfamiliar with the story. I have read other criticism collections, but this one has a more contemporary feel to it.  Hopefully these more contemporary essays will encourage readers and help them to enjoy the story to a greater degree.

Currently I'm reading two books on the Bronte family with more in the queue.  About three weeks ago I went to my city's central library and loaded up my book trolly. 

Keep on reading everybody and you can see my progress on Goodreads.com

I took a trip to my city's central library yesterday.  
Boy did ever geek out.  

I checked out a big stack of book about the Brontes and Jane Austen.  I am looking forward to many of the titles that I have checked out.

I will be taking occasional breaks from the 19th century.  I have an interesting book by Bill Bryson in my queue that I am greatly looking forward to.

On my current re-read of Jayne Eyre,  I am on page 98.  

Keep on reading everybody.

I've been busy reading about the Bronte family.  I just finished reading the biography by Elizabeth Gaskell.  I currently have my bookmark in "The Professor"  by Charlotte B and "The Bell's Poetry Book." 

I will be taking breaks here and there so that I don't get stuck in the muck.  I have a Bill Bryson book in the queue that I'm looking forward to. 

I also have "Wide Sargasso Sea" by Jean Rhys in the queue.  I'm going to read it a second time before I read "Jane Eyre" for the third time.

The first time I read "Jane"  it was an abridged version that I had received in grade 3.  When told my Aunt, who is a librarian, about it she promptly made me go to the library and get the complete story.  Now that I'm reading it again as an adult I'm looking forward to what perspectives I will have on it. 

I plan on doing the same thing with Emily's book and poetry.  I will also be reading Anne's works which I haven't done before. 

The pile awaits.

Keep on reading everybody.

A co-worker of mine, who is acquainted with the author, lent me her copy of "A Woman In Amber" to read. 

This memoir was written by a Latvian woman named Agate Nesaule.  During the early years of her life she had been in prison camp during World War II and afterwards in a displaced persons camp in Allied held Germany.

In this book she depicts the awfulness she had seen during her internment and how it affected the rest of her life.

Part of this memoir takes place in Indianapolis, Indiana.  Where her family did as much as they could to build up the Latvian community. 

When I finished this book I had a cry, it was very emotionally moving.  Ms. Nesaule has been through many trials in her life but, she has been able to find the perseverance to go on and start her own personal healing process.

Keep on reading everybody.