under the (dust) covers

The new books that made their way into my house this week (completely without my help, of course):

Hetty Wainthropp Investigates by John Bowen and David Cook (used)
I thought the TV show was adorable so I couldn’t resist this when I saw it at the Sally Anne.
Greenwich: The Place Where Days Begin and End by Charles Jennings (used)
I love this kind of quirky history book, like the one on the Beaufort Scale that I read last year. Plus, I’m planning on going to Greenwich when I go to Britain…
The Guinea Pig Diaries by A.J. Jacobs (borrowed)
I’ve been meaning to read this since it came out, but never got around to it. So far, not as fabulous as his other books, but interesting.
Beowulf On The Beach by Jack Murnighan (library)
An amusing little book that suggests what to love and what to skip in great literature. Literally, what parts to skip.
Fantasy Freaks and Gaming Geeks by Ethan Gilsdorf (e-book)
I ran across this one while browsing at Chapters and just couldn’t resist getting it for my Kindle since I fit into both of the title groups. Fabulous, fabulous read!
Except the Dying by Maureen Jennings (used)
I just finished watching both seasons of Murdoch Mysteries (aka CSI: Victorian Toronto) and thought it would be interesting to see how it compares to the books it’s based on.

It’s Monday! What are You Reading? is a meme run by J. Kaye’s Book Blog which discusses which books will be read this week, and the ones that were read last week.

Books I completed last week are:
Beyond Belfast by Will Ferguson - One of the best Canadian humour writers of this generation decides to learn more about his roots in Northern Ireland by walking the Ulster Way.

Vinyl Cafe Diaries by Stuart McLean – The other best Canadian humour writer of this generation! I read or re-read all of the Vinyl Cafe books in August and September, but had about half of this one still waiting, so I finally finished it off.  I think I’m sad that they’re all read and I’ll now have to wait another year or two for more.

Number 10 by Sue Townsend – One of Townsend’s delightfully funny political novels. The British PM admits on national tv that he doesn’t know the price of a litre of milk, and then decides that the best way to get to know the “man on the street” is to travel the country… in drag!  I now have this hideous mental image of Gordon Brown in drag.

Kimchee & Calamari by Rose Kent – An excellent YR novel about being adopted.  Joseph Calderaro’s life is disrupted by an 8th grade social studies assignment about his heritage — his name and family may be thoroughly Italian, but he was adopted from Korea just after birth and knows next to nothing about his Korean heritage.

Books I am currently reading/listening to:
An Irish Country Doctor by Patrick Taylor (audiobook) – I have to admit that I totally picked this up because I’ve been hankering for something along the lines of Ballykissangel.  Haven’t gotten far into it, but I’m enjoying it so far.

What the Dog Saw by Malcolm Gladwell – Another wonderful book from Gladwell, this time a collection of articles he’s published previously.  I just love how the man thinks.

Books I haven’t started yet, but will are:
I’d Tell You I Love You, But Then I’d Have To Kill You by Ally Carter – Teenage spies!  Weee!

This Mitchell and Webb Book by David Mitchell and Robert Webb – Coming to me all the way from London, courtesy of the fantabulous fairclough!

Jill at Breaking the Spine hosts Waiting on Wednesday. Stop by and check out the great books your fellow readers can’t wait to get their hands on. What book are you waiting for?

And Another Thing…
by Eoin Colfer
6th in the Hitchhiker’s Trilogy
Release Date: October 12, 2009 (strict on-sale)

You may not have noticed, but there’s something stirring in the Galaxy…

Despite the efforts of the Vogons, and even those of a more-than-typically troubled teenager, the increasingly inaccurately named Hitchhiker’s Trilogy continues, much to the delight of its fans (and to the annoyance of the Vogons).

Somehow I missed hearing about this until yesterday at work (surprisingly difficult when I’m surrounded by book fanatics day in and day out) but I’m already super excited about it!  We actually have the book sitting in our back room, so I’m trying to decide whether to spend the next few days clearing the deck (aka finishing the 15 millions books I have lying around that are half-read) or drop everything and re-read the first five books.

H2G2 is one of those series that I read in university and instantly fell in love with — the mix of humour and intelligence and warmth is irresistible.  I’ve listened to the radio plays, I’ve watched the tv show, and I went to opening night of the movie.  And yet, I don’t think I’ve re-read the books since that first time — pretty sad for a compulsive re-reader like me. And possibly I’ve just convinced myself to head out and get the first five…

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

My Teaser:

Duncan didn’t know too much about the vicissitudes of Tucker Crowe’s love life — nobody did, really, although there had been much speculation on the web — but he imagined it to have been tumutuous. How did he stand it?

- pg 149 of Juliet, Naked by Nick Hornby