Stacking the Shelves - February 23rd, 2014

Stacking the Shelves is hosted by Tynga's Reviews.  It is a way for us to share the new books we have collected.  While I don't have much to share this week, one of the books is kind of a big thing for me.

Purchased at the $1 Store:

I have been a huge fan of Daniel Nayeri since I first read Another Faust.  Unfortunately, I wasn't blogging here yet, so I can't share my review of it.  But I had to look at the books at the $1 store, even though I didn't need any new ones.  And when I saw this, I know I probably gasped loudly.  I have had trouble getting ahold of this, at least trying to order at the bookstore where I worked, so I was very excited to find this, and at that awesome price!

My claim to fame!

Now you can tell this isn't a book I wrote, and it isn't about me, it is about one of my favorite authors.  So, why am I calling this my claim to fame?  Well, you might remember about a year and a half ago I mentioned getting an email from a publishing company wanting to use a picture from when I attended BEA.  I announced this last summer during an exciting week where I also finally got hired for a library job.  You can read the post HERE.   Well, above you see the book finally published that has my picture and gives me credit for the picture in it.  Here's the page with the picture:

Now while I am in the picture, meaning I obviously didn't take the picture, it was taken with my camera by the person in line behind me.  And below is the page with my name for them giving me credit for using the picture, the orange post-its pointing to my my name since it kind of ended one line and began the next.

Now, I know at BEA we're not really allowed to bring other books to get signed by the authors, but this one will be in my book to at least show Maggie Stiefvater if she is there this summer.  Which I'm hoping she will be, along with ARCs of the third book in the Raven Boys series.

So, not a lot for me this week, only 2 books.  But still, pretty exciting ones for me!  What did you add to your shelves this week?

Darkness Under the Sun & The Moonlit Mind by Dean Koontz

Last post of 2011! Wow, so glad this year is over, the beginning pretty much sucked, the end has been better, and hoping that 2012 turns out really good, especially if it is the last year we have according to all those people who say the end of the world is coming. :-)

So, recently I was trying to figure out exactly what was the last Dean Koontz book I read. A couple years ago I just didn't have the money to keep buying his books when they came out in hardcover, and I can't quite remember when I stopped. So I got online and looked up a list of his boks in the order they were published. Well, I think I found my answer, but I also found 2 books that have only been available as e-books, and they were kind of companion novels to the last book, What the Night Knows, and the newest one that came out this week, 77 Shadow Street. Since they were both short, I'll include them both in one blog post.

First, Darkness Under the Sun, was written I think after the book it goes with, What the Night Knows. The main character in this is a boy named Howie. He is disfigured because his father tried to burn him over a custody dispute. Howie goes to the top of a building to watch the town around him without having to be a part of it. The day we read about at the start of this novella he is not alone when he gets up there. There is a man, a very tall, also pretty messed up looking man. This man is Alton Turner Blackwood, the killer from the book this goes with. Howie and this man become friends, so much that Howie invites him to come live in the room above their garage. The man says he has to think about it, but asks Howie to bring him pictures of the house, as well as his mother and sister. Howie brings the pictures and then leaves. When he comes back, the man is gone, the pictures have been torn, and Howie suddenly knows what he's done. He runs home to find the killer getting ready to attack his family. And he is able to scare him off. But it turns out he's now given the killer an idea of how he can kill and earn the fame he wants. Later on he sends a letter to Howie telling him this. Good story, not sure if it really leads me into wanting to read the book. In fact, it has the first chapter or so at the end, and now I'm not sure if I've read the whole book, or if I just read these two chapters at the back of whatever book came before it. It was a very Dean Koontz story, exactly what you'd expect.

The 2nd story, The Moonlit Mind, was available before the book it goes with was released this past Tuesday. And let me say, I REALLY enjoyed this one. It reminded me of some of the earlier works of Koontz that I really enjoyed. Like Twilight Eyes, Strangers, Watchers (all by Koontz), as well as Anouther Faust by Daniel Nayeri. Just something about it really was the type of book I liked. And now I'm really eager to read 77 Shadow Street. This novella is also with a young main character, a 12 year old boy named Crispin who has lived on the streets since he was 9. He ran away from his mother and step-father's house after his younger sister and brother disappeared. The way they disappeared was very mysterious. It seems as if there is a cult or satanic rituals going on in this house. And very strangely there is a miniature replica of the mansion that Crispin is really intrigued by. And it turns out that replica has a connection to all that is going on. Crispin has also made friends with the "Phantom of Broderick's" or as she calls herself, Amity. Amity works and lives at Broderick's department store. And Crispin, and his dog Harley, named after his younger brother, stay there nights as well. But Crispin can't stay in any one place too long, for soon the people from his past will come looking for him, and have caught up to him in the past. Amity also has a scary past. And together they will try to overcome them. This is a great lead in to the book, although the first few chapters of the book at the end of this novella, don't quite match the tone of the novella, but hopefully it will get back to what I liked about this.