an abrupt end to a unexpected sabbatical

I know that there has been such an extended delay since my last update, due to a series of unfortunate events (no book pun intended),a result of  personal issues that had become all consuming in my life.  I have not been too distracted from my current reading habits but I was unable to harness the willpower to update regularly. So consider this another mini update.

Reviews to come:
The Devil and Miss Prym -Paulo Coelho
The Pilgrimage-Paulo Coelho
Eleven Minutes-Paulo Coelho
Off Magazine Street-Ronald Everrett Capps
Put the Book Back on the Shelf-Anthlogy
The Reincarnationist-M.J. Rose
Automated Alice-Jeff Noon
Pollen-Jeff Noon
The Unit-Ninni Holmqvist

I promise reviews on all these books and they shall be updated soon.  I am taking a personal vacation for three weeks starting in May.  There will probably be more books updated on the list prior to all the updates being added.

Current lack of any real update

My current lack of any real update these day hasn't simply been because of any lack of reading, I've completed like 3 books since finishing Pandemonium. Paulo Coelho and books revolving around Gnosticism have been topics of interest that I have been reading lately. .. I promise and update soon. I've been enduring some personal issues that have caused a bit of a drop my enthusiasm or desire to do this. I promise,mainly to myself here, that I will be returning with reviews soon.

Pandemonium-Daryl Gregory

Pandemonium

Daryl Gregory

• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: Del Rey; 1st Edition/1st Printing edition (August 26, 2008)
• ISBN-13: 978-0345501165

    Pandemonium by Daryl Gregory is this authors first full length novel.  The novel centers our Del Pierce, who was possessed at the age of 5 by a demon called the "Hellion" who never left his body although had been believed to have been exorcised. Del embarks on a dangerous journey to free himself of this demon. His world is plagued with demon possessions, an appearance by Philip K. Dick. and Jungian Psychology...Metaphysics..and an a conclusion that leaves you hoping for a sequel.

     Where to start the review, I had been contemplating this most of all after I completed the novel last night during work. I didn't have horrible things to say, and I have a huge habit of gushing over the novels that I absolutely love. This falls into the latter category of course.  Gregory's fast paced prose and wonderful story line intrigue the reader almost instantly and lead the reader to devour the novel as quickly as possible because you have to know what happens. The novel reads fast and I definitely wouldn't consider this a "snack" book because as you read this you're left questioning you own ideas of Possession, Psychology, and even Mental Illness. Unlike most possession novels there aren't very overt religious overtones, no "power of Christ compels you", this one centers  a lot around psychological aspects of possession and that's what had sucked me in. Would I recommend this novel to anyone? Hell Yes. It's a quick great sci-fi read that I think most would enjoy.  My only real disappointment with the book was in the format, for those of us who like the format, the publisher only released this in paperback. I would have loved to have it in Hardcover.

-you may now return to your regularly scheduled programming-
GeekybookGirl

from the shelf to a mountain of books

Organizing and cataloging have turned into a bigger endeavor than I had originally anticipated. I had purchased the book cataloging software from Collectorz.com, it utilizes the Cuecat scanner to scan barcodes on books and then upload all the ISBN information into their software creating a wonderful and easy to use database. I love this software and definitely recommend it to anyone who has a large library.

Yesterday afternoon, I had decided to scan the few volumes I had on my small 3 shelf bookshelf. I hadn't planned on so many volumes, I had wrongly assumed that since most were paperbacks/trade paperbacks that there wouldn't be so many. I had already scanned most of the volumes previously but as I continued it was 200 volumes that I had scanned as the afternoon progressed into night. Unfortunately now most of these volumes are neatly stacked in piles on the floor until I can go through and rearrange the books by genre, the alphabetize them. Yeah I'm hardcore like that. :).

As I was going through the volumes I did notice that I need to get hardcover volumes of the paperback volumes that I own, only because of the fact that I'm partial to them simply because of how they look on my bookshelf. I still have my large bookshelf to conquer but I think that will have to wait till a later date or at least till my vacation. The task is turning into a bigger venture than I had planned.

The Loss of A Literary Giant

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100128/ap_on_en_ot/us_obit_salinger_12

Today .... BookGeekism.. Mourns the loss of a literary Icon.. J.D. Salinger Passed away today at the age of 91. My condolences go out to his family and friends.. His fans will miss him dearly. He has inspired so many of us with his novels, Catcher in the Rye, Nine Stories, Raise the Roof Beam High/Seymour-an introduction... Pieces of fiction which inspired me to read more, and to study in depth English and American Literature. As a fan, I cannot explain the sense of loss--at this tragedy...