I found myself over at the Book Sale branch along Dela Costa Street in Salcedo Village Makati last night after dinner with my wife (she was on mid-shift that was to end at 11pm) and after much searching and pillaging (much to the dismay of the saleslady), I got out of there with a new old book -- Legends Volume 2, published by TOR and includes three short novels by Terry Goodkind, George R.R. Martin, and Anne McCaffrey.
So why the compulsion to buy books when there are still more than a dozen left unread and gathering dust at your bookshelf? Many bibliophiles understand the unresistable urge (or urges) a bookworm gets when he or she is in a place full of books (especially when he or she has cash to spare on a volume or two). There's something about not having enough books to read and it doesn't hurt to buy one (or a dozen) especially if it's a new title that your favorite author has just published, or it's a volume that going to complete your ultra-pentad-tritology, or it's a hard-to-find one-time-only printed paperback or hardbound that's bound to be a collector's item when you're 60 years old.
My fascination with books was, I guess, something that developed early in my years, starting with that Three Little Pigs my parents gifted to me when I was four or five years old. The first word of that book stumped me -- how does a kid no more than five years old read a word like "once"? Back then, I already knew how to read the likes of "cat", "dog", and at most "star" but "once"? Anyway, that book, once I got past the hurdle of the first printed word, led to a lifetime (34 years and counting) of a love affair with the printed and published world of words, namely books, and narrowing it down, to the genre of the fantastic.
For now, the new old books goes to the ever-growing reading pile and will, surely, get read one of these days when I've got more time for reading on my hand.
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Brian Jacques is no more.
The creator of the Redwall series of books for children (and others like me) passed away last week, February 5.
This effectively ends the Redwall series of books at 22, the last would be the forthcoming The Rogue Crew due for release this year.
Since 2006, I've been collecting Jacques' Redwall books and I already have a bunch of them, around 14 books already and all of them I've bought second-hand. Given Jacques' demise, I'm now inclined to buy the rest even at brand new prices and will have to make a bee-line to Fully Booked where I saw some of volumes that I still lack.The books lacking from my collection are those published from 2001 with the exception of Triss and Rakkety Tam (I managed to get a hardbound version although this destroyed my collection as the rest of the Redwall books in my possession were pocketbook, US-version ones).
What makes reading Jacques' books enjoyable despite them being targeted toward a much younger audience (not even Y.A. but somewhere between 10 - 15 years) is the positive and light disposition of the books. Jacques' books do not blur the lines between good and bad, it simply states you either are for one or the other. Although a few volumes explored gray areas such as Outcast of Redwall, ultimately good triumphs in the end. Feel-good books and the everybody knows everyone needs a lot of good in the world these days.
Jacques' descriptive writing is also quite the treat to read especially in those parts of the books where Redwall Abbey is holding one of its many feasts. As he describes the different gastronomic delights being eaten by a book's protagonist, the reader cannot help but imagine what that dandelion ale must taste like or how that pumpkin seed pie might taste. Jacques' had an eye for detail on stuff normally overlooked or disregarded as unimportant by other writers such as his treatment of food. On this aspect alone, Jacques has stood out from the rest of weavers of tales for children.
The Redwall series is one series I would like to complete and pass on to my children. Children don't need to be exposed to the ultra-complexities and contradictions of life so early such as those offered by recent black comedy series such as Diary of Wimpy Kid or A Series of Unfortunate Events, they'll learn about these as they grow. While Jacques' novel do deal about betrayal and death and other such grim ideas but they are just elements that help the story move along. Jacques' novel more uplift other virtues that will make a dent in a child's positive upbringing -- patriotism, bravey, courage, loyalty, friendship, and love.
Rest in peace, Brian.
* * * *
Being part of Angry Robot's Robot Army, I got myself an ARC in PDF format of Ian Whates' City of Hope and Despair, the sequel to his City of Dreams and Nightmare (which I reviewed here).
I would've loved to have downloaded the ePub version of the ARC but with my Nokia 6680 now resting in cellular peace, I instead downloaded the PDF version. The only problem now is that I thought it was easy to manipulate printing of the PDF. Since it would be difficult for me to read the book onscreen (as A) I don't have a rig, and B) I still prefer holding something in print as opposed to something on-screen, and C) I don't have much leeway to read the PDF at the Desk), I had thought of printing the thing by reducing the size so that two pages would fit in one letter-sized paper. Unfortunately, my PDF version's settings doesn't allow for such resizing and manipulation. Either I print out each page on an 8.5" x 11" paper (all 300+ pages?!) or I open each page and manually reduce it to half-size and tile it with the succeeding page on Photoshop (which would be more tedious).
This is one instance where an ePub which I could've read on my mobile would've been a better option.
The second installation of City will have to wait then.
