Inspired by a recent post on K Duck's Rocketship (to read, click here), I decided to spend a little birthday cash-ola at Borders. Turns out, Borders.Com is integrated with Amazon, my favorite-est upon favorite-est online retailer. (Thank you, Katie & Barbara!)
Turning 26 was a milestone for me. I've always felt more like 22 or 23, so being in the second half of my twenties is odd and a little unsettling. Certain parts of my life are changing - my living arrangements, my age, my tastes, etc. So I decided to pay homage to the new phase in my life by buying books are a departure from what I would typically pick up in a store.
(For those of you that know me, you understand what I would typically buy in a bookstore. Everything. I love bookstores - the smell of paper and cardstock, MMMM. It makes me want to lick the shelves and climb the walls, while simultaneously clutching a hardback version of "Pride and Prejudice" and "The Girls Guide to Texas Hold 'Em.")
Book #1 - The Preservationist by David Maine
Photo courtesy of Amazon.Com (Amazon, I love you more than life itself, baby. Please don't hate me for taking a couple of photos)
This book is a contemporary re-telling of the story of Noah's Ark. I'm not much of a biblical reader - I read The Red Tent by Anita Diamant and I didn't like it at all. I'm giving semi-religious books another shot with this one, it's supposedly VERY good.
Visitations from God are a mixed blessing for Noah and his family in Maine's spirited, imaginative debut. Noah (aka "Noe") may have pissed himself upon hearing God's instructions to build an arc, but he sets to the task without delay. Wildly different in temperament, age and provenance, each character tells a part of the story, and helps create a brilliant kaleidoscopic analysis of the situation: the neighbors who ridicule Noe and clan; the inner doubts and shifting alliances; the varying feelings toward God, whose presence is always felt and sometimes resented. The flood comes as a relief from the wondering ("who is crazier: the crazy man or the people who put their faith in him?"), but hardship soon follows. Though the ending is already written, Maine enlivens every step toward it with small surprises. A story of faith and survival (think Life of Pi thousands of years earlier with a much larger cast of characters), this debut is a winner.
Book #2 - Grave's End by Elaine Mercado
This is primarily a ghost story about the author's family, and their experiences living in a haunted house in Brooklyn, NY. I find it intriguing because it is autobiographical, and this writer is clearly NOT a kook.
Elaine Mercado is a wife and mother of two daughters, registered nurse, Certified Clinical Hypnotherapist, and entrepreneur. She holds a license as an LPN and as a registered nurse. During her tenure as an emergency room nurse, Mercado developed an interest in the psychological aspects of patient care and thus, began studying the mind, body, and spirit connection. At the same time, Mercado began to focus on paranormal phenomena. For over fifteen years, she has studied and attended numerous lectures and workshops on types of hauntings and the current theories behind them. Mercado, a locally published writer, has also written for The Brooklyn Baron and The Nursing Spectrum. Mercado still lives in Gravesend with her family.
I can't wait for them to arrive! Eeeee! I love new books!
Turning 26 was a milestone for me. I've always felt more like 22 or 23, so being in the second half of my twenties is odd and a little unsettling. Certain parts of my life are changing - my living arrangements, my age, my tastes, etc. So I decided to pay homage to the new phase in my life by buying books are a departure from what I would typically pick up in a store.
(For those of you that know me, you understand what I would typically buy in a bookstore. Everything. I love bookstores - the smell of paper and cardstock, MMMM. It makes me want to lick the shelves and climb the walls, while simultaneously clutching a hardback version of "Pride and Prejudice" and "The Girls Guide to Texas Hold 'Em.")
Book #1 - The Preservationist by David Maine
Photo courtesy of Amazon.Com (Amazon, I love you more than life itself, baby. Please don't hate me for taking a couple of photos)This book is a contemporary re-telling of the story of Noah's Ark. I'm not much of a biblical reader - I read The Red Tent by Anita Diamant and I didn't like it at all. I'm giving semi-religious books another shot with this one, it's supposedly VERY good.
Visitations from God are a mixed blessing for Noah and his family in Maine's spirited, imaginative debut. Noah (aka "Noe") may have pissed himself upon hearing God's instructions to build an arc, but he sets to the task without delay. Wildly different in temperament, age and provenance, each character tells a part of the story, and helps create a brilliant kaleidoscopic analysis of the situation: the neighbors who ridicule Noe and clan; the inner doubts and shifting alliances; the varying feelings toward God, whose presence is always felt and sometimes resented. The flood comes as a relief from the wondering ("who is crazier: the crazy man or the people who put their faith in him?"), but hardship soon follows. Though the ending is already written, Maine enlivens every step toward it with small surprises. A story of faith and survival (think Life of Pi thousands of years earlier with a much larger cast of characters), this debut is a winner.
Book #2 - Grave's End by Elaine Mercado
This is primarily a ghost story about the author's family, and their experiences living in a haunted house in Brooklyn, NY. I find it intriguing because it is autobiographical, and this writer is clearly NOT a kook.
Elaine Mercado is a wife and mother of two daughters, registered nurse, Certified Clinical Hypnotherapist, and entrepreneur. She holds a license as an LPN and as a registered nurse. During her tenure as an emergency room nurse, Mercado developed an interest in the psychological aspects of patient care and thus, began studying the mind, body, and spirit connection. At the same time, Mercado began to focus on paranormal phenomena. For over fifteen years, she has studied and attended numerous lectures and workshops on types of hauntings and the current theories behind them. Mercado, a locally published writer, has also written for The Brooklyn Baron and The Nursing Spectrum. Mercado still lives in Gravesend with her family.
I can't wait for them to arrive! Eeeee! I love new books!
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