Book review: Collectibles edited by Lawrence Block

 

From the publisher:

A COLLECTION… OF COLLECTIONS What leads one person to collect stamps and another coins, one fine art and another butterflies? Who can say? But one thing is certain: those who’ve got the collecting bug care passionately-sometimes violently-about the objects of their obsession. No one covets like a collector; and as you will find in the pages of this brand new anthology from MWA Grand Master Lawrence Block, a truly dedicated collector will ignore the other nine commandments, too, in his quest for his personal Holy Grail. From Joyce Carol Oates’ tale of the ultimate Marilyn Monroe collectible to Dennis Lehane’s bookseller with a penchant for other people’s tragic correspondence, from Lee Goldberg’s Hollywood hustler with a collection of unaired TV shows to Joe R. Lansdale’s stylish foray into noir, culminating in Lawrence Block’s own classic story of a killer with a unique approach to choosing his victims, Collectibles illustrates the range of the collecting impulse and the lengths people will go to in their hunger to possess the perfect piece.

My thoughts: 

As I read through the anthology, I rated each story and then the book as a whole. I gave the majority of the stories a 5/5 star rating. Although most of them are mysteries or thrillers, a few lean toward horror or science fiction, and a couple toward general fiction.

It seems there's always one or more that doesn't sit as well with you as the others. In this anthology, there was really only one I didn't care for as much as the others, "Miss Golden Dreams 1949" by Joyce Carol Oates. While I didn't really enjoy the story or its tone, I can totally see its value to the collection. 

You would think it would be easier to talk about favorites, but it's a little harder because I enjoyed so many of them. I liked the twist in Lee Goldberg's "Lost Shows." I also liked the twists in "A Bostonian (in Cambridge)" by Dennis Lehane and " Collecting Ackermans" by Lawrence Block. And I thought it was interesting that the two stories involving musical instruments had elements of the paranormal in therm.

The order of the stories is well done. The collection starts and ends strong and has a good rhythm to it. Interspersed with the stories are excerpts from Otto Penzler's Mysterious Obsession about collecting books and his efforts in obtaining certain titles. I found the excerpts to be complimentary to the stories. 

Overall, I gave the collection 5/5 stars. Lawrence Block did an excellent job as editor. I would recommend this book to you if you enjoy anthologies or maybe even collecting something.

Collectibles was published May 31st, 2021 by Subterranean Press.

I received a copy of the book from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Teaser Tuesday: Under the Whispering Door by T.J. Klune

 

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly bookish meme hosted by The Purplebooker.

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 and author so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

 But Naomi wouldn't listen, which, really. When had she ever? "I've spent the last few days since I got the news trying to find a single memory of our time together that didn't fill me with regret or apathy or a burning fury that felt like I was standing on the sun..." (36% through the Sneak Peek)

Under the Whispering Door by T.J. Klune is expected out September 21st, 2021 from Tor Books. The sneak peek is currently available. 

Would you keep reading? What's your teaser this week? Share it or a link in the comments. Are you enjoying your book? Let us know! Happy Reading!

Can't Wait Wednesday/Waiting on Wednesday #382: Along the Saltwise Sea by A. Deborah Baker

 

Waiting on Wednesday" is a weekly event that had been hosted by Jill over at Breaking the Spine where we spotlighted upcoming releases we are eagerly anticipating. I'm now linking up with "Can't-Wait Wednesday" hosted over at Wishful Endings.

After climbing Over the Woodward Wall and making their way across the forest, Avery and Zib found themselves acquiring some extraordinary friends in their journey through the Up-and-Under.

After staying the night, uninvited, at a pirate queen’s cottage in the woods, the companions find themselves accountable to its owner, and reluctantly agree to work off their debt as her ship sets sail, bound for lands unknown. But the queen and her crew are not the only ones on board, and the monsters at sea aren’t all underwater.

The friends will need to navigate the stormy seas of obligation and honor on their continuing journey along the improbable road

Writing as A. Deborah Baker, New York Times bestselling and award-winning author Seanan McGuire takes our heroes Avery and Zib (and their friends Niamh and the Crow Girl) on a high seas adventure, with pirates and queens and all the dangers of the deep as they continue their journey through the Up-and-Under on their quest for the road that will lead them home....

Welcome to a world of talking trees and sarcastic owls, of dangerous mermaids and captivating queens in this exceptional tale for readers who are young at heart in this companion book to McGuire's critically-acclaimed Middlegame and the sequel to Over the Woodward Wall.

Along the Saltwise Sea by A. Deborah Baker is expected to be published October 12th, 2021 by Tordotcom.

Why am I waiting on this book? It sounds like an interesting adventure. I've only read an except so far of Over the Woodward Wall, but I liked it. I liked it enough to add this series to my TBR  list. Plus how can you pass up pirates, sarcastic owls, queens, and monsters?

What book are you waiting on this week? Share it or a link in the comments so we can check it out and maybe add it to our TBR lists. Thanks for coming by and Happy Reading!

Teaser Tuesday: A Good Day for Chardonnay by Darynda Jones

 

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly bookish meme hosted by The Purplebooker.

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 and author so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

Quincy Cooper had been her bestie since she'd throat-punched Peter Bailey for knocking him down on the playground. Quincy had grown since then. Now he looked roughly like an industrial freezer with a grin that could melt the panties off a comatose nun. (1% through on my Kindle)

A Good Day For Chardonnay by Darynda Jones is expected to be published July 27th, 2021 by St. Martin's Press. The above quote comes from an ARC, thus it and it's location are not final.

Would you keep reading? What's your teaser this week? Share it or a link in the comments. Are you enjoying your book? Let us know! Happy Reading!

Can't Wait Wednesday/Waiting on Wednesday #381: Where the Drowned Girls Go by Seanan McGuire

 

Waiting on Wednesday" is a weekly event that had been hosted by Jill over at Breaking the Spine where we spotlighted upcoming releases we are eagerly anticipating. I'm now linking up with "Can't-Wait Wednesday" hosted over at Wishful Endings.

From the publisher:

In Where the Drowned Girls Go, the next addition to Seanan McGuire's beloved Wayward Children series, students at an anti-magical school rebel against the oppressive faculty

"Welcome to the Whitethorn Institute. The first step is always admitting you need help, and you’ve already taken that step by requesting a transfer into our company."

There is another school for children who fall through doors and fall back out again.
It isn't as friendly as Eleanor West's Home for Wayward Children.
And it isn't as safe.

When Eleanor West decided to open her school, her sanctuary, her "Home for Wayward Children," she knew from the beginning that there would be children she couldn’t save; when Cora decides she needs a different direction, a different fate, a different prophecy, Miss West reluctantly agrees to transfer her to the other school, where things are run very differently by Whitethorn, the Headmaster.

She will soon discover that not all doors are welcoming...

Where the Drowned Girls Go by Seanan McGuire is expected to be published January 4th, 2022 by Tordotcom.

Why am I waiting on this book? I've read the first two books in the series and enjoyed them. This is book seven. I need to catch up. If it's anything like her other books, it will be well written and worth reading. 

What book are you waiting on this week? Share it or a link in the comments so we can check it out and maybe add it to our TBR lists. Thanks for coming by and Happy Reading!

Teaser Tuesday: The Gravedigger's Son by Darynda Jones

 

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly bookish meme hosted by The Purplebooker.

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 and author so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

“Try leaving again without saying goodbye, and you’ll find out just how angry I can get.” 

He snaked a hand up her T-shirt and over her rib cage, causing an outbreak of goose bumps to spread over her skin. “Is that a promise?” he asked. 

“It’s a threat.” 

“Ah.” 

“And not an idle one, either,” she warned. “There is nothing idle about my threats. My threats are hardworking. Not afraid to get their hands dirty.”

-- p. 78 on my Kindle

The Gravedigger's Son by Darynda Jones was published May 11th, 2021 by 1001 Dark Nights Press.

Would you keep reading? What's your teaser this week? Share it or a link in the comments. Are you enjoying your book? Let us know! Happy Reading!

Can't Wait Wednesday/Waiting on Wednesday #380: From Dust, a Flame by Rebecca Podos

 

Waiting on Wednesday" is a weekly event that had been hosted by Jill over at Breaking the Spine where we spotlighted upcoming releases we are eagerly anticipating. I'm now linking up with "Can't-Wait Wednesday" hosted over at Wishful Endings.

Hannah’s whole life has been spent in motion. Her mother has kept her and her brother, Gabe, on the road for as long as she can remember, leaving a trail of rental homes and faded relationships behind them. No roots, no family but one another, and no explanations.

All that changes on Hannah’s seventeenth birthday when she wakes up transformed, a pair of golden eyes with knife-slit pupils blinking back at her from the mirror—the first of many such impossible mutations. Promising that she knows someone who can help, her mother leaves Hannah and Gabe behind to find a cure. But as the days turn to weeks and their mother doesn’t return, they realize it’s up to them to find the truth.

What they discover is a family they never knew and a history more tragic and fantastical than Hannah could have dreamed—one that stretches back to her grandmother’s childhood in Prague under the Nazi occupation, and beyond, into the realm of Jewish mysticism and legend. As the past comes crashing into the present, Hannah must hurry to unearth their family’s secrets—and confront her own hidden legacy in order to break the curse and save the people she loves most, as well as herself.

Rebecca Podos, award-winning author of Like Water, returns with a contemporary fantasy of enduring love, unfathomable loss, and the power of stories to hold us together when it seems that nothing else can.

From Dust, a Flame by Rebecca Podos is expected to be published February 8th, 2022 by HarperCollins Children's Books.

Why am I waiting on this book? I like the idea of a fantasy with roots in Jewish mysticism and legends. I want to know more about these mutations and what she has to do to deal with them. And I'd like to know what happened to their mother.

What book are you waiting on this week? Share it or a link in the comments so we can check it out and maybe add it to our TBR lists. Thanks for coming by and Happy Reading!

Teaser Tuesday: Belly Up by Alex A. King

 

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly bookish meme hosted by The Purplebooker.

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 and author so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

“How do you figure?” Mom asked slowly. “Your sister already said a woman astronaut couldn’t win against a male caveman.” 

“And Ash already pointed out the sexism problem inherent in that hypothesis,” I said. “Whichever side has women will win because of one thing. We’ll make friends with any wild creatures—possibly wolves—through the time-honored tradition of sharing delicious snacks, and then those creatures will do the women’s bidding, including ravaging and devouring the other side, to keep the yummy snacks coming.” (p.37 The women are discussing who would win astronauts vs cavemen.)

Belly Up by Alex A. King is book 2 in the Revenge Services Inc. series. It was published March 12th, 2021.

Would you keep reading? What's your teaser this week? Share it or a link in the comments. Are you enjoying your book? Let us know! Happy Reading!