Oh Boy Oh Boy!

Quick announcement. My wife and I just had a 3D ultrasound done and ... it's a boy!

My wife's been making fun of me since we found out she was pregnant because I automatically started referring to the baby as he and him, but little did she know, I knew it all along. :)

We got to see a yawn and found out he's got a big head and long legs. Takes after Dad I guess (I'm 6'5").

Hope everyone's having a great weekend, we're a bit excited here at The Stamp.

Borders vs. Barnes and Noble

One of my favorite things in the world to do is to go through a book store, picking up random copies of books that look interesting though I've never been one to actually buy a random book.

When it comes to buying, I have to thoroughly look up blog reviews and opinions on forums before I'll actually buy a book, but I'd like to one day have the courage to do so.

Barnes and Noble has a much better selection of speculative fiction books than Borders, at least as far as I've seen and yet Borders has become my favorite store to shop in.

First off, Borders offers a free membership program. No yearly fee here and yet I get great coupons all the time; anywhere from 20 to 40% off any book I choose. Not only that, but they'll order any book I want and ship it to their store, so really they're not that far behind B&N.

I don't work for Borders or anything (promise) and sadly Barnes and Noble will probably far outlast Borders, but I just wanted to explain my preference in addition to posting the latest coupon:

Save 33% at Borders

What does everyone else think?

Updates

I hope everyone's had a great week so far. For me, this is many times contingent on how much reading time I have available, so not too bad on my end.

I have a few updates, comments, etc. to note so stay tuned for more (below) from your friendly neighborhood Seak.

First off, I've finished Malice by Chris Wooding and I had a great time with that. I plan on having the review up soon. Malice is a mix between a novel and a comic and it was pulled off quite well, so that's on the docket.

I'm currently reading Armageddon Bound by Tim Marquitz, which has surprised me in many ways, mostly in that at about the halfway mark I already love it. I won this copy from Fantasy Book Critic in collaboration with the author as an ebook.

Next off, I just wanted to address and make my own meager comments on the controversy that is even mentioning George R.R. Martin's name. As noted on Of Blog and mostly concerning the rampant trolling that happened when Pat (of Fantasy Hotlist fame) posted an excerpt from Martin's latest novella found in the Warriors anthology. I'll let you check out the blog to see the actual comments.

That said, can we give it a rest already? Why is it that every time anyone mentions George R.R. Martin, it automatically means that someone has to make a comment about how he's taking forever to finish A Dance with Dragons and to top it off by bashing him personally. We got it that it's taking a while. Can I just announce that? We got it, but what does that help to get mad? Does it speed up the process? I can actually argue that it slows it down if anything because Martin feels like he needs to clean up the messes.

I'll admit to having my moments of annoyance at George for taking so long to publish A Dance with Dragons. But, I have a giant To-Read list that will give me plenty to do until that happens. Maybe that's what I'll work on next. The list to read while we wait...

Thanks for letting me rant a bit. I'm just tired of reading that everywhere. Genre reading and discussion is great, but lets have fun with it and bring out the best in it.

Republic of Thieves is Possibly Complete!

I mentioned in a post not too long ago that I absolutely loved Scott Lynch's Lies of Locke Lamora and now we have some good news from The Wertzone and Suvudu's Shawn Speakman.

Scott Lynch has been rumored to have finished the manuscript for The Republic of Thieves and the editors are awaiting it any moment now. The date for publication has now been set for January 2011 although it's not set in stone.

I have yet to read Red Skies over Red Seas but it's on the bookshelf and ready to go since I was waiting for the next installment to be ready. I guess it's time.

Spellwright Prologue at Mad Hatter's

I mentioned in an earlier post that I was excited to read the new Spellwright by Blake Charlton. The Mad Hatter's Bookshelf and Book Review has the prologue up, so enjoy, I know I will.

The World According to Americans

I saw this going around on Facebook and I had to repeat it here because I'm still laughing at it.

(Note: I love Europe and even lived there for 2 years so not all opinions shown above are held at The Stamp, although it's pretty accurate)

It's News to Me

Good things going on in the world of sff.

First, Orbit has released the UK cover art for the omnibuses of Daniel Abraham's Long Price Quartet. This is also a chance for me to talk about one of my favorite "new to me" authors. I have to say I'm a fan, not only of the new cover art, but of the series itself. After reading A Shadow in Summer recently, I am hooked and if you haven't read it yet, put down what you're reading right now and get this series immediately.

Second, from an article in Publisher's Weekly (through A Dribble of Ink through Mad Hatter's Bookshelf - hey I wanna comment too!), Lev Grossman's The Magicians will have a sequel called The Magician King. I have The Magicians sitting on my shelf (thanks to Simcha at Sff Chat) and I plan to get to it very soon. It's received mixed reviews in the blogosphere, but I'm excited nonetheless.

Last, Alex Carnevale counts down his Top 100 sff picks of all time here. I find it a bit heavy-handed on a few authors and to be honest I've only read about 20, which makes me feel like I haven't read a darn thing. After saying that, it's his list and he's entitled to his opinion, which I will defend to to the death his right to give. Let me know what you think. :)