The last three books you bought

Bought? With libraries, public domain, and Creative Commons releases, I can read pretty much whatever interests me as long as I'm willing to wait sometimes.

Also, being a librarian with a family, I can't afford to pay retail for anything published recently anyway. Sometimes I can't scrape together half the cover price for paperbacks at a used book store.

The last three books I bought were The Children of the Company, The Machine's Child and Sons of Heaven, all three by Kage Baker. I recently discovered Ms. Baker via the ebook of The Garden of Iden Tor gave away last year and have been absolutely addicted to the series ever since.

Given that they're all from the same series, I imagine they were quite comfortable together in the big Barnes & Noble bag I carried them home in. And they seemed to get along quite well in their pile on my kitchen table while I was making my way through them.

I'm enjoying them all muchly.

Let's see...

I just received The Blade Itself, by Joe Abercrombie (it's on my doorstep waiting for me to get out of work,) I bought Off Armageddon Reef by David Weber on Kindle for iPhone, and I'm still reading through the first of Jim Butcher's Codex Alera series, the Furies of Calderon.

These were all recommendations from you guys and yetistomper.blogspot.com. Although the only reason I bought Off Armageddon Reef and none of the Honor Harrington series (yes, I have not read any of them yet) is because it was Kindle for iPhone ready. I certainly plan on buying other Weber stuff once I get through these guys. :)

My last purchase of genre books was a duo: Corambis and The Bone Key, both by Sarah Monette. I hadn't even known about the latter, but Amazon helpfully linked to it. Before that was at Worldcon, We Never Talk About My Brother, a collection by Peter S. Beagle. I imagine these would get along reasonably well in a bag -- fantasy by authors who are good with language.

Given that the last three I bought were On Blue's Waters, In Green's Jungles, and Return to the Whorl, the three books in Gene Wolfe's Book of the Short Sun, I'd say they're pretty comfortable together.

I did enjoy Rosemary and Rue (I read it last night) and so far I'm liking The Paladin very much!

John Brunner, Quicksand (used, supercheap)
Neil Gaiman, The Graveyard Book (new, figured we needed to have it although half of us have already read it)
Alastair Reynolds, Revelation Space (new, vacation impulse buy, not sure if this series is going to be "my thing" or not but it's all research innit)

The last 3 books to be placed on my shelves were a Library of America volume on Raymond Chandler which I got on Amazon, The City and The City, which I bought at an independent bookstore that specializes in mysteries, and The Rookie by Scott Sigler.

I've been on a Noir and Speculative Fiction kick which explain the first 2. And the 3rd was preordered months ago, because I enjoyed the podiobook version so much.

Beasts by John Crowley
Star Light, Star Bright by Alfred Bester (both used)
The Turing Test by Chris Beckett (new)

Beasts was great, but I haven't read the other two yet. The Turing Test hasn't even arrived from England. It should fit right in with its buddies once it gets here, though.

Ariel, by Steven Boyett (based on a review on Boing Boing)

Valient and Relentless, by Jack Campbell (I was catching up on the series). Bought in Kindle version to read on my iPhone.

There were a few non-SF genre and technical books in between there (notably a few books by Joseph Finder that I bought on Kindle)

The last 3 books I actually paid money for (as in not library loans or review copies) were books 7, 8 and 9 in CJ Cherryh's Foreigner series. I stopped reading after book 6 and am planning to re-read the earlier books and then get into the new ones.

Empire of the Ants by Bernard Weber
Shadow & Claw by Gene Wolfe
The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: Century 1910 (Alan Moore & Kevin O'Neil)

All genre, all absolutely in different universes from one another. So far, I've read half the Gene Wolfe and all of the Alan Moore. Usually whatever I'm reading manages to connect up in some way with what with the books that went before it. Not this time.

After I finish Silas Marner (which I didn't mention because it isn't genre), I'll pick up the Weber.

I'm all over the map these days, as usual. Every time I pile the "to read" list on my shelf, in the order I am going to read them, I really believe that, this time, I WILL read them in that order. It never happens.

Big library user here. I'd forgotten about The Mislaid Magician until a few weeks ago, too. It was great, definitely lived up to the previous two.

Like gaijin, I tend to borrow or otherwise find free books. It's rare for me to reread anything any more, so I'd father to spend my money on things I will use over again.

But in any case, I received 2 Borders gift cards for my birthday, so I picked up Good Omens, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, Divine by Mistake by P.C. Cast, and Santa Olivia by Jacqueline Carey.

father = rather

Using "genre" loosely: Wizard of the Crow by Ngugi wa Thiong'o, Amazon.ca; Polar Star by Martin Cruz Smith, last-week-in-business sale in a mystery store in Camberville; Spook Country, William Gibson, clearance hardcover in Chapters.

I just bought "This is me, Jack Vance!" and "Robert Silverberg - Other Spaces Other Times," which might be considered as two books in the same genre (s-f author autobiographies). Coming from the flavor of fandom that enjoys reading the personal memoires of s-f grandmasters, I'm pretty sure I'll enjoy both of them.

Well, I have to tweak the criteria a little since I don't buy too much and while finishing school over the last year I was re-reading older stuff for comforts sake, but here are the last genre books I picked up for the first time:

The Road - McCarthy
Because all the intrawebs were going crazy about how good it was.

A Scanner Darkly - Dick
Recommended by a friend who's opinion I trust. Plus I love everything I've read by Dick.

Makers - Doctorow (right here on Tor.com!)
Because I have nothing to do at work occasionally and I heard on those crazy intrawebs that Cory was pretty good.

I don't think they go together at all except for the fact that they all piqued my interest and have been very satisfying to read.

It's been at least a month, but the last collection I bought included:

• Shadowbridge by Greg Frost
• Sandworms of Dune by Brian Herbert
• Endgame by Kristine Smith

I was also given 'The Daughters of Moab' by Aussie writer, Kim Westwood, to read this month.

The last three genre books I bought were ebooks; Weaver by Stephen Baxter (because I want to know what happens in the end!); Nekropolis by Maureen McHugh, because I followed a link from the discussion on "Mindblowing SF by women and people of colour" here, and it looked interesting; and Icesong by Kirsen Imani Kasai, because it was new on the ebook site, looked interesting, and was about as far as I could get from Harry Turtledove's World War/Colonization/Going Home series, which I've been working my way through for the last few weeks. In between the last two books I also bought The Lost History of Christianity by Phillip Jenkins.

Whether they fit together in any way, I have as yet no idea, since I've not started reading them yet, though Nekropolis and Icesong look like they might have a similar sort of stylistic feel, while Weaver is more likely to feel more like the Turtledove, as it has lots of alternate history Nazis in it and a wide sweep of time.

Ah yes! I'm a huge library fiend so I rarely buy books unless I get gifted with gift cards or somesuch. In any case, the last three genre purchases I made were:

Night Watch, Terry Pratchett (adding to my collection of much re-read books)
Feast of Fools, Rachel Caine
The Iron Hunt, Marjorie M. Liu

I'm quite sure they all made friends on the trip to my home.

I'm afraid I don't buy much new stuff either, mainly because I already have several shelves of old sf & fantasy (most of which I bought used in the 1990's) waiting to be read, and I don't have the space or the money to substantially expand that collection. Most new sf/fantasy of interest I get from the local library.

That said, I'm a sucker for "year's best" anthologies. The last three genre titles I bought, then, were the latest such volumes from Hartwell-Cramer, Dozois and Strahan. (I'm already missing what would have been the latest in the cancelled Datlow-Windling--excuse me, Datlow-Link-Grant--fantasy and horror series.) I guess they do go together in a trivial sense, although I'll end up shelving them with the other volumes from their respective series.

To my knowledge, the last three genre novels I bought were Cory Doctorow's Little Brother, Kate Wilhelm's Oh, Susannah! and Thomas M. Disch's The M.D.: A Horror Story. Ordinarily I'd have gotten all of these through the library, but the library had gotten rid of their copies of the Wilhelm and Disch novels so I purchased them used and online, and in a fit of paranoia I wound up paying cash over the counter (at a bookstore I don't normally frequent) for the Doctorow. I'm not sure these titles would be "comfortable together", but they would certainly have some interesting things to say to one another!

Apparently I'm in the minority on this thread since I hoard my pennies and spend them on new books (and used books) more often than anything else. I love the feel and the smell of new books (and used books) and I read things over and over again.

My last three purchases were Terry Goodkind's Sword of Truth 9, 10, and 11 (Chainfire, Phantom, and Confessor).* I'm really glad that I bought them together because by the time I got to the end of Chainfire, I didn't stop reading until I hit the end of Confessor the next day!

For a set by different authors, I previously had purchased Cassandra Clare's City of Bones, Rick Riordan's The Last Olympian, and Terry Goodkind's Wizard's First Rule. They didn't really "go" together at first. They're different sizes, different colors, and have different styles of cover art. But as I read them, they flowed into each other with surprising ease. Although they're different in many ways, they are ultimately about discovering the power that lies within. A theme that I find rather satisfying in any genre.

*Between this series and the Wheel of Time, I also had to purchase a new bookcase. :)

Last 3 genre books I bought were: Libyrinth by Pearl North, In the Cities of Coin and Spice by Catherynne Valente, and Hunting Ground by Patricia Briggs. I think they were more dismayed by the "pile" of books they were joining than any outright disagreements with each other. Since they all sound interesting to me, they will probably find some common ground for their conversations.

Erm... genre books... it's been months!

Probably Cory Docotorow's /Someone Comes to Town, Someone Leaves Town/, Neil Gaiman's /The Graveyard Book/ and Holly Black's /Ironside/. I think these three books hang out after hours on my shelves, smoking clove cigarettes and bemoaning the fact that I am currently 500 miles away.

I probably need to clarify my reasons for buying the novels mentioned above. About fifteen years ago I started systematically reading all the novels of Wilhelm and Disch in chronological order; about ten years ago I got stalled at about 1983 for both of them.

Last year I finally got around to reading Wilhelm's Welcome, Chaos and decided I wanted to re-read Oh, Susannah! (which was the last Wilhelm novel I'd read--and I enjoyed it every bit as much the second time around).

Also last year, shortly after Disch's suicide, I finally read the copy of The Businessman: A Tale of Terror which had been waiting on my "to-read" shelf for nearly a decade; The M.D. was Disch's follow-up novel.

As for the Doctorow, I didn't want to have it on my library record, didn't want to purchase it online, and definitely didn't want to pay for it with a credit/debit card. Why? Let's just say that if you don't believe you can get on a terrorist watch list for buying or checking out a book, then you're not taking the ideas in Doctorow's book seriously enough. (I'm a little less paranoid since Obama's inauguration, otherwise I wouldn't be writing here about buying Little Brother.)

Let's see. The last three I bought but haven't read as of yet - I have the obligatory pile of genre books to read and or re-read sitting on my bookshelves! A used copy of MISSISSIPPI BLUES by Kathleen Ann Goonan,(I've read the last two in this series and eventually will read the first two!) WHAT REMAINS a chapbook from Aqueduct Press with new stories by Geoff Ryman and Ellen Klages - two of my favorite authors, and THE NIGHT SESSION by Ken MacLeod becuse it won the BSFA award ths year. I think they are comfortable together - at least I've heard no complaints.

The last three genre books I purchased (used, thanks for the links to AbeBooks)were based on your reviews here.

1) The Dragon in Waiting because I like history and it sounded very interesting (not read yet)
2) Permanence (reading right now, so far so good)
3) Mission Child because it sounded interesting and not like "standard" scifi (not read yet)

Non-genre
I just got Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison from an antique shop in Colorado while on vacation. It has been on my "to read" list for a long time.

I don't think there is any overlap in these books, but I figure parties are boring if everyone is the same, so maybe the same is true for books :)

I've also got a financial crunch cutting back on the number of books I buy new; I'm tending to purchase known quantities and trying out new things through the library or used books.

Last 3 genre purchases:
The Deed of Paksenarrion, Elizabeth Moon. For some reason I had never owned this, and I wanted to reread in advance of her new book in this universe.

Cast in Fury, Michelle Sagara. This was an annoyed repurchase (annoyed with myself, not the book), because, again, I was rereading in advance of the release of Cast In Silence and this volume from the series had gone missing (I've since found it, mixed in with a stack of catalogs I was about to recycle. Sigh.)

Vanished, Kat Richardson. Latest installment in the Greywalker series.

They're an interesting mix. I suspect Paks would find the others somewhat undisciplined, but they all understand protecting the civilians/innocents from the uncanny.

The three Daniel Abraham novels in paperback, based on your reviews and his comments here. (harder to find than I thought. NYC has curious lacks.)

"The City and the City", by China Miéville (which costed way more than I would like to have payed); "The Engines of God", by Jack McDevitt and Pratchett's "Maskerade". They felt great together

Bought the Miéville despite the price because I figured, when's the next time I'm gonna find Miéville here in Brazil? The McDevitt because one of the cover blurbs said he was the logical heir to Asimov and Clarke (He better be). The Pratchett because I'll buy just about anything with his name on the cover.

Last tuesday, browsing in the used books section of my favorite independent Bookshop:

Colin Bateman "Divorcing Jack"

Ken Bruen "Cross"

(You didn't specify which genre)
I suppose those two are on speaking terms - they're both Irish crime novels, though I suspect very different in tone.

and

Pamela Zoline "The Heat Death of the Universe and Other Stories"
(I did read the title story on Sci-fiction at the time) and that's definitely a whole 'nother kettle of fish.

The last three genre books I bought were:

Paladin from Baen as an ebook, because the review was interesting and carandol pointed out that I could. :)

The Sunless Countries by Karl Schroeder. I was looking for something else, which the bookstore didn't have of course, but there it was on the shelf. I didn't even know it was out yet.

Half A Crown by Jo Walton, which I'd been meaning to get around to since reading Ha'penny last year.

These were all retail therapy; I haven't actually gotten to them yet. Still reading Pride and Prejudice and Zombies and The New Space Opera 2.

As for what they all have in common, all I can point to is this column, which has been a lovely reminder of some old reads and always interesting. Thanks for writing it.

Made the run to Uncle's over lunch today; was hoping to land a copy of Saltation as a last minute gift, but they haven't gotten their shipment from the warehouse yet. Grrr.

Anyways, picked up Schole's Lamentation, Charlie's Wireless (finally), and Downum's The Drowning City.

Also picked up the CL Anderson \\\\\\\Sarah Zettel Bitter Angels earlier this week via the iTouch/Kindle. Hah! Pseudonyms don't mask heroines on south shore Lake Superior islands! Anyways, it's pretty good, reminiscent of her earlier SF works but shows her writing skills have improved a lot.

Hunting Ground by Patricia Briggs
Walking Dead by C.E. Murphy
Chasing the Dragon by Justina Robson

I think they fit together pretty well, all in the paranormal vein. Reading Walking Dead now, Hunting Ground will probably wait for a while with the other books on the "to read shelf" and Chasing the Dragon will wait longer, because I still haven't gotten to book three in that series yet.

I rarely buy books anymore, running a secondary school library, and reviewing and judging spec fic all the time. But sometimes I can't resist! My last buying spree was last weekend, and involved two full bags of books, but they were series books! So:

The second Kushiel series (books 2 & 3) which I love.
The Raven's duology from Patricia Briggs - came to Briggs by way of her paranormals and have fallen in love with her fantasy.

And two other Jacqueline Carey books :)

Lessee. I've been reading a lot of stuff that people gave me so I'm going to call some of these based on "I would have bought them if someone hadn't handed me a copy".

Starting from the back, was Issola by Steven Brust, from the Vlad Taltos series. I'd been trying to find a copy when a friend gave it to me as a gift. I'd read everything else in the series because they're so intriguing to me. I love the voice of Vlad, and what he does. The "So there I was, no shit." tone is incredible and I find the world mighty engaging. I wanted this book like I want new Jim Butcher novels. Not much else has grabbed me like this.

Next up was The Mall of Cthulhu, which I actually did buy, from Seamus Cooper. I'm a Mythos fan. The title grabbed me, I liked the cover art, and I know Nightshade puts out books which are usually, at the very least, interesting to me and of a generally high quality print-wise. I haven't really been burned by them as a publisher yet. This book was entirely an impulse buy for me. As a mini-review, I didn't love it but I did like it. Some really amazing ideas and the main male character shows promise. Otherwise, I was left kinda underwhelmed by the book. I don't have much else to say about it.

Most recently was The Sheriff of Yrnameer which I dug from the moment I saw the cover art and then I just wanted as I read the description. It looked like it would feed some of my Stainless Steel Rat hunger (which it did even better than I'd hoped because author Michael Rubens is a big fan of the series). As it happened, I was one of the lucky bastards who won the raffle Random House ran for the book but I was assuming I'd be buying it the next time I went to Borders anyhow. I friggin' loved the book. If he doesn't get to write another of these I will be beyond pissed. I will sell organs to fund another book in this series if I have to. Not my own, of course.

I've read a bunch of other things in between these but they were either gifts I wouldn't have bought any time soon or that books I bought a long time ago and just unearthed again.

If I'm buying books, it's because they're used books. I was at an excellent bargain sale last week and, wouldn't you know it, I picked up exactly three books. They were:

Kiss Kiss, Roald Dahl (A collection of short stories. I had no idea that the mind behind James and the Giant Peach and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory could be so twisted and disturbing. The quiet sense of mounting dread in each story makes for disquieting reading, but in a good way.)

Altered Carbon, Richard Morgan (I've already read this several times, but didn't have a copy of my own. Now I do, and it's a limited edition, yay me.)

Oryx & Crake, Margaret Atwood (Just started reading and enjoying it so far. It's silly of her to continue to insist that it isn't science fiction, but what do you do?)

I would think that these books make comfortable company to each other. They all share an opening of calm normalcy (each in their own way) before rising up and grabbing you by the eyeballs. The other element they all share is solid writing and storytelling ability. It's win win.

I stopped by Mysterious Galaxy Tuesday to get Rosemary and Rue, and also picked up Fevre Dream (the recent review piqued my interest), A Twisted Ladder by Rhodi Hawk (mystery-ish, sounded interesting), Must Love Hellhounds (a paranormal chicklit anthology [or is there another term when it's a collection of 4-5 novella/novelette length works rather than a dozen or more shorter pieces?]), and A Veiled Deception (a cozy). More than three, but I got them at the same time, so.

I bought "Galileo's Dream" by Kim Stanley Robinson, Dianiel Abraham's first book in that series (yes another person sucked in by this insidious marketing ploy of a website ;) ), aaaaaand I think it was Simmons "Ilium".

What the hell does this say about me? No idea.

The last three genre books I have purchased are:

"Infinity Beach", by McDevitt
"Rite of Passage", by Panshin
"The Sharing Knife" Vol 2, by Bujold

or

"The Enchantress of Florence", by Rushdie

Infinity Beach was a great first contact story. I have enjoyed every McDevitt story I have read. He has a gift for writing engaging stories without ober-villains or epic battles.

I bought Rite of Passage because of a recent review by Ms Walton. Why isn't this book on more classic SF lists?

I have not started The Enchantress so I don't know whether it can be reasonably considered a "genre" book. If not, then Sharing Knife is the third. I have not read it yet, but I have enjoyed the first volume in the series.

"The Soldier King" by Violette Malan - loved the first Dhulyn & Parno novel.

"Ariel" by Steven R. Boyett - what can I say, I'm a sucker for apocalyptic novels.

"By Schism Rent Asunder" by David Webber - I have no idea why I bought this but possibly hanging around TOR.com too often and getting caught by the constantly re-loading advertising for it's sequel?
Mmm - who knows?

I must note that the older I get the slower I'm reading - I must have at least 50 books sitting in my "you bought it now bloodywell read it" pile.

What I find is that when I do want to read I go for the old favourites - the ones with their covers missing or in ratty condition. Why would I rather read something I've read dozens of times (like Joe Haldeman's "Mindbridge" - a particular favourite) than a bright shiny new book with unknown possibilities ahead? I wish I knew.

Joe Abercrombie's "The Blade Itself" because I want to see what all the fuss is about.

Stephen Baxter's "Flood" because I used to read everything he wrote, but dropped him for a while and feel the need to renew the acquaintance.

Robert Holdstock's "Avilion". A sequel to "Mythago Wood"? No-brainer!

My last three.

George Mann's _The Osiris Ritual_. I enjoyed the first in the series in an undemanding entertainment sort of way and liked the characters.

Stephen Baxter's _Ark_. Another sequel, this time to _Flood_. I've already read this and it is a very different type of book to Flood. It certainly isn't sequential in time to the first book but overlaps substantially.

Lauren Beukes _Moxyland_. Ian Whates was telling everyone how great her book is and that we should all be reading it at a local con a few weeks ago.

Interpreting "bought" strictly (i.e. money changed hands):

The Dragon Waiting, John M. Ford
Bitter Angels, C.L. Anderson
Treasons Shore, Sherwood Smith

Absolutely no reason they shouldn't feel happy together... apart from the traditional alphabetic ordering of my bookshelves, which will interfere with any long term relationship they might try to strike up.

The Court Of The Air - Stephen Hunt (The one I'm reading now, interesting Steampunk adventure)

Frankenstein Book Three Dead and Alive - Dean Koontz (One I'll read next)

The Last Colony - John Scalzi (I need to know what John Perry is up to!)

She comes from Wales but lives in Montreal where the food and books are more varied.

Yeah, but Jo, can you get cockles and laverbread there eh?

Dymuniadau gorau!
Bob

I have problems buying genre books, because I live in Germany and I have to pull titles and authors out of my head for purchasing on-line, rather than browsing bookstore shelves. There's also a real dearth of English books in the used bookstores. On top of that, my wife doesn't read SF, so we mostly buy mysteries. But I did decide to buy a few things for myself for my birthday last month:

Secret of the Seventh Son by Glenn Cooper -- I bought this based on a review here. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't all that either. I don't regret having read it, but I might have put the money to better use.

Three Days to Never by Tim Powers -- I really enjoy Powers' work. This one wasn't necessarily his best work, but was mostly enjoyable. I found the ending a bit rushed. I think he's really better when he keeps his settings outside of Southern California.

The Years of Rice and Salt by Kim Stanley Robinson -- KSR was my freshman writing instructor in college. I generally enjoy his stuff, too. I haven't gotten very far with this one yet, but I like it so far.

Ralph Giles: OK, you win this thread.

Bob: I can get cockles, and I don't want laverbread. Did you know it's the exact same seaweed that's used as nore in sushi? When I heard that I thought "We've been doing it wrong all these centuries!"

Everyone else: I'm really enjoying these. What a range! What interesting reasons.

i just recently bought:

CAPE STORM by RACHEL CAINE (THE WEATHER WARDEN SERIES) she really knows how to move a book/series along. its got everything, from science/magic, to fights, to sex, to...everything.

PAUL OF DUNE by BRIAN HERBERT & KEVIN ANDERSON (DUNE SERIES) its a Dune book...what more need be said right?

and ummm the third one...i grabbed a few old books i had already read from Half Price book store
Mossflower by Brian Jaques
Books 7 and 8 of WOT
The Firebringer, and The Sight by Roger Clement-Davies (i think its Roger) - if u liked watership down or books about animals then these two will really enjoy you. (about Deer and Wolves respectively)

I can't quite recall what my last three purchases were (I too am poor and a rabid library fiend. Probably Sanderson's Mistborn trilogy tho) but I can tell you what my next three are: too,t he Deed of Paksenarrion series by moon, because until I read this thread I was unaware there was another book coming out and now I am wildly excited. Thanks #29!

*squee*

Course there's a HUGE used book sale this weekend, I do expect I'll be spending a bit of dough at that. Walking out of a used book sale with a bagful of books is a great feeling.

1. The Devil's Day, by James Blish. This has had various titles; it's a couple of related short novels, the first of which was published, as I recall, as "Faust Aleph-Null." Hadn't read either since they first came out, so it's good to revisit them and find them just as good as they seemed the first time, and almost certainly the best thing Blish has ever done. There's a paragraph in which he has some fun with his colleagues by naming white magicians after them (mostly using their pen names), so you have Anson (Anson MacDonald = Heinlein), who talks like an engineer, and Selahny, who says things no one can figure out.

2 and 3. The first two volumes The Collected Stories of Roger Zelazny. They're in chronological order, with endnotes, some with useful background on how Zelazny thought about the stories, and many with commentary so gratingly unnecessary as to be patronizing. No big deal about the endnotes, of course, since you can just ignore them, and as for the stories, well, the very first one, since they're in order of writing, not publication, is "A Rose for Ecclesiastes."

There seems to be only ONE duplicated book in this thread: "The City and The City" by China Mieville. Several duplicated authors, but just one book. As a reader with some desire to feel like I know what's going on in SF&F, just one small province of the Empire of Letters, I feel rather disquieted ...

ELeatherwood @ 52: You missed that Nolly and I both bought Rosemary and Rue.

The last three genre books I bought, or bought together?

(I had to look them all up, anyway.)

Last bought:

1) John Bellairs, _Magic Mirrors_, the new NESFA collection of his adult fiction. We own _The Face in the Frost_, but in a very battered pb, and this also has the partial sequel. (We actually already had a copy of _St. Fidgeta and Other Parodies_, his Catholic parodies, but now we can loan the other one out to current and former Catholics who will appreciate it.) I haven't read the new-to-me material in this yet.

2) John G. Hemry, _A Just Determination_, book 1 of the "JAG in Space" series, in e-book. Homework for WorldCon legal-systems panel. I stopped five chapters in; I wasn't in the mood for so much military in my SF. The book may just not be my thing.

3) Tobias S. Buckell, _Tides From the New Worlds_, short story collection, not yet read.

I suspect these books don't have a lot to say to each other, really.

Last three bought together:

Wow, I had to go way back to April, an order from Amazon.

1) Patricia C. Wrede, _The Thirteenth Child_, which, err, needs no introduction here; still haven't read.

2) Tamora Pierce, _Bloodhound_. YA secondary-world fantasy/police procedural, second in a series. Read, not yet reviewed. Solid but perhaps a bit long.

3) Shaun Tan, _Tales From Outer Suburbia_. Collection of short illustrated stories. Saving up as a treat.

The first two are YA and so would probably be not uncomfortable together; I suspect Tan's _Outer Suburbia_ might be more comfortable with Buckell's _Tides_.

Hmm. I use bookfree.com so I'm actually "renting" them, but I just got...

Devil's Cape by Rob Rogers
Herland by Charlotte Perkins Gilman
Always by Nicola Griffith

If Always doesn't count, then it would be Scar Night by Alan Campbell.

Rob Thurman—Nightlife, bought because a number of online metrics suggest that it's quite like my books and I was curious.

Carrie Vaughn—Kitty and the Dead Man's Hand bought because I started picking up Carrie's work after hanging out with her and Eric Witchey at World Fantasy a few years back and discovered that she writes a fun yarn.

Jim Butcher—Small Favors, bought because I fell in love with the series along about book IV after picking it up because a lot of my readers suggested I'd enjoy them.

Hmm, a lot urban fantasy there and quite self-referential, but if I go three further back the story is different. Pat Wrede's—13th Child, bought because I love Pat's stuff and buy it as it comes out, Jim Hines'—Stepsister Scheme bought because Jim's a good, funny writer, and The Watchmen, because I hadn't read it since it first came out, it made a hell of an impression at the time, and I'd borrowed it back then.

The Steel Remains, by Richard Morgan; The Stranger, by Max Frei, and Best Served Cold, by Joe Abercrombie.
I think if I don't separate them soon there will be a brawl.

Talia @50, glad to be of help re the new Paks-universe book, Oath of Fealty, but don't get too excited - it's not due out until spring.

I in turn thank katenepveu @54 for the mention of the Bellairs from NESFA. I also have a battered copy of the Face in the Frost, and I've read The Pedant and the Shuffly, but was unaware of the others.

And NESFA makes me realize that I listed my 3 most recent buys from Amazon, since that's the bulk of my shopping, but didn't recall that I'd also bought Lifelode but haven't yet read it. Expect to enjoy it though.

OtterB, no problem--NESFA does good work and I'm very excited about this collection.

@51. I love the story "Rose for Ecclesiastes." Incredibly powerful and, as I recall, swept the Hugo and Nebula that year. One of my top 5 SF shorts all time. Rob

Mine were:

Jordan's Eye of the World - got me hooked on the Wheel of Time and I haven't yet gotten off.

Riordan's the Lightning Thief (Percy and the Olympians I) and Flanagan's the Ranger's Apprentice I. Both excellent YA/teen books I got for my kids and read myself. (Get ready for the publicity push, as Lightning Thief is coming out as a big budget movie in Feb 2010 and producers no doubt hope to have all five books done HP-style. The trailer is on Youtube and is amusing whether or not you are familiar with the currently uber-popular Percy series.)

Rob

Only 3 huh... the last time I bought books, I went a bit overboard. There were ten books in my order. And no, I didn't pay a lot for these. They were publisher's overstocks from Edward R. Hamilton, so the "expensive" ones of the bunch were $6 or $7...

Okay, ya got me, only four of the ten are related in any way to Science Fiction or Fantasy, and of those four, only three are novels. So, what'd I buy?

Lavinia - by Ursula K. Le Guin
The Disunited States - by Harry Turtledove
Star Trek: Academy -- Collision Course - by William Shatner

The fourth fantasy-related book is Fantasy Encyclopedia by Judy Allen

All ten books arrived together in the same box and if I recollect correctly only the last two novels listed above were next to each other in the box. Mrs. Le Guin's novel was separated from these other two by some of the non-genre books in that order.

So, comfortable together? Maybe. I haven't heard any complaints from the peanut gallery about the company I make them keep... their only complaint is that I try to pack too many books in too little space.

It's been an extremely long time since I bought three genre books at the same time, as I've become extraordinarily picky about the genre books I buy. The last three were Gene Wolfe's Shadow and Claw and Sword and Citadel, and Patrick Rothfuss's The Name of the Wind. The two Wolfe books are sitting in my office along with a smattering of Roman and American history; I assume they are content enough together. The Name of the Wind resides rather more comfortably in a stack on an end table in my living room. It sits directly on top of The Fellowship of the Ring, but the third book in the stack is, unfortunately, the Naval Institute's Guide to Naval Writing. The other books probably ostracize that one, and would relocate if they could.

Last four genre books: two fairly old ebooks 'Ventus' and 'Rite of Passage', two fairly newly released physical books 'Lifelode' and 'Precious Dragon'. These were bought for travel reading. I've read 'Precious Dragon' and 'Rite of Passage', and I'm in the middle of 'Ventus'

Three of them have an obvious connection through this blog. They aren't otherwise very similar, but I don't think of genre books as being fussy about who they are next to. As Jo pointed out, 'Rite of Passage' certainly would have stood out more when it was written -- it contrasts much less with, say, 'Orbital Resonance' than with 'Podkayne of Mars'.

I used a list of Jo Walton's reviews on TOR to select my most recent purchases. I was able to find at my local bookstore (Austin, TX):

John Brunner's 'The Crucible of Time'

Vernor Vinge's 'A Fire Upon the Deep'

Samuel R. Delaney's 'Babel-17'

and Delaney's 'Nova'

Two are recently written, while the Delaney books are from the 60's. I'm looking forward to reading them all and am appreciative of Walton for raising their profiles here on the Tor site.

Seth

'5 great novels' - philip k dick
'Better Mousetrap' and 'Barking' by Tom Holt

Compass of the Soul, River into Darkness #2 by Sean Russell. Because I'm reading through my Not Sure If I Want to Keep shelves, just decided yes on River Into Darkness #1, and cannot progress to the next 3 Russells I own until I read the inexplicably missing title.

Green Grass Running Water by Thomas King, because it was highly recommended on the 50 books by people of color challenge community on LiveJournal.

The Child Thief by Brom, because it looked fascinating in the Science Fiction Book Club mailing.

None of these have arrived yet. Of the ones that are already here, I cannot remember for sure what order I bought them in. Maybe The Kappa Child by Hiromi Goto (especially recommended, BTW, for those interested in Canadian SF), Hardboiled Wonderland and the End of the World by Haruki Murakami and Shipwrecked Body by Ana Clavel, all for 50books_poc.

I think all my books pretty much get along, although the ARCs may get made fun of when I'm not around to supervise.

My last three genre books purchased:

1. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows, by a little known author from Britain

2. Jheggala, by Steven Brust

3. Lexicon Urthus, by Michael Andre-Driussi

Sword of the Lady---S.M. Stirling
who may be trying to assume the crown of Robert Jordan by writing a never-ending series. Although we know from some of his England-based short stories that things probably come out all right for Montival
Hunting Ground---Patricia Briggs a nice addition to the series but I don't think the Alpha-Omega books are as strong as her Mercy series, her Raven series or her Dragon series
Best Served Cold---Joe Abercrombie I just realized that all three books excited me when i saw they were available but weren't as satisfying as their previous works.
I find my must-read author's list is dwindling the only new additions this year are scott lynch and Joe Abercrombie...
I've just finished the first chapter of Brandon Sanderson's vision of The Wheel of Time he may make the list but we'll see after Oct. 27

Just picked up the Lord Darcy fantasies by Randall Garrett (used) - Murder & Magic, Too many magicians and Lord Darcy Investigates. Obviously go well together, and I've already finished the first. Absolutely love them.

Before that, I bought Between the Strokes of Night by Charles Sheffield, The Guns of the South by Harry Turtledove and A Deepness in the Sky by Vernor Vinge. I have no idea how well they get along, but I'm delighted to have them.

The 6-book set of E.R. Burroughs' Barsoom novels - the Doubleday "Book Club" editions from the early '70s. These are available online for free, but I bought them for the interior illustrations by Frazetta. Those graceful line drawings are harder to find than the dust jacket paintings. Now I'm reading the series for the first time. I didn't know til now that the last book was illustrated by Richard Corben.

Spoiler:
Everyone on Mars is naked.