It’s time for another round of Bookshelf Bingo! Today we are joining David Michael Williams for a glimpse at his shelves. David is a guest on Read.Write.Repeat. Don’t miss his episode, which aired September 23rd!
Welcome!
First, tell us a little bit about your normal reading habits.
Q: Do you buy, borrow or steal the most of your books?
A: I buy most books that I read—unfortunately. (I’m running out of room on my shelves!)
Q: Describe your ideal reading setting.
A: Honestly, I think it’s on an airplane. International flights, in particular, are great for guilt-free binge reading. And the book in my hand is always a paperback or hardcover novel. I just can’t get excited about my e-reader.
Q: Kaisha can’t write in her books and I can’t get rid of mine once they are read. What are your book quirks?
A: When I’m done reading a book, it looks almost identical to how it looked when I took it off the shelf at the store. No smudges on the binding, no creases on the cover, and certainly no dog-eared pages!
Q: What is the most beloved book that you own?
A: At the risk of sounding self-promotional, I’m going to go with The Pajamazon Amazon vs The Goofers Twofers. It’s a children’s chapter book my wife and I wrote as a labor of love, and our young daughter provided the illustrations. It’s also precious to me because it’s out of print, and very few copies are in circulation.
Okay, here’s how the game works: Designate six shelves in your house 1-6. Find the correct book for each shelf and then answer the following about each book. If you don’t have the number of books required on the bookshelf (for example, if you don’t have 17 books on the shelf you designate as 2) then you can either take the first or the last book on that shelf.
Bookshelf 1, Book Number 2:
Book Title: The Kinslayer Wars
Author: Douglas Niles
Have you read the book?
Yes.
What did you think of the book?
The Kinslayer Wars is the second book of the Elven Nations Trilogy within the Dragonlance saga. Many books, such as this one, provided cultural and historical context for some of the more mainstream stories in the Dragonlance setting. The history of the elves is entertaining, but there are probably other books I’d recommend first. Between Dragonlance and Forgotten Realms, I have a dozen or more stories written by Niles, and he always pulls the reader into the adventure.
Do you recommend the book?
I do.
Bookshelf 2, Book Number 17:
Book Title: The Pillars of Creation
Author: Terry Goodkind
Have you read the book?
Yes.
What did you think of the book?
Terry Goodkind’s Sword of Truth series gave me my first glimpse into a grittier type of fantasy fiction. I very much enjoyed this book as well as the ones that preceded it, though I felt the series lost steam after this installment.
Do you recommend the book?
I recommend the series up to and including The Pillars of Creation.
Bookshelf 3, Book Number 10:
Book Title: North Mythology A to Z
Author: Kathleen N. Daly
Have you read the book?
Yes (though not from cover to cover).
If you have read the book–
What did you think of the book?
When I ordered this book, I expected it to be a bit more…well…robust. I doesn’t go too deep into the Norse myths, but I will say that the book serves as an excellent quick-reference guide. In fact, I used it while researching my latest sci-fi series.
Do you recommend the book?
Yes, for those looking for a broad overview of the characters and plots of Norse mythology.
Bookshelf 4, Book Number 14:
Book Title: This Present Darkness
Author: Frank E. Paretti
Have you read the book?
Yes.
What did you think of the book?
I read this book when I was pretty young, and it freaked me out. I hadn’t read a book about spiritual warfare before that, and I don’t think I’ve read a better one since. Imagine that angels and demons are real and that they can influence our reality. This Present Darkness dishes out a dark and disturbing conspiracy.
Do you recommend the book?
I do.
Bookshelf 5, Book Number 11:
Book Title: Tess of the D’urbervilles
Author: Thomas Hardy
Have you read the book?
No, not completely.
What made you buy the book?
I bought it because I was required to read it for some college literature course or another. I’m pretty sure I started it, but it didn’t hook me. I can’t imagine how I passed a test or wrote a paper about it. CliffsNotes, maybe?
What are you looking forward to about the book?
I do not intend to give this classic another try.
Bookshelf 6, Book Number 3:
Book Title: Trinity of Sin: The Phantom Stranger
Author: Dan Didio
Have you read the book?
Yes.
What did you think of the book?
Wanna hear something weird? Sometimes I buy comic books and graphic novels because they look bad. The cheesier the title, the better. This one fit the bill if only because the titular character seemed so cliché. Imagine my surprise when it ended up being a very clever and engaging story that featured cameos from some rather big names in the DC Comics universe.
Do you recommend the book?
Yes, for any and all comic book fans.
Tibetan Lemonade 