Ye Olde Partners Page

*A Collection of Antiquarian Curios & Relics*

"Beware the Jubjub bird, and shun the frumious Bandersnatch!"
--Lewis Carroll, Jabberwocky

1) BEHIND BLUE EYES . . . I like Greek mythology as much as the next guy, but Rick Roirdan has made a career out of it. The third installment of his Heroes of Olympus series, The Mark of Athena (9781423140603) 19.99 will hit the stores on October 2, and then it will hit the bestseller lists shortly thereafter. This title immediately reminded me of this old chestnut from the rock band The Who:

Athena, Odysseus knew how much he'd need her
On the acropolis, Pericles could not heed her
Paris' heart starts palipating when he thinks of Helen's sarong
But the Greeks will get along
She's just a girl -- she's a song
She's just a girl -- she's a song

Sorry Pete, I took a few liberties with your lyrics, but that's how I roll. The first two titles in the series, The Lost Hero (9781423113461) 9.99 and The Son of Neptune (9781423140597) 19.99 were YA blockbusters, so order accordingly. I mean, like, listen to these totally awesome comments from his readers:
Alex Pulaski: Phaa! i cant wait must hav book!!!!!

Fred S Carmer: I loved the other two and very excited for this one!!!!

Anna: CAN'T WAIT FOR IT TO COME OUT!

Sofia: Iv been waiting for ages for this to come out and its only October im soooo syced its tooo cool ps i wonder what annabeth has as a secret

I saw an article about how this year the US has the lowest scores on the SAT in the history of the test. These comments did not convince me otherwise . . .

2) WON'T GET FOOLED AGAIN . . . Some ancient astronaut theorists believe that Rick Riordan is to this generation what J.K. Rowling was once to the last YA generation. However, the JK has taken a break from diving around like a porpoise in her vault of money to write the book that none of her fans really wanted. The JK is all growed up now and has written her first adult novel, The Casual Vacancy (9780316228534) 35.00. "Holy Hogwarts Batman, there are all kinds of naughty words in this book!" As the JK explains, "The middle class is so funny, it's the class I know best (sic), and it's the class where you find the most pretension, so that's what makes the middle class so funny." Yeah, your new social class isn't pretentious at all; it's perfectly normal in this day and age to walk around with a sceptre in hand and a crown on your head. You will sell some copies on her name recognition alone. It goes on sale September 27 . . .

Odds & Sods

I was excited to stumble upon Greg Woolf's Rome: An Empire's Story (9780199775293) 29.95. I've always been more of an Roman Empire than a Roman Republic guy, and this is the perfect book for me and the other 87 people in the US who are fascinated by this topic.

I was disappointed to learn that the closest Lawrence Norfolk, author of John Saturnall's Feast (9780802120519) 26.00, is coming to Michigan is Chicago. I don't get it. Michigan is home to more great bookstores than there is space available to list, and yet, they can't fit any of those stores into his schedule. Hey publishers, there's more to the book world than L.A and New York! Sheesh.