Yakkin' about books

I can't believe this is my first blog entry about books; books are such an integral part of my life, that I imagined I would never stop yakking about them in a blog sit-cha-ma-ta-tion (situation). Whenever the topic of "interests" or "hobbies" comes up, reading is the first thing that I think to mention or type into the "about you" form on facebook or other profile page. Years ago, I entered a phase of divestiture, after watching way too many episodes of the tv show "Clean Sweep." I used to have piles of books, and many in boxes hoarded in my parent's attic back in Nova Scotia. Now, I go through my books periodically and give them away by leaving them on a hallway table at work, trade them in to a secondhand bookstore, or pass them along to friends. I've only kept a few books for a very long time, two in particular I want to mention here and recommend as good summer reads: /Winter's Tale/ (1983) by Mark Helprin, and yes I bought it new, and /Weaveworld/ (1987) by Clive Barker, yes that Clive Barker. 

Winter's Tale fits in the genre of magical realism, of which I have not read much. [Note: I read another novel by Helprin, /Freddy and Fredericka/, but I strongly disliked it, so I am not recommending the author, rather the specific book.] The characters and the dialogue are so real and mesmerizing that you fall in love with the people of this novel almost immediately; the magical elements are appealing and revealing and at the same time stunning and mystifying. I have kept this giant book all these years because I plan to reread it more than once again in my life, and I want to keep something so beautifully wrought around me forever.
Weaveworld by the horror-move-meister Clive Barker relates a tale of supreme fantasy with monstrous elements that terrify and delight simultaneously. This novel does not fit in the horror genre, but the story is as rich and stimulating as any work in Clive Barker's horror oeuvre. "Nothing ever begins." is the first line of this novel, and that's how the story feels, like it has always been around and always will be, something buried deep in the genetic psyche of humans, too close and personal to not be true.
Both novels are urban fantasies, and I love a good gritty-city novel. They teem with political ideals and ideas, dreams of anarchy and freedom, sorrows over the death of imagination in our daily lives. I adore these books, and I want to share them with everyone. Neither could be made into a movie unless it was a 10-part miniseries for each, but even then, the medium of film would never ever succeed in replicating the gorgeous images that these two writers generate in your brain when you sink into these delights.
My summer reading this year of 2010, my year to try new things, is to embrace the dystopia novel and Zombie works in general. I'm currently working on two books that were filed in the comedy section of my local bookstore: The Zombie Survival Guide and The Zombie Combat Manual. I also recently bought a prequel: /Pride and Prejudice and Zombies: The Dawn of the Dreadfuls/. Check out that link for a live-action promo for the book. (I read Pride and Prejudice and Zombies and enjoyed it so much that I mention to almost every person I know about once a month: annoying, I know). These 3 books fit in well with my dystopia theme, but for a more specific example of the genre, I picked up /Neuromancer/ (1984) by Canadian sci fi genius William Gibson. I'll blog a review of it after I finish it, but so far it's awesome! The other books on my dystopia reading list for summer 2010 include Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley; Anthem, by Ayn Rand; Farenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury. Any suggestions of other dystopia novels to add to the list would be greatly appreciated. Signing off with wishes of happy reading to all! Or, for me, this summer anyway: Morbid Reading!