You REALLY should be reading D.M. Cornish's "The Foundling's Tale" series

Foundling by D.M. Cornish
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I adore D.M. Cornish's The Foundling's Tale (formerly known as Monster's Blood Tattoo) series, which includes the books Foundling, Lamplighter and Factotum. It has oft-been described as Dickens-like tale of an orphan's through through an 18th-century-like, biopunk world...with monsters.

Biopunk? Think steampunk. But instead of gears, steam, and blimps...technology based on plants, vat-grown tissue, surgical enhancements, and potions.

There is so much I loved about these books. And much is hard to put into words. One thing was it's texture. And by that, I not only mean the objects, surfaces in this world, but the institutions, culture, language, and tech. It just feels, sounds, and looks good in my mind. Though the plot is great, for me, it's really the world that Cornish has created that enchanted me. It is so thick with potential that I hope he either writes a hundred books, or finds a way to expand it to other writers and creative platforms, as has been done with Star Trek, Star Wars, D&D, etc.

This book is perfect if you like....

TECH: If you like clockpunk, steampunk, or cyber punk. Tech is tech.

MINUTIAE: If you like reading all the little text in a Chris Ware graphic novel or a Dave Eggars' early McSweeney's issues. His books include a massive, mostly-for-fun glossary and gorgeous, detailed illustrations...by the author!

MADE UP WORDS: Did you enjoy all the whimsical names J.K. Rowling invented for her Potter universe? These books have a TON!

DESIGN: These books just look and feel wonderful. The size and proportion of a 19th-century novel. Beautiful covers with sublime color palettes and delicious paper stock.

18TH & 19TH CENTURIES: Like I said, think Dickens. Also, the movies Amadeus, Immortal Beloved, and Glory. Or the books Bartleby the Scrivener and Frankenstein. Lots of bookkeeping done in ledgers. Powdered wigs, tricornered hats, muskets and pale-faced bureaucrats.

MONSTERS: Of course.


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Picked up some great book deals at the South Venice Goodwill Bookstore

I love going to the Goodwill Bookstore in South Venice. Perfect place stop in and spend just a bit of money, but get so much for it. Just about all the hardback books are $2.99, and the newer hardbacks usually $7.99

The End of Sorrow is a three-volume series of commentary on the Bhagavad Gita by the late Eknath Easwaran. I used to own all three copies. I may have given them to my mother. So I was happy to pick up a cheap copy of volume 1.

I got David Sedaris' Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim because I decided I must own every one of his books. BTW, I'm really looking forward to the upcoming movie C.O.G, which was inspired by one of his essays...

I got the two This I Believe books because I am a fan of the NPR segment, and I liked the blurb on the back by the late Daniel Schorr that said "...this forward-thinking compilation serves as a wonderful antidote to the cynicism of the age." I am a fan of anything that fights cynicism.

And I got the book The New Oxford Book of English Verse because I love old books. I love poetry books. And I especially love old poetry books. (And it was only a dollar.)