Big Box of Books - Waiting for Westeros Edition

Back before I started reading almost exclusively on my Kindle, I kept most of my new books in cardboard boxes on the floor -- there was just no more room on the shelves! But thanks to going digital a couple years back, I have the precious shelf space again. Still, I like the mental image of a big box of books so I'm going to use it for the name of this feature, even though now it's in the metaphorical sense.

Not gonna deny it; this month I am most looking forward to A Dance with Dragons by George R. R. Martin. But there's time for other books too, and here are a few titles I added to my to-read list this week:

Wayward Son by Tom Pollack, John Loftus, Jim Alves

Goodreads Description: Buried near Italy's Mount Vesuvius is a remarkable observatory containing artifacts dating to the earliest record of human events. Only one person; the Getty Museum's Amanda James; can unlock the mysterious doors that guard the chamber. But once inside, Amanda is shocked to discover evidence left behind by a notorious Biblical killer; who long ago wandered of the pages of history. When a strange relic unveils the miraculous truth about this villain, Amanda must battle sinister forces intent on suppressing her stunning revelation; before it alters the destiny of millions.

This book first caught my eye when saw it in a Goodreads giveaway but the description enticed me so much that I just went to Amazon and bought it dirt cheap for my Kindle.

The Sisters Brothers by Patrick deWitt

Goodreads description: Hermann Kermit Warm is going to die. The enigmatic and powerful man known only as the Commodore has ordered it, and his henchmen, Eli and Charlie Sisters, will make sure of it. Though Eli doesn't share his brother's appetite for whiskey and killing, he's never known anything else. But their prey isn't an easy mark, and on the road from Oregon City to Warm's gold-mining claim outside Sacramento, Eli begins to question what he does for a living–and whom he does it for.

With The Sisters Brothers, Patrick deWitt pays homage to the classic Western, transforming it into an unforgettable comic tour de force. Filled with a remarkable cast of characters–losers, cheaters, and ne'er-do-wells from all stripes of life–and told by a complex and compelling narrator, it is a violent, lustful odyssey through the underworld of the 1850s frontier that beautifully captures the humor, melancholy, and grit of the Old West and two brothers bound by blood, violence, and love.

This looked interesting, and I figured my historical fiction shelf is in dire need of some good old nitty-gritty Western.

Men, Women & Children by Chad Kultgen

Goodreads description: Chad Kultgen, cult hero and author of the buzz-generating illicit classics The Average American Male and The Lie, cuts to the quick of the American psyche like no other author writing today. In Men, Women & Children he explores the sexual pressures at work on a handful of troubled, conflicted junior-high students and their equally dysfunctional parents. From porn-surfing fathers to World of Warcraft-obsessed sons, from competitive cheerleaders to their dissatisfied, misguided mothers, Kultgen clicks open the emotionally treacherous culture in which we live—in his most ambitious and surprising book yet.

I'll admit it, the World of Warcraft bit caught my eye. Always intrigued to read about MMORPG addiction, fictitious or otherwise.

Elantris by Brandon Sanderson

Goodreads description: "Elantris: gigantic, beautiful, literally radiant, filled with benevolent beings who used their powerful magical abilities to benefit all the people of Arelon. Yet each of these godlike beings had been an ordinary person until touched by the mysterious transforming power of the Shaod. Then, ten years ago, without warning, the magic failed. Elantrians became wizened, feeble, leper-like creatures, and Elantris itself dark, filthy, and crumbling. The Shaod became a curse."

"Arelon's new capital city, Kae, crouches in the shadow of Elantris, which its people do their best to ignore. Princess Sarene of Teod has come to Kae for a marriage of state with Crown Prince Raoden, hoping - based on their correspondence - also to find love. She finds instead that Raoden has died, and she is considered his widow. Both Teod and Arelon are under threat as the last remaining holdouts against the imperial ambitions of the ruthless religious fanatics of Fjordell. Sarene decides to make the best of a sad situation and use her position to oppose the machinations of Hrathen, a Fjordell high priest who has come to convert Arelon and claim it for his emperor and his god."

But neither Sarene nor Hrathen suspects the truth about Prince Raoden's disappearance. Taken by the same strange malady that struck the fallen gods of Elantris, Raoden was secretly imprisoned within the dark city. His struggle to create a society for the wretches trapped there begins a series of events that will bring hope to Arelon, and perhaps even reveal the secret of Elantris itself.

Going back to my first love, fantasy. I love Sanderson's writing, and The Way of Kings is perhaps one of my all time favorite fantasy novels. I still need to re-read his Mistborn trilogy, but before I do that I think I should check out Elantris.